Hitting left frustration

[Kenny Henderson]

I am frustrated beyond belief with my arrows hitting left! I shoot right handed, my setup is a Timberhawk recurve 45lb@28 my arrows are carbon express heritage 150, cut to 29-3/4”, I have a 50 grain brass insert and 175 grain point, I can group my arrows in a nice softball, baseball size group, but they are about 4-6 inches left of point of aim, I feel that it’s a form issue and not a spine issue. I’m trying different anchor points and all I’ve accomplished is that I still hit left. I am frustrated, I shoot year round (I can shoot 11 yards in my basement) and need some guidance/help! What can I do? Where do I go from here? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated! I am never to old or to proud to take advice...

[McDave]

Let's assume that you have great form and your bow and arrows are well tuned, but you still hit left.  (That eliminates about 100 problems that could cause you to hit left).  In that case, there are two things you can do: use a softer strikeplate or move your anchor further in (or your dominant eye further out by tilting your head). Using a softer strikeplate is the equivalent of using a cushion plunger and loosening the tension on the spring.  Moving your anchor in or your dominant eye out changes the orientation of your eye to the arrow.

[Kenny Henderson]

I’ve actually set my bow down for a couple days, my frustration was not doing me any good, I was changing “this”, then changing “that”, and my groups were opening up to the point of my becoming discouraged and felt I might just need to walk away for a couple days. Archery is meant to be fun, and I wasn’t having any fun that’s for sure. I’ll put it all together and get back to hitting the mark before long.

[the rifleman]

Agree with McDave--- draw back your bow and look at the arrow from nock to tip.  If you see that the nock is to the right of the tip you can bet thats why the arrow is hitting to the left--- it can only go where its pointed.  You can correct this as McDave said by tilting your head ( be careful not to turn your head) over the arrow until you verify that the entire arrow from nock to point is pointing toward the target.
One other possible cause ive experienced--- bare shafts are hitting right on the money and fletched shafts are flying to the left.  You may have a fletching clearance issue with the inside hen feather kicking off the shelf.  Easily solved by raising nock height and or rotating cock feather in.
Just some ideas based on whats worked for me.

[Tomas Stieber]

I have the same problem, try canting the bow just enough to give you a better sight picture. Also practice with proper back tension in mind.

[mt-dew10]

I struggled with this very same issue in the last few weeks.  I finally found the remedy in my anchor.  I shoot three under and was not anchoring consistently under my eye.  I tried and tried different anchor points on my cheek bone and jaw.  I finally called a good friend and he suggested I try anchoring on my jaw with my thumb hooked behind my jaw.  It worked!  I am now consistently hitting where I intend now.  It takes some getting used to but keep in mind you will still need solid back tension to prevent creeping.  Good luck.

[dakota tim]

While less likely than much of the above, check your eye dominance.  It's possible that your left eye has taken over.

[Wilderlife]

Besides canting the bow and tilting your head consider what you're doing with your eyes.

For me, if I shoot both eyes open (trying to be instinctive) I forget to pay as much attention to my arrow in my peripheral vision and I tend to hit left. Keeping both eyes open makes me forget to tilt my head properly.

When I shut my left eye (shooting right handed) and start trying to gap shoot I consciously think about the alignment of my arrow and make sure the nock and the tip are lined up properly while I'm aiming.