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[Adam]

Nothing remarkable really, but a salutary lesson in the need to do the simple things well.

Up until Christmas I was shooting my best indoor scores ever. However, I did have a tendency to miss the bottom spot on a Fita 18 face to the right. In January, in an attempt to correct this, I added a 4oz. counter-weight to the bow to offset the weight of the sight/sight-window. This certainly reduced the number of right-sided misses, but my scores have been down ever since and on Sunday, at Evesham, I shot my worst score for a year. (In fact all of the 5 Fita 18's I've shot in competition this year have been between 575 and 578, way down on my pre-Christmas scores). I've had the odd good round, but these have been the exception not the rule.

Last night I removed the counter-weight, then started a round with half-dozens that went 60, 59, 58, 56, 56. At this point I stopped scoring and tried to figure out why it was going so badly wrong. All of my misses were low - inside the recurve 10 but not scoring on the inner 10 - some were a bit left, some right, but ALL were low.

It took me just 3 arrows to figure it out. I was dropping my bow arm slightly as the shot went off. As soon as I began to concentrate on keeping it still, my scores leapt back up and the next 6 half-dozens went 60, 59, 60, 58, 59, 59.

I believe that the extra weight initially caused me to drop my arm on release, and that this muscle reaction became a habit so that even with the weight removed I was still doing it.

Conclusions? Well, they go like this:

1. even a small change to the bow set-up can have an effect (adverse or otherwise) on form. Although 4oz. is no big deal, I think young elastic (say, 21 year old) muscles would accept the change in mass weight no problem, but my less efficient (42 year old) muscles didn't react well - this is despite my being in the best physical shape I've seen for many a year.

2. the best equipment in the world won't compensate for poor form. Getting the shot right is worth far more points than anything else.

3. find what works for you, and stick with it until everything about the shot routine becomes ingrained. Then, when something goes wrong (as it inevitably will), you'll be able to recognise what feels wrong and know how to correct it.

Adam

[Marcus26]

Great advise Adam, glad to hear you found the cause.

I had a heap of trouble keeping my Protec from canting to the right, going to an UltraElite fixed it without the need of a counter weight. May be worth considering.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Marcus26

I had a heap of trouble keeping my Protec from canting to the right, going to an UltraElite fixed it without the need of a counter weight. May be worth considering.

May indeed. As it is, I'm just really focussing on keeping the bow straight, on my 3rd shot especially.

Adam

[grantwomack]

Great advice there Adam.
I am amazed by the number of people who drop their bow arm just before or during the shot. I do the same from time to time, and until I really focus on strong and stable form, it continues to happen.
Nice shooting anyway - 584 is nothing to be disappointed with!

[Adam]

Originally Posted by grantwomack

584 is nothing to be disappointed with!

'Tis when you're looking for 590!

Adam

[GeoffT]

Adam, An interesting tale. I have just read James Park's "Mastering Compound Bows". This prompts me to ask: where is the centre of mass of your bow with and without the extra weight?

Marcus, I think I have heard you mention this book. Do you consider James' comments on centre of mass important?

[Adam]

Without the weight on, if I put my finger directly in front of the throat of the grip it will balance beautifully. With the weight on, it's very bottom limb heavy.

I much prefer the balance without the weight, and I've never liked v-bars, so I guess I'll stick with that. It holds fantastically still over the gold and, if I make sure I keep it upright, puts the arrows exactly where I'm pointing them.

Adam

[Bald Eagle]

1/8th tiller on your top limb should correct low shots,the bow will balance better in the hand and stay level on release and you'll keep the spot on the gold easier. Honest!

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Bald Eagle

1/8th tiller on your top limb should correct low shots,the bow will balance better in the hand and stay level on release and you'll keep the spot on the gold easier. Honest!

I'm a big proponent of tiller tuning. Believe me, it's been fettled about as well as it could possibly be.

The low shots aren't (in this instance) caused by tiller. Before fiddling with the weights I was averaging 585-586 for Fita 18. Hopefully, now that I've reverted to my previous set-up, the average will improve again.

Adam

[Marcus26]

Balance is vital. James watched me shoot my bow and we moved weight around till it was spot on. We got it so there was no kick in any direction on release and the bow held instantly better.
The bow only weighs in at 6.75lb so it's easy to shoot.

I use to tiller tune when I shot round wheel bows in the early 90's but don't do it now. You are tuning out the nock travel with it by making slight changes to the timing. It has no value on single cam or binary cam bows. With my Hoyt's we measured the nock travel and got it spot on that way.