More Welch graduate questions

[xtrema312]

I just watched Rick’s  vol. 3 video and I have a few questions.  

He says you can shoot split finger and he will work with you if you shoot that way. I was wondering if he had a recommended double anchor for split finger, because I don’t think I can get a nose on a feather split finger.

I noticed that Rick and all the students shooting on the video shoot with a glove.  Is there a reason for this?

Does Rick just do the bow tune to shoot where you look for targets or does this apply to hunting also?  For shooting broadheads how does he do this if your bow shoots great and is really tuned but doesn’t shoot where you look?  I would think I would lose my tune if I had to adjust too much.  How do I know if my bow shoots where I naturally look or I look where my bow shoots?

[koger]

Having watched his videos, all of them, and shot nearly the same way for years, heres my HO. I anchor high, on my cheek, and shoot insticntively, ie, I look at what I am wanting to hit. The high anchor allows the arrow to be looking where I am. I have helped seveal guys transition to this, and 4H kids I coach, you dont have to change anything about your arrow/head setup. I change from field tips to broadheads and shoot the same, heck last year I even started using 3" feathers and actually got better flight, even with broadheads, especially in wind. You can get that anchor w split finger, just put the middle finger at the corner of your mouth, index should be on your cheekbone. You can move you nock up and down quiet a bit on the string without changing how your arrow flies, IF YOU have Good form, release. If not it shows up quick. Dont overthink this, you can tinker yourself silly trying to figure these things out sometimes.

[Winterhawk1960]

I have all of Ricks videos and in December of 2009, I got to spend a couple hours with shooting with Rick. He taught me a lot in just a couple hours..........and my goal is to get to his school and spend the full two days with him.

The very first thing he did was to watch me shoot, and then proceeded to make the bow shoot where I was looking. For me this involved shimming the sideplate out because I was shooting to the right (I'm right handed). He then stripped the fletching off of one of my arrows and refletched it so that the cock feather would come to the end of my nose. Then, the main thing that he had to tell me (repeatedly) was to TRUST my bow arm. There wasn't any other tuning that was done to my equipment or arrows.

When I switched over to broadheads, I kept the end weight the same and didn't have any issues with the tune of the arrows........they shot just fine.

Winterhawk1960

[xtrema312]

Winterhawk,

What kind of arrow were you using?  Was it a case of needing to rotate the arrow or needing different feathers or different feather distance from the nock?

Do you think the building out of the side plate was getting your arrow into tune?

[Winterhawk1960]

xtrema312,

I was, and still am shooting 35/55 Goldtip Trads that are full length (30 1/2"). My draw is 29 3/4" and the feathers didn't need rotated, then needed to be a different distance from the nock in order to just touch the tip of my nose when I hit my full draw length. It is more of a draw length check than anything else.

YES.....absolutely the building out of the sideplate moved my arrow to the left. He used double sided carpet tape that you can get at Lowes and only added a layer at a time until it moved my arrow's point of impact to the place that my focus was on.

Since then, I have had to shim the sideplate on two other bows that I consistantly hit to the right with. The only thing that you can do to the shelf area when you are shooting consistantly left is to go to the thinnest and hardest sideplate material that you can find, and sometimes that isn't enough. I really like being able to shoot the same exact arrow setup on all my bows........it simplifies things for me.

I hope this helps.....if not, just keep asking questions and I will answer them to the best of my ability.

Winterhawk1960

[Bruce Martin]

If the arrows are shooting a bit stiff (left for a right-handed shooter) you can also add some tip weight to bring them right in addition to the thin side plate. All you can do if the arrows are full length. The feather 'anchor' in addition to anchoring with the thumb knuckle to the earlobe is adjusted as a draw check at the point where it provides good back tension. I believe Rick will tell you that back tension is the key to good consistent shooting. I have noticed in my shooting (I sent to Rick's school a couple years ago) that I also need to raise my elbow slightly to achieve best back tension. If you watch Rick shoot, he has a very high elbow (probably due to a long draw length). Once you get these variables down in a comfortable and consistent position, you can diddle with the side plate adjustment to bring the arrow to the point you are looking.

[xtrema312]

So really it sounds like the adjusting of the bow to shoot where you look is tuning the bow to the arrow vs. tuning the arrow to the bow and really just tuning.

[Winterhawk1960]

Originally posted by xtrema312:
So really it sounds like the adjusting of the bow to shoot where you look is tuning the bow to the arrow vs. tuning the arrow to the bow and really just tuning.

I only had the one bow with me when I spent my time with Rick. Tuning the bow to shoot the given arrow has allowed me to shoot the same arrow set-up on every bow that I own. THAT, sure saves me some cash and hassle of having to switch arrow combo's with each bow.

Winterhawk1960