Little help for a novice

[Hunter74]

Hey gang, so I began my journey into traditional archery this spring. It's been a blast as well as a little bit of an addiction! Now that I have several months of shooting in I have what I believe is good and consistent form down, most of the time lol. I very consistently get arrow slapping groups at 20 yrds. The problem is that its always 3" to the left of the spot I'm aiming at. I'm not so sure its a setup problem because I have this happen with all 3 of my bows using the same arrow. So I would like to know what sort of things in form can influence this and what I should try to focus on to see if its something I am doing?

[moebow]

If you are consistently shooting to the left (right handed shooter) the FIRST place I'd look is where you are anchoring on your face.  The string should be in front of your eye or very nearly so.  Many beginners pull it too far back and end up with the arrow nock to the right which causes left misses.

Can you post a video of your shooting?

Arne

[Tater John]

http://www.tradgang.com/upload/terry/form2clock3.JPG

[The Whittler]

If your arrows are flying good then just twist up your brace hight a little at a time until you see your arrows come to center. It's as easy as that.

[Orion]

You could be left eye dominant.  Or, you may not be turning your head enough toward the target and are looking across the arrow rather than over/down it when you draw. As Moebow suggests, where you anchor also affects alignment of the arrow under the eye.

[BEN]

Maybe try canting the bow more?

[manitou1]

If you checked the above items, and if you have a a hard or leather arrow side plate, replace it with a soft plate such as velcro... that will move your groups right.

[Hunter74]

I guess I can't be positive without seeing a picture of myself from behind and above but I believe my alignment is very good. Everything feels rigid and I focus on everything in my upper body to point straight at or straight away from the target. My anchor is my thumb nuckle tucked behind my jaw and under my ear, my middle finger in the corner of my mouth, index finger against my cheek bone and feather touching the tip of my nose. This anchor has seemed to be very solid and consistent, however I do turn my head slightly to the right to achieve all those contact points.

Moebow, I guess I really haven't paid attention to were the string is in reference to my eye. But if I were to draw shorter than I do now I'm not sure if I could engage back tension.

[gonefishing600]

If it where me the first thing I would do is pick out my favorite bow, and shoot only that bow untill I solved the problem.

Then i would find me the biggest set of broadheads I could find and stand off about 30 to 40 yards and check my arrow flight. You can really tell if your arrows are tuned right when you put the broadheads on.

if all checks out, I would focus on my release,  Making sure I was getting a clean release, and not plucking the string.

I had a similiar problem, and it was both of the above.

[moebow]

Hunter74,

"Moebow, I guess I really haven't paid attention to were the string is in reference to my eye. But if I were to draw shorter than I do now I'm not sure if I could engage back tension."

Again, really need to see!  BUT back tension is not "engaged" at full draw but starts at the start of the draw.  Your references on your face (commonly called the "anchor") have little to nothing to do with "back tension."  The references are important to alignment at full draw to get the arrow under your eye.  IF you are pulling too far back, the arrow nock will move to the right which in turn causes left misses for a right hander.

Arne

[karrow]

Originally posted by manitou1:
If you checked the above items, and if you have a a hard or leather arrow side plate, replace it with a soft plate such as velcro... that will move your groups right.

good advice here, if your form is good and CONSTANT. IMO i would have a hard time changing my form to make a bow shoot where i look. you should be able to tune the bow to shoot where you look. Good luck

[Hunter74]

I'll see what I can do for video over the weekend. I'm curious to see just what I look like also!

Moebow, perhaps I worded it wrong or maybe I don't completely understand the use of back tension myself. What I mean is if I keep my hand farther forward on my face my elbow is out or to the right. Yes I can still use my back muscles to pull through the shot with my hand farther forward and elbow out. But to get near full expansion with my elbow pointing straight away from the target my hand needs to be about where its at, I think. Basically at full draw I anchor at the point where my elbow is pointing straight back, once anchored I start the expansion or pull through of my shot.

[JamesKerr]

It sounds like your arrows might be a little stiff to me. Try some heavier points and see if that doesn't bring them in for you.

[Hunter74]

I'll see what I can do for video over the weekend. I'm curious to see just what I look like also!

Moebow, perhaps I worded it wrong or maybe I don't completely understand the use of back tension myself. What I mean is if I keep my hand farther forward on my face my elbow is out or to the right. Yes I can still use my back muscles to pull through the shot with my hand farther forward and elbow out. But to get near full expansion with my elbow pointing straight away from the target my hand needs to be about where its at, I think. Basically at full draw I anchor at the point where my elbow is pointing straight back, once anchored I start the expansion or pull through of my shot.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by The Whittler:
If your arrows are flying good then just twist up your brace height a little at a time until you see your arrows come to center. It's as easy as that.

Could you explain the reasoning behind this statement?

I would be looking more at depth of shelf cut out and proper spine personally. The only way a higher brace is going to bring that arrow right is with a long bow not cut to center shooting a low brace to start with.... am i all wet here?

[The Whittler]

Kirk, when I started stick bow shooting over 25 years ago I was shooting with a friend who had been shooting stick bows for a number of years.

My arrows where flying good and straight but kept going to the left just a little. He told me to bring my BH up a little at a time until the arrows started shooting to center or where I was looking. I was shooting a recurve at rhe time and it has worked quite well over the years for me with a recurve or LB.