Arrow stiffness and weakness

[Shanti]

Hi anybody out there , I am new to bow shooting and would like o have a bit of clarity on arrow stiffness or/and weakness and how it affects shooting .. Really appreciate if anyone wants to take the time to explain it a bit to me
Thanks

[bamboo]

watch how the bend in the arrow on release allows it to pass the riser---
 

[JRY309]

Arrow stiffness is called the arrow spine.It is measured on a spine tester,where you place the arrow between two posts and hang on a weight in the center and measure how much the arrow deflects in inches.Carbon and aluminum arrows are measure on 28" centers and wood arrows on 26" center.Arrows are usally numbered or listed by their static spines.Now shooting and tuning them you can find their dynamic spine for you and your bow,which can be affected by length of arrow,weight upfront,your draw length,how the bow riser is cut and some other factors.Is the riser cut past center,to center of off center.Hope this helps some in understanding arrow spine.

[McDave]

There is a series of DVD's called Masters of the Bare Bow, which is the best learning tool I can recommend for a new trad shooter.  In volume 2, Ken Beck of Black Widow Bows does a very good job of explaining bow tuning and arrow spine.

[Fattony77]

I hafta agree with McDave. I own the DVD that he is referring to, and it is a very easy to understand, down to earth explanation of how the arrow flexes when shot, and how that effects accuracy. It's a difficult task, for most people, to explain this very technical and somewhat complicated phenomenon in a short, typed post. It's much easier to explain with visual demonstration.

BTW, the 3rd volume of the same series is also a wonderful starting point for a new archer, as a more in-depth exploration of the mechanics of the SHOOTING process. Those are the only 2 volumes of the 4 in the series that I own, (and therefore the only ones that I can fairly comment on), but I highly recommend them for helping a person wrap their mind around the concepts involved in shooting a "simple" stick & string.

Welcome to the brotherhood and addiction that is traditional archery!

Here is an even better video to show you what happens to an arrow when shot that you cannot see with the naked eye! This video was made by our own, yononindo! It is, I think, one of the best examples of what happens to an arrow when shot from a bow that I have ever seen. Proper spine is most important so that you have the proper amount of flex in the arrow to clear the bow and attain great arrow flight.

       

Bisch

[pghrich]

wow that is an amazing video, i usually stay on the stiffer side of arrow selection, glade of it now, rich pyle

[Stumpkiller]

If you are right-handed: too stiff hit left and too limber hit right.  Center-cut (or close) is much more tolerant of relative spine.  But obviously you want a group of arrows to be matched to each other . . . and the bow.

If they hit where you look - stiffness is irrelevant.