Which side of string? Goofy Question?

[gobblegrunter]

This might be a VERY GOOFY question, but I'm gonna ask it anyway, blaming the goofiness of it on the fact that I'm a new trad shooter...      

When at full draw, what side of the string should you look past while looking down the arrow?

Here's why I ask:

I'm left-eye dominant and shoot left-handed, but I found that I consistently shoot 3in to the right. So, in experimenting, I began to look down the left side of the string rather than down the right side of the string and my groups came over to where they should be! I started to question what eye-dominance I actually was, but I am WITHOUT QUESTION left-eye dominant...

It seems to me from what full-draw pics I've seen that RH shooters look down the left side of the string and LH shooters look down the right side of the string...which leads me to believe I'm wrong for looking down the left side as a LH shooter...    :confused:  

does this make any sense to anyone? Any help answering this question would be greatly appreciated as good form is a very priority for me as a beginner. Thanks!    

[moebow]

Interesting question gobble.  One that I haven't really thought about before.  I think you are right that getting your eye "across" the string would actually put the arrow nock inside your left eye (closer to your nose) rather than under it.  IF your form is consistent, that little change could easily cause a small right miss.  It doesn't take much movement of your rear sight (anchor point) to cause significant error at the target.

Sounds as though you may be tilting your head too far forward (toward your chest) and getting across the string.  Keep your head up and bring the string to your face, not your face to the string.

Really not GOOFY at all. Look to your form and that STARTS with stance and posture.  Let us know how it works out.

[gobblegrunter]

Thats great help moebow, I assume then that I should looking on the right side of the string then? Because what I meant was that when I look "across" the string (in other words, to the left of the string) I actually hit dead-on where I'm looking. It's when I look to the right of the string (which seems to be what every other LH shooter does) that I shoot to the right.
 
Either way, in thinking about it, I suppose I probably do tilt my head in toward the string rather than keeping it straight and bringing the string to my face. I'll have to pay closer attention to this during my next shooting session. Thanks for the great feedback!

[moebow]

gobble, with your last post, I'd be looking at my string hand.  If you are looking to the left of the string (between the string and the bow) and getting good hits and hitting right when on the right side of the string, it sounds as though you are plucking the string a little on release.  That string hand MUST stay welded to your face.  It needs to move back along your face but MUST not loose contact until it leaves your jaw bone moving back toward your shoulder.  How far that rearward movement travels is an individual thing.

As a rule of thumb, 1/8th inch change at the anchor point will produce around an 8" change in hitting point at 20 yards.

Take it slow, a 3" inch problem (at 20 yards) is pretty minor.  If you are consistent with what you are doing, 3" is better than most can shoot on any given day.

[gobblegrunter]

Originally posted by moebow:
gobble, with your last post, I'd be looking at my string hand.  If you are looking to the left of the string (between the string and the bow) and getting good hits and hitting right when on the right side of the string

So, just to nail it down, (I'm a little slow  :(  ) the proper way WOULD be to look to the right of the string? (if, like you said, you're looking at your string hand)


also...


 

Originally posted by moebow:

As a rule of thumb, 1/8th inch change at the anchor point will produce around an 8" change in hitting point at 20 yards.

Take it slow, a 3" inch problem (at 20 yards) is pretty minor.  If you are consistent with what you are doing, 3" is better than most can shoot on any given day.

 Wish I could say that I'm shooting at 20 yds...I neglected to say that I'm actually only shooting at 10-12yds    

You've brought some GREAT things to the table for me to think about and I'll concentrate on these things next time I shoot. (wish it wasn't dark outside already so I could go out now!)

[moebow]

I had to go get my bow out and see what it was that I see (or don't) when I shoot.  For me, the string is a blurry item right in the center of my vision.  It is NOT something I think about when I shoot.  I'm conscious of the arrow under my eye but I'm focused on the target.  I'd suggest that for now, that you concentrate on nock to point arrow alignment on the target and don't worry too much about where the string lays.

I think that I would reemphasize your string hand movement on release.  If it moves out from your face, you will hit to the right -- being a lefty.

[gobblegrunter]

Ok, great! Thanks for gettin the bow out and spendin all this time helpin me out! I really appreciate it!

[chuckbow]

a slightly thinner strike plate might help,if not a slightly heavier point should do the trick for that 3" also you can try lowering youre brace hieght 1/8 any of these may work, best of luck, chuck


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[gobblegrunter]

Originally posted by chuckbow:
a slightly thinner strike plate might help,if not a slightly heavier point should do the trick for that 3" also you can try lowering youre brace hieght 1/8 any of these may work, best of luck, chuck


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Is your suggestion that I might be overspined? If so, hopefully I'll have that covered soon as I have some weaker spined arrows on order. Thanks for your help!

[gobblegrunter]

Will I hit high as well as right if I'm overspined? I guess I should mention that when I'm right, I'm usually a high as well. I didn't mention it earlier because I figured I just wasnt aiming the height properly...

[Rattus58]

Originally posted by gobblegrunter:
This might be a VERY GOOFY question, but I'm gonna ask it anyway, blaming the goofiness of it on the fact that I'm a new trad shooter...        

When at full draw, what side of the string should you look past while looking down the arrow?

Here's why I ask:

I'm left-eye dominant and shoot left-handed, but I found that I consistently shoot 3in to the right. So, in experimenting, I began to look down the left side of the string rather than down the right side of the string and my groups came over to where they should be! I started to question what eye-dominance I actually was, but I am WITHOUT QUESTION left-eye dominant...

It seems to me from what full-draw pics I've seen that RH shooters look down the left side of the string and LH shooters look down the right side of the string...which leads me to believe I'm wrong for looking down the left side as a LH shooter...     :confused:    

does this make any sense to anyone? Any help answering this question would be greatly appreciated as good form is a very priority for me as a beginner. Thanks!      

I'm not into sights and stuff and shoot off the shelf, but my son is the same as you, right handed and left eye dominate and was frustrated with our progress until we tried a sight... which wasn't really a sight more of an eyebold we screwed through an old sight pin plate I got from an archery shop downtown when I begged him for ideas.

The eyebolt was large enough to see through and and later became more than just a hit the target aid, the upper rung worked great on close shots, and the lower rung worked out to almost 30 yards, and in fact, my son made the most amazing shot on a pheasant that I know was some luck, but hey... any success is success right...    

We still use that same eyebolt....

Much Aloha...  :cool:

[gobblegrunter]

In another recent thread titled "where do you anchor" the original poster states the following:

"I'm thinking about starting to change and start shooting with the string on the inside of my eye to help me "feel" where the arrow is going."

Is he speaking of the same thing here that I'm fighting with? (which side of the string to look on)

I didn't want to hijack his thread, so I thought I'd put this here to see if we're referring to the same thing in different words. Is it? If so, is it common practice to put the string on "the inside of your eye"?