Shooting Left- Revisited

[Philz]

I JUST MOVED THIS TO SHOOTERS FORUM SO ADMINS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DELETE THIS ONE>>>SORRY>>!


I just read both of the posts here about RH shooters shooting left and I have some additional Q's.  Here's what I'm shooting:  Checkmate Crusader r/d longbow 68" 46@28.  I'm shooting 125gr field pts. on POC arrows spined at 55-60.  I shoot split finger.

The grip on this longbow is more like a recurve grip, which Asbell would call a recurve bow, not a longbow. If you want to look at the bow its on their website at recurves dot com.

My draw length is like 28 and 1/8 so very close to 28".  I am a new shooter, but I have consistency now, so I am able to start to ask whats up with my shooting.  I can group real good to the left...: )

First, the other post mentioned Spine.  A lighter spined POC may cause me to not shoot as much to the left, all other things being equal? If so, what should I try? 45-50? 50-55?  I'm not sure how graphite #'s equate to wood or even what 3555 means in terms of graphite.  But I'm shooting wood for now.

Second...String position at full draw and finger tension.  Understood that if the string is too far to the right, the arrow will shoot left.  My anchor is consistent as I am getting groups, but to the left.  I place my middle finger in the corner of my mouth.  Changing the feel of the string tension on my fingers has not produced better results.  

Lastly...I shoot the most consistent when I release as soon as I hit my anchor and feel that I am on target. The more I delay, the less consistent I become. I keep both eyes open, only occaisionally will I close my left eye to look at the arrow tip in relation to target but this is not a habit.  I am trying to really "feel" the instinctiveness of the flight and I am very close to there, just the grouping left thing.

Should I be expanding my draw, after I hit anchor, by tightening my back muscles, thus achieving my release?  Rod Jenkins talks about this on that Masters DVD.  Do you guys do this?

All of my shooting so far has been at 12 yds or less.  Can't increase my distance now.  I've shot a little at like 16-18yds, but too inconsistent.

So what should I try next?

[Night Wing]

I have two recurve bows. When I was tuning both of mine, I found an arrow for each that flew very well. However, at 20 yards, the arrows were hitting slightly left of where I was aiming. For a right handed bow, these arrows would be considered slightly stiff. The normal wisdom to make the arrows hit to the right more would be to add slightly more tip weight which I could do since I have 5 grain brass weight washers which I can put behind my field points.

But, I didn't want to add any more tip weight. So, I took a different tack. I lowered the brace height on both of my bows. I did this by untwisting the bowstring by one half twist (180 degrees), shoot a few arrows at 20 yards and see where they hit on the target. I repeated this same procedure until the arrows began moving "noticeably to the right more and more. This made the slightly stiff arrow become slightly weak and eventually hit where I was aiming at 20 yards.

Basically, I increased the power stroke where the arrow was on the bowstring a little longer than it was with the higher brace height upon arrow release. My brace height for both of my bows is "lower" than what my bowyer recommends. But, there is more than one way to skin a squirrel.