why do my arrows corkscrew or barrel rol
Equipment
When shooting my arrows corkscrew or barrel roll. They are accurate, they fly to or near bullseye out to 60 yards, its just that they do a corkscrew type flight. They seem like they are pinwheeling nicely. The weird thing is that sometimes but not often, I can get perfect flight.
... and I have a 29" draw my arrows are 30" 100 grain points on gold tip hunter expedition 300's my bow is a hoyt vector turbo at 72#'s at factory specs
Yanking the trigger on your release could be the cause. Especially when some shots fly true. Other causes could be a misadjusted rest, fletching contact on cables or rest, heavily torquing the bow, etc.
Are you sure you are not just seeing the arrow spin in flight? sometimes that will look like it is corkscrewing. just a thought.
Bow tuning issues? I got a little of what you are explaining while shooting fixed blade broad heads. I'm no bow tuner, unfortunately but even paper tuning at my local pro shop didn't fix this. I got 4" helical feather fletching put on my arrows and the feather fletching really helps steer the arrow and straightens it out. Just a thought. My broad heads are now flying like darts! Feathers will cause you to lose a few fps over blazers or plastic but I don't mind at all. My bow is plenty fast! Good luck!
It may be a form issue if you are achieving perfect flight on some shots but not on others. Are you shooting with broadheads or field points when this occurs?
field points. I think woodsman might be on to it, I've always had trouble with yanking the trigger. I'm gonna try shooting tonight and really concentrate on squeeze, any helpful tips on this are welcomed.
If you are having problems with field points, then you will have major problems with broadheads. I hope you get your problem solved soon. If you are getting better flight with feathers over vanes, I would think that you are getting some arrow contact with the rest.
What rest are you using? If you are having this trouble with FP's then I'm leaning toward a form issue. Insure you have a proper relaxed grip and pull through the shot. Don't concentrate on "the squeeze", it'll only cause more problems later such as target panic. Just relax and trigger your release following through until the arrow hits your target.
I disagree with Brotsky but only to a point. At 40 yards try squeezing the release slowly just like a rifle a few times and do not pull it. Keep on target like a laser beam while doing so and squeeze the release to the point that the shot surprises or almost surprises you when it is loosed. Do that a few times and report back if you see any weird arrow flight. This will eliminate you knowing exactly when the arrow will release and show if you're jerking the trigger on the release or not. Jerking the trigger or pulling backward just as you release instead will cause troubles.
The reason I recommend 40 yards is that it gives you time to stay home on your shot and still see arrow flight. It is harder to pick up flaws on short shots with out peaking
Have someone stand behind you and watch your arrow flight, they may even be able to point out something that you haven't noticed.
One thing I use to help in release is to put my thunb behind my ear as an additional anchor, as long as my thumb doesn't move, my release is consistent and so are my shots.
My arrows appeared to be doning that too until I paper tuned. Moved the rest a little and got perfect arrow flight.
Tune your bow to your arrows or vice versa. If you put a broadhead on it could get ugly.LH
my fletching is one white and two red blazers. I did walk back tuning out to 50 yards and I'm on the line or near (both sides slightly if not on it)
Agree with hammer except what I like to do is put your target a few feet away and work on squeezing your trigger with your eyes closed until your comfortable squeezing then put the target out at 40 and squeeze the same way
I also label each arrow that way I can tell if any individual arrow has an issue. If #6 keeps flying all caddywampus on me then I know its not me but rather the arrow.
Use some lip stick and make sure your fletching's are not hitting too.
As Spike was alluding to, many if not most cases I hear that description and it turns out to be an optical illusion from the arrow spinning, your eye picks out the odd color and it does appear to "corkscrew" as it turns downrange. Shoot a lighted nock at night the "corkscrew" goes away.
Normally I tell folks to ignore what they "see" with arrow flight. There are physical tests you can run to truly check your flight and take human observation (or illusion) out of the loop.
Go shoot a group of FP and then a group of FBBHs. That will give you your answer as to arrow flight. If the groups hit together you don't have any issues with flight no matter what your eyes are telling you. If they don't hit together then it's time to figure out why and fix it.
Not to mention you can develop some bad habits by trying to "see" what your arrow is doing as it flies. Should be focused on your target spot still.
"Not to mention you can develop some bad habits by trying to "see" what your arrow is doing as it flies"
That's why you need to do that kind of test at distances of 40-50 yards. Trying to look inside 30 can cause you to peak but back at 40-50 you have time to look.
Even at long distances like 60 or 70 yards I still think you are asking for bad habits, like collapsing your bow arm, or lifting your head to see your arrow better.
If it works for you then that's absolutely outstanding. I prefer to use the physical tests myself.
JLS,
I never look inside 30 yards because it happens to fast and trying to do so can push your arrow but at 40-50 and certainly at 60+ yards you have time to keep the pin on until after the arrow has left and look to see where it hit even if you look through the site window to see it. Naturally you cant do anything radical. Guys see their arrows hit all the time and I always wondered how they hit where they aim on short shots and still see where it hits w/o peaking. lol
What I am recommending to him is a test and not something to practice over and over per se unless he finds he is jerking the trigger. If he finds he is jerking the trigger then this will bear that flaw out. The looking part can be easier to achieve at longer distance with out sacrificing form because the arrow has a travel down range further given time to finish form and then look. He could also do what I mentioned and just video it from behind so he need not look at all but looking at 40-50 is no big deal and at 60-70 it takes so long for the arrow to get there that you would have to be blind not to see the arrow flight.
Td,
There is no doubt it could be an optical delusion but on the other hand my buddy has a few arrows with a missing fletching and when he shoots them they fly all caddywampus and you can clearly see that. Now amazingly he can drop them in pretty tight to his good arrows even though they are missing a fletching and flying funny. I have had to throw arrows out that would not fly correctly even though they grouped so so. So so is not good enough of course.. The quickest way for him to figure out if it is the arrow is to label each arrow 1-12 and as soon as he sees it happen go pull that arrow and remember the number. Then each time he sees it he can go look if it is the same arrow doing it each time. If it is a different arrow each time it happens then it is a form issue. If it is the same arrow or same 2 arrows etc then the arrow is the problem.
My guess is he has a jacked up arrow or a form flaw. The intermittent way this is happening to him is why I think it is a form problem of some kind more than anything.
Are your knocks set perfectly?
Are you shooting carbon or aluminum?
Are you shooting field points or broad heads?
I shot last night really concentrating on form and I got perfect arrow flight more often, so it has to be me. That also rules out odd colored feather theory. I cant believe how little diference in my form makes and I'm not even really sure what I'm doing wrong, from one shot to the next seems like I'm doing everything the same, but obviously not. The hardest part is that I don't know what to correct.
Set up a camera as high in front of as you can get it and video a couple sets of shots then move the camera to the side and video another 2 sets of shots, you may be able to pin point any form issues.
Like I said.... Always label your arrows 1-12 and when you see weird arrow flight or a corkscrew go pull that arrow and look at the number and remember it. For example.....If it is the #3 arrow each time that it corkscrews then it is NOT your form. If it is a different arrow each time it happens then it IS form or something changing on your bow from shot to shot which is doubtful.
I have had similar issues in the past and it was always me or the arrow and was not the bow.
Another thing you could do would be to shoot a different set of new arrows and see if any of them wobble or give you that corkscrew effect. I have seen some arrows do it more than others for some reason.
Lastly you can place a camera on the ground facing upward and see how much oscillation you are getting when the arrow hits the target. There are video on You Tube that speak to this.
If you were diligently working on form last night you may not have noticed the cork screw effect and that may be illuminating in and of itself. Maybe to see your arrow before you were pushing your bow out of the way just a little before the arrow was off the string and kicking it sideways a little and then seeing the arrow corkscrew as the azz of the arrow tries to get back behind the tip. If that's the case videoing yourself will show that form flaw very easily. Either that or have someone watch you. I am no expert but IMO the biggest issue I see with most shooters is peaking by pushing the bow out of the way just a little to see their arrow and naturally the arrow will kick sideways a little if it is still on the string and then it can wobble and/or not hit where you wanted.
Out of curiosity, what bow are you shooting?
I went to a 'modern short ATA' bow two years ago, and occasionally get a pinwheel / barrel rolling arrow. I narrowed my issue down to too much heel pressure in my hand, for this particular bow. It really could be something that simple.
Keep at it!
rershooter,
Here's what I know as a longtime coach and shop owner/tuner....
It is impossible for the shooter of a bow to watch his/her own arrow flight without messing up his/her own form. If you really want to know how your arrow is flying you need to film yourself from behind using a lighted nock(to eliminate cock fletch confusion), or shoot through paper in five yard increments from 10-30 yards. Shooting through paper will give you a snapshot of the arrow in flight. Paper does not lie!
Here's another proven fact... shooting field points with arrows that have any kind of offset or helical fletching will result true-flying arrows beyond 25-30 yards. Any arrows that are corkscrewing beyond 30 yards are either miss-fletched, or are in a cross wind. Proper fletching will straighten out form flaws and tuning flaws beyond 30 yards.
Stop guessing and find out for sure. :)
