How To Determine If You Should Shoot A Right Or Left Helical 

80% of Bow technicians and pro shops here in central Virginia would look at me like I was speaking Chinese if I asked questions like the ones you are knocking down like it's child's play...I left the sport 3 years ago after bad experiences with local Bow technicians when I brought my gear in for service/questions....last week I decided to give a different shop (almost 2 hours from my house) a try. I showed up around 4pm to check it out...one of the Tech's spent 3 hours in an intense q & a with me without me even telling him I was going to spend money...Moral of the story is my bows are there getting much needed tlc and after such an educational and enjoyable experience I honestly don't care if I spend 50% over retail...people like him and yourself are what help the sport grow, teach us the how/why and will ensure the knowledge is passed on as freely as it was passed to you. Keep up the great work, and message me when y'all make up some cool T-shirts and hats so I can support y'all all the way from Va!

I think this is the first time I've seen someone attempt to explain why you might chose one over the other. Thanks.

Just remember not to oppose the rotation of a single bevel broadhead, if you are shooting a single bevel, and it rotates to the right, shoot right helical, and vice versa.

In my experience I took your advice and did a test...my bow had a natural left rotation and I had right offset...so I stripped down all my arrows and reflecthed the left offset. My accuracy increased 10 fold for the longer ranges and had a tighter group. It makes perfect sense...👍🦌🏹

I’ve tested identical arrows with only one diff- LH or RH. With arrows natural spin left of course LH follows that rotation no prob, actually in only 15’ has rotated more than a full rotation... of course that depends on degree of helical. However, in same amount of distance RH coming out of bow with natural spin of arrow to the left actually will spin slightly left all the way out to 6’ before vanes correct this and cause the right rotation to the right. But, at 15’ it will not even be a half rotation. It is essentially knuckle balling for the first 15’ and wasting precious energy. Of course this depends again on the amount of helical. I use a lot since most of my shots are indoors or 3-D distances. Why fight the nature of the beast, get all you can from your equipment. Just makes sense to know and follow the natural rotation and fletch accordingly. This is for all of you OCD 🧐 folks that just can’t help themselves... for those of you that say “hogwash”... whatever, just go shoot, laugh, make fun and have fun! That’s really the only reason we all shoot bows and arrows anyhow!

Your vids are awesome! Thank you for the information. Building my first set of arrows this winter. Kinda nervous but feel confident after watching your vids along with others. Super excited to start this new “hobby”.

Is it true that a left helical will cause field points and broadheads to loosen up more frequently

Looking to buy my first bow other than when I was a kid, been watching your vids and learning alot. Keep em coming. Love from UK 🇬🇧

When I was learning to shoot (about a million years ago and with 5" fletchings) the wisdom of the time was right handed shoot left helical, left hand shoot right helical. Could explain why so many target archers are more accurate with their left helical, the majority are right handed. Probably makes absolutely no difference either way, but I still shoot left helical from long habit.

Just started fletching ‘left’ after discovering every sing one of my bows throw counterclockwise. Paired with nock tuning individual bare shafts prior to fletching, and my group size has noticeably tightened up.

excellent info. remember to first spine index and bare shaft paper tune before the fletch for top performance. Good Luck this season

I would get as close to the target as I could to give the arrow the least time to react. How could you tell if your arrow made a 1/4 rotation to the right or a 3/4 rotation to the left, the mark would end up in the same location? Or a half rotation either way. It could even be 90% rotation one direction or 10% in the other.

Agree 100% on everything especially ….” Maybe it matters, maybe it doesn’t “( even though i do it because….. why not?). I would say, when i clock my arrows they turn almost to 6 oclock by 3-4 yards . Id suggest starting at about 2 just in case your bow is faster at spinning them . I’m only shooting about 64#. Thanks for the videos!!! Great stuff

More tech in this vid than I've got from my archery shop in years. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Subbed.

Matthews 31.5 rotate to the right, all my arrows are fletched 3 degrees off set. Also just bought a ventum 33, after watching my arrows do something funny fairly close to the bow when shot I check by doing what you said, I always check but assuming all were the same. They Are Rotating Left Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Something been just a hair off, maybe this was it. Reflecting 4 to try tomorrow Ahhhhhhhhhhh

So Randy Ulmer has a video where he actually shoot the bow and shows clockwise or counterclockwise rotation just like you spoke about. And draws the same conclusion if you’re Arrow wants to go left then left helical and if it goes clockwise go right helical. Makes sense. Then somebody posted a high-speed video and the conclusion to the video is if your arrow has a natural tendency to go counterclockwise it’ll spin twice as fast with a left helical ... if you’re shooting a right helical on an arrow that wants to spin counterclockwise. When an arrow is launched out of the bow going counterclockwise and then it’s some point has to stop and then go clockwise so you’re losing momentum of rotation and I think ultimately accuracy! I’m not a physicist but it sounds like common sense to me..

A shooting test needs to be conducted to prove or disprove this concept. I don't have a hooter shooter, but did my own test with both left and right heix arrows. Bare shafted Victory VAP TKO arrows shot from my Halon 32-6 naturally rotate left. I found no real discernible difference and if anything the left helix arrows were a bit less accurate. So, I ended up with more confidence in the right helix arrows and only hunt with them. I now have a new bow and may try the test again, but something done with a Hooter Shooter would have more cred.

That moment at 10' the arrow rotated 180 degrees....Figure that one out LOL! Moved up a couple of feet and was able to tell much to my surprise it rotated left as a RH shooter. Ordered a new clamp.

Awesome explanation on arrow helical! I found that you can get a nice 2-3 degree left offset with a straight clamp so I wouldn't throw away $40 bucks. Just set a vane in the straight clamp with no glue, line up the bottom adjustment markers in-line...ensure solid contact on your arrow shaft. Dial your top adjustment knob about 1/4 inch left of center still making solid contact on the shaft! Fletch a vane with glue, keep the arrow on the jig until set. Remove the clamp and make a left turn...and look up the shaft from the bottom of the jig. You will see a mild left offset with 100% vane surface contact from top to bottom. A left helical clamp is still a worthy investment!!

Dale_B1 on Archerytalk says it doesn’t matter ! HAHAHAAHAHAHAHA

Ive tested this over and over for decades. I have straight vanes with helical cock vane left and right, 3 helical left, 3 helical right, left wing using right helical jig and vise versa right on left and it made zero difference in my arrow flight as far as where they hit the target. Some fly left after leaving the bows and some fly right. I am left handed and its the same for all my trad bows and compounds. So for the last 20 yrs or so I dont even pay attention to what feather it is or what jig, I just puttem on and lettem rip.

I have shot straight vanes on my Olympic Recurve and Compound in the Freestyle Class out to 90 meters. Also, I have won a local 3D tournament with my Compound shooting straight vanes.

I watched a few vid about this. I tested a bare shaft on my target recurve: LEFT SPIN. I twisted the string the other way: LEFT SPIN. I’ll be ordering feather with left spin

Jake Kaminski put out a video a couple of years ago covering this and actually did a walk back from the target to like 10 yards to show the effect and then fletched accordingly.

In the northern hemisphere your arrow spins clockwise and in the Southern Hemisphere it spins counter clockwise. Lol

I would imagine the rotation would be opposite because when you draw it's rotating one direction so when you release it will go back and start rotating the opposite direction.

This is great info... I had been shooting right spin wings and decided to try the left spin wings to see what the difference is and I noticed a difference in position/grouping but couldn’t explain it... now I can. Thanks for this video :)

My bride has were actually going left so I stripped off the fletching’s and put on a left helical now they fly straight and tuning them was super easy. Great advice

I bought a blitzburger about 6 month ago because of this video but it came with straight or right I got the right and ordered left because i have different a straight, I found if I go to much helical it might put it off so I'm going to try a a slight left helical instead of crazy boat propeller. Thanks for the info man.

I think the test answers the question . Without any fletchings the arrow should only turns 1/4 a turn at 10 yards or 30 feet . I have done this test many times . I have found the tightness of the nock is what makes the arrow turn more . If you have your nock fitting so it pops the arrow off with a 1/2 inch draw back and let go, as it should be, you will see that at 10 yards your mark will be slightly less than one forth turn . You don't want the string so tight around the nock that it allows the string to turn it . If you are getting more than a 1/4 turn at 10 yards you better look into adjusting your nock tightness. With the correct nock tightness and only a 1/4 turn of the arrow at 10 yards you can see that it really doesn't matter .The slightest angle of the fletching is going to turn the arrow before it even gets to the end of the bow . Here is a good test you can do to show that the arrow is already turning in the fletching direction you give it . Put a whisker biscuit on a bow .Make one of the vanes straight up and down and mark it with indicating spray on the front part of the vane so when it hits the whisker biscuit you can see where it contacts . You will see that before it reaches the biscuit it has already started to turn in the direction you want it to go . That's why if you don't have a drop away rest and you have 2 bars the arrow is resting on you want to use indicating spray on the arrow between the vanes to see its travel once the arrow reaches the bars . If you just line the vanes up thinking the arrow is going to go straight through the bars without twisting is the reason your arrow vanes are touching the bars . You have to allow for the twist when the vanes meet the bars. The marks the indicating spray marks as it slides along the bars show you how much the arrow is twisting from the front of the arrow to the back . A bigger degree in the vanes will show a bigger twist from the front of the arrow to the back before it even gets to the bar rest . If you have a right hand twist you will want to turn your vane a little more to the right so by the time the vanes get to the bars they will still be out of the way and not contact the bars . Most people just line up the vanes to the open area of the bars and think the arrow is going to go straight , they don't realize the arrow is already turning before the vanes get to the bars .

I've tried both right hand and left hand helix from my Prime One at 65# and didn't get any difference in accuracy right out to 70yards, the only thing it did do with left fletched arrows, after several rounds, was unscrew the points! I know a dab of hot melt on the point thread would cure this but I was experimenting with point weight at the time. Still, an interesting bit of information though so thanks for the video.

I stripped my right offset vanes on a couple arrows and wouldn't ya know it... they turn left out of the bow! Picked up some left helical clamps for my jig and looking forward to doing some re-fletching. Hoping it pulls my groups together at those longer distances.

Good video. I fletched me some left offset vanes today.

I use a right helical and I always have to tighten my field points. If I go with a left helical would my points stop from screwing out?

Can’t say for a compound, but 5” straight fletching (1 degree offset) for a longbow regardless left or right, is every bit as accurate as a faster twist arrow, from my experiences…..straight fletching helps to maintain velocities, twisting slows the arrow down….

Left helical will unscrew heads on target contact especially with broadheads

I am shooting center shot triangle bow that will shoot up to 70lbs. I am wanting to go with 4 inch turkey feathers ( right wing ) with a slight helical but I only have a strait clamp for my fletching jig how much of an angle ( degreas ) should I put on my set up to accomplish this I am also shooting full carbon arrows ( Allen brand ) with an adjustment weight of from 30 to 70 lbs draw weight. At 28 inches in length even thoe my draw length is 27 1/2 inches. They came with 2 inch vanes on them but I want to change to feathers. Is this ok to do so? Please let me know. Thank you.

I just watched an interview featuring the owner of Bitzenburger. He has done a lot of experimentation using slow motion video and measuring arrow flight and has determined that it doesn’t make a bit of difference which clamp you buy when purchasing your Bitzenburger jig. The degree of natural spin is insignificant and the spin induced by helical fletching over comes it and reverses it so quickly as to make measuring the difference impossible. Spend your time worrying about things that matter.

Have always shot left helical 50 years. They have a flown good but have always wondered how you would tell. Thanks good luck with your tournament

Did you ever do that experiment? I looked and didn't find it.

I didn't notice and difference but it changed my point of impact a little my arrows rotate left out of my Vertix and my sons Triax turns right the only thing I really do is bareshaft papertune and group to get the arrows together in case of fliers and fletch them up and group tune at longer distance playing with the poundage a little.

Did you end up testing the difference between left and right helical? I can’t find the vid. I’m trying to figure out if I should spend a couple of $$ on converting my jig or just go with the right helical even if my bare shaft spins to the left.

Many thanks for the tip with the blank shaft, I wanted to fletching a few arrows with a spins but I didn't know which direction they were turning. Your information was so helpful, thanks

The natural spin has nothing to do with string twist. It's a function of the arrow straightening with two planes of bend in it, once the nock clears the string. With dead straight arrows which the pros are using, there's little planing while the arrow gets up to rotational speed if the vanes are contra fletched to the natural spin. That's why they don't see much variation with fletching in either direction. However, if you've got budget arrows that aren't that straight, spinning them up instantly is critical to average out their flight variation. If that arrow isn't spinning for the first few feet out of the bow, the bend will make it veer in one direction for a relatively long period of time. All of a sudden, you have a problem. You can reduce the issue by fletching with your natural spin direction. Dead straight expensive arrows won't show any issue. Cheap arrows with only a few thou bend WILL. This is why some people see a big difference and others don't. As the video says, every little advantage is worth it. Getting your arrows spinning as soon as you can is just basic performance insurance.

Arrow flight out of it longbow helical makes a huge difference, I shoot right helical

Good info from you all the time..! Cheers bud..!

Really like to see an arrow in slow motion with an opposite helical to spin fletching...I’m thinking it might get a little wobbly? Definitely gonna check out my arrow spin before I fletch anymore arrows...if anything, just for state of mind.

My concern with twisting Left is I've suspected it loosened my broadhead on impact at close range. At this point I have so many Right-hand thread broadheads it'd stink to have to get a bunch of more difficult to find Left-hand thread ones.

I disagree. Straight vanes fly better and group better then helical up to about 40 yrds. Ive tested them. After that right helical works best. Because it fights the natural rotation of a left bare shaft. Keeps the arrow steady longer.

i think you would see more of a difference with a fixed blade broadhead than a field trip i maybe wrong but always just assumed that

I test my bare shafts and have always found them to rotate left...so I always fletch left helical. Now I know why. Question: people often talk about a 2-degree or 3-degree helical... how do you measure the degree of helical? Thanks for all the information... really appreciate it.

I noticed this on my bow about a year ago that a non-fletched arrow turned counter clockwise off my string. When I changed to a left helical, I noticed better flight (I could really see the better flight with my lighted nock). However, to test it I shot from a much shorter distance from my target with the bare shaft, probably 3-4 feet. I was able to accurately determine the spin because I would shoot from different distances to actually see how much my arrow was spinning at the different distances.

We humans try to complicate everything. You lost my attention when you said straight fletch is pretty much useless, I have always shot straight fletch 2 vein arrows, on self and recurve bows. KISS method applies/

Does the have any impact on a left or right handed shooter? Curious as I hadn’t seen it mention? In disclosure I didn’t check every comment

I'm having problems getting my broadheads to shoot accurately. I'm shooting a Bear Attitude, 29" draw, 67lbs with 340 spine Gold Tip XTs and Kudu Point Contour 125gr. Last year, my G5's flew great. I changed to a heavier arrow and the Kudus and haven't been able to shoot a consistent group yet. I'm unsure of the helical alignment of my vanes and my string twist, but I'm worried that the Kudu heads are possibly trying to turn against my vane/arrow rotation. Anyways, I'm going to get things tuned this week...

Nice I was just concerned with this.

Thank you for this video. I did it as you told. Something I would like you to talk about is breathing during the shot. Perhaps it´s interesting for you.

Great video! Thank you for taking the time to make it.

I normally shoot a 2 degree offset I use a straight clamp and a bohning fletch pro my question is do I need to adjust the top and bottom screws to 2 degree I've adjusted the top screw to 2 degree and the bottom screw to 1degree offset looks about right any pointers.

Bow must be in tune "first" before this will be useful. Dont believe me ...? Twist a yoke a full turn and see the rotation change. However it is a subject to consider in super tunes... thanks for sharing.

Maybe I’m overthinking a lot now. But lets say that the string wants to rotate the arrow to the left due to how the string is set up, wouldnt it be more troublesome to emphasize that rotation by adding left helical vanes. The arrow might have like 20” of travel before the nock leaves the string, and if the string itself in combination with the vanes wants to rotate the arrow a lot that would make the nock having to counteract the twist when the pinchpoint tries to detatch from the string. Maybe it would be beneficial to actually have the helical working against the string so that the nock gets a more straight path while leaving the string in the pinchpoint.

What you are saying makes intuitive sense to go with the flow, but I wonder if there is a question aerodynamically. If the arrow starts spinning against the fletching bias would that not make a little more drag and thus stabilize the arrow a little quicker? Is there enough evidence of the results of spinning with the flow to say it is better. Also is it possible that it might be better for one setup and not another? It's all about more forgiveness and that equation is what we all are after of course. I wonder if there is a way to scientifically analyze the result. Maybe a shooting machine? Thanks for addressing this topic...something to experiment with.

So I have a question since I'm New to this. If the right threaded string makes the arrow turn left why wouldn't you fletch right? Do we ignore the pattern?

Most of the videos are awesome but he failed to mention that there are broadheads including some double bevel helicals that require the arrow to be fletched a specific direction and all double bevels to my knowledge.The industry has somewhat moved away from the helicals but single bevels are hard to beat for big game.

Good info but Seems when you draw back. If it makes the arrow rotate to the left. When you release it’s going to go back the opposite way it came, making the arrow spin right

how you define offset? right offset is vane pointing right when view from nock? if you have a right feather do you fletch the feather right or left offset? what about left or right helical?

To be more precise it is actually the serving that affects the arrow spin if you twist a string clock wise and serve it clock wise arrows spin anti clockwise how ever if you serve the same string the wrong way ( anti clockwise ) arrow will spin clockwise )

25 years shooting right. Broke my jig and borrowed a mates which is left and never noticed any difference in accuracy at all.

I have always shot right helical and I break a lot of arrow 40 yards ,I just got into shooting 70 yards 5 years ago.

Great info as always! Thanks man!

I have seen a lot of people argue that it doesn't matter if you shoot left or right helical. I just let my arrow performance answer with results.

What about a single bevel broadhead? Does the helical orientation need to be consistent with the forces applied by the single bevel broadhead?

for Target Archers , What is an ideal FOC with an 400 grain arrow ?

Due to a shoulder injury I am shooting a crossbow this year.. Has anybody tried this with a xbow?

So what happens if it naturally wants to shoot left but you already shoot a right single bevel broadhead?

A3 archery strings spin my arrows to the right

was there ever a follow up to this ? did you do some more on this and figure anything out or change opinion ?

Just look at your main string and see which way it’s twist left or right and that be your helical

After a lot of experimenting I shoot better with a right wing feather fletched with a straight jig .. also works best with my double bevel broadhead..

How would this be done with a brand new bow? will tuning the rest and twisting the yoke during tuning change the helical? when is the best time to TEST this right or left spin? and does arrow spine have anything to do with this? or is it just twist pattern or the string brand?

Theres a video called "single bevel broadhead vs. fletching direction". In that video is a bunch of high speed camera shots of the effect of right vs left helical. Its interesting to see differences (albeit slight) in arrow accuracy when using fletching that doesnt fight the natural rotation of the arrow.

My assumption was whether you shoot left or right handed.. I thinking that I was thinking you'd want to initially and immediately away from the riser. So it's like a toilet flush we have no influence as to what direction an arrow spins? Hmm thanks for opening my eye's... And here I thought I knew everything..LOL. THANKS!

Looked at your video list. Did you ever do the follow up video?

I've had the wrong helical and you could see it switch spin mid flight at farther distances

What happened to the follow up video?

Can this test be done with a pre fletched arrow? I have Easton axis 5mm, pre fletched. They look to have no offset in the vane. I tried this test and they are spinning right. Do you think this is accurate? Or should I not trust this since the are fletched?

Does it matter if you shoot left or right handed which way you should fletch?

As long as I get good arrow flight? Spine, point weight etc.

All this little stuff adds up!

Would be interested to see the results of shooting the two sets of 6 arrows bareshaft before fitting the vanes. Thanks for your videos, they are excellent!

not ironic the manufactures of the jigs sell them with a right hand so the bastards sell you the left hand for extra sales

I would like to see that right vs left helical fletch test. I plan to after this season, to try and start fletching my own arrows for the first time. Easton axis with max stealth vanes and 4 vanes.

Hey man big fan of your videos. I actually work at a pro shop and am beginning a level 2 archery instructor course. Just wondering how got obtained your knowledge? 🏹🤙

I've tried right vs left... makes no difference

Does northern or southern hemisphere of the earth matter as well? In the northern hemisphere, things naturally rotate counter clockwise. In the southern hemisphere they rotate clockwise.

Love the content, thank you! Do you happen to know if GAS strings are done clockwise? Also, I've heard the grind of a broad head can also affect the spin of the arrow? I did the test and sure enough I'm going left on my stock strings. My only hesitation to go left helical (and this may be silly) is that it could loosen my arrow tip. Thanks again for the great content

Thanks for this

if your bow is tuned one rotation in 7' is all you need .

Quick question: do left fletched helical arrows damage broadheads?

If, as you suggest, the arrow rotation is determined by the twist of the string, wouldn't it stand to reason to simply re-twist the string in the opposite direction as opposed to re-fletching all you arrows from a right spin to a left spin configuration (especially if, like me, you have more than a dozen arrows to re-fletch.) ? I'm going to try that and see what difference it makes (if any). Stay tuned......