i think it deadens some shock and vibration but it mainly boils down to personal preference. SHoot with one and without and use watever you feel better with. Im not sure that its effects elp that much, but for me it adds confidence for some weird reason. When my old stabilizer broke, i kept on shooting mybow, but was terrible. as soon as i installed a new one i was dead on again. idk wh, i guess it was just in my head, but i use one.