The TRUTH About Stabilizers (You May Be Doing This Wrong) 

Thanks for the teachings. I’ve been learning for past four years on my own just from watching videos like yours and others. I don’t have access to a club unless I travel 3.5 hrs away and they’re not available most times on the weekends. Archery isn’t very popular in my neck of the woods. Maybe a few guys who only hunt one month out of the year. So, I appreciate the time you put into the vids.

Thanks for the info Chris, would love to see you shoot your bow in a long range situation with and without your stabilizer to see the difference in grouping.

I’ve watched countless videos on stabilisation and no one has ever explained the advantage of adding bias to the bow in a way that makes perfect sense. I’ve tried it for myself now and it’s a game changer. Thanks Chris.

I'm only 15 and your videos are helping me with my bow hunting skills and what is necessary for my bow. I basically have the same hunting setup as up. Thanks Chris

I sat in Blair Sandberg’s kitchen back in the spring of 2007 and he gave me a physics lesson on rotational torque and why designed the original b-stinger the way he did. It’s awesome to see that he innovatived the stabilizer and archery world and we are doing everything differently.

Good video Chris. George is the man! I love the way he approaches archery from a quantitative and mathematical equation! Catch you at TAC this year man!

Excellent discussion Chris!!!! In a sense I've always been alittle confused with proper weighting of my bow. You cleared up alot for me. Thank you and be safe ....

Thanks for the video Chris, I agree that stabilizers could be something that is overly complicated, when it shouldn't be. I also agree that a stabilizer won't fix bad form lol. I'm sure that the two stabilizer setup is really helpful in the elk woods when those long shots present themselves, archery elk hunting is primarily what I do so I may want to give that a try in the future.🤙🏽🐝

Great video Chris, this helped me a ton. I’m new to bow hunting and your videos are very helpful to me.

I have started looking more into stabilizers as I just got my first ever deer at 32 with my uncle's 30 year old bow he gave me long ago, and decided to get a flagship bow (Bowtech SR350) as I'd finally done his bow justice and gotten a harvest with it. I'm not sure how I feel about it all yet. I was able to pull off a Robinhood at 25 yards within my first month of practicing with his bow again (PSE Edge 1000C, it had been years since I'd shot it and I started working on my form to get back into archery), and the only stabilizer I had on it was a Trophy Ridge 8" dampener more or less. It was definitely much less forgiving, but it forced me into proper form for results. I'm of the mind that all the gadgets arent necessarily necessary so long as you pound correct form into your head and dont rush or take shots you shouldnt. You sorta touched on that with stripping all the weight off a new bow or new form but still. It just feels a little to foreign to the art of archery. But If I go down that rabbit hole too long I'll end up at bare bow archery and no one wants that x'D

Nice explanation. I've never seen that stabilizer/weight formula. I found it interesting. I think my hunting setup is similar to yours, in that I have more weight on the rear stabilizer than the formula indicates. But like you said, it feels good. I'm running the Shrewd Vantage 12" out front with one ounce and the 9" out back with three ounces on my Mathews V3X29. I am really liking this setup right now.

Man I just wanted to say thanks for making awesome useful content you really do a great job and I’ve learned a lot from you keep up the great show brother

Great breakdown. I learned some stuff for sure, especially about the back bar.

very well explained, I know very little about the technical side of setups, but I learned some new things.

Thanks for this vid. I haven't put a ton of thought into my stabilizers other than that "they should balance out the bow...right??" The side bias reducing chances of error makes a lot of sense. I will have to try kicking my back stabilizer out a little and see what it does for my consistency.

I was today years old my bow likes to lean to the right and I have to tilt it the left to get my bow level and when I shoot and I follow through my bow it self dirfts left I never thought about why my bow goes that way but it makes sense now You taught me something new thanks chris

That’s some good info, I really liked your explanation behind stabs. Might need to reevaluate my set up. My bow is pretty well balanced but like you said I am fighting left to right tip on my level when taking a shot. I may do what you have and have the weight on the left side so I only need to fight tilting it to the right to get it level.

THIS is the best Stabz video ive ever seen ...... thanks Chris

Solid content Chris!!! keep it coming 👍

Great video. It is definitely a personal feel, like I like my bow more back heavy. I can run a 10:1 and feel really good.

Awesome video. I have been shooting without one and doing just fine out to 40 yards, no issues at all. I'm going to try one now just to do it.

Love it bro I always say there's so much stuff out there that don't make sense I mean there's some really far fetched things out there anymore Thank you for this video

Been waiting on this one forever. Amazing

Your videos are always entertaining and informative. Thank you.

I didn't know about calculating how much was needed on the back bar, but I got the same thing by just feel. Pretty cool to confirm it.

Thank you for finally doing a video on this🙏

With my V3, the bow without any stabilizers, front and back, is already well balanced. It is possible to hunt without stabilizers period and the effect on the shot without stabilizers is negligible in hunting situations. As a result, I simply shoot with a single rubber stabilizer "stacker" ball and really, that is only to hold my wrist strap on. I have hunted with a simple small bolt in the stabilizer bar hole once again to simply hold my wrist strap on the bow. Lugging around in the woods all that extra weight is pointless IMO. And lengthy stabilizers whether out the front or back has more potential to hurt you in the tree, whether in the saddle or stand than to help when you are making the shot. Thanks for sharing the tech info Chris. Very interesting and I learned some stuff today.

I’ve been thinking about stabilizers. This is some good insight. I should really just focus on my form as my setup is right now. Looks like another 200 arrows tomorrow of trying to figure it out lol.

I agree. Stabilizers provide a better and smoother shot if you will. I run a 12 front and 7 on the back for my hunting set up.

You said that you were adding a link to the George Riles information on stabilizers? Great info you provided, thanks. Always looking for new information to help me shoot better.

Great lesson on stabilizers. You made it very simple.

Great content qs always Chris! Appreciate what you do and all your hard work and inspiring all of us archers with your content! God bless!

Love the videos Chris!! You do a great job of explaining these concepts. From an engineering background, this all makes a lot of sense. That equation is the basic sum of moments equation from physics. Basically the torque caused in the front has to equal the torque in the back to have a perfect balance. Same for left and right. From there it becomes feel or intentional bias. You shoulda been an engineer Chris lol

That was a good One Chris. Appreciate all your help.

I used the mathematical method for weighting my stabilizer setup and it definitely got me dialed in pretty quick. It really calmed the bow down at the shot.

Great explanation Chris…..thank you.

Great video Chris, just watched the George Riles video. Excellent info. My question would be how to you know where to start with the length of your front stabilizer? It is a standard if you are a target shooter it's 30", if you are a hunter 12". Would love to hear your thoughts.

Okay, the back bar bias tip is pretty great and something that I just kinda stumbled on today.

Stabilizers increase the rotational inertia of the entire bow rig. You lever mass as far from rotational center as reasonable to resist the tendency for rotation. They also assist with vibration diffusion after the shot lets loose.

Great information especially for people like me that's new into bow hunting but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the tactacam stabilizer set up mainly cause I'm thinking about getting one mainly to film my hunt.

I wish there was a way to try different stabilizers or releases or things like that before you buy them

Awesome video Brother. All I have on my Diamond Triumph hunting setup is a 4 1/2 inch 4.5 ounce Limbsaver stabilizer. And the bow is still top heavy. What would you recommend doing to balance it a little more.

Interesting video. I prefer shooting a short front rod (around 12") only. I don't shoot well with long rods (I have one and I have tried from time to time). The long rod moves the center of gravity far out from the bow, so the bow feels heavier. So I gets tired much sooner and thus shoots not good. In general I don't use back rods, sometimes, especially indoor I use a side rod that goes backwards, but I am not sure it makes much difference for me. :-) Not sure why I don't use the side rod for outdoor target - maybe I would if I had two bows, one for target archery and one for 3D (for 3D I use only the short front rod). Could try it though, since there is still a month or 3 weeks until the next 3D shoot - so I am practicing target archery from 30 m to 90 m. :-)

The point of a stabilizer is to compensate for the geometry issues created by the bow. In a perfect archery system, the archers hands would be in the centre of the bow, both at the nock and at the grip, creating a symmetrical spring with which to launch the arrow. Unfortunately this means that the arrow is going to have to go through the archer's hand. To avoid this, the grip is moved below the arrow, but this creates a point of pressure below the centreline of the bow which causes the bow to kick upwards on release. The stabilizer is there to counteract this kick and ensure that the arrow leaves cleanly without an upward kick affecting the flight of the arrow. Having a stabilizer sticking out the front of the bow creates a front-back imbalance, so having a rear stabilizer helps to correct this imbalance while enhancing the resistance of the bow to the upward kick.

On my daughters target bow she has a 30" front bar with 6oz and a 15" back bar with 15oz. She tried the 1to3 or 1to4 balance on initial setup,but after trail and error she found out with this setup she has the least amount of pin float and her bubble stays dead center during her shot. Like you mention; in a stabilizer setup, a lot of it is in personal preference.

Thanks for the info, it helped

Legit info. Thanks brotha!

Thanks. This video makes a lot of sense.

Thanks for the information! Do stabilizers work differently if you are shooting from a treestand?

Remember, the formula is best used when you want to increase or decrease overall weight from the system. You should find where the bow shoots and holds best as fae as front and side bias go. Then if you want to keep that, but just add mass, use the formula. Any time the stabilizers aren’t parallel (both vertically and horizontally) the formula will be off. A big job of stabilizers is keeping the bow from moving when you release the arrow. In general, a front heavy system does this best.

Good info! When measuring your Stabilizers for that formula where do you measure from and to? Do you include the QD in the length? Measure to the weights or just the actual tube?

Well put. Factional opinion is TruthDafacto. Your an expert you have hands on. You just witnessed to reading, now you give an truthful opinion on facts you know to be self evident. Cool how that works. Saalute dig the shows and secretly in love with Hinge release. Cross my heart. I still use trigger punch / Gen one release or semi traditional release Imp. One day. New bowtech cp28 kitted out. Maybe not all bells and whistles but close to it. Ok laters thank you.

This was actually very helpful

Mantis x8 is a good tool to help with stabilizet setup. Especially when it comes to siderods to help eliminate tilt.

Love the videos!!!!🐝🐝

Fire video brotha!

According to This formula I should be running 2 ounces more on my back bar, guess I will buy a a couple more weights for the back and see if it changes anything in my shooting. Great info

Is the goal bow balance or full draw balance? New to bow and learning a ton. Thanks the outstanding content.

Hey Chris. I have a vxr 31.5 that I hunt with. I currently am running a quivalizer on it with a 5 arrow set up. I'm having way more pin float than what is acceptable. Mostly up and down movements. Do you think I front and rear set up like yours would help my situation? Thanks

Does that grip fit a vxr? Good video, thanks for the info

Great video . This information makes a lot of sense

This is awesome thank you

"Stiff rod"....ALWAYS necessary. Huh huh....huh huh. Seriously though, thanks for the info. Didn't know that much detail about stabilizers.

Chris, on your Phase4 you run your back bar straight out while on your target you have it at a 10-15 degree down angle

That formula is a basic center of balance formula. College and High School physics and hundreds of other jobs use its concept all the time in equations. I used to plan cargo to go on aircraft and used it to determine were the aircraft will balance and if it's within acceptable location to allow the plane to fly properly. He may of brought it to the archery world, but he isn't the origin of the math. Archery is just one big gigantic physics class mixed with kinaesthetic.

Great video Chris

Not sure if you have a video on this or if the video you referenced has the answers but I have always wondered the correct/best way to set the amount the back stabilizer is out from the bow (and it’s height up/down as well as in/out). I have read that the tendency of the pin to want to settle lower rather than float in place indicates too much front weight - is finding your front weight first at the lightest possible the starting point for weight as well? Thanks for the video - the concept of not wanting stabilizers to put the bow in neutral makes a lot of sense

When you do the math for your bars should you include the length of the mounts? Like the quick detach off the front?? Thanks

After watching the explanation of weight distribution, I can only wonder if the weight of the stabilizer it self should be considered in the calculation. I shoot a V bar in the back, so obviously the consideration of length in the formula when is two instead of one stabilizer in the back is important.

Hi engineer here, a stabilizer works by increasing the bows moment of inertia which reduces abrupt movement. A longer stabilizer will show better results for the same weight. Also, your equation is literally the equation for torque: force x distance.

Love the math class 👌 👏

Awesome Chris! Very helpful video, I like the formula for wieght alot never even heard of that gonna have to keep that in my book. Also one question, I'm right handed and I run my back bar on the right side of my bow which most archers would consider that backwards. I've shot like this for many years its like this on every bow I have (target and hunting). It feels good and I shoot it very well. Im not gonna change it but im just curios as to why I have to run it that way because I've only ever seen 1 archer other than myself do it.

Were are the podcasts and very helpful

Hey, Chris.Just wondering what do you like to run up front for point weight on your arrows?

I run a 12 and 7 on my hunting/3D bow and it’s awesome feel and balance on the bow i have it adjusted to where it shoots good with quiver on or off.

I would think that the slight angle down also fights against “cant”.

Hey fellas make sure your rod is stiff 😊😊😊😆. Chris Bee 🐝 doing good things 👍👍

Shooting a new Mathews Phase 4. I installed my old Black Gold sight on, single pin with bubble level. Like my last Mathews my bubble always favors to the left. I must be canting the bow. Will a back stabilizer leaning out to the opposite side help in balancing. What set up would you recommend? Thanks!

I've been playing with stabilizer placement on my PSE Brute force. I have read a past post on the science of front and back bars but have not seen anything on placement. I have a 10 inch front and 8 inch back bar. I have my back bar mounted at the same height as my front bar, but as im watching this video and in most other videos, the back bar is mounted lower on the riser. Is there a preferred placement of the back bar? Do you get more stability when it's mounted lower on the riser than at the same level as the front stabilizer?

The statement that winds me up is that you need 3x the weight on the back to the front (which tends in be a decent rough guide for target, but I keep seeing it with regard to bowhunter setups )

I bought a hour VTM 34 yesterday and have been trying to balance it. Still not happening. I don’t hav e front stabilizer because I have a garmin A1i pro on it and it is already front heavy. I have adjustable rear stabilizer, i have an 8 inch rod on it. Can the formula work using the metrics from my Garmin sight as well? That way I know what the to do with my rear stabilizer?

You seem to popular and busy to have time or me, but on the off chance… I’m brand new and I’m curious how much of a difference in accuracy your favorite set up has for you personally versus say with no stabilizer or just a short one up front. Have you tested that out at a specific distance? I loved your explanation. Thanks for the tips

What would help the side to side motion broke my arm last year but haven’t got all the steadiness back yet

If I didn’t want to use a back bar would that handicap me in a hunting situation? Thanks 🙏

is your low pro quiver hard to get off and snap on? mine i have to put a lot of force to close the clamp and open the clamp

its much just thinking here , is it to absorb the shock ? then find out were the shock hits , it seems counter productive to have a back and forward stabelizer ,if youre just balace the front and back you just add weight , and that must not be the point ,

I've moved from Matthews to Hoyt, best decision the last year couldn't be more happy

You should do a saddle hunt video with an entire target bow set up 😂

Do you feel adding more backbar weight or swinging the bar out is going to add a lot of torque on the grip when dealing with angled shots? I feel like even at Reos peak he struggled at Redding bc he had so much weight and stuck his blade back bar so far out?

So the back bar shouldn’t make the bow balance left and right without having to apply bias with your grip?

Just wanna know is it okay to put a Chris bee stabilizer on my pse drive nxt if so gunna trade a truck load of wood for one

What do you have that allows you to detach the low pro quiver so easily?

Ok here we go time to learn something 👍👍.

This is great info Chris! Thank you! For people that shoot a PSE or Hoyt and have the front stabilizer in the lower position, do you still use the actual length of the rod in the equation? Or do you use the perceived length since the formula is based on the stabilizer being in the typical position just below the grip?

I have always thought that stabs are overpriced, but a necessary piece of equipment. If you shoot deer at 30 yards and in you probably don't need one. But they always help make the bow more stable for sure.

I run a 30 in the front and a 8 in the back do you think j should have it longer in the back

I always went for how the bow balances in your hand. If it pulls down, add more weight in the back. Or get a lighter front stabilizer. If it pulls up, take weight away from the back. Or get a heavier front stabilizer. Let me know if I've been incorrect in this deduction.

I know it’s personal preference but how much weight do you run on your 30” and 12” bars for your TRX?

I had wondered what these were for having only done traditional archery and i came to realise you are missing a key point on the purpose ( the main purpose that is) is to increase the energy required to add inertia to the bow, this is done through leverage of having a mass stiffly suspended some distance lower from the centre of mass but much like the reason trapeze perfomers carry two long bendy poles, to lower their centre of mass and increase the force required to change their centre of balanced, therefore giving them more time to naturally stabilise themselves. Now i understand what these are for and yes, they make sense for the reasons you also stated but these are more like secondary bonuses ( vibration reduction and stability - which you failed to explain the principles of) did you know therefore you could achieve probably greater levels of stabilisation by having an opposite inertia created at the point of arrow release, perhaps you could add some more pulleys to those things and have some weight coming back, it would reduce the power but according to what ive seen you are interested in a smooth release for accuracy.

Opinion based off of a professional athlete 🤘🏻👌🏻 thank you bro!!