Tech Tips 

Things to look for on your bow.

Your bow should be inspected and or serviced throughout the year if you shoot often. If you are curious if your bow is in peak working order, here are some things you could check on your own.

Cam and shafts should be taken apart yearly to inspect for wear of the plastic bushings and wear shims.axle shafts for gouges or nicks on the wear surface of the shaft. Check to make sure the cam does not have excessive lateral movement when on the axle shaft. If a cam is dragging slightly you bow will shoot erratically.

The way to check for timing is to slowly pull the bow back and watch to make sure both cam roll over at the same time, this is done easier if you have a second person or lower the draw weight.The next thing to look for is for nicks in the cam itself where the string is in contact with the cam. Usually you will find them on the bottom cam from the bow hitting the ground while being lowered from your tree stand or being rested on the ground, it is a sure why to damage your string. The nicks can easily be fixed with a small file our sand paper. Clean out any excess wax that has built up in the string grooves well. When you re-assemble the cam in the limb check for excessive space between the hub of the cam and the limb you can use plastic washer to shim this. Be careful too much of a good thing can cause problems make sure the cam moves freely . This will allow the cam to move freely but not in a sideways motion.

The cable guard rod and slide are very simple, you need to make sure that it is smooth and free of dust and dirt. If the plastic part is worn now is a good time to replace it with the new Teflon one's. They wear better and are smoother on the rod. If they are any nicks or scratches you can sand the rod as well, I find that the Teflon ones wear longer and do not chatter like the plastic ones do.

The string all bows have them, the first thing to look at is the serving on the string. Look for fraying ends or cuts in strands of the main string, if no strands are cut the string can be re-served. The cables should be inspected in the same way as the string. String stretch on a two-cam bow cause the cams to be out of time. This will cause erratic arrow flight and more than likely a frustrated shooter. On a one-cam bow it will cause the groups to be lower, you can adjust your sight a small amount or add a twist to the string to compensate for the stretch.

Tips for better shooting form.Ever hear people say to push using your bow arm. Push it directly towards the target. Push that shoulder down! What they mean is that people usually forget that the bow arm needs to counter the pulling arm. Everyone is focusing on pulling the string back and forgetting that you need to have a similar tension on the other arm or the forces on your skeletal structure will not equate. Without the proper balance, when you release that shot, you jerk and you flinch. What you need to do is achieve balance by working both your pulling and pushing arms. 

There is no big secret to archery. Don't obsess about any one thing. There is no one secret to a great archery: it is a combination of everything. Good equipment. Good training. Good coaching. Good mindset. Good conditions. Talk to good archers. You'll find they'll tell you different things. Why? Because what works for someone will not work for you. You need to figure out how best to put it together. That's part of the fun. Need any help? Talk with us. We've got years of experience dealing with every sort of archer. It's a great resource you can't afford to ignore.

Start with the Bow Arm.

The first thing to sort out is the type of grip you use, as this is very influential in the set of your entire arm. DON’T GRIP THE BOW. That’s the first thing to get straight. You don’t have to keep your fingers around the handle of the bow to stop it from falling from your hands, especially at full draw, when the action and pressure of the draw obviously keeps it in your hand. If you’re using a sling (as you should be!) then the bow won’t fall out of your hands after the shot either. If you do grip the bow then almost inevitably the pressure of your fingers will deflect it by a fraction and it won’t be pointing where you think it is: when you let go of the string the bow will start to turn and point in the direction that the pressure of your hand dictates. This should be at the middle of the target, but it won’t be if your grip is pushing on the bow. So don’t grip it. Equally, don’t keep your fingers rigidly straight away from the bow: this can cause just as many problems!

      The second thing to do is to use a 45 degree angled grip on the bow. This means that the knuckles on your bow hand form a 45 degree angle with the bow, and the handle of the bow goes down the side of the ball of the thumb rather than the palm of the hand. The main point of pressure should be just at the top of the ball of the thumb. This helps keep your fingers out of the way of the bow handle: tuck them into your palm and keep them relaxed. It also helps with the set of the rest of the arm.

                Your bow arm should be straight: not rigid (ie tense), but definitely straight rather than bent. There are several reasons for this. Partly because you will inevitably bend it different amounts on different shots, and partly because the bent arm is not as strong as the straight one, and will probably start to bend more as you come up to full draw and try to come through the clicker. Getting the forward pressure right is also much easier with a straight arm, and it should ensure a more consistent direction of pressure as well.

                If you are successfully keeping your arm straight and using the 45 degree angled grip then your elbow should be pointing sideways, so that if you bent it, it would point towards the wall rather than the floor. This means that it won’t be sticking out into the path of the string. If you’re doing all the above and still have a sticking out elbow then pay extra attention to moving it out of the way by rotating it: most people can do this, even if their elbows stick out a bit. When you’re setting up the shot, make sure that the elbow is in the right position, and try to keep it there. 

You grip the bow too tightly

When you are at full draw, the tension in the string will force the bow to align itself in a certain direction. When you release, this tension vanishes and the bow aligns itself in whatever direction the position of your hand suggests. If these two directions aren't exactly the same, the bow will rotate slightly and give the arrow a kick to the side. You can tell when you're doing this, because the arrow will wiggle from side to side ("fishtail") while it's in flight, and your horizontal grouping will be poor. You should also notice that when you draw, the bow twists in your hand from its original position.

The solution? The only real solution is to invest in a sling, so you don't have to grip the bow at all (you can leave your fingers open, and the sling stops the bow jumping out of your hand when you release).

Simply relax your grip a bit. You don't need to clench the handle tightly - thumb and forefinger should be enough, with your other three fingers held lightly out the way.