Arrow Spine...This can't be right!

[Bwana7965]

Little help here...could this be right?   I have been struggling with left hitting arrows (I’m right handed) for years.  I once again am starting from scratch with arrow flight and tuning after taking Joel Turner's and Tom Clumm’s courses (life changing!!) and cleaning up my shot and leaving target panic behind.  It seems no matter what I try I show a stiff shaft as tested while paper tuning bare shafts.  Until...just for the heck of it I take a bare shaft GT Trad 600, 29” with a 100 grain brass insert and a 250 grain point and holy smokes!  Could it be?  That can’t be, can it?  Clean flight?  I even put a 200 grain pount on and started to see that stiff shaft tear again.  That is so far from anything even close.  Not even in the ballpark on any calculator.  Your thoughts.

Bow Specs: 60"Black Widow PSA, 48#@28" shot at 28" draw length.  Stock from Black Widow-16 strand FF w/2-spider silencers and 2 wool puff balls.  3 under, 8 1/2" Brace height
Arrow Specs: GT Traditional 600 Arrow ends up being somewhere in that 570 grain ball park.
I normally shoot 500s and blame my release for the left hits but maybe not anymore.

[Bill from NJ]

Try checking your nock height.

It is possible the height may be too low causing the arrow to kick outward, appearing to be a weak spine.

Check your BW Owners Manual, Page 15 under Tuning.

Just my 2 cents....

[Gcg2]

Whether it's on a spine  chart or right or wrong I can't say, but if it's shooting great let her fly... Shoot Straight  TGers

[Orion]

Is the side plate built out more than normal?  Regardless, I'd guess that a .500 would work better with that much weight up front, but if the .600 flies good, go with it. 

[McDave]

I agree with the original poster: 600 spine shaft, 29”, 350 grains up front, shot out of a 48# high performance recurve drawn to 28” should not tune, i.e., can't be right.  I'll stay tuned to see what transpires....

[Wheels2]

Centershot has a big effect of dynamic spine.
So too does shelf and strike plate material.

[Wheels2]

Could also be an issue with grip and/or dragging your third finger on release.

[9 Shocks]

I would think a 29" .500 gt trad with 200-225 up front would be more appropriate but I've been surprised before!  Shoot what works!

[jonsimoneau]

For years I had the same problem. Always hitting to the left. I kept messing with my arrows but eventually I figured out that I was often collapsing and not getting off the string clean. A few months of shooting with a clicker fixed it.

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

A couple thoughts:
1. a 16 strands ff string sounds like it defeats the purpose of "fast"

2. Take some slow motion video of your release with a smartphone. It is possible to beat target panic and still have a bad release. A bad release can rob the arrow of energy!

3. Measure your draw length. Good form and follow through doesn't mean you are necessarily drawing 28"

My guess, without seeing you shoot or knowing any more, is that you are still not getting your elbow behind the string. You might be pulling through the trigger, have solid bow arm, etc. and still not be achieving true bone on bone alignment on the string side. Left hits for me are almost always due to a collapse on the back side. In fact, I can shoot bareshafts that show pretty stiff, and the fletched shafts will still go to my point of aim if I achieve alignment and execute my shot.

[elkhunter45]

I get a clean bareshaft with the 29.5" 600 setup you have out of a 50 r/d longbow with a B50 dacron string. My 50 recurve with a Bear Weather Rest does well with a 100 grain insert and a 145 head.

[Bwana7965]

All good points.  While I would like to think nobody is right about my shooting form or release I must admit that I questioned that all weekend as well.  I drop my third finger but I work so much on back tension that I may scrub the release more than I'd like.  I will continue to work on the whole picture but for now I'm going to stick to the 29" GT Traditional 500s with 100 grain brass insert and 200 grain broadheads out of the 48# BW PSA and play with the 600s after turkey season.

Thanks to all that chimed in!!

[YosemiteSam]

Whip out your smartphone, position it just overhead & off a little to one side so you can see the entire path to the target.  Run a slow-motion video of the arrow in-flight.  Works best with a partner but can be bungeed to a pole or tree if nobody else can do it for you.  Make sure you hold your bow vertical.  Tried this a couple weeks ago and I'm sold.

[YosemiteSam]

If you find your arrow is running fairly straight and it's just hitting left, play around with where you hold it on your face.  Moving it 1mm into or away from your face is like making a rear-sight adjustment on a rifle.  A little goes a long way.

Could also be a bow arm issue.  String slap often brings my arrows a little left.

[littlejohn59]

In  my humble opinion that is an excessive amount of weight up front to weaken the Arrow. I would say something else is afoot
 I would have a look at your form or have someone watch you or film yourself. I apologise for being the carrier of bad news. Best of luck with your tp.
 
 

[Bldtrailer]

YUP!!!!

48@26 Dale dye ff (I draw 27 so 51pounds) trad gold tips 600 50grn insert 175 cut to 28 3/8 results speak louder than words . Same arrow works with my 51@28 Blacktail ff . Also use these arrows for my Dale Dye 55@28 nonff with 225grn pnts. ( all with 2 inch 2117 footings)
For my 45@28 Bear's Paws I use full length 600s supplied insert 175 points.( 1 Inch 2117 footing)

[Bldtrailer]

Also try a string down the center of your target ,start close  shoot a few arrows(trying to  hit the string, don't worry about up or down) then move back a few yards & repeat(keeping groups centered) do this farther than your normal practice distance . This should show if you are truly getting the new vs old arrows hitting true .
Also have someone else check your draw length while shooting ( a lot of us think we have a longer length than we really do,  especially if you are getting tried )
 you can also adjust how much weight is on the string (puffs and spiders , 16 strand vs 12 )  and try moving the puffs closer to tips faster/ center of string slower