FOC and Choosing Spine?

[Washington Hunter]

Can someone explain to me what FOC is and how to choose the correct spine when choosing arrows? Something I'm not understanding.

Thanks

[Bigpapascout]

FOC% stands for forward of center percentage

is the amount of weight that is in front of the center line of the cut length of the arrow.

FOC is calculated most precicely by Finding the balancing point of the arrow by trying to balance it from a nail. once you have balanced the arrowMark this point on the shaft.

then with a tape measure measure from the throat of the nock ( where the string fits up aginst the nock) to the end of the shaft, not the end of the insert but end of shaft, this is the cut length of the arrow
divide this measurement by 2 then mark the center.

measure the balancing point to the center mark, multiply by 100. then divide that number by the arrows cut length
this will give you the arrows FOC%

you dont want to be under 7% nor over 17%

I try to stay in between 8% and 10%

now spine needs to be determined by how much peak draw weight your bow has and your draw length
It is better to have a higher spine deflect than a weaker spine
the draw force curve on the cam also will determine whether you need a stronger spine
If you have a bow with a hard cam you need a very stiff arrow
a mild cam does not require as stiff of an arrow.
BUT IMO if you are shooting a release and using a loop and youre bow is well tuned there is no such thing as over spined although some will try to argue that that is still my opinion.

nevertheless you are better off over spined than under spined.
Hope this helps.

[buckeye]

FOC means forward of center.

It is the balance point of your arrow.

10% FOC means your arrows balancing point is 10% forward of the center of the arrow.

As for the spine selection it depends on a few factors.

You draw weight, draw length and length of arrow you will be shooting.

For carbon arrows they have a bunch of different ways of saying the same thing. For example 5575's and 400's they are bascially the same thing, which is what spine you would need.

400 is the spine deflection of the arrow, it should read .400

The 5575 means draw weight from 55 lbs to 75 lbs.

It is just two different ways of listing spine ratings.

Hope this helped[&:]

[buckeye]

seems papa scout and I posted at the same time. Didnt mean to repost anything he had

[Tepidus]

Thanks for the great post. I was trying to figure out the same thing...