In my opinion I believe you should have at least 4 inches of support before drop and more is better if you have some touque issues. I have over 10 inches of support with my Plainsman rest on my DC pat and it is the most accurate and forgiving bow I' ve ever owned. I believe a wide range will work but more is better than less. The problem with most drop aways is that they don' t yeild to the arrow' s flexing at the shot. The Plainsman is spring cushioned like most convential rests but still drops out of the way for fletch clearance and it dosen' t require a cable rod, slide or cables