Trad Gang

Main Boards => The Shooters FORM Board => Topic started by: PSUBowhunter on February 03, 2009, 01:02:00 PM

Title: Hitting Left
Post by: PSUBowhunter on February 03, 2009, 01:02:00 PM
I consistantly hit to the left, now matter what distance I shot at. The farhter I am from the target, the more left my arrow hits. I have messed around with spines, made no difference. I have messed around with different strike plates and that seemed to make no difference.

Does anyone have any suggestions??

In case it helps, I am shooting 53#@28, but draw to about 27 3/4". I am shooting 30" CX Heritage 150s with 125 tips. My strike plate is either Velcro or Carpet. I shoot three under.

Thanks,
Aaron
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: JoeM on February 03, 2009, 01:10:00 PM
Could be two things. I shoot CX 150  53# @ 25"  My arrows are 29" long, I have a 100 grain insert up front and a 125 grain tip. I needed that 100 grain insert to get them to tune correctly.  Or it could possibly be your alignment, it should be like Terry's clock shows, if your shoulders are angled slightly left that could be causing it also. Not sure if that helps. Joe
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: Friends call me Pac on February 03, 2009, 01:11:00 PM
Is your bow a take down by chance?  I have a take down and one of the limbs was just a tiny bit askew and it did the same thing.  I realinigned the limb and it shoots fine now.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: McDave on February 03, 2009, 01:35:00 PM
Another thing that could cause misses to the left is shooting with a straight bow arm, which can cause your bow hand to recoil to the left on release.  Shooting with a slightly bent bow arm encourages the bow hand to recoil forward.  You should be able to tell if this might be the problem by watching what your bow hand does on release.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: longbow1 on February 03, 2009, 02:12:00 PM
It could also be caused by a collapsing anchor upon release. And string torque.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: PSUBowhunter on February 03, 2009, 02:32:00 PM
I will try to get my wife to take some photos of me shooting, or possibly a video for you guys to critique.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: Friends call me Pac on February 03, 2009, 03:14:00 PM
Video is the way to go.  If you forget about the camera and shoot as normal you will be suprised at what you might find out about your shooting style and form.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: PATGUN on February 03, 2009, 07:56:00 PM
MAYBE YOU NEED A THINNER STRIKER PLATE.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: champ38 on February 03, 2009, 09:00:00 PM
Like McDave said, If I lock my bow arm, I will shoot left regardless of distance. Ive often tried it just to increase my draw length, but it never fails upon release my bow arm moves left causing impact to the left.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: PSUBowhunter on February 04, 2009, 09:20:00 PM
Okay guys, here are some pics and videos, tear them apart. One thing I noticed is that my arm is fully or darn near fully extended. I also noticed my release does not look smooth in the videos. I think my release was alot smoother when I had a clicker on my bow, so I may put it back on.

  (http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e394/aje138/DSCF1046.jpg)

  (http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e394/aje138/DSCF1063.jpg)

  (http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e394/aje138/DSCF1073.jpg)

 (http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e394/aje138/th_DSCF1088.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e394/aje138/?action=view¤t=DSCF1088.flv)

 (http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e394/aje138/th_DSCF1090.jpg) (http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e394/aje138/?action=view¤t=DSCF1090.flv)
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: PSUBowhunter on February 04, 2009, 09:54:00 PM
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e394/aje138/DSCF1098.jpg)
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: McDave on February 04, 2009, 10:34:00 PM
You are holding your bow with an open grip and are reflexively closing your fingers on the grip when you release.  This would not necessarily cause you to shoot to the left, but is a cause of errors.  Try holding your thumb and forefinger closed around the handle of the bow when you shoot, so you don't have to clench your fingers when you release.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: Patrick McCormick on February 05, 2009, 04:21:00 AM
aim right?
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: kevsuperg on February 05, 2009, 04:34:00 PM
seems like youre gripping the bow,try what mcdave suggests,as mentioned try another "aiming" method,looks as if your arms/hands/right shoulder are to high and that seems to cause you to lean into the bow. maybe youre over bowed?? i/ve learned to keep the arrow parallel to your bow arm
make for more accurate shots. by the way i notice your quiver doesnt line up well,hoods on one plane and arrow grip is on another.maybe having those on the limbs is a problem.. good luck and keep shooting
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: McDave on February 05, 2009, 06:12:00 PM
How are you grouping?  Your form looks generally pretty good to me (although Terry and a couple of others always manage to see allignment issues that I miss).  If you are grouping well, and only a little bit to the left, there are changes you could make to your strike plate or arrow spine that would move your group to the right.  If you are scattering arrows to the left, you have to continue to focus on form.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: PSUBowhunter on February 05, 2009, 06:32:00 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by kevsuperg:
seems like youre gripping the bow,try what mcdave suggests,as mentioned try another "aiming" method,looks as if your arms/hands/right shoulder are to high and that seems to cause you to lean into the bow. maybe youre over bowed?? i/ve learned to keep the arrow parallel to your bow arm
make for more accurate shots. by the way i notice toe quiver doesnt line up well,hoods on one plane and arrow grip is on another.maybe hainving those on the limbs is a problem.. good luck and keep shooting
I know what you mean about having my bow arm aligned with my arrow, but I think with my higher anchor this isnt possible.

The quiver is just twisted from resting it on my leg with no arrows in it.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: PSUBowhunter on February 05, 2009, 06:35:00 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by McDave:
How are you grouping?  Your form looks generally pretty good to me (although Terry and a couple of others always manage to see allignment issues that I miss).  If you are grouping well, and only a little bit to the left, there are changes you could make to your strike plate or arrow spine that would move your group to the right.  If you are scattering arrows to the left, you have to continue to focus on form.
my groups are decent, I would say 6-7" @20 yds, and maybe about 15" at 40 yds.

I have messed around with plates some, but I have only tried a carpet rest and velcro. I have also tried diferent spined arrows. The arrows I am shooting now bare shaft perfect.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: PSUBowhunter on February 05, 2009, 06:35:00 PM
I think that if I start to bend my arm more and maybe grip the bow alittle bit more during the shot it will help. I know I also need to work on my release.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: RAM739 on February 05, 2009, 06:37:00 PM
you seem to be shooting w/ a high wrist which is a no no.try shooting w/ a broken wrist.your bow will torgue the same every time.also try lengthening the string 1/4 to 1/2 inch.this will weaken spine.it not try shortening string. good luck
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: PSUBowhunter on February 05, 2009, 07:21:00 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by RAM739:
you seem to be shooting w/ a high wrist which is a no no.try shooting w/ a broken wrist.your bow will torgue the same every time.also try lengthening the string 1/4 to 1/2 inch.this will weaken spine.it not try shortening string. good luck
Are there any pictures or diagrams of the different grips?
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: McDave on February 05, 2009, 07:30:00 PM
I couldn't see what you're using now for a strike plate, but I assume you're using some thin material to get the arrow as far over to the right as possible.

If you can find some material that has some "give" in it to use for your strike plate, like thick fleece or felt, it will cause the arrow to move to the right.  You would think that because of the thickness of the material, it would move your arrows to the left, but because of the arrow dynamics compressing the material, it moves the arrows to the right.  You mentioned you had tried a carpet rest, and I don't know if you mean you just tried it for your rest or you tried it for your strike plate, but something like that might work.

You could try using an arrow with slightly less diameter shaft, and/or slightly weaker in spine.  I know your arrows are bareshafting perfectly now, but adding feathers stiffens the shaft a little, so it doesn't hurt for your bare shafts to show slightly weak, and that will also move the impact to the right.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: PSUBowhunter on February 05, 2009, 07:49:00 PM
I am using the carpet as a strike plate.

I never thought of the feathers stiffening the shaft.

Maybe I will by something like an easton axis arrow with a smaller shaft diameter
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: pdk25 on February 05, 2009, 09:49:00 PM
I certainly don't have the eyes or experience that alot of others have here, but it looks to me like on the release your string hand comes away from your face and then gets pulled back in.  I could be wrong, though.  Tough to say from the side.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: pointystick on February 05, 2009, 09:49:00 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by McDave:
Another thing that could cause misses to the left is shooting with a straight bow arm, which can cause your bow hand to recoil to the left on release.  
I experienced the same thing when I first started shooting. I was straight arming my bows and my arrows consistently shot left no matter what. I agree with trying to put a little bend in your bow arm. Just a slight bend at the elbow helped me dramatically.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: Diamond Paul on February 07, 2009, 07:33:00 AM
Just for kicks, try a much heavier point.  If your bow is not centershot or not cut much past center, you may be overspined.  Go to O.L. Adcock's site and use his bare shaft planing method to see if your shafts really bare shaft as well as you think.  I shoot a 50lb recurve @28", and draw about 28 1/2-3/4" (52lbs), and shoot CE 150's 29.25" w/ 175 grains up front.  If you have a dacron string or a low performance bow, you are almost certainly overspined, which will cause you to shoot left.  It is worth a shot. . .
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: SHOOTO8S on February 07, 2009, 09:24:00 AM
The little head "duck" into the arrow  as you reach anchor is keeping the rear of the arrow to the right of the point, so in effect you have the arrow pointed left...this is always a problem with very high anchors, as the face gets wider the higher up you go, therefore moving the rear of the arrow to the right.... Assuming you tuned with the correction spine for your setup...simply move your head(and anchor) to the left.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: Roy Steele on February 10, 2009, 08:19:00 PM
If it's not your spine not your bow arm.Then you have to be rolling your string at release.Use'ly most shooters do it a little but our hand eye cornation takes it up.With time we stop doing it.And our hand eye cornation moves with it.Dose that make any sense.Really bad cases will make you shoot left.Of these three things.The last is the least suspected and happens the most.I don't know if any of these three things are your problem.But there a good place to start.
Title: Re: Hitting Left
Post by: D. Devall on February 14, 2009, 10:00:00 PM
aim more to the right.  :D