Shooting Left -- Revisited

[Philz]

I just read both of the posts here about RH shooters shooting left and I have some additional Q's.  Here's what I'm shooting:  Checkmate Crusader r/d longbow 68" 46@28.  I'm shooting 125gr field pts. on POC arrows spined at 55-60.  I shoot split finger.

The grip on this longbow is more like a recurve grip, which Asbell would call a recurve bow, not a longbow. If you want to look at the bow its on their website at recurves dot com.

My draw length is like 28 and 1/8 so very close to 28".  I am a new shooter, but I have consistency now, so I am able to start to ask whats up with my shooting.  I can group real good to the left...: )

First, the other post mentioned Spine.  A lighter spined POC may cause me to not shoot as much to the left, all other things being equal? If so, what should I try? 45-50? 50-55?  I'm not sure how graphite #'s equate to wood or even what 3555 means in terms of graphite.  But I'm shooting wood for now.

Second...String position at full draw and finger tension.  Understood that if the string is too far to the right, the arrow will shoot left.  My anchor is consistent as I am getting groups, but to the left.  I place my middle finger in the corner of my mouth.  Changing the feel of the string tension on my fingers has not produced better results.  

Lastly...I shoot the most consistent when I release as soon as I hit my anchor and feel that I am on target. The more I delay, the less consistent I become. I keep both eyes open, only occaisionally will I close my left eye to look at the arrow tip in relation to target but this is not a habit.  I am trying to really "feel" the instinctiveness of the flight and I am very close to there, just the grouping left thing.

Should I be expanding my draw, after I hit anchor, by tightening my back muscles, thus achieving my release?  Rod Jenkins talks about this on that Masters DVD.  Do you guys do this?

All of my shooting so far has been at 12 yds or less.  Can't increase my distance now.  I've shot a little at like 16-18yds, but too inconsistent.

So what should I try next?

[McDave]

Best is if you shoot properly spined arrows for your bow, rather than trying to get your arrows to impact more right by changing the spine.  That said, I think 55-60# arrows are too stiff for your bow, so going to a weaker spined arrow might help your arrow flight and also move the point of impact to the right.  I would suggest 50-55# wood arrows, or perhaps Gold Tip 3555 graphite arrows, cut to 29", with 125 grain points.

Once you are shooting properly spined arrows, you should hit where you look, if you are shooting with proper form, and if your arrow is lined up underneath your dominant eye.  I assume you have checked, and your right eye is your dominant eye?

You can tell by the arrow flight if the arrow is under your eye.  If the arrow is to the right of your eye, it will appear to fly to the target from right to left, rather than straight at the target.  I doubt if the arrow is to the left of your eye.

Proper form means that you are properly alligned, coming to full draw and holding the string with a relaxed string hand and string arm.  If your shoulders are alligned to the left of the target, your arrow will tend to fly to the left of the target.  If you are not coming to full draw, such that your string forearm is in line with the arrow, viewed from above, then your arrows will tend to fly left, because your string forearm is pointing to the left.  If you don't have a relaxed string hand, such that the back of your string hand is flat and you are taking the weight of the bow with your back muscles, that can also be a cause of missing left (or right, or high, or low, or just generally not hitting where you're looking and wondering why).

The reason you are inconsistent when you delay is because you are losing back tension and letting your arrow creep forward.  If you increase back tension throughout the shot, your accuracy will improve if you hold before shooting.  Not that there's anything wrong with releasing as soon as you hit your anchor.  You can shoot reasonably accurately that way, just not as accurately as if you hold for 2 seconds.

[Philz]

Thanks for those points.  I am r-eye dominant.

[Winterhawk1960]

Good advice from McDave.......but........I'm not so sure that I would cut those 35/55's down any. If they are the traditional shafts (have a woodgrain finish) I would try them full length. I'm shooting the GT 35/55 trad shafts with 50 grain brass inserts in them and 125 grain points in bows from 42# @ 29" up to 51# @ 28". They shoot like darts out of all of them.

They come full length at 30 1/2".......its not gonna hurt to give them a go before cutting them down and stiffening them up to much.

Winterhawk1960

[McDave]

I agree with Don that leaving the shafts long is a perfectly fine approach.  If you have a 29" arrow and a 30.5" 3555 arrow, both tuned for your bow, the 30.5 inch arrow will have less weight up front, since the additional shaft length weakens the spine.

OTOH, it is possible to tune a 29" arrow for any bow weight within the allowable range of 3555 arrows, by varying the combinations of weights on the front and back ends of the arrow.  It is also possible to get almost any overall arrow weight you want, within reason.  One of the reasons I like GT arrows is the ability to add weight to the back of the arrow, which helps me fine tune my arrows.  I like for all my arrows to be 29", as it helps me to have a consistent sight picture.

[Winterhawk1960]

I'm with ya again......I like having the same length arrows out of all my bows too. It was my goal to try and find something that with very little "manipulation" could be shot out of everything that I own. I am just extremely fortunate that things turned out that the same shaft, set-up in the same way will work out of all my bows.

I think what some people don't realize is that our release is one of the BIG THINGS that can cause us to have to use different spined arrows. I know my release isn't perfect, but apparently it is "consistant" enough most of the time.

I definately consider myself to be one of the "lucky ones" to have found something that while weighing the same.......shoots well out of all my bows.

Winterhawk1960