# why am i always shooting left ?



## athomPT (Dec 14, 2008)

Draw length may be too long or torque!


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## gubs (Oct 10, 2009)

If you shoot with both eyes open, perhaps your left is more dominate than you realized, try closing your left eye and see if that helps. if you already shoot on eyed my bet is the draw length. Also could be a bit of grip torque or grabbing the bow goood luck.


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## eaglea1 (Apr 13, 2010)

*Shoot left*

Possibly your rest, try a walk back tuning.


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## bowhntng4evr (Dec 18, 2009)

Your draw length might be a little long. I am also thinking that you might be torquing the bow some. It doesn't take much torque to miss a few inches right or left. Try relaxing your grip a little and see if that works.


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## wvmountaineers (Jan 4, 2009)

T-Rage said:


> why do i always shoot left? i move the sight and yet still shoot left. i have a habit of either pullnig my shots or pushing them. Have the anchor sight and thats not helping. im a right handed shooter. any tips?
> 
> trav


I feel your pain. I have the same issue, and its about to drive me insane. My pin just settles to the left, and its a major fight to get it where I want it. I have shortened my draw length, then lengthened it, decreased draw weight, increased draw weight, tried single pin sights, tried multi pin sights, closing my stance, everything. 
Still always fighting my pin settling left of bullseye.

I will be very interested to see any advise/responses you get.


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## Orion1 (Jan 7, 2005)

One thing you might lining your bow up with the target then closing your eyes and coming to full draw, get comfortable and open your eyes, I did this and I usually ended up way to the right so I opened my stance until I close my eyes and draw and then open them and my pin is in line with the target. Lastly it could be peeking by pushing the bow to the left and raising your head.


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## DONDEERE (Sep 24, 2007)

T-Rage said:


> why do i always shoot left? i move the sight and yet still shoot left. i have a habit of either pullnig my shots or pushing them. Have the anchor sight and thats not helping. im a right handed shooter. any tips?
> 
> trav


_*...you are moving your sight to the left to move your arrows impact point to the right correct??...

...rule of thumb: follow the arrow...

...just checking :wink:

...for some the solution will be that simple!!...*_


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## T-Rage (Aug 24, 2009)

i feel as though my grip is relaxed as it is open with fingers out to the side. my pin settles on the exact point and as i release i see it shooting off to the left off the get go. i shoot roughly an inch or so left at 20 yards and add an inch per 10 yards. ???????? 

and yes i move the sight to the left to the impact point. 

t


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## RonnieB54 (Jun 15, 2009)

Your either torquing your bow or your not following through with your shot (peeking). Keep your eye on target till arrow hits target.


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## T-Rage (Aug 24, 2009)

any more thoughts. ill try all that are listed tomorrow morning


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## aussiejas (Jul 18, 2010)

i sometimes hit to the left and i find that with finger shooting if i dont concentrate on my where my fingers are i twist the string sideways and that does it every time ...jas


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## JC-XT (Feb 3, 2007)

Sounds like you're peeking. Instead of looking at the arrow like you normally do after the shot, concentrate on keeping your pins on the target so you can see the target inside the housing of your sight. If that helps then that means you are definitely peeking and dropping your bow too quickly in anticipation of seeing where the arrow goes.


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## skynight (Nov 5, 2003)

T-Rage said:


> i feel as though my grip is relaxed as it is open with fingers out to the side. my pin settles on the exact point and as i release i see it shooting off to the left off the get go. i shoot roughly an inch or so left at 20 yards and add an inch per 10 yards. ????????
> 
> and yes i move the sight to the left to the impact point.
> 
> t


Relaxed is not the same as open. The goal is mushy muscles with bow resting on bone not tense muscle.


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## T-Rage (Aug 24, 2009)

ok ill try the mushy hand and keep my arrow in the sight housing. but what about a follow through? is that needed?


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## dave* (Sep 9, 2008)

I am thinking torque related ( that was my issue with the left shots and I'm a righty)

Try a two finger grip with the index/middle finger around the grip ( loosely) and the other two folded in and between palm of had and bow handle.

A) you cant death choke the bow handle any more 
B) it shifts your grip off the lifleline crease a bit.

This is what fixed some of my bad habits

D*


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## DONDEERE (Sep 24, 2007)

T-Rage said:


> but what about a follow through? is that needed?


_*...YES...IMHO a "Dynamic Release" AKA Follow thru is critical for most to shoot properly...or to be able to get their "form" in somewhat the proper condition to perform well and consistently over time...especially if at some point you make the choice to start shooting tournaments...either 3D or spots...

...your bow hand and consequently your bow should after the shot "push" directly toward the target and your release hand should move in a "dynamic" fashion in exactly the opposite direction...

...this is also known as the "push/pull" technique and helps to create the proper and repetable balance between your two pressure points...

...can some shoot well without this type of follow thru??...YES...

...I mean heck, TED NUGENT even cants his bow and he still makes some good shots, at least the ones he shows  ...could UNCLE TED do well with this technique on a field course...probably no so much...

...so yeah, you can go off the reservation and still do decent...but if you want to solve issues, become a much better shooter, then it's best to remove the problems from the equation 

...and shooting with proper form/technique/follow thru is a darn good starting point... *_


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## LoneWolfArcher (Jun 6, 2006)

I find that when I anticipate the shot, my arrows drift left. If I have a nice surprise release with good follow through, my arrows are true. If I start gripping a little too much then my arrows drift right.

Try to concentrate on the spot you are aiming at as you pull back against the wall or however you release your arrow.


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## LoneWolfArcher (Jun 6, 2006)

DONDEERE said:


> _*...YES...IMHO a "Dynamic Release" AKA Follow thru is critical for most to shoot properly...or to be able to get their "form" in somewhat the proper condition to perform well and consistently over time...especially if at some point you make the choice to start shooting tournaments...either 3D or spots...
> 
> ...your bow hand and consequently your bow should after the shot "push" directly toward the target and your release hand should move in a "dynamic" fashion in exactly the opposite direction...
> 
> ...


Uncle Ted started with traditional archery. Canting is a hold over. Most of us modern archers have never touched a longbow or recurve. We'd probably be better shooters and more instinctual if we had.


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## DONDEERE (Sep 24, 2007)

LoneWolfArcher said:


> Uncle Ted started with traditional archery. Canting is a hold over. Most of us modern archers have never touched a longbow or recurve. We'd probably be better shooters and more instinctual if we had.


_*...indeed, your remarks about Theodore Von Nugenburger are 100% correct :wink:

...word on the street says he only started using a peep not long ago :darkbeer: *_


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## DaMastaHunter (Aug 22, 2010)

Its all about the grip if your bow is tuned right it has to be your grip get a hand strap and when you draw back keep your hand open and just barley rest your fingers on the bow then shoot. Make sure you do the same thing every time, but this should solve your problem. Do this then squeeze your grip while looking at the sight and you should see the sight move left or right, after doing this you will be able to notice if that's the problem. Aim Small Miss Small Follow through! Follow through is the most important thing! And remember do the same thing every time the same way. Aim small miss small follow through!! Works for me and everyone I teach I hope it works for you!


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## mathews86 (Mar 31, 2009)

You need to try shooting left that's what happend to me


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## xecutioner (Jan 28, 2008)

2 things it sounds like you are probably canting your bow to the left which would cause you to hit further left the farther back you get. also check you center shot do so by french tuning instead of a walk back. French tuning is quicker and i believe more accurate. Heres the link if you want to give it a 

try.http://www.dudleyarchery.info/articles/usarcher1FT.pdf


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## BAMBRANCH (Oct 17, 2008)

*For real*

You lost me at your sight, GET A PEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When you fix that and still have a problem Check Your DL


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## David508 (Nov 17, 2008)

*Follow through*



T-Rage said:


> but what about a follow through? is that needed?


Yes...If I do not follow through by pushing my bow hand straight towards the target, I have a tendency to hit left. I think it is because I tend to push out to the left with my bow hand, and when I release the arrow, the bow moves slightly left before the arrow comes off the string. This becomes worse when I have shot a lot and am getting tired.

By my calculations, it takes less than 30 thousandths of an inch bow hand movement to move the arrow off an inch at 30 yards.


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## Dale_B1 (Jan 31, 2004)

EVERYTHING IS SPECULATION ON HERE. But I will agree with SOMETHINGS. Only try ONE adjustment to YOUR form at a time or you will be totally lost.
1. Shooting open hand is as bad as griping the bow too tight. You want a light grip on the bow. You could also be getting too much of the palm of the hand on the riser.
2. The draw COULD be too long, causing torque.
3. Your rest could just flat be set up wrong.
You see we can't see you or what is actually going on what you really need is someone that knows what they are doing watch you and see if they can detect what's going on. Just going off suggestions on here can and will probably mess you up even more-----like I said anything we say is only speculation and may not be your problem-----can't see you.:wink:


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## LoneWolfArcher (Jun 6, 2006)

Dale_B1 said:


> EVERYTHING IS SPECULATION ON HERE. But I will agree with SOMETHINGS. Only try ONE adjustment to YOUR form at a time or you will be totally lost.
> 1. Shooting open hand is as bad as griping the bow too tight. You want a light grip on the bow. You could also be getting too much of the palm of the hand on the riser.
> 2. The draw COULD be too long, causing torque.
> 3. Your rest could just flat be set up wrong.
> You see we can't see you or what is actually going on what you really need is someone that knows what they are doing watch you and see if they can detect what's going on. Just going off suggestions on here can and will probably mess you up even more-----like I said anything we say is only speculation and may not be your problem-----can't see you.:wink:


Wouldn't gripping, for a right-handed shooter, cause the arrows to hit right?

To clarify what I meant above by anticipation, when I anticipate, my bow arm pushes out to the left, causing the arrows to fly left. If the OP is punching the tendency is to push your bow arm left at the shot. I thought he could try concentrating on not moving his bow arm, as was mentioned so the bow falls towards the target after the shot.


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## hunt123 (Jan 17, 2009)

Too big a hurry to read all the posts right now but here are a few things that helped me. Maybe some have already been mentioned.

1) Make sure your release hand stays as still as possible on release. If it jumps back, be sure it's straight back. I had a problem once with it moving out to the side on release and that sent my shots to one side.

2) Make sure your sight bubble is level. My shots were going to one side until I realized I wasn't paying attention to my bubble.

3) Torque will do it also and the Anchor Sight is the best thing I've ever found to tell if you're torquing or not. It will show the tinniest fraction of torque. That's all I use it for, I use my peep and bubble for actual sighting. Torque is different than cant, but both will do similar things to your shot. Cant doesn't show up on my AS, that's why the bubble. But torque doesn't show up on the bubble, that's why the AS.

4) Try allowing your bow to rotate forward on release by keeping your grip light. I had a problem unconsciously closing my grip at the shot and that was sending my arrows off. I see some competition shooters with a "tight" grip but I can't do it. My bow has to rotate forward with the stab weight or my shots go haywire.

5) Don't move yourself or your arms the slightest bit until you hear the arrow hit the target. You could be rotating left just a little.

6) Trigger punching is a bad one. It can make you jerk enough to throw your shot off.


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## Dale_B1 (Jan 31, 2004)

LoneWolfArcher said:


> Wouldn't gripping, for a right-handed shooter, cause the arrows to hit right?
> 
> To clarify what I meant above by anticipation, when I anticipate, my bow arm pushes out to the left, causing the arrows to fly left. If the OP is punching the tendency is to push your bow arm left at the shot. I thought he could try concentrating on not moving his bow arm, as was mentioned so the bow falls towards the target after the shot.


Like I said everything is speculation we can't see what he is doing or his set up. I just listed the major reasons for things that happen along these lines.:wink:


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## Stump Shooter (Apr 13, 2006)

Shooting left and low from time to time is what's happening to me as well. But I figured it out last night. I'm peeking at the arrow and not holding form/follow through! When peeking, my bow hand is grabbing the grip far sooner than it should and it's pulling my shots down and left(2" low & 2" left approx at 30 yards, so it's substantial). If I concentrate on form and follow through, bingo...arrow is dead nuts.

Just concentrate on looooooose bow hand muscles, keep your bow arm up, don't watch the arrow hit the target and let the bow fall as it may after the shot.


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## ElkFetish (Aug 12, 2007)

T-Rage said:


> ok ill try the mushy hand and keep my arrow in the sight housing. but what about a follow through? is that needed?


I will tell you what I see a lot of with guys that shoot with open fingers on the grip. Right when they release the string they close their fingers. It is almost a subconscious thing as they don't want to drop their bow. I even see it when wrist slings. Even a slight movement here can really mess things up.

I wouldn't think it is torque as you would see that in your anchor site. Isn't that thing the bomb! 

Head movement is another left/right issue as well. 

Hope This Helps.


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## RDJA (Apr 24, 2008)

A tip I got from Nuts N Bolts on here is to be sure your bow hand is even or slightly above your left shoulder. If you let the hand fall below the shoulder then it is very hard to have a good follow through. My left hand falls down at the shot and I hit left. So when drawing I always try to aim level, then pivot at the waist to shoot down. When I draw aiming at a low target my bow hand will be low and I will not get a good release.
So establish your form and the archers T, then pivot at the waist to get on target. Helped me, good luck.


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## T-Rage (Aug 24, 2009)

keeping my head down def helped a lot. i know thats my major problem in peeking for the shot! thanks fellas get back to you soon

t


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