# Arrow looks to be fish tailing



## bjanzen

Easy.....the bow would do it every time! Problably hand torque my guess....Could this be true?

Have you tried bare shafts? They accent issues.


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## shott8283

i havnt done any bare shaft.. ill give it a shot tomorow

obviously ill chuck some bare shafts through my paper and see if i get tares.. 

at first i was hoping it was hand tq so ive been making a large effort in shooting with a relaxed open left hand,, and the grip is seated firmly in the crotch of my thumb and index finger but it still seams to do it (guess this would be a problem with the shooting section, not tuning section.. )



so ideally, if out of 10 arrows,, only one shoots perfect.. 9 fish tail.. i should look at my form.. 

if all 10 fish tailed .. i need to re tune my bow..


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## SonnyThomas

The number of arrows you put forth with bad flight does not tell if it's you or your bow needing tuned. The bow is in tune or it's not. You're torquing or you're not and possible alternating. Not saying either is that. Read on.

Most arrows have corrected their flight at approx. 12 to 15 yards, unless really the bow is badly out of tune or possibly badly fletched arrows.

Some shooters, sometimes and a lot, can see their arrow rotating and beings the cock vane is of another color the shooter sees the other vanes. Thus, giving a fishing tailing effect or cork screwing.

As for hand/riser grip position there are a few posts showing the correct hold. I think I have three here somewhere.

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=967876


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## srcarlso

*Arrows*

Some guys mistake seeing their fletching coming around on their arrow for fishtailing...especially if you have one bright fletch compared to the others. You will see a flash as the arrow spins...looks alot like fishtailing (porpoising) but it is not.

If you are tuned and hand torque is not an issue...no big deal.


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## psargeant

Poor shot execution could also be the cause. If you are not releasing clean, and following through the same each time, you will get arrows that appear to fishtail their way to the target...


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## Roskoe

To add to some of the great advice you have already gotten, are there any wind gusts while you are shooting? That will swing out the nock end of the arrow during flight. Doesn't take much.


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## shott8283

thanks alot guys for the help!!! 

i took a 1/2" off my DL and that seemed to help me with my form a little.

corkscrewing is a better way to describe then fishtailing. thats exactly what its doing.. i just got done shooting a 40 target course today.. and it was hit or miss... i would say it was cork screwing 80% of the day.. 

gotta nip this in the bud.. 

i think im gonna fletch an older arrow with all the same color fletchings to see if its just my eye catching it ... and im gonna fling some bare shafts to see if i cant get it to be more pronounced..


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## TMan51

Blame it on the fish 

Porpoising, the up and down thing, is *usually* a matter of nock position, rest height, or cam timing (or a combination).

Fishtailing, the left and right thing, is *usually* a matter of centershot, or spine (or both).

Corkscrewing  is a combination of porpoising and fishtailing, and you need to get rid of at least one, to fix the other. 

I hate corkscrewing.


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## psargeant

shott8283 said:


> thanks alot guys for the help!!!
> 
> i took a 1/2" off my DL and that seemed to help me with my form a little.
> 
> corkscrewing is a better way to describe then fishtailing. thats exactly what its doing.. i just got done shooting a 40 target course today.. and it was hit or miss... i would say it was cork screwing 80% of the day..
> 
> gotta nip this in the bud..
> 
> i think im gonna fletch an older arrow with all the same color fletchings to see if its just my eye catching it ... and im gonna fling some bare shafts to see if i cant get it to be more pronounced..


If you are getting corkscrewing, then as stated above, you have a combination of issues.

Convential wisdom is to fix the porpousing (sp?) (up/down component) first, then work on the fishtailing...

I suspect you are grabbing the bow if it isn't an all the time thing,...


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## shott8283

ok.. i think my centershot was off

shot a bare shaft from 20 yards and that thing was sticking in my target at more then 45 degreees.. moved my center shot and its much better.. not perfect though (bare shaft that is) it is kick nock high as if flys down range from 20 yards.. so either my rest should come up or the nock should come down.. not gonna mess with that right now


im concentrating on my grip as much as possible.. and i think im getting better.. my trigger hand is where i made the big changed.. i brought my trigger on my release closer in so its under the pad of my finger.. that seems to be helping

i then changed how i anchor. i draw the bow back and lock .. then set my head on top of my hand/release and acquire the target through my peep instead of trying to tuck it behind my neck/ear/side of my face.. it really REALLY improved my shooting.. i think i might have been reefing the bow with a combination of grip and anchor point..just novice shooters disease!

shooting has gotten much better. stacking groups at 20.. and much more consistent farther back... 

ill just make sure i can reproduce these results every time time i got to the range.. and see if i cant tune the bow a little better.. 

super hard to tune a bow when your form is really off.. 

thanks a lot for the help guys.. and ill end this novel here.. lol


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