Which do you think will control better. Four 4" Shields or four 4 1/2" Bananas?

With a well tuned bow and arrow combo, you won't be able to tell the difference.

By all rights the more surface the faster recovery, but I'll stick by my first statement.

Thanks Charlie! Think I'll go with the 4 1/2" Bananas for the larger surface area.

5 1/2" Banana

I am happy with 4" parabolic, so your 4 1/2" bananas should be great.

For me, it depends on the shaft.  For wood arrows, I still use 5 inch.  But for carbons I use 4 inch.  4 inch feathers are all you need for carbons, and they are a bit faster, and do not drop as much at longer ranges.  If I'm shooting wood...and I don't shoot wood much anymore, then I'll go with 5 inch since even a straight wood shaft is never really all that straight!