Compound help

[SLOWHAND]

I’ve been shooting compound for just over a month and things are coming on quite well. I know very little about the technical side of things and last night I noticed something that concerned me. My rest is set up so that the arrow is pretty much lined up with the long rod but at full draw the arrow is not pointing in the same direction as the long rod but off to the left by a small amount. Now I’m not ‘gripping’ the bow, my palm is fairly open so I cannot explain why this should be. Is it me? Is it the bow? Is it worth bothering about?
Any advice would be much appreciated.

[greydog]

If you are right handed.......it'll be your cable guard, but don't worry, it should be consistant with every shot, it's just part of shooting compound Just check you don't have any cam lean...

[Bald Eagle]

You are worrying too much, I know the bow is set up well, just shoot and enjoy!

[SLOWHAND]

Originally Posted by Bald Eagle

You are worrying too much, I know the bow is set up well, just shoot and enjoy!

Wise words BE, but you know what I'm like, about right aint good enough!

[Nightimer]

You cannot use a longrod as a guide to centre shot as the bushing is more often than not inaccurate.
The best test for dynamic centre shot it the good old walk back test.
When you put an arrow in a compound at rest and line it up by eye /laser that is static centre shot as there are no pressure/tension disturbances happening.
When at full draw the effect of cable guard and cam lean come into play plus hand torque as well.
My first check is the paper test to get things pretty close.
Then the walk back.
This is done in a different way to recurve.
First set your sight at 20yards and from 20yards shoot at a point (a small peice of paper will do) slightly high on the boss.
When you hit the paper leave the arrow in the target and hang a length of serving with a weight attached this will give a true vertical line (this line should nearly reach the ground).
Then walk back in 5-7 yard gaps from your starting point leaving your sight at 20yds shooting at the piece of paper each time back to 60 yards.
If your centre shot is good you will be hitting the string from top to bottom from start to finish (or very close to it).
If you are drifting left or right just keep doing the same test but move the arrow rest in or out by VERY small amounts.
AT THIS STAGE DO NOT CHANGE THE SIGHT WINDAGE you still have the vertical line to work with.
So when your arrows run down the target in a vertical line in relation to the string (either left or right of it) you have got perfect centre shot and you can move your windage on the sight to hit the string if you wish.
Do not do a paper test after this as you most likely see a tear which is not perfect.

Hope this helps (apologies if you were aware of this method already :-) )

Nightimer

[SLOWHAND]

Thanks for the replies.

[Moose]

Originally Posted by Nightimer

You cannot use a longrod as a guide to centre shot as the bushing is more often than not inaccurate.
The best test for dynamic centre shot it the good old walk back test.
When you put an arrow in a compound at rest and line it up by eye /laser that is static centre shot as there are no pressure/tension disturbances happening.
When at full draw the effect of cable guard and cam lean come into play plus hand torque as well.
My first check is the paper test to get things pretty close.
Then the walk back.
This is done in a different way to recurve.
First set your sight at 20yards and from 20yards shoot at a point (a small peice of paper will do) slightly high on the boss.
When you hit the paper leave the arrow in the target and hang a length of serving with a weight attached this will give a true vertical line (this line should nearly reach the ground).
Then walk back in 5-7 yard gaps from your starting point leaving your sight at 20yds shooting at the piece of paper each time back to 60 yards.
If your centre shot is good you will be hitting the string from top to bottom from start to finish (or very close to it).
If you are drifting left or right just keep doing the same test but move the arrow rest in or out by VERY small amounts.
AT THIS STAGE DO NOT CHANGE THE SIGHT WINDAGE you still have the vertical line to work with.
So when your arrows run down the target in a vertical line in relation to the string (either left or right of it) you have got perfect centre shot and you can move your windage on the sight to hit the string if you wish.
Do not do a paper test after this as you most likely see a tear which is not perfect.

Hope this helps (apologies if you were aware of this method already :-) )

Nightimer

I set the scope with the centre in line with the arrow tip and string, with the rest at true static centre, then do the walkback, this is to minimise the amount of rest movement if you have been shooting with an extremely bad windage setting or just installed the sight any old way.