[Ansteorra-archery] terms and questions

[Eadric Anstapa]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Prohero" <prohero at cowtown.net>
>
> Ok, here goes
>
> An archer who shoots his bow holding it in his left hand and holding the
> string with his right is called a  #1  right hand shooter or #2 left
> hand shooter.??
>

In truth handedness in archery should have little to do with your dominant
hand  but rather with your dominant eye.  You should always be shooting with
you dominant eye.  Some people (like me) are cross-dominant.   Meaning that
they may be right handed but left eye dominant or vice versa,

Since I am left eye dominant  I need to aim with my left eye.  That means
that I need to draw the arrow to my left cheek so that I can look down it
with my left eye.  That means holding the bow in my right hand and drawing
the string with my left hand.  This would be shooting left handed (but it
really equates to shooting left eyed)..

If they have a shelf, right handed bows have a shelf on the left side and
left handed bows have a shelf on the right side..


> concerning helical fletchings.
> Holding the arrow, point away from you, when the fletches twist to the
> left, that is called what?  left hand helical?  Making the arrow spin
> counter clockwise
> as you see it flying away.
>

When holding the arrow point away from you if the fletch spirals to the left
then that is called a left helical fletch.  A left helical fletched arrow
would spin counter clockwise.

Sometimes when holding cut fletch/feather in your hand it may be hard to
tell if that fletch is a left or right wing fletch.  You tell by looking at
the base of the fletch from the rear of the fletch.  The base of the fletch
(quill portion) will be thicker on one side forming a catch lip on one side
of the fletch.  If when viewed from the rear (quill up feather down) that
catch lip is on the right side then it is a right wing fletch.  If the lip
is on the left it is a left wing fletch.

For what it is worth, it doesn't matter if you use right or left helical
fletched arrows regardless of what hand you shoot with.  Modern high speed
photography has shown that the arrows don't begin to spin until well after
they have left the bow (of course they can not spin as long as the nock in
on the string)  so it simply doesn't matter if you use right or left
fletches.  It is however good practice to use either all right or all left
fletched arrows.

Regards,

H.L. Eadric Anstapa
Ansteorra
eadric at scabrewer.com