Why is it some bows shoot a variety of arrows well and some are picky?

[Sixby]

Longstick gave the correct answer,. If the centershot is a true centershot or close, the shelf shaped right and the bow is tillered and timed correctly the bow will handle a wide variety of spines and weights well. If the bow is cut to center or before center. a little out of sync and tiller it can be tuned but it is way more finiky.
Many trad bows are cut before center. the owners pride themselves in spending days and months getting the exact arrow to shoot out of those bows. Its part of the game for them and part of the fun.
However Peter Keyheys, Longstick 64 gave the right answer in my opinion. Its how the bow is built and designed.

God bless you all and Merry Christmas, Steve

[overbo]

I would lean towards the design factor,
Frm my experience,w/ heavy amount of preload,bows are more sensative to shooting form and finger pressure on the string.It seems to me there is a couple ways to check a bow of this design.
W/ a recurve,one can take a unstrung bow and lay it on a flat surface to see how far  the tips set past the riser.Also, I'll try to twist the tip of the limb as well.I know this makes a super smooth and fast shooting bow but they can be sensative as well.
W/ longbows and I truely beleive people have the most problem w/,the bows w/ alot of r&d can be very challenging to shoot consistant.Again,I'm full aware of the speed and draw cycle benefits,along w/ shortening the legnth of the bow but there are some trade offs that don't work well w/ us shooting form challenged shooters.
When I see those big swooping limbs and when strung the one limb will collaspe w/ pressure on the other.That tells me that one needs to be well practiced when compared to shooting a longbow of more moderate design.
Fast bows are nice but untamed bows aren't.