Simple physics demonstration explains why your arrows bend in flight

Have you ever wondered why your arrows seem to bend or wobble in flight? Turns out there is a very simple explanation to be had for this natural occurrence and it’s all physics. When the arrow is loosed, all of the initial force is transferred to the tail of the arrow. As that wave of kinetic energy drifts up the shaft, it causes the tip of the air to move in the opposite direction. As long as the nodes of the arrow, which are the point just after the tip and just before the tail, are both pointed in the same direction as one another, the wobble will not have a net effect on the arrow’s trajectory. Interestingly, due to the differences in firing styles and rests between compound bows and recurve bows, there are subtle differences in the wobbling effect for each type of bow.