My husband has a compound bow and is having a problem. After arrow is released from bow the backend of the arrow kicks to the left. He's having trouble getting it fixed. Any suggestions? Newbie to the forum!
First off welcome Secondly,there are many things that could cause arrow kick. Things to check for Fletching contact is the most common reason for arrows to kick.You can use foot powder or lipstick to check .Put some on the prongs and see if it rubs off onto the fletch. Improper centershot is also another reason. My favorite way to check this is called french tuning.Draw a plumb line on the target with a carpenter level. shoot at 3 feet and adjust sight so arrow hits line. Step back to 30 yards or so and shoot a group. Adsjust REST until the group is on the line.Repeat process until the sight is correct for both distances. Another issue could be improper arrow spine. Check an arrow chart on the specific type arrows you have. Most arrow manufactuers have a chart on their website.This will get you pretty close. Another culprit could be hand torque. The knuckles should be at a 45 degree angle with a relaxed hand and the bow should sit along the lifeline . Something else it can be is optical illusion. When an arrow passes through light,like a sun spot in the yard,the fletch shows up brighter and gives the appearance of kicking when it isn't.
As tfox said, it could be one of many faults/issues. You can't go past having the bow tuned by a pro shop but failing that,you could try shooting through a sheet of paper - as in "paper tuning" - which will show for sure what the arrow is doing in flight. There are some very good clips on youtube explaining how to do this. Good luck
How much experience does he have with archery? Maybe help him find an archery shop that can evaluate his form and equipment. Archery is a very enjoyable sport but can also be frustrating to newcomers trying to go it alone. There are just too many variables to try to resolve without us having more information. As was stated, the most common problems are tunng, vane/fletching contact, proper arrow stiffness (spine) and shooting form. An experienced archer or pro shop can help evaluate each of these issues and resolve what may take months of experimenting to correct and having him shooting tight groups in a few hours.
