# Fish tailing targets



## TargetOz (Jan 16, 2013)

Every now and then my arrows land in the target off to one side or the other, then just as I think I know what the problem is the arrows then land straight. As far as I can see my form is fairly consistent and take nothing for granted. 

I'm only guessing at this stage, but could it be possible that the arrow rest is touching the fletches on some of my arrows and not the others. Because I've noticed that some of the arrows aren't dead centre to the shaft/string, but would this be able to cause inconsistencies? Should I try a fall away rest?

Equipment : Apex 8, 60# dw, 27" dl, Easton FMJ with wav fletches, fuse stabilizers, cbe sight and axial scope, Truball HT Pro release, ss pro rest with 0.10 snake tongue.

Thanks in advance.


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## Chris1ny (Oct 23, 2006)

How consistent is your grip?


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## TargetOz (Jan 16, 2013)

Chris1ny said:


> How consistent is your grip?


It's really interesting you should ask this question. Out of all the bows I've held and shot for some quirky reason I struggle with the grip. I know the abc' of bow hand grip really well but as I shoot, the bow seems to try to go deeper down in my hand, and the other thing is it feels like I need to hold it lower...so what I've done was I modified the grip with sticky tennis tape grip wrapped up the top of the grip to lower my hand by about an inch and wrapped up the wrest of the grip for no slip. This makes me feel more confident with the bow but though I'm still hitting the Gold my groups aren't very consistent.

This may be the cause but I'm not sure of which of the 2 evils is better.


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## TargetOz (Jan 16, 2013)

The bow hasn't been paper tuned eithet.


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## Sasquech (Dec 15, 2014)

How about torque tuned


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## TargetOz (Jan 16, 2013)

Sasquech said:


> How about torque tuned


What's torque tuning? Have done the cam leans but not sure what torque tuning is.


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

Sounds like you need to go the opposite way of grip tape to find the best position for your bow hand. Use some sort of lubricant on the grip or your hand. It doesn't take much, but it will force you to find a torque free hand position. 

Practice with the lubricated grip for a few weeks and see if you are still having the same problem.

Allen


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## TargetOz (Jan 16, 2013)

aread said:


> Sounds like you need to go the opposite way of grip tape to find the best position for your bow hand. Use some sort of lubricant on the grip or your hand. It doesn't take much, but it will force you to find a torque free hand position.
> 
> Practice with the lubricated grip for a few weeks and see if you are still having the same problem.
> 
> Allen


I'll give that a go Allen. The odd thing is I've only struggled with this bow with hand grip. Prior to the grip tape when my hands wound get sweaty the new kept slipping further into my hands almost forcing me to choke the grip at the arrow shelf...then again just maybe that's how I'm meant to grip the bow.


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## TargetOz (Jan 16, 2013)

If you look at this pro archers bow hand, this is what I've found awkward and have been trying to move my hand away from the arrow shelf. is it a personal thing or is it a standard practice to have the bow hand like this? 

I'm really keen to fix this. 

P.s. the other week i shot a TRG7 and before that a Pro comp xl and have a bear encounter at home and none of these bows give me the same grief as the Apex 8. I know its bad practice to blame your tools but I'll try all of the advice above before changing bows.


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## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

hummmm well i think i see some ruffled feathers there.???...im thinking they are hitting the cables and or the lizard tongue is grazing the feathers at the base might be very close or even hitting glob of glue....if so might try a lower profile to keep away from the cable. if thats the case.............


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## TargetOz (Jan 16, 2013)

mike 66 said:


> hummmm well i think i see some ruffled feathers there.???...im thinking they are hitting the cables and or the lizard tongue is grazing the feathers at the base might be very close or even hitting glob of glue....if so might try a lower profile to keep away from the cable. if thats the case.............


Hi mike66 interesting you would mention that because when I hold the grip like in the photo above, I think the fletches might be grazing my thumb because I can see the red marks, but only slight. If this was the case what would cause that?? I initially thought that the fletches were touching the snake tongue on the way through. Maybe just get a drop away rest??


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

Why are you trying to move your hand away from the arrow shelf? 

The main thing you want from your bow hand placement is for it to be 100% repeatable. Jambed up against the arrow shelf is OK if you do it every shot. Obviously you don't want your hand position to be uncomfortable, but contact with the bottom of the shelf is not a problem. I note that Bridger is using grip tape in the photo. Many pro's use the grip tape and I'm not sure why. Certainly by the time they are good enough for the pro ranks, they have solved their bow hand placement. 

I do know that for us less highly skilled archers a lubricated grip is a great training tool. I wouldn't use it in competition, just for training.

I sometimes get to shoot with some pretty good pro archers. I'll ask the next time I see them & let you know their response.

Also, re-reading your first post, two other things to check are the consistency of your anchor and the way you hold your release. Both of these should be done as precisely the same as possible. No matter what type of release you shoot, it has to be held and executed the same every time. Even wrist releases have to be buckled on in exactly the same position.

Allen


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## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

i shot the apex 8 for sometime, i never shot it very well its a moose... if you have a wide tongue on the rest you might try a narrow one. i do see you index finger over the shelf any contact by the fetching can cause fish tail. i would put a narrow one on.. a new one .. i have seen tongues wear.some even get a burr on them and its like sharping a knife they can wear on one side or both , some shafts start bouncing while you draw . some bounce so bad you have issues trying to draw..if its not coming off the rest perfect you will have issues. i would do that then paper tune my .02 mike


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## TargetOz (Jan 16, 2013)

Well I've removed the tape, moved the rest towards the string, and still similar results, then I move my scope all the way in and groups now getting tighter. ...why is that??

I started on a Bear Encounter 3 years ago, and managed to split a few arrows with that bow. Went to recurve for a year and had good success until a finger injury ended the recurve, then went and bought this Apex 8 2nd hand from a local pro and struggled with it ever since.

One other thing I checked yesturday and I'm not sure if it will cause inconsistencies...my local archery shop sold me some new arrows when I bought that bow and the foc % is apprx 40% almost in the middle. I didn't think to check this when I bought them, but would it make a difference?

P.s. Apex moose...best description ever!


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## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

yes arrows will make a HUGE difference.........ive seen top shooters struggle getting a group, then they change arrows and the group shrinks, nocks start flying..off ... lots of issues can cause inconsistencies,, grip, sling to tight,moving the head to fit your peep,no anchor,to much hand in the grip,stance,to big of a peep, pre loaded torque.ALIGNMENT OF THE ELBOW......creeping, collapsing....many others. as soon as you change one thing it changes everything...


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## TargetOz (Jan 16, 2013)

mike 66 said:


> yes arrows will make a HUGE difference.........ive seen top shooters struggle getting a group, then they change arrows and the group shrinks, nocks start flying..off ... lots of issues can cause inconsistencies,, grip, sling to tight,moving the head to fit your peep,no anchor,to much hand in the grip,stance,to big of a peep, pre loaded torque.ALIGNMENT OF THE ELBOW......creeping, collapsing....many others. as soon as you change one thing it changes everything...


What would you say is the best arrow foc for compound fita target ?


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## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

that's a good question. i would shoot break off points.and see what fly's the best in your rig.


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