Fat v Thin, ‘O’ what to shoot indoors.

Fat v Thin, ‘O’ what to shoot indoors.

This is another great topic to put out there which is as old as the hills and has been around since the dawn of time.  Do you change your set up to shoot large diameter arrows indoors, or do you stay with your outdoor set up and just shoot the indoor season?

There are lots of questions you need to ask yourself to see whether it will be worth the change.

The obvious question would be do you value outdoor shooting over indoor shooting?  If this is the case then for the next 6 months you will need to find an all round outdoor ft1shooting venue and go for it.  All of the indoor shooting that you do, will just be part of your arrow count and not worth you changing your set up.  Remember a 10 is a 10 whatever you shoot, so if you put them into the middle of the target, large diameter arrows do not matter!!!

If the indoor season is something that you enjoy shooting, then you have decisions to make.  Let’s have a look at the advantages of shooting with large diameter arrows.  The obvious advantage is that with a larger diameter arrow, you are more likely to get line cutters so therefore your score should improve.

But being able to shoot with larger diameter arrows does come at a price and there are 3 main issues that you will have to face.

  • The first is the cost of the arrows. There are many different makes and versions of arrow, full carbon, aluminium or ali carbon, the cost can be from £60 upwards.  It’s important to find what suits your style of shooting.  Also the type of fletching is equally important; whether plastic, long spin wing, eli vanes, or feathers.  Once you have something that works you can then turn your attention to shooting.
  • Time is the next issue. Practice will be required to test what you have bought.  It may take 2 or 3 attempts to get the right arrow to use.
  • You will also need a new pressure button for your indoor arrows. You don’t want to be in the position of changing the pressure of your only pressure button every time you need to change your arrows to shoot frostbite, or to shoot outdoors.  Keep a spare button then all you do is swop when you need to.

When shooting indoors, a 3 spot face is recommended for maximum benefit.  If you shoot ft2on a single spot you could end up with what we call deflection.  This is where you put 2 arrows close together and the third arrow follows the same path and hits one of the arrows already in the target.  This causes the arrow change direction and the last arrow will land in the blue or worse, and it is likely that one or both of the arrows will be damaged.  This is why a 3 spot face is recommended.

When selecting an arrow for compound it is worth speaking to an outlet with experience in this area.  The arrows that would give you the max diameter may be longer than the outdoor set up and also may require a heavier pile to bring the arrow into spine.  Same for recurve, so make sure you have a good conversation with the outlet so you don’t end up wasting your money on arrows that are not suited to what you are trying to achieve.

So if the difference between fat and thin arrows is marginal, do you really need to change? We would say that it’s up to you.  It’s what gives you the confidence to go out there and shoot big scores and unless you give it a try you will never know….

If you have some thoughts on this please do drop us a line at info@aim4sport.com and title your email “Fat v Thin ‘O’ what to shoot indoors”, and some of the replies will be posted on line.  Please let us know your thoughts.

Shoot ‘em strong and see you on the shooting line soon.

Author Archives: Dave Leader

Dave has been in and out of the sport for the best part of 40 years. Shooting with his family from 8 years old, Dave has seen many changes to the sport throughout the years. Dave mainly shoots Recurve, but has a secret passion for Compound.

Now having owned Aim4sport since August 2012, Dave has worked through his coaching and coaching training levels and has been an AGB Senior Coach since 2018 and AGB Coach Developer since 2016.

Still enjoys the opportunity to shoot and still have aspirations, however, time is the main issue :p