what causes handshock and how do you get rid of it? I am shooting a great northern ghost and have a lot of hand shock. it is 52#@26" I am shooting poc arrows 26 3/4 " 540 grains. Just wondering if maybe having such a light riser is the problem. Just coming off hand surgery and I think that the handshock wasn't helping any. Don't want to have the same problem when I am able to start shooting again.
I think a bow not properly transferring energy to the arrow can make for some shock. Is brace height where its supposed to be or could be? Arrows seem heavy enough. Maybe a better string would also help. And then, some bows can seem shockt depending on their woods and such.
Go with a low stretch string, raise the brace height, and grit your teeth.
I thing a lot of it is in design. I shoot an RD longbow that is quite dead in the hand. There are others that are not so much.
Same with Hill style bows. Some will rattle your teeth out while others just lossen them a little! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Bisch
using 16 strand Flemish with a 7 1/4 brace height. Don't want to grit my teeth hurts the glass they are in, LOL
Installing string silencers sometimes eliminates hand shock. Also, bending the bow arm at the elbow can also eliminate some hand shock.
I have found that a low, very firm grip essentially eliminates hand shock for me. I shoot Hill bows.
What Sam said, then raise your brace some and shoot a heavy arrow.
Coming from a guy who builds these things it's got a lot to do with if the limbs are bending the same or not... you can have a bow that is dead even tiller measurement that still has vibration if the two limbs are not bending the same.
Typically limbs are balanced to the pressure point on the grip. After finding the sweet spot in the brace height that gives you the best sound and least vibration. I would recommend shifting the pressure point on the grip with an open hand from high wrist, medium, and then to low wrist heeling down with your thumb pad until you find where its center balance is....
Now if you still have vibration after changing pressure points on the grip with an open handed grip. Then you either have a poor limb design without enough preload to stop the limb mass clean, or your limbs are not balanced properly....
You can use a set of Limb savers to help absorb some of that buzz too. place them right below the fades.
I agree with Kirk. If the limbs aren't in balance/properly tillered, they'll increase hand shock.
That being said, I've owned a few Ghosts and have never had a problem with them. As others have pointed out, a low stretch string helps reduce hand shock, as does a heavier arrow, though yours appear heavy enough, and a raised brace height.
A tight grip can only increase felt handshock because the excess energy has no where to go but into your hand. A looser, lower wrist grip, as Kirk recommends should help.
Of course, the lighter the bow/riser, the more likely it is to pass on the excess bow energy to the bow hand in the form of handshock. A heavy riser absorbs a lot of the excess energy/vibration. The Ghost riser is short and light, but as I said before, those I've owned have always been well balanced and did not impart a lot of hand shock. Good luck.
Put a strap-on quiver on the limbs; it works like a limb saver, and the extra weight helps with shock.
Keep a loser grip with your hand and keep your elbow bent slightly . This will let the energy release without jolting your whole body . Also try and shoot a heavier mass weight arrow even a higher spine weight but cut longer .
a few things you can do,
- try a 600 - 650 gr arrow
- add 1/4" to you brace ht.
-make sure your arrows nocks aren't too tight
(you should be able to pick up the arrow with the string but not pick up the whole bow with the arrow)
- add cat whiskers to the string
- uses a lighter string (in my Dacron days I seldom used more than 14 strands)
Thanks every one for all the input. Lots of things to try and cure this.
Have someone else shoot it and see if they feel the same thing you do. Could be the way you grip the bow, could be post-operative sensitivity.
If all else fails see if Great Northern would look at it for you or get another bow.