Left again and again

[Gemms]

Just want to run this by you....

About 3 months ago I moved from target recurve to ELB. Since then I have been having problems with arrows constantly going left.
I have tried all the usual things, making sure i was not locking bow arm, weaker arrows of various spines etc but always the arrow went left.

Tonight as i was driving home i had a bit of a revelation.
When shooting recurve the bow was centre cut and I used to line up the string with the edge of my arrow in my sight window. Now I have moved to longbow there is no centre cut but I have subconciously been aligning the string again along the edge of the arrow in my site window.
This means that in effect i am pulling the string to the left of the centre line of the bow so when i release it tries to snap back to centre. As it does this it moves the arrow nock to the right (back to centre) thus causing the tip of the arrow to go left?

Now what i am wondering, being a total noob to all of this, is am I talking rot

opinions please

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Well, you might just be onto something. I've been mainly shooting a longbow for the last few months, and the other day I had a little play with a centre-cut recurve, and suddenly I was hitting to the right of target.

[hue]

not a bad catch Gemms but shooting all of my bows off the hand, i've found you either "aim off" or cant. of the two, canting is more consistant. try that and see what happens!

Hue

[Coach]

Who the hell really knows ? I have just started in the last week and a half shooting a longbow and aim the same way as the recurve ,, I am hitting the spot consistently .

[hue]

but Jeff

is your longbow an ELB or modern?
off the hand brings quite specific problems to bear! depending on the bow!

Hue

[Coach]

Mine is modern . But no where near center cut .

[hue]

but it has a window and reasonable centre shot?

[Coach]

Yeah it has a window ,, as for the

reasonable centre shot

I wouldnt say that at all ,, the arrow sticks WAY out to the left ! When I first put an arrow on it ,, I looked and thought , "How the hell am I supposed to hit anything with this ?"

[Coach]

This is what it looks like
Sorry to hijack Gemms ,, try drawing to the center of your mouth rather than the side , that might help you ,, I know it did me .

[hue]

reasonable centre shot

that it is for a longbow, bearing in mind it is built for finger release and it is enough for you to be able to put the window hard up against the target.
with an ELB, that arrow has to bend round the riser and all things being in place (spine of arrow, weight of arrow, length of arrow and clean release etc) there will still be some clearance issues. sometimes canting can alleviate that left flight to a certain degree, for a right handed archer!

[Gemms]

Strange.

Mysterious edits on my post and now my replies have disappeared!

[Gemms]

But anyway,

Canting with a side of mouth anchor does sort a lot of the problem for me but I am not as comfortable with it.
Also feels like i get a lot more bow arm shock as well.

[Coach]

Strange.

Mysterious edits on my post and now my replies have disappeared!

That happens here

If you are going to only shoot one way ,, you will have to adjust something to get your arrows hitting where you aim . Have you done a bareshaft test ?

[hue]

yeah, i just read more of Jeff's post that wasn't there before with his picture!!!!!!!!!! strange.
Gemms, Jeff's comment on "under the chin" anchoring will help and will also give you greater distance shooting, plus be more consistant.
if you were to hold the bow handle "or grip" on the thumb muscle rather than in the palm, the bow cants naturally and you can do both, with practice. canting does require practice if you've not done it before naturally!

Hue

[Gemms]

Thanks for the tips guys.

I will try that drawing to the centre of the mouth tomorrow

[Coach]

Hue , I dont actually anchor under the chin ,, I anchor at that little dimple in your top lip , just below the nose .
Let us know how you go Gemms

[hue]

how do you know where my dimple is Jeff?
you stalking me?
Gemms, try anchoring under the chin and possibly string touching the nose and see if that works. if not, cant!
also make sure your shoulders are aligned into the target, that brings back tension into play. pardon the pun, give it a shot and lemme know how you go!

Hue

[Gemms]

Its was Torque!

All that faffing around with differant anchor points and cant's etc and then some bright spark gets me to move my grip on the bow and hey presto.
Apparently i was holding it more like a hammer than a bow and the grip i use now is closer to my old target recurve. The bow rests at the base of the thumb with knuckles at about 45degress. I get nice consistant shots on target now....well as much as my lack of talent allows

[ichiban]

keep in mind brace hight affects the arrows angle when the bow is at a brace so theres lots to it and plus modern or elb dosent make alot of diffrence IMO.. because it all depends on the density of the timber as to how wide the bow will be. e.g. my rediron bark longbow is a little under 1" wide, but a modern longbow with say.... tassy blackwood AS the riser may result in a steeper angle.