The offseason is a great time to tinker with equipment and arrow tuning is one chore that can improve your accuracy in a big way.

[caption id="attachment_5905" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Spending a little time arrow tuning in the offseason can pay off big when the pressure is on.[/caption] Say what you want about speed and kinetic energy, in my opinion archery success typically comes down to one thing; accuracy. Due to the nature of the sport it truly is a game of inches. One inch too errant, and your quarry is slipping out of sight never to been seen again. If you've ever experienced this situation you can appreciate the hollow feeling in your chest after this tragedy. Accuracy is the name of the game, and arrow tuning can pay big dividends when the pressure is on. Tuning arrows is a fairly simple chore if you know what you are doing. There are many different methods of tuning an arrow. Bareshaft tuning and paper tuning are the two most popular methods.

Bareshaft Arrow Tuning

Bareshaft arrow tuning is a great way to test your equipment. Simply put, bareshaft arrow tuning is when you strip off all of the fletchings and shoot you arrow for accuracy. As one archer puts it "that bare naked shaft will give you the bare naked truth about how your arrow is flying." In a perfect world, an arrow doesn't need fletchings to fly, and a bareshaft should strike the bullseye of your target. When you shot a bareshaft there are a few common problems you will notice; porpoising, and fishtailing. Each of these problems is associated with a different arrow issue and should be solved separately.

Porpoising

It is best to begin by solving your porpoising issue when arrow tuning a bareshaft. Porpoising is the up and down arrow travel of the arrow during flight. One way to tell if your shafts are porpoising is to note the position of the nock when they are in the target. If all the nocks are pointed up, your nocking point is too high. If the nocks are pointed down, your nocking point is too low.

Fishtailing

Fishtailing is the next problem you have to solve when bareshaft arrow tuning. Fishtailing refers to the left and right movement of the arrow during flight. For right handed archers if the bareshaft is hitting to the left of you target it means your spine is too stiff. To solve this problem simply add a bit of weight to your bow (if it is adjustable), increase your point weight, or consider buying longer arrows. All of these options will decrease the spine of your arrow. On the other hand if your arrows are striking to the right of the target it means your shafts are too weak. To address a shaft that is too weak you can decrease the weight of your bow, decrease the point weight, or shorten your arrow by 1/4 inch at a time until happy with the results. Bareshaft arrow tuning is a great way to get the real story on how your arrows are flying. Anyone interested in supreme accuracy should start with bareshaft arrow tuning, and then move on to fine tuning adjustments. NEXT: PAPER TUNING (COMING SOON)