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Biggest culprit for left/right misses?

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5.spot

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
What is the biggest culprit for left & right misses? I'm not talking about consistently left or consistently right. I talking about if I shoot a group of 5, some shots will be to the left. Then the next group of 5, some will be to the right. I've been doing a lot of shooting at 70, a few might end up as 7-8" left of the center, then the next group, a few might end up 7-8" to the right. I can't seem to find any consistency.

I figure it has to be something I'm doing, so I've been trying to pay attention to grip, anchor, etc. This is level ground, so 3rd axis shouldn't come into play. I've been watching my sight bubble closely. What are some of the main culprits that cause left & right misses that I should be checking. Draw length maybe? Thanks
 
#3 ·
Too much/too little pressure into the face. General inconsistencies with anchoring.

It can be the level of the sight, it can be the tune of the bow, but the level is easily checked and the tune of the bow would result in a consistent miss to one side.

I'm struggling with a similar kind of problem myself at the moment, allthough most of my misses are out to the right. I rarely push them out to the left.
Pay extra attention to the straightness of your head towards the target and the pressure you put into your anchor point.
If you shoot with both eyes open, try to close your non-dominant eye for a couple of shots to see your peep sight more clearly.

A more trivial cause for the issue could be a peep that's too large or too small, which basically coincides with the anchoring issue.
 
#4 ·
Grip!
 
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#5 ·
Grip is more than likely the culprit. Torque tuning your bow would help in this case.

From there, stance, facial pressures varying, release hand coming away from the face differently, peep and scope housing alignment, if it's a handheld then different pressures in the fingers from one shot to another, contact, bow tune. Just to name a few culprits.
 
#8 ·
5.spot said:
What is the biggest culprit for left & right misses? I'm not talking about consistently left or consistently right. I talking about if I shoot a group of 5, some shots will be to the left. Then the next group of 5, some will be to the right. I've been doing a lot of shooting at 70, a few might end up as 7-8" left of the center, then the next group, a few might end up 7-8" to the right. I can't seem to find any consistency.

I figure it has to be something I'm doing, so I've been trying to pay attention to grip, anchor, etc. This is level ground, so 3rd axis shouldn't come into play. I've been watching my sight bubble closely. What are some of the main culprits that cause left & right misses that I should be checking. Draw length maybe? Thanks
Click to expand...
70 yards or 70 meters? Either way, a Torque Indicator will do wonders for your training shots.





1/4-inch threaded rod. Some fender washers and some nuts. Block of wood. Drill 1/4-inch hole. Shove threaded rod through the block of wood and attach threaded rod to your sight extension bar. Drill a 1/16th inch diameter vertical hole for the paper clip indicator. BEND into a U shape. Add a dab of hot melt to the top.



Dab of hot melt prevents the paper clip from spinning in the hole.



Use the threaded rod to move the TORQUE INDICATOR to the left or right, until the paper clip lines up directly behind your scope up pin, behind your fiber optic, behind your scope dot/circle sticker. ROTATE the block of wood to move the TORQUE INDICATOR up or down. NOW, when you come to full draw and execute a "GOOD SHOT", fine tune the torque indicator left or right, to line up directly behind your scope pin. THen, anytime the TORQUE INDICATOR is NOT lined up with your scope pin, LET DOWN and figure out what you are doing.

Too much SIDEWAYS face pressure? Collapsing bow shoulder (bow shoulder creeping up and you are leaning back)? Leaning backwards more than normal, so your
release elbow is even FURTHER behind your head....than normal? Gripping your handle release with a different amount of finger curl?

Excess thumb muscle pressure in the bow hand? THIS is a biggie, and will cause the paper clip TORQUE INDICATOR move nearly 1/4-inch sideways, when at full draw.



This bow hand grip will not give consistent results.



THIS bow hand grip will also not give consistent results.
 
#9 ·
Position your bow hand exactly the same, for each shot.







The mark on the back of your hand, and the vertical line on the masking tape, will make absolutely sure, that you position your bow hand exactly the same. Then, the only thing to work on your grip, is knuckles rotation angle from shot to shot to shot.



Hold a ball with three fingers, to act as a spacer, to the knuckles rotation is exactly the same.

INconsistent coiling of the upper body (shoulders pointing one direction on shot #1 and shoulders pointing another direction on shot #2)?





Same fella (2nd Nature) but this shows you shoulder alignment at full draw. YELLOW dashed lines show the shoulder alignment.
 
#10 ·
For me, draw length and d-loop length have come up as problems with left/rights. Generally, too long on either or both is a lot worse than slightly too short and the diagnostic is going left for a while, then a good period and then drifting to the right as I fatigue. When I'm too stretched out, the back muscles run out of gas pretty quickly and the deltoids on the bow arm will start to ache. By then I also start making wild shots left and right too.

Generally, if I can't hold it against the wall without using small muscles in either or both arms, it's usually draw length and/or d loop too long. If the string and release are jammed into the face, that's an extreme case of being too stretched out also.

The other major cause for me is fatigue or being overbowed in general. I break down in a very specific way when I get tired; the shoulders scruntch up and everything feels like the bow is suddenly too long. The string will dance on and off the tip of the nose and where the arrow goes nobody knows.

lee.
 
#11 ·
I agree with the grip causing the problem. Not rotating my hand enough with my thumb release will make me go right. No way is best, the grip just needs to be consistent.
 
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#15 ·
it appears im in the minority here with my opinion, but at that range, only missing by that much seems very slight. grip issues would probably make misses larger than that.

when i shoot my heavy arrows my d loop stays where i set it and the peep stays perfectly lined up and i dont have minor left/right misses. when i shoot my lighter arrows, theres more energy left in the string and my d loop moves tiny amounts. every 5 or so shots i have to twist it a tiny little bit to keep my peep straight, why my peep isnt exactly straight, i have left/right misses based on the glare in the peep and rotation of the peep.

my guess is that its something simple like that. 7-8" at 70 yds are minor misses
 
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jaximus
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