# Confused about stabilizers



## rohpenguins (Dec 2, 2012)

How does your bow hold when you are on the target? What kind of shooting do you plan on doing? Almost any rig will benefit from a stabilizer. Give the pro shop guy a break I think he was trying to say is if you are shooting well you may not want to mess with one. He is right if you dont miss you dont need one LOL


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

What type of shooting do you do??

Hunting, indoor target, 3D target, outdoor target?


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## Quizzle (Feb 17, 2013)

I plan on doing outdoor target and 3d if I can find it. I just think sometimes my arrows go left but overall my grouping is good, I put holes in vanes this weekend. 


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## da white shoe (Mar 10, 2009)

I'm not a serious target archer, but I think that most shooters could benefit from a stabilizer of some kind.
There are three reasons to use a stabilizer...
1. The longer, heavier ones make your bow harder to move... and therefore, they steady your sight pins. The same reason a tightrope walker uses a long bar instead of a short one.
2. They can be used to make your bow sit perfectly vertical at full draw and react in a positive, consistent way after the shot.
3. They can be used to absorb vibration and noise.

My current bow sits very well in my hand at full draw and is very quite, barebow... without anything added. 
I only hunt with it... no target competition. 
I hunt mountains a lot and a light weight bow is desirable to me.
I use the shortest Simms stabilizer I could find... just to further dampen the sound of my shot. It only adds a few ounces.


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

Quizzle said:


> I plan on doing outdoor target and 3d if I can find it. I just think sometimes my arrows go left but overall my grouping is good, I put holes in vanes this weekend.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD



This sounds like something that a stabilizer won't fix. It's something else with your form that you are not running the same every shot. It's not unusual for an archer to be consistent during one day, but have to reset their sight the next day. The reason is that they are changing their form slightly - different day different form. A couple of the more common inconsistencies that cause this are anchor and alignment. It's too easy to let your anchor float, or just soften a little. This results in small, but significant changes in point of impact. Alignment is a problem because we can't see where our draw side elbow is from shot to shot. It might feel the same, but will be off enough to change your POI. There are other form problems that can hurt your shot that you need to watch for. This is where a good coach can make a big difference.

Stabilizers can help these, but they are not magic wands. The best a stabilizer can do is enhance balance and range of motion. If you are having a problem without a stabilizer, the stabilizer won't fix it. It may cover it up a little, but you should work on your form first. 

The type of stabilizer will depend on which class you intend to shoot. If you are shooting in the bowhunter class, the maximum length of the stabilizer is 12". If you are shooting unlimited, your stabilizer can be any length. Once you settle on a length and whether you want side rods or not, it's a trial and error to find the optimum weight arrangement that gives you the best range of motion at full draw. This can take a lot of time since you have to build up to heavier weight over time. If you tried to shoot some of the pro's bows, they are so heavy that you would soon damage your shoulders. But if you build up to it slowly, they can be difficult to move off target. Fortunately, most of us do well with just an once or two of weight.

Work on form first, but experiment with stabilizers at the same time. 

Good luck,
Allen


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## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

good advice above ^^^^^^


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## da white shoe (Mar 10, 2009)

The sight and rest mounting brackets are both on the same side of the bow... not much weight, but enough to make some bows want to lean that direction at full draw.
You may naturally correct for this by altering your hand pressure, (without even knowing it sometimes), and... then you have introduced torque. Could account for some misses.
You can offset this with a V bar, adding more weight on the opposite side of the lean until the bow stands perfectly vertical, with no help from your hand.


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