How to Paper Tune a Bow: Read the Tear, Make the Right Move, Confirm the Distance
To paper tune a bow, shoot a fletched field-point arrow through a sheet of paper stretched in a frame 4 to 6 feet in front of you, then read where the fletching tore relative to the point hole. Fix the vertical tear first by moving the nocking point 1/16 in at a time, then the horizontal tear: with a release aid, move the rest away from the tail in small steps; with fingers, change spine, point weight or plunger tension. When you get a bullet hole, step back about 6 feet and confirm it.
If a tear won't close, the usual causes are fletching clearance, cam timing or cam lean, spine and bow-hand torque, roughly in that order of checking. The tool below turns your tear into Easton's fix list.
- 10–14.5 ftwhere a deliberately bad launch showed its biggest yaw in Precision Cut Archery's 2026 slow-motion study
- 2.1°how far a 28.5 in arrow is yawing when it leaves a 1 in tear
- 85 of 191replies in 16 ArcheryTalk paper-tuning threads that pointed at the arrow rest
The question shows up on ArcheryTalk under titles like "Can't get rid of nock high tear" and "How come I can't get my bow paper tuned?". Most of the trouble comes from three places: reading the tear backwards, moving the wrong part, and shooting from a distance where the arrow happens to look straight. I worked from Easton's own tuning guide, a 2026 slow-motion study and 191 forum replies to fix all three.
Pick the tear you see, your setup and your hand. It gives Easton's reading and fixes in order, mirrored for left-handed archers, and converts the tear size into the angle the arrow was flying at.
How Do You Paper Tune a Bow, Step by Step?
This is Easton's procedure from its Arrow Tuning and Maintenance Guide, with the distance check from the study further down added at the end.
- Set up the bow as you'll shoot it. Sight, rest, quiver and stabilizer on. Arrow centered on the string, sight pin over the arrow, nocking point slightly above square. With a release, both vanes have to clear the launcher.
- Build the station. Paper firmly attached to a frame about 24 in square, centered at shoulder height, with a target about 6 ft behind it.
- Stand 4 to 6 ft from the paper and shoot a fletched field-point arrow through the center, level with the floor.
- Read the tear: where the fletching tore relative to the round point hole. Shoot three to be sure it repeats.
- Fix the vertical first. Move the nocking point 1/16 in at a time (or the rest the opposite way) until the high or low tear is gone.
- Then fix the horizontal. With a release aid, move the rest in small steps; with fingers, work through spine, point weight and plunger tension. One change per round.
- Confirm farther back. Easton says to move back about 6 ft and shoot again, so you know the arrow wasn't caught at a recovery point in its swing. I'd add a check near 12 ft, for the reason in the distance section.
What Does Each Paper Tear Mean?
A tear is named for where the tail went through. Nock high means the fletching tore above the point hole; nock left means it tore to the left, as you face the paper. Here's the chart for the most common setup:
| Tear | Compound, release aid | Fingers (recurve or compound) |
|---|---|---|
| Nock high | High nocking point, a clearance problem, or (release) a very weak arrow. Lower the nocking point 1/16 in at a time. If that changes nothing, check clearance; with a release, try a softer launcher, less overhang past the rest, lower draw weight or a stiffer shaft. | |
| Nock low | Low nocking point. Raise it 1/16 in at a time until the tear closes. | |
| Nock left | Common. Usually weak reaction and/or clearance. Move the rest right in small steps; relax the bow hand; lower draw weight or go stiffer. | Weak arrow or clearance. Check clearance, then lower draw weight, lighter point, heavier string, stiffer spine or firmer plunger. |
| Nock right | Uncommon. Rest too far right or a vane touching the launcher. Move the rest left in small steps; check cable-guard clearance; relax the bow hand. | Stiff arrow. Raise draw weight, heavier point, lighter string, weaker spine or softer plunger. |
| Diagonal | Two disturbances at once. Fix the vertical part first, then the horizontal. | |
Condensed from Easton's guide, which also notes that with a release aid the opposite adjustment is occasionally needed, and that a high or low tear that won't close is a reason to have cam timing checked. Every row is in the paper tear chart (CSV).
Which Way Do You Move the Rest?
Horizontally, away from the tail: a nock-left tear means move the rest right, and a nock-right tear means move it left. Vertically it's easier to think in nocking point moves, which go toward the point hole: nock high, lower the nocking point; nock low, raise it. Raising the rest does the same job as lowering the nocking point, because what matters is the angle between the two.
Make one change, shoot three arrows, write it down. If the tear shrinks, keep going the same way. If it flips to the other side, you went one step too far. If two or three moves change nothing, stop moving that part: the cause is somewhere else.
How Far From the Paper Should You Stand?
Start at 4 to 6 ft, and confirm at about 12. The reason is that a badly launched arrow doesn't just point off-line; it swings around its own center and settles over the next few dozen feet. Paper only sees one moment of that swing.
| Source | Distance | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Easton tuning guide | 4–6 ft, then 6 ft farther | Long-standing procedure; the second distance rules out a recovery point |
| Common shop and magazine advice | 6–8 ft | Convention |
| Precision Cut Archery, 2026 | 10–15 ft | Slow-motion yaw fits on 11 torqued arrow builds, one bow: peak yaw at 10 to 14.5 ft, median about 12 |
From the Precision Cut Archery paper-tuning distance results, which measured yaw on film rather than tears in paper.
That's exactly what Easton's "move back 6 feet" step guards against. With a 4 to 6 ft start and a confirm near 12, you're checking both ends of the range where the study found the swing biggest, and you're unlikely to land both shots on a crossing.
How Big a Tear Is Too Big?
A tear's length is just the tail's sideways offset from the point, so it converts straight into the angle the arrow was yawing at. For a 28.5 in arrow, measured from point to the center of the fletching:
| Tear length | Yaw angle |
|---|---|
| 1/4 in | 0.5° |
| 1/2 in | 1.1° |
| 1 in | 2.1° |
| 2 in | 4.2° |
| 3 in | 6.4° |
Easton's target is the bullet hole, point and fletching in the same spot. In practice, a tear that stays under about 1/4 in at both distances is a half-degree, and at that point a walk-back or a broadhead test will tell you more than another round of paper.
Why Won't My Paper Tear Go Away?
Because the part you're moving isn't the cause. I went through 16 ArcheryTalk threads on stubborn tears, from 2004 to 2022, and counted what each replying member pointed at, once per member per thread:
Easton's guide points the same way as the top of that list. A high tear that ignores nocking point moves points to clearance or a weak arrow; a high or low tear that won't close at all is a cam-timing check. On a compound, a horizontal tear that stops responding to the rest is often cam lean, which you adjust with the yoke. One member's right tear in a 2017 thread ended exactly that way: "i put about 6 to 8 twist into the right side yoke and now all is good." Follow your bow maker's manual for yoke changes.
Before you touch the bow, rule out the shooter. Easton lists bow-hand torque among the fixes for both horizontal tears. Check clearance with powder spray on the rest and the back of the shaft, and check nock fit on the string; a nock that's tight on the string can pinch the arrow and show up as a vertical tear. The Paper Tune Root-Cause Diagnostic ranks these causes from what you've already tried, and the dynamic spine calculator checks whether the arrow itself is the problem.
Is Paper Tuning Enough?
It's the first check, not the last. A 2022 study of 24 archers in Journal Sport Area found that both paper tuning and walk-back tuning improved scores at 40 m over 16 sessions, and walk-back tuning improved them more. Easton's own guide follows paper with fine-tuning at 12 to 15 yd. For hunters, the final word is a broadhead hitting with your field points; the broadhead flight checker and the bare shaft tune assistant cover those next steps.
Shoot three arrows at 5 ft. Fix vertical with the nocking point, then horizontal with the rest or spine, one change per round, written down. When it's clean, confirm at 12 ft. If both distances show a hole under 1/4 in, stop paper and move to walk-back or broadheads.
If two or three moves in a row change nothing, stop moving that part and check clearance, nock fit, cam timing and your grip before you go any further.
Got a tear that doesn't fit any of this? Send a photo through the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you paper tune a bow?
Stretch paper in a frame at shoulder height, stand 4 to 6 feet away and shoot a fletched field-point arrow through it. Read where the fletching tore relative to the point hole, fix the vertical tear first with the nocking point, then the horizontal tear with the rest or spine, one change at a time. Confirm the bullet hole about 6 feet farther back.
What does a nock high tear mean?
The fletching tore above the point hole. Easton reads it as a high nocking point, a clearance problem, or with a release aid a very weak arrow. Lower the nocking point 1/16 in at a time; if a few moves change nothing, check fletching clearance and spine, and have cam timing checked if it still won't close.
Which way do I move my rest for a left tear?
For a right-handed compound archer with a release, move the rest to the right in small steps until the nock-left tear closes, and relax the bow hand. Left-handed archers mirror it. With a finger release, a left tear reads as a weak arrow, so change spine, point weight or plunger tension instead.
How far should you be from the paper when paper tuning?
Easton starts at 4 to 6 feet and then moves 6 feet farther back to confirm. A 2026 slow-motion study by Precision Cut Archery found a badly launched arrow yawed most at 10 to 14.5 feet, so a start near 5 feet and a confirming shot near 12 feet covers both.
Why does my paper tear change with distance?
A badly launched arrow swings around its center and settles over the next few dozen feet, and paper only records one moment of that swing. Close in, the tear can look small; farther out it can grow, shrink or even look clean where the swing crosses zero. That's why you check at two distances.
How big of a paper tear is acceptable?
Easton's target is a bullet hole. A tear converts to a yaw angle: on a 28.5 in arrow, 1/4 in is about half a degree and 1 in is about 2 degrees. Once the tear stays under about 1/4 in at two distances, walk-back or broadhead testing will tell you more.
Why can't I get a bullet hole when paper tuning?
Usually because the part being moved isn't the cause. Check fletching clearance with powder spray, nock fit, bow-hand torque and spine. On a compound, a high or low tear that won't close points to cam timing, and a side tear that stops responding to the rest often points to cam lean, adjusted at the yoke.
Hey, what's up? Burak here. Archery addict, board game geek, Daft Punk fan.