# Anchor point precision/repeatability?



## mwill28 (Mar 2, 2021)

Hello All,

I'm hoping for some advice on my anchor point. I'm new to archery and picked up a compound bow about 4 months ago. When the shop fitted me I had no idea what I was doing and I don't think I was using a consistent anchor point when they got me all set up. I strongly suspect that I ended up with an anchor point that was imprecise: I use a wrist strap release and basically stick my index finger knuckle in my ear - I think that point tends to drift up and down within a ~1/4 inch area and I am getting some inconsistent results because of that. Does that seem feasible? Or is that a normal 'range' for an anchor point to move around from shot to shot? How precise should my anchor point be? I am thinking I should get my peep retied based on a more easily repeatable anchor point but I'd like to make sure that make sense before spending the time/money on that.

Thanks for humoring the newbie questions.


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## Huntinsker (Feb 9, 2012)

If your hand is moving up and down 1/4" and you have only 1/4" peep, I'm estimating, then you wouldn't be able to see through the peep. If you're only touching your knuckle on your ear lobe and looking through the peep, as long as you're seeing through the peep, things should be relatively consistent. Most of us have multiple anchor points though. I, for instance, use my knuckle just behind my jaw and below my ear lobe, the string touches my lip at the corner of my mouth and my nose touches the string and then I see through my peep. The string contact on my face is light but easy to feel and easy to tell when it's not in the same place.


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## mwill28 (Mar 2, 2021)

Thanks, appreciate the reply. I'll try and get in the habit of a third anchor to see if that helps - at the moment I'm in the hole of my ear and tip of my nose.


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## Huntinsker (Feb 9, 2012)

mwill28 said:


> Thanks, appreciate the reply. I'll try and get in the habit of a third anchor to see if that helps - at the moment I'm in the hole of my ear and tip of my nose.


That's a pretty high anchor. When I setup new shooters that are using an index release, I like to have them just below the ear lobe and behind the angle of the jaw. That gets them full range on their sights and is repeatable even if they wear a hat that covers their ears. 

Should look a bit like this.


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## mwill28 (Mar 2, 2021)

Thanks! Definitely doesn't look like that if I anchor in a similar spot, the string too far forward of my nose to consider touching and the peep is pretty below my line of sight. Looks like I'm headed back to the shop at some point soon


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## Huntinsker (Feb 9, 2012)

mwill28 said:


> Thanks! Definitely doesn't look like that if I anchor in a similar spot, the string too far forward of my nose to consider touching and the peep is pretty below my line of sight. Looks like I'm headed back to the shop at some point soon


Before you do, post a picture of yourself at full draw. Being new, you might have a form flaw that's causing problems. I can count on 2 fingers I've ever seen a shooter setup with a draw length too short to actually touch their nose on the string and I've worked with literally thousands of shooters and hunters.


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## mwill28 (Mar 2, 2021)

Thanks for all your help. Here are a couple of photos.


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## Huntinsker (Feb 9, 2012)

mwill28 said:


> Thanks for all your help. Here are a couple of photos.
> View attachment 7395267
> View attachment 7395268


Couple things I immediately see. Draw length is roughly 1" long maybe 1.5" long, you're leaning backwards and craning your neck backwards to "fit it". Anchor is super high as suspected. Your bow arm is externally rotated when it should be internally rotated at the shoulder, your release is too long and your peep tubing is too short. The tube shouldn't be pulling a second angle in the string like that. 

Things you can do at home without going back to the shop.
1. Decrease the draw 1". That bow has rotating modules that you do not need a bow press to adjust. Bear uses a 1-10 system in 0.5" increments, with 10 being the longest. Move the module to one whole position shorter so if it's set on 8, move it to 7 and if it's set on 7.5 move it to 6.5. 

2. Lengthen the peep tube. That tubing can be "pre stretched" to increase the length a bit. Just untie it from the cable and hold both ends and give it a good stretch. Then you can tie an overhand knot way down at the end of the tube and tie it back around the cable with one single overhand knot, pulling the tube until the tied knot in the tube butts up to the knot around the cable. That's a smaller knot and doesn't take up as much length of tube.

3. Shorten your release 1/2". You want your finger to be able to hook around the release trigger so that you're not using your finger tip to fire the release. You want to hook your finger over it and don't move your finger to fire it. Your finger should trip the trigger as you squeeze your right rhomboid and middle trap muscles and increase "back tension" to trip the trigger. Refer to the picture I posted above about the anchor point to see how his finger is hooked over his release trigger. 

4. Stand up straight with your feet under your hips, your shoulders over your hips and your neck/head straight up and down between your shoulders. With that posture, also fix the bow arm by internally rotating your humerus at the shoulder. Should look like the arm on the left in this picture. 









5. Move your anchor down until your index knuckle touches your ear lobe. You may not be able to touch your nose on the string at this point but you might if you've dropped the draw length and fixed the peep tubing. If you're not able to see through the peep with your anchor lower like this, you may need to move it up. You might have trouble doing that with such a short axle to axle bow and the serving being so low on the string. Looks like you have about 1/2" that you can move it up, which is actually quite a big move when it comes to a peep. 

After you do all of that, your sight is going to be WAY too low and you'll shoot over your target so move to 10 yards and move the sight up 1/2" and shoot with your top pin to make sure you don't launch arrows over the target until you can get sighted in again.


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## mwill28 (Mar 2, 2021)

This is great, thanks for taking the time to look and write all that out. I'll get to work on all this and will be sure to report back. I really appreciate it.


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## Johnfajitas (May 27, 2020)

Huntsinker nailed the advice in my opinion. You probably know this already, but consistency with your ancho is everything. Your draw length is definitely too long. You want your draw arm elbow and wrist to form a straight line to your bow hand wrist. Anchoring under your ear will give you a nice corner that is easier to find consistently. I bet when you get it corrected you will see immediate improvements. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mwill28 (Mar 2, 2021)

Thanks for weighing in! I tested a shorter draw length and could not transition to hold, I was coming up against the wall before being able to. I may try some more at some point but it didn't seem workable at the time.

I did make some tweaks to my release so that I can wrap my finger around it rather than punch it with the tip of my finger. I'm working on squeezing instead of punching. 

I also was able to move my peep so that I can have a more consistent anchor just in front of my ear lobe. That's helped.

The biggest difference I have noticed has come from making a major effort to rotate my humerus to keep my elbow away from the string, rather than doing whatever weird torque inducing contortion I was doing before. 

So far I'm shooting much more consistently. I'm trying to develop a strong sense of how my shot process feels when I do things right at a short range before working back up to longer (for me) distances. We will see how it goes.


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## nuts&bolts (Mar 25, 2005)

mwill28 said:


> Thanks for all your help. Here are a couple of photos.
> View attachment 7395267
> View attachment 7395268


1) stand up straighter.
2) drop draw 1-inch shorter.
3) get ankles 6-inches apart, so if you do lean backwards, you fall over backwards.










Curl trigger finger around the trigger, not a rifle.



Shorter draw, the nock moves forwards,
the release hand moves forwards,
the right elbow moves forwards, and right elbow swings UP higher above floor.


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