I "cant" Rick Welch

[kenn1320]

I have watched one of Ricks video's over and over. I believe a bow can be at any cant and still be shot accurately. However I am noticing I seem to be more accurate with the bow verticle like Rick suggests. My dilema is the arrow falls off the shelf when drawing the bow in a verticle orientation. Something else I noticed in Ricks video is the very audible nock snap when he nocks his arrows. Does Rick use a tight nock fitment to keep the arrow on the shelf? I also hear about nock fitment being critical, yet it seems Ricks are very tight and that goes against what you hear about the subject. I already fitted all my nocks, so I cant do a tight nock test to see if that fixes the falling off he shelf issue. Currently Im canting and going vertical in my drawing motion, but thats removing some of my focus on the target.
Ken

[kshunter55]

To keep the arrow on the shelf you might try making a boy scouts honor sign with the hand that pulls the string.  Take your thumb and place it over a bent pinky.  The ring, middle, and pointer finger should be straight out.  When you draw the bow keep your thumb pressing down on your thumb slightly.  This creates a slight twisting on the string which will keep the arrow on the shelf and will not affect the shot.  Doing this you should be able to shoot your bow with a reverse cant no problem.

[McDave]

I asked Rick about his nock fit, and he does use tighter fitting nocks than most would advise.  Obviously, this works out well for him.  Why it doesn't work out as well for a lot of other people I don't know.  I like to follow the rule of thumb of having nocks that fit just tight enough so the arrows will hang on the bowstring, but will fall off when the bowstring is tapped.

There is a need to have nocks a little tighter when shooting 3 under, as Rick does, than when shooting split fingers, but Rick seems to like them even a little tighter than that.

[virginiashadow]

I am new to recurve shooting and have noticed my nocks being way too tight. How do I go about getting my nocks a little looser?  Any tips?

[eric-thor]

i shoot em loose for many yrs and had many dryfires and now im tryin a slight fit so it will just hang , but in any case paying attn to the knock and finger placement is cruciali use a deep hook an make sur the knock is pushed back before drawing .today i realized how my fingers set on the string is most crutial to the knock stability as well as the shot.if they tilt down i put psi on the arrow at draw. if they are strait accross its all good.  

[McDave]

With the nock attached to the arrow, I hold the nock in a pan of boiling water for 15 seconds or so, long enough to soften the plastic a little.  Then I press the nock onto a piece of copper wire I have that is the same fit I want on my bowstring.  You should be able to find something, a nail, etc., that will work for you.  It the nock is too loose, you can pinch the nock ends together after holding it in boiling water.  The nock will hold its shape after it cools.  If you try to enlarge a nock or make the opening smaller when the nock is cold, it can fracture the plastic and one of the tips of the nock might break off the next time you shoot the arrow, causing a dry-fire.

[virginiashadow]

Thank you McDave, I will give it a shot tomorrow.

[kshunter55]

if the nocks are too tight hit the inside with a little sand paper.

[kenn1320]

Thanks guys, Im shooting 3 under. If I was shooting split, I could pinch the arrow to keep it on the shelf. Ive heard of guys rolling the string to keep the arrow on the shelf, but if your nock is loose, that wont do any good. I might take one and dip it in the boiling water and refit it. When I have a tight nock, I use an emory board(finger nail file) to open them up.

[vernon]

I have a little file in my backpack that fits inside the nock.  I used the file to take just a little off the inside of the nock.  However, be extremely careful.  I was enjoying the day and filing down my nocks when I over did one and now it's too lose.  I tried boiling the nocks in the backcountry on my jetboil and didn't have any luck having them expand.  I'm sure it will work better at home using a stovetop.  I never thought about it too much until a buddy noticed my bow was extremely quiet however he could hear the nock coming off the string and it was a sharp/loud noise.  Once I filed them a little the noise is almost non existent.

[kmunch]

I shoot using ricks style but use a very slight cant to keep the arrow on the rest. I have no accuracy problems caused by the cant of the bow. Most of the accuracy problems I have is between my ears!

[Tom-Wisconsin]

I use an allen wrench and snap the nocks on to the allen wrench then let they soak in hot water but not boiling. Just hot from the tap. This way I can always find the right size allen wrench no matter where I am.

[Eugene Slagle]

I on occasion cant my bow but it depends on the situation & I do need more practice with it but my nock fit is just tight enough on the string to where I can hang the arrow off the string & just a tap on the string drops the arrow off.
I'm not a fan of really tigh nocks but more so than that I'm definitly not a fan of a loose fitting one because there is too much that can happen that could turn a good shot into a dryfire.

[Northwest_Bowhunter]

I cant my bow but it has nothing to do with keeping my arrow on the shelf, it brings my eye more in line with and closer to the arrow.  I think it lets me be more accurate.

[hheneg]

less string pressure on your index finger.  doesn't sound like it would work, but it will.

[Orion]

It's not nock fit that's pulling the arrow off the shelf, it's you by improperly gripping the string.  Read the post on "Arrow pulls away from the riser" for an explanation of how to correct it.

[Lee Robinson .]

If your arrow is coming off the shelf, you are PROBABLY holding with more finger at full draw than when at brace height in order to make sure the string doesn't slip out of your drawing hand. Instead of doing that, try grabbing just a bit more (around the first knuckle) at brace and as you put tension on the string during the draw let the string "straighten" out your fingers a little bit so that the string slightly "rolls" up to the tip of your finger a bit more (just barely closer to the tip of your finger and in front of the knuckle so now the "meat" of the finger tip is holding the string). This will slightly rotate the arrow in a manner that keeps the arrow on the shelf. Don't exaggerate the correction though. You don't want to put bend or any excessive torque on the arrow. The goal is just to learn what you are doing wrong that is causing it to roll off the shelf and simply to correct that issue.

[Earthdog]

A slightly deeper grip on the string can solve the problem of tourqing the arrow off the shelf.
I've never found nock fit has played any part in my shooting,other than having them to tight,in which case I get string arm contact as the nock pulls the string further forward than usual,plus the noise of nocking them.
If I can hear it at 2-3 feet,,,a deer will hear it at 20 yards,and I'm a ground hunter that only nocks an arrow when I ready to take my shot.
I fit em' like McDave,a slight tap will knock em' loose.

[ncsaknech1ydh]

I swiched to a Cavalier tab and 3 under after watching Ricks video after last hunting season, I had the same problem, I think part of no longer having that problem was just getting used to the 3 under over time, but also I let just a tiny bit of space between my index finger and the arrow nock, I mean so little that you could fit a hair between, and that for sure helped. It sounds wierd, but when I started the more preassure I put on the  arrow nock pushing it against knock point on the string with my index finger, the more problems I had with the arrow falling off the shelf, you would think it would work just opposite of that! ...Wierd!

[Winterhawk1960]

Almost 100% of the time, if an arrow is flipping off of the rest when you draw.......it is caused by you hooking your fingers around the string after placing them there. If you hook your fingers to begin with and then place them around the string it won't happen.

Give it a try.

I have seen this happen to MANY people.....and have yet to see this not work in fixing the problem.

Winterhawk1960