Paper Tuning Guide: Read the Tear, Fix the Bow
Shoot through paper from about six feet and read where the fletching tears relative to the point hole. Move the rest in the direction of the tear, in sixteenth inch steps vertically and thirty-second inch steps horizontally, fixing vertical tears completely before touching windage.
Paper tuning answers exactly one question: was the arrow flying straight in the first few feet after it left the bow? That is narrower than it sounds, and it is why paper tuning is a diagnostic rather than a complete tune. It cannot tell you about spine at distance and it cannot tell you whether your sight and rest agree. What it can do, better than any other test, is show you launch error in a form you can read at a glance.
Setting up the frame
Build or buy a frame that holds paper taut in a roughly two foot square, at chest height. Newsprint, craft paper or even a large paper grocery bag all work. Put your target backstop four to six feet behind the paper so the arrow is safely stopped but has already passed through the paper cleanly.
Stand about six feet from the paper. Shoot level, at the height of the hole you want to make, so the arrow is not still climbing or falling. A common setup error is shooting from a standing position at a low frame, which introduces a downward angle and produces a false nock high reading.
Reading the tear
The hole tells you two things: where the point went through, and where the fletching went through. The tear points in the direction the tail of the arrow was traveling. A tear extending upward from the round hole means the nock end was high at launch.
| Tear | What it means | Fix, in order of likelihood | Step size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round hole, no tear | Arrow left straight | Confirm at 10 and 15 feet, then move on | n/a |
| Nock high | Tail above the point | Raise rest, lower nock point, check cam timing | 1/16 in |
| Nock low | Tail below the point | Lower rest, raise nock point, check for rest contact | 1/16 in |
| Nock left (RH) | Tail left at launch | Move rest left, then suspect weak spine or cam lean | 1/32 in |
| Nock right (RH) | Tail right at launch | Move rest right, then suspect stiff spine or cam lean | 1/32 in |
| Diagonal tear | Two errors combined | Correct vertical to zero first, then re-read horizontal | as above |
| Large ragged tear | Fletching striking something | Powder test for clearance before adjusting anything | n/a |
Left handed shooters reverse the two horizontal rows and leave the vertical rows alone. The universal rule is move the rest in the direction of the tear, and the reason vertical and horizontal step sizes differ is that a bow is far more sensitive to windage than to elevation. A full sixteenth of windage movement usually overshoots badly.
The order that saves time
- Shoot three arrows before changing anything. One tear is noise.
- Fix vertical completely. A vertical error contaminates the horizontal reading, so get to a clean vertical before touching windage.
- Then fix horizontal. Small steps, re-shoot three arrows after each.
- Re-verify vertical. Windage changes sometimes reintroduce a small vertical tear.
- Step back to 10 and 15 feet. Confirm the tear stays clean as the arrow gets further into its oscillation cycle.
The clearance test that solves stuck tunes
If a tear will not close after moving the rest an eighth of an inch, stop moving it and test for contact. Dust the rear six inches of the shaft, the vanes and the rest launcher with foot powder, dry shampoo or athlete's foot spray. Shoot one arrow and inspect for wipe marks.
Vanes clipping the rest arm, the cable guard or the riser shelf produce tears that no rest position can fix. The fixes are rotating the nock so the vanes clear, switching from three vanes to a different orientation, or slowing a drop-away rest's fall. This one test resolves the majority of tunes that feel impossible, and it takes two minutes.
When the problem is not the bow
Three form errors produce tears that look exactly like equipment problems:
- Grip torque. A hand wrapped around the grip rotates the riser at the shot and produces horizontal tears that change with hand pressure. Relax the fingers and let the bow sit in the lifeline of the palm.
- Punching the trigger. A jerked release drags the string sideways. If your tears clean up when a friend shoots your bow, this is why.
- Collapsing at the shot. Losing back tension the instant the release fires produces nock high or nock left tears inconsistently. Work through the form fundamentals before you chase it with a wrench.
A useful diagnostic: have a competent shooter with good form shoot your bow through paper. If their tears are clean and yours are not, no adjustment will help you.
Paper tuning a recurve or traditional bow
With a finger release, the string rolls off the fingertips and pushes the nock sideways at launch. That is normal archer's paradox, not a fault. A small horizontal tear on a recurve is often the sign of a correctly tuned bow rather than an incorrectly tuned one, and chasing a perfect hole with rest and plunger adjustments can move you away from a good tune.
Vertical tears remain meaningful. Set nocking point height so a clean vertical result appears, usually a nocking point about a quarter to a half inch above square. Then move to bare shaft tuning at 15 to 20 yards, which is the more informative test for a recurve, and adjust plunger tension and spine from there.
What happens after a clean tear
A round hole is the start of a tune, not the end. Confirm dynamic spine with bare shafts, verify that your rest and sight agree using walk-back tuning, then confirm broadheads group with field points. All three steps live in the full compound tuning sequence. If your tears keep pointing at a spine problem, check what shaft you should actually be shooting with the arrow spine calculator before you buy anything.
Safety: paper tuning has you shooting at close range past an obstruction. Make sure the frame cannot deflect an arrow, that the backstop is rated for your speed, and that nobody is downrange of the paper. If you correct spine by increasing draw weight, keep total arrow weight at or above 5 grains per pound of draw weight.
Related
- Full compound bow tuning sequence
- Broadhead tuning: the stricter test paper cannot replace
- How to choose arrow spine
- Kinetic energy calculator
Frequently asked questions
How far should I stand from the paper when paper tuning?
Start at about six feet from the paper with the target another four to six feet behind it. Six feet catches the arrow before it has recovered from launch, which is what you want to diagnose. Once you have a clean tear there, repeat at 10 and 15 feet. A tune that is clean at six feet but tears at 15 usually means fletching is masking a problem rather than solving it.
What does a nock high tear mean?
The tail of the arrow is above the point at launch. On a compound the usual causes are a nocking point set too low, a rest set too low, or cam timing that is out of sync. Fix it by raising the rest or lowering the nocking point in sixteenth inch steps. If the tear persists after an eighth of an inch of movement, check cam timing and rest clearance before continuing.
Which way do I move the rest for a paper tear?
Move the rest in the same direction as the tear. A nock left tear means move the rest left, a nock high tear means move the rest up. Vertical adjustments happen in sixteenths of an inch, horizontal adjustments in thirty-seconds, because windage is far more sensitive. Left handed shooters reverse the horizontal directions, and only the horizontal ones.
Can you paper tune a recurve or traditional bow?
Yes, but expect a different result. A finger release imparts sideways movement to the string, so a small horizontal tear is normal and chasing a perfect hole is usually counterproductive. Vertical tears are still meaningful and worth fixing through nocking point height. For recurve and traditional setups, bare shaft tuning at 15 to 20 yards is a more reliable primary method.
Why does my tear change every shot?
Inconsistent tears are almost always the archer, not the bow. Grip torque, a punched trigger, and a collapsing draw all move the tail of the arrow at launch. Shoot three arrows before making any change, and if those three tear in three different directions, stop adjusting and work on the shot. Adjusting a rest to compensate for a form error only hides it.
Is a bullet hole necessary for hunting?
No. A tear under about a quarter inch is a good working hunting tune, and the remaining difference at 30 yards is smaller than typical human error. Target archers shooting fixed distances have more to gain from a perfect hole. Hunters gain more from confirming that broadheads group with field points, which is a stricter test than paper anyway.
How we choose: we compare published manufacturer specifications, verified owner reviews, and pro shop guidance. We do not test gear in person. Draw weight and arrow spine affect safety, so follow your bow manufacturer's specifications and have setup work checked by a qualified pro shop.