Troubleshooting My Tuning Problems
Posted By
Bill Winke
at
3/15/2011 12:00:00 AM
Filed under:
journal
In the last episode, I discussed tuning the Hoyt CRX. I was struggling with a tail-left tear and was considering finding a stiffer arrow. This is the story of my hunt for a solution. Please read it all the way through, I think the conclusion will surprise you. At the first signs of the tail-left tear, I tried all the likely adjustments of the rest and nocking point. I checked the timing of the cams to be sure they were both hitting full draw at the same moment. I even made sure the top cam was aligned vertically with the string by twisting one side of the split yoke that is attached to the top limb tips by a couple of turns.
As a side note: The easiest way to check cam alignment is to lay an arrow along the cam and see if it lines up parallel with the string. Mine did.
Here’s why this matters: when the cam is leaning, the forces acting on the cam generally cause it to lean even more during the draw. The string moves sideways as you draw and snaps back as you release the string. This causes sideways arrow flight.
I didn’t mention that adjustment in the episode because I didn’t want to throw too much information out there at one time. I did receive a couple of e-mails from viewers suggesting that I try exactly this method to eliminate the tail-left tear. So I decided to revisit this adjustment.
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| Your grip will affect your arrow flight more than you may realize. |
The next thing I needed to eliminate was the arrow. I shoot a long draw with a heavy draw weight, so I test my arrows every time I squeeze the trigger. Maybe the arrows were not stiff enough - though I had been using these arrows for several years. These new bows put out so much energy, in such a short burst, that maybe my arrows just weren’t up to the task.
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Arrow flight affects your accuracy while hunting - especially if you |
Then the thought hit me – maybe it was my grip. Just to shake things up, I pulled the wooden grip off the CRX and took another shot through the paper, same tear! Same size, same everything. It never changed.
Running out of ideas, I started playing with the way I was holding the bow just to see if it would make a difference. By making large adjustments in my grip, I did notice some small changes in the size of the tear. It was my first breakthrough.
Focusing on my grip, I realized that my bow hand was overly tense. I had not been doing a lot of shooting lately so my form was off just a bit and when that happens, the first thing to go is a relaxed bow hand. It starts to get tense. By relaxing my bow hand, and going back to my original grip, the tear all but disappeared.
After all this time and adjustment, could it be that easy? Relaxation is so critical to shooting a bow well. Your bow becomes a lightning rod for tension. I had been tense throughout the tuning process and it showed in my arrow flight.
This should not have come as a surprise. I remember helping a friend tune his bow many years ago. Tom was left-handed and no matter what we did, the bow made a wicked sideways tear. Finally, out of desperation, I shot the bow – right-handed. I made a perfect bullet-hole. We both stood shocked. By simply playing with how he placed his thumb on the grip, Tom was able to duplicate my results. This lesson that cost me a lot of time to troubleshoot, but it was good to reinforce a number of important tuning principles. I hope you have learned something from my journey.
The CRX shoots great, my problems stemmed from human error.
Removing human error from the tuning process will be the subject of my next blog.
