I think I’m losing my arrow balance since I’ve started using lighted nocks. Is their weight creating the problem? Do lighted nocks affect arrow flight?
Adding any extra component to your arrow such as lighted arrow nocks, means you’ve added some extra pounds to your arrow. And if the nock weight is not distributed accordingly to all over the bow then I’m afraid your arrow flight must get affected a bit.
But proper balancing with a lighted nock is possible too. Let’s see how lighted nocks affect our arrows and get answers to more queries.
Table of Contents
- Will Lighted Nocks Affect Accuracy?
- How Does Nock Pinch Affect Arrow Flight?
- Should You Practice With Lighted Nocks?
- Final Thoughts
Will Lighted Nocks Affect Accuracy?
Yes, lighted nocks can affect the accuracy of our arrows but it depends on the arrow set. The effect will vary on how accurately you’ve placed the nocks. And whether the weight is distributed properly.
Adding the extra weight of nocks gives us inconsistency issues as most of us don’t maintain the weight list. There are heavy and lite weighted nocks available and we must consider that chart before adding to our arrow.
What happens when we install heavy nocks beyond our arrows’ capacity? First of all, it doesn’t distribute all over the arrow and creates pressure at the basal portion of our arrow.
And while we prepare to shoot we lose accuracy. However, this imbalance could bring vibration which may result in losing the aim.
Deep Dive: How do lighted arrow nocks work?
How Does Nock Pinch Affect Arrow Flight?
Before installing a lighted nock another crucial thing to consider is the nock pinch. They can put a huge effect on your arrow flight because they have a direct connection with the bow strings. Nock pinch can lift your arrow while shooting. Let’s see how they do it-
Nock pinch is capable of lifting your arrow off to the anterior launcher. So this is the first step of affecting your arrow flight. Our lighted nocks do have a common character which is to be extremely tight on the serving areas.
So, when you add lighted nocks to it the string is automatically reserved with the thinner serving area threads. Even I have two dozen of them that act the same. But I don’t use it until my arrow can reserve those thinner threads.
There is another issue with the nock pinch that affects the arrow shaft and also the flight at times. They make your arrow come off consistently without effort which can be dangerous.
To fix this type of nock pinch, I used to wrap the servings on the head and wrap them with thinner threads. Well, always try to leave a small space between the nocks and shafts for when full draw.
This way you can avoid flight issues when it pinches. Also, slide the onto the nock for better serving.
Should You Practice With Lighted Nocks?
You don’t want to lose all your arrows while practicing, right? This is why it’s always the best idea to practice with lighted nocks as you can easily find them after every shot. See the reasons -why you should practice with lighted nocks-
When you are practicing with lighted nocks they’ll help you to get used to the explosion of the light that occurs while your crossbow propels the arrows at your aim.
This is a must to do before using lighted nocks on your first day of hunt or competition.
Also practicing with lighted nocks is going to help you to get used to the light and will save you from flinching on an archery round. Finally, they make you able to choose the suitable nock for your arrow.
Related: Can you reuse lighted nocks?
Final Thoughts
Obviously, lighted nocks are going to affect your arrow flight but the effect can be minimized as well with accurate placement.
Most of the time we suffer accuracy and imbalance problems just because we don’t maintain the weight list suitable for specific arrows. But with proper installation, this won’t be an issue anymore.
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