ORIGINAL: JeffB

My friend who runs my local shop and I were having a healthy discussion the other night regarding dropaway rests after talking about the limbdriver.

Basically there are two theories

Theory 1- characterised by "instant drop" rests like the Trophy Taker, QAD series, and a multitude of others that attach to the "down" cable. The theory with these is that the launcher gets off the arrow as quickly as possible- therefore making your shot less suscpetible to shooting form errors- notably torque at the bow hand. The problem with this style rest is that a poor tune (nocking point height), borderline arrow spine, and poor nocking travel of the bow in question can really hurt you with this style rest- as there is no cushion or guidance to keep things moving along in a relatively straight line.

which brings us to

Theory 2- Characterised by "late drop" rests like the Limbdriver, and Whammy from Spot Hogg which attach to the bow limb or "up" cable. The idea here is that the launcher stays up for a longer period of time, offering much of the forgiveness of a "spring rest" for most of the forward travel, and then dropping away right before the fletchings pass over. The downside of course is that like a conventional rest, bow hand torque has greater potential to be a problem.

My friend is a proponent of Theory #1- seeing many more guys who have bow hand torque issues roll through the shop and citing the QAD/TT style as a far more viable option for the masses.While he doesn't turn away anyone away from the LD or Whammy, he doesn't sell many except for those looking specifically for them.

I did not necc take a side, but agreed that both systems have their advantages and disadvantages and that I still was not familiar enough with the Limbdriver to give any kind of "ultimate" answer as I have much more time (in years past) on the Trophy Taker style. Initially I will say that I am seeing that when I have a minor (and often major!) collapse in form at the shot, I can see my groups open up quite a bit with the limbdriver compared to the QAD I was shooting previously. But I also noticed that when I'm "on" I group a little tighter on average with the Limbdriver.

Your thoughts on these theories?