look of arrows

[Drone Dog]

i am new to this game but i have a question. i have been shooting for a week from about 5-6 yards just working on form and trying to hit inside a 2" circle. the last couple of days i have noticed that all of my arrows seem to be, i hope i get this right, nocked left. when i look at them the nock is to the left of the point. usually they are level but just leaning left. now it isn't much but they are all consistent. i am shooting left handed and maybe being this close it does not matter. but i wondered if it is telling me something.
Thanks
Dog

[Scott J. Williams]

It could be telling you that your arrows are not tuned just right, maybe getting a little kick before they straighten out.  It could also be telling you that the quill on your arrows are draging or striking the shelf, or rest, check for wear on your rest.  You should not see excessive wear.  

I bet that if you back up a little you will see those arrows straighten out.  This would indicate that the arrow is still not stable at the 5 - 6 yards you are shooting.

I am a advocate of tuning to get that arrow stable as soon as possible, it stands to reason that if it is stable off the bow, it will be stable at twenty, thirty, and further....

[BobCo 1965]

Good info from Scott,

I'd also add this, check to make sure your arrows are correct for your bow. Take a look at the chart at Arrows by Kelly (they have good alumninum charts also) or Whispering Winds and make sure they are correctly suited. Of course these charts are only starting points, but they should get you close. Also set your brace height on your bow toward but not past the upper limit of the bowyers recommendation.

I'd suggest trying to tune your bow only after you have really burned in your form fairly well. Tuning can/could be a fairly frustrating thing to do.

[Drone Dog]

thanks. i also notice tonight that all 6 of the arrows i have been using are wearing out one feather. i have been shooting a hundred arrows a night or so and after 3 weeks the six i use all show wear on one feather. if i turn the odd feather up it is the one to the right of it that is wearing. this would indicate to me it is hitting something. i am thinking my arrows may be a little stiff just because we picked them out when i was going to get a 40# bow. but then i settle on a 30 to get started with. i am not sure if i am good enough to try to tune them just yet. so maybe if i back off on the brace height i could soften them up some. i have my brace height set at the max right now because i like the feel but until i get new arrows i will back it off some. everything i have read about the bow says 7-3/4 to 8-1/2. i have it right at 8-1/2 now. is it too much to go to 8-1/4?
thanks
dog

[robtattoo]

May I suggest, before you start chopping & changing your setup. Get yourself back to 20-30 yds & see how they land from there. At 5 or 6 yds your arrows are still very much in paradox & will never land straight. Basically, your arrow is hittng your target while it's still bent! It takes (on average) 10-15 yds for an arrow to fully stabilise & straighten itself up. If you're trying to tune so close to your target, you'll likely find that by the time you get out to past 15yds, your arrows are showing waaaaay too stiff. Find somewhere you can acheive a decent distance before even thinking about anything else. Once you've got your arrows sorted at 20yds, it won't matter that they're not straight at close range.

[Rod Jenkins]

Very good advice from robtattoo !

[robtattoo]

Blimey!  :eek:

[Drone Dog]

actually you are correct. from 10 yards they are straight as best i can tell. but i am wearing that one feather. is that normal? after shooting at 10 yards i moved back in to the 6 yard distance. i changed the points to 125gr and back to 75gr. neither seemed to make difference. i also chnged my brace height down to 8-1/4. no difference except that get a hum in the string there. so i put it back to 8-1/2 and left the points at 75gr. the reason i went with the lighter tip is the FOC. these arrows are a full 32 and the FOC with 125gr tip is about 27%. with the 75gr tip it was about 18%. i figure at least i will get a more level flight with the lighter tip. this should help for practice.
can i adjust the nock to help with the feather hitting the shelf? twist it a little? it looks to hit right on the shelf at the corner where the shelf and the pad on the riser meet. is that normal? should i add a plunger?
Dog

[bowmofo]

I would try raising the nock set 1/4 and move back to watch the flight tracers may help you catch imperfections Mike

[Orion]

If I understand your description correctly, you're getting wear on the feather that's facing down on the arrow shelf.  That feather always wears the quickest, and given the amount of shooting you're doing, the wear you describe doesn't seem inordinate.  You're figuring your FOC wrong.  With those weight heads, you're getting a FOC of about 7-8%.  But at this stage of the game, you really shouldn't be concerned with FOC.  Your shafts are also probably spined too heavy.  They're kicking right, a symptom of overstiffness for a left handed shooter, and given that they don't have a chance to straighten out at 5-6 yards, the nock will be left.  An arrow that doesn't penetrate the target straight is disconcerting, but try to not let it bother you.  Keep working on your form, and get lighter spined arrows when you can.  Good luck.