Arrows fishtailing up and down?

[Sarah]

I know someone told me what this means...

I shot tonight (yay, archery club!) for the first time in a couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure my form was the same as it has been, but I got a good chance to see my arrows fly. What I saw was they had a pretty obvious vertical fishtail, though they went more or less where I wanted them to.

I shoot split-finger, 35# @ 27.5", carbon arrows that weigh 285 grains (approx. 8 gn/pound)...anything else you folks might need to know?

Pretty sure the diagnosis is something really simple. But tell it to me like it is!

also: is a 14 gn/# arrow absurdly heavy for my draw weight? I have some that I like and would like to shoot them, they are a wee bit slower than my other arrows, but if physics exists they ought to pack quite a bit more punch. any thoughts?

Thanks!
Sarah

[RecurveJim]

your knock probably slipped making you arrow bounce off the shelf.re-adjust your knock either up or down till it straightens out,then measure it and write it down incase it slips again.

[John3]

Yes, I agree. It is your nock point.

Easy to fix... Start too high and work down until your arrow flies perfect...


John III

[John3]

I forgot.. Heavy arrows are just cool !!!  Quiet the bow down and are deadly. If your accurate shooting them; then shoot and enjoy.


John III

[Shaun]

Yep, nock is the up and down. It usually needs to be a little above where your arrow would be at a right angle to the string.

For hunting I like an arrow in the 11-15 grn per pound of draw weight. So no, 13 is not too heavy. You may experience a lot of arrow drop at some range, at 20 or 25 yards it will look like it fell off the table, that's OK.

Glad you found a place and time to shoot.

[Sarah]

I think a lot of people can understand the joy i felt at being able to shoot again. i did feel a pang of sadness that everyone else in the club either shoots compound or shoots recurve with a sight.

I miss the optimistic encouragement i was so accustomed to among trad shooters (Dave and Dawn, you two are awesome!). Though my giddiness at flinging arrows again definitely overwhelmed any discouragement.

those who've answered so far, thanks for your help. I'll try that out next time (though if I shoot the heavier arrows it may not be necessary, if I recall, those flew straight as, well, arrows.)

sarah

[O.L. Adcock]

Might have let your brace height drop also, tuning shouldn't change...O.L.