Different Bow Tunes

Whitehart

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After spending valuable shooting time bow tuning, Archers often tell me that they have got their bow tune spot on. The next time I see them they looked puzzled and messing around with their bows again.

We are told we can only tune as good as we can shoot so should we have different bow tunes for how we are feeling each day :)

Say one for feeling great, another for hangovers etc.
 
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Timid Toad

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I reckon a good tune is one that works when I'm having a bad day. When I'm having a good one it's less important.
One thing though: I am prepared to move my clicker a couple of millimetres if I'm tired, feeling off or the weather is bad. Getting the shots away in good time and comfort is good mentally and physically.
 

bimble

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one of my club mates used to change something every couple of weeks... stabs, sight, arrows, release aid, bow... I once made the suggestion that if he stuck to one setup he might do better... he's now better than me... that'll teach me
 

Whitehart

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one of my club mates used to change something every couple of weeks... stabs, sight, arrows, release aid, bow... I once made the suggestion that if he stuck to one setup he might do better... he's now better than me... that'll teach me
Or maybe you are shooting your camera more than your bow :)
 

geoffretired

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I think there is a lot of misunderstanding around the tuning of bows specially amongst newer archers who are being advised by experienced archers. Often, experienced archers are those who have been shooting a few years and are wanting to pass on what they know to the newbies. Sometimes this means passing on information that was not as clear as it might have been.
I have been guilty of thinking that a better tune will make my scores improve. It seems logical; and there is a lot to be said for seeing a better "tune" and feeling good about that. That, feeling better, can improve our shooting for a while. That can lead to trying again after a week or so in the hopes that even better results might be available.
The danger in all this is that the archer feels that a good tune is the answer to improving scores; and when the scores drop ,it is nice to be able to blame a poor tune.
 

dvd8n

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When I get a new bow or a new piece of gear I'll spend ages, ie multiple sessions, tuning it. Then I don't mess with it. So, when I miss, I know it's me.
 

geoffretired

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Hi dvd8n I guess that is the way things should be. I think that is a state that some never reach; there is always a temptation to try a tuning tweak to see if that will improve things. I don't think they are blaming the bow, just feel their last tweak wasn't good enough any longer.
 

dvd8n

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Hi dvd8n I guess that is the way things should be. I think that is a state that some never reach; there is always a temptation to try a tuning tweak to see if that will improve things. I don't think they are blaming the bow, just feel their last tweak wasn't good enough any longer.
Sometimes the temptation is huge ...
 

Stretch

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When I get a new bow or a new piece of gear I'll spend ages, ie multiple sessions, tuning it. Then I don't mess with it. So, when I miss, I know it's me.
That works if your shot execution is absolutely 100% consistent and you don’t improve any weakness over time.

The archer is part of the system you are tuning. Tiny changes can impact your tune - even stuff like fitness levels can change your tune.

Add to that strings stretch, strings loose wax, limbs butts ”settle in”, tab faces wear.

I try to leave everything alone as much as possible. But if I suddenly see something that looks or feels off, I’ll do a quick check. Obviously that isn’t just a ”one day” feeling.

But also, as a partially reformed tweaker, sometimes you should entrust you allen keys and Visa card to someone else.

Stretch
 

dvd8n

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That works if your shot execution is absolutely 100% consistent and you don’t improve any weakness over time.

The archer is part of the system you are tuning. Tiny changes can impact your tune - even stuff like fitness levels can change your tune.

Add to that strings stretch, strings loose wax, limbs butts ”settle in”, tab faces wear.

I try to leave everything alone as much as possible. But if I suddenly see something that looks or feels off, I’ll do a quick check. Obviously that isn’t just a ”one day” feeling.

But also, as a partially reformed tweaker, sometimes you should entrust you allen keys and Visa card to someone else.

Stretch
Well, maybe I'm being a bit over-dramatic. If things are going wrong I will do basic checks like brace height, loose bolts etc.

But, being a distinctly average archer, and being aware of that, I always assume it's me that's at fault rather than my kit. I'm usually right.

But you are right too. Kit wears, especially strings and tabs.
 

bimble

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There was an article in a Bow International earlier this year (I think) where Dr James Park discussed making tweaks and how long it would take (ie how many shots) before you could statistically say whether it was an actual improvement over the previous set up. I can't remember the exact numbers but even for top elite archers it was still something like 12 dozen arrows, and by the time it dropped to a more average level it was tens of dozens to be able to say if a tweak actually had made an improvement or not.

Certainly not the "plot 3 doz and see if it's better" that most people have the time to do.
 

Stretch

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Purely from a technical side a tweak might take 12 dozen plus at elite level to analyse. But there are tweaks that tweak the bow and there are tweaks that tweak the brain. A tweak that tweaks the brain is worth 100x the other kind of tweak. (And yes a bow tweak can be a brain tweak when your a tweaker…). If you are capable of tweaking the brain without touching the bow- power to you!

Stretch
 

Geophys2

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I spent many years as one of the GB rifle coaches. A tactic we sometimes employed with a shooter not performing up to their potential was to suggest that a setting on their rifle needed looking at (a modern target rifle has so many possible adjustments that they make a target compound bow look positively mediaeval) we'd take it off them and ask the team armorer to look at it, while telling the armorer to not touch a thing on it. We'd then give it back to the shooter telling them that one of the bedding bolts was loose and had been re-torqued up to spec. It's amazing how often the shooter then shot superbly. Though the problem had all been in their head, they had an equipment fault to blame which had now been cured.

I think many archers find that their bow 'tuning' has the same effect, mental rather than mechanical. They shoot better because they 'believe' that their equipment is now better.
 

bimble

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reminds me of a story about Werner Beiter at an international shoot where one archer was struggling and the coach was trying to tell them that nothing was wrong and Werner stepped in with a "I can see what's wrong, just something with my button", fiddled with it, gave it back and the archer was happy. When asked by the coach what he'd done "put three clicks on, took three clicks off, told them it was fixed."
 

dvd8n

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reminds me of a story about Werner Beiter at an international shoot where one archer was struggling and the coach was trying to tell them that nothing was wrong and Werner stepped in with a "I can see what's wrong, just something with my button", fiddled with it, gave it back and the archer was happy. When asked by the coach what he'd done "put three clicks on, took three clicks off, told them it was fixed."
Back when I used to shoot the Scottish field archery championships, if I had a bad morning I'd swap my arrows for a different set at lunch. The arrows weren't any different; I knew that the arrows weren't any different as I'd made them myself, and I intellectually knew that it was a nonsense, but the action of swapping the arrows gave me a reset and a new start. Weird how the brain works.
 
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