I have been preaching for years about ' bow balance' and practice it religiously to the satisfaction of my customers. Bow balance is something that can only be achieved by trying several to many different stabilizers, and can only be properly done if you have a Pro Shop that carries different brands - and will allow you to test them. For anyone to suggest that ' THIS' is the right stabilizer for your bow is impossible.

Many manufacturers have tried to sell stabilizers for years as a standard product for their bows. Due to the difference in accessories, draw weight, arrow weight and shooting style, it' s not possible to get the best match. Although many may find suggestions acceptable, the true compliment can only be found through testing against the absolute ' system' .

We have learned to use ' offset brackets' quite a bit to balance bows. The ones I like are about 4" long. These allow the weight to be placed much lower on the bow and allow front to back and side to side balancing.

There are two ways to check for proper balance. The static way is to hold your bow at the throat of the grip with thumb and forefinger. Front/back and left/right out of balance can be quickly felt. The dynamic way is to have someone watch the upper cam/wheel during the shot. It shouldn' t move forward or backward during the shot. The bow can and usually does, when properly balanced, fall SLOWLY forward after the shot.

The other purpose of stabilizers is to reduce shock and vibration. Proper balance to determine weight orientation is usually what we do first. Once this is done, we then pick different dampening mediums to allow the customer to choose which one does the best job. You' d be surprised and what really does and doesn' t work on different bows. We have found that the highest priced and most popular is not always the best.

While many may find vibration dampening sufficient for hunting needs, many in my shop find that bow balance can greatly improve shot placement and overall pleasure of shooting the bow. The right stabilizer ' system' can make a big difference if you have the means to accomplish this task. Taking someone else' s opinion on something so critical, IMPO, is not the best way.

This information may not set so well with the manufacturers or their agents and many who may successfully use a certain product. In fact, many of them hate to see this sort of analysis/testing/acceptance. I hope it helps many to understand how to choose a stabilizer better.