The Steady Form Torque Eliminator review is one I have been looking forward to writing for a while now. The problem was I needed to find a bowhunter that didn’t have an ego that would get in the way of a fair test. Egos have a way of making it difficult to accept help. I’m like that sometimes and most of you must be also, because there is nothing wrong with me. Just ask my ego. I needed someone that could use some help, and that would be open-minded when it came to trying something new. Also, it had to be someone whose skill level I was familiar with so if the results were overwhelming I would know if they were real. Well, I had a buddy in mind and he stopped by last weekend with his bow. I don’t think either of us expected the Steady Form to make such a difference.
Now, my friend is a dedicated bowhunter. He practices all summer long, hunts hard, and he kills some pretty nice deer. When the season is over though, he puts the bow away until the following summer. Saturday was the first time he had the bow out this year. That kills me; 3D season is almost over, but to each their own. Anyway like I said earlier, he is a great dude, and he is willing to do what ever it takes to improve.
I started out by having him shoot a few groups at twenty yards to warm up. I took pictures of the groups and together we selected this picture as an average group.
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His average group was five inches in diameter, about the size of the outer ring on the bull’s-eye on my target or a ten ring on a whitetail deer 3D target. Then I put the Steady Form on his bow. When I first put it on his bow it clearly wasn’t adjusted properly, but he shot it anyway to see how it felt. All three of his arrows were touching, we were both floored. I have never seen him shoot a sub ¾ of an inch group at twenty yards before, so I took a picture.
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We made a few more simple adjustments and got the Steady Form fitted to him. Then he started smacking nocks, so I backed him up to thirty yards. From thirty yards he consistently shot inch and a half three arrow groups. He was clearly excited with the results, but he was also getting fatigued. I figured this would be a perfect time to back up to forty yards. He doesn’t usually shoot forty yards because he isn’t really comfortable at that distance, and he wasn’t really excited about trying when he was tired. I convinced him to give it a shot though, and we went back to forty. His group at forty yards was about an inch and a half in diameter again. I was so impressed I took another picture.
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I didn’t have the heart to take the Steady Form back off his bow, so he left with it.
The Steady Form Torque Eliminator is an aluminum, half moon arm cuff that comes with a 3/8 inch mounting rod. It has seven points of adjustability which allows you to fit it to yourself with just a few turns of an Allen wrench. It can be mounted to the front of your bow in the stabilizer hole, and then the stabilizer screws into it. It can also be mounted off the back of the riser, if the riser is tapped and threaded. The third mounting option is to place it directly on your string stopper.
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The Steady Form Torque Eliminator acts as a rear stabilizer that keeps you from applying torque to the riser. If you over grip the riser, the cuff prevents it. If you turn your wrist outward, the cuff comes away from your arm, which is immediately noticeable.
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The main function of the Steady Form is to put your hand in the same position every time you grab your bow. Archery is all about consistency. The Steady Form works so well, the guys at Steady Form are able to guarantee it will improve your accuracy.
There are some people that will say this is just another aid or a crutch. In defense of the Steady Form, I would say that a peep sight or even the sights itself are just aids also. Why shouldn’t we shoot our bows as well as we can? The Steady Form isn’t legal in sanctioned 3D shoots. You can’t have anything touching your arm; the powers that be feel it is an unfair advantage. I can understand that, but as a bowhunter I’ll take every advantage I can get. As a matter of fact, if you don’t want unfair advantages, go back to throwing rocks at deer like a caveman.
The Steady Form Torque Eliminator is easy to find. You can head over to their web site http://www.steadyform.com ; there you will find more information about the Steady Form. It is available in the original black anodized version, as well as camouflage, and Muddy Girl camouflage. I have also heard rumbling about a new Pro-Staff model which will be released soon. The Steady Form guys did something else that is slick, they came out with a Steady Form youth model. One benefit that I didn't mention is that you can't hit your arm with the string when using a Steady Form. This is a huge plus for the kids. One good string slap and archery isn't fun anymore, and we all know if it's not fun kids aren't interested in doing it. The youth model is the same as the original, but with a smaller cuff to fit young arms. I think it is a great training aid.
The Steady Form won’t make you levitate, it won’t tune your poorly tuned bow, and if the rest of your form is horrible, it still will be. What it will do is improve your accuracy, extend your range, and by default boost your confidence. Check it out.
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