I've been shooting split for 10 + years and have played around with 3 under and it seemed easier/more natural, AND my groups were much more consistent. Now, this was done from a longbow and recurve built for shooting split finger. I am taking some much needed archery classes and my question is this; should I decide to switch to 3 under, do I need to start over with a bow built for this style of shooting? Or, can I simply adjust the nock position on my string?
Thank you Gang!
Andrew
I honestly don't know where the notion that bows are built for split or 3-under came from. Bows are built with tiller. Usually somewhere from 0 to 1/4 positive, but some are built with a negative tiller.
Hand placement, finger placement, shelf, elevated rest, individual torque, nocking point height, etc. all will have a bearing on tuning.
Imagine two doors slamming shut at the same time. That's what your limbs need to do. You achieve that by tuning and it doesn't matter how the bow is tillered.
IOW... All you need do is tune your bow and shoot it.
Thank you Jim
If you're happy with the bows you have now, I wouldn't get rid of any of them, but if you buy new bows, you should buy them 3 under, if that's the way you're going to shoot. Bowyers tiller them differently for a reason, and generally bows that are shot the same way they are tillered are quieter. Most of the bows I had shot just fine when I switched, but there were a few that had issues, like really high nock points, and I eventually ended up selling them.
Not that it matters, but let's say a bow is "made" for 3-under. That generally means it has an even tiller. Another is built for split finger shooting. That generally means he'll tiller the bow at 1/8" positive.
In my most humble opinion... 1/8" in tiller means very little to nothing at the string. You just need to tune the bow for what style you're shooting.
When bowyers start asking if you use more web of the hand, heel of the hand, how much pressure is on each finger, etc., etc., I'll start believing they build them a certain way for a reason.
Great information guys thank you
My Schafer seems to do just fine when I shoot 3 under- so too does my Timberghost Apparition
Andrew
I agree, just tune the way you shoot and don't look back. I witched to 3-under about 5 years ago after shooting split for almost 40 years. All I found necessary was to raise my nock point about 1/8". I like everything about it: shorter point-on, better "sight picture", cleaner release due to less finger interference with the arrow nock. One thing that will help with the increase in noise that you hear so much about is to keep very little pressure on your ring finger - like 10% or less.