Aiming a Recurve Bow

let's take a moment here to talk about aiming a recurve bow because of some fine details here that many people may have overlooked as a coach I know that it's not fair to assume that everybody automatically understands anything particularly working with beginners I know that unless I say it I can't assume they know it most beginners want to start by aimed with just one eye they close the other eye and aim with just that one eye this is their first mistake the advantages of using both eyes are so enormous that I would say virtually every top shooter keeps both eyes open but that would be misleading the fact is it's not virtually every top-level shooter it is actually every top-level shooter every mid-level shooter every target shooter with any appreciable experience from every country every national team they all keep both eyes open there is no qualified coach in the world who does not teach this keeping both eyes open gives the arts for more information it helps the archer keep his posture it helps the archer keep the bow vertical in dim lighting it helps the archer to see better it avoids the bleary-eyed vision caused by constantly opening and closing one eye it really is easier to aim and ultimately it will be much more comfortable it's important to emphasize not to start aiming until after the anchor focus on getting your body into position before you start focusing on your aim so now let's take a look at the target inside pin and see what the archer actually sees here is a target most coaches will start a new recurve archery without a sight so this is what they see when we bring in the sight pin this is what most people think they see or maybe for a beginner it looks more like this but all kidding aside this is what most people think they are looking at let's talk about focus if the archer focus is correctly on the target then the target will remain in clear focus and the pin will get a little blurry and that the archer focuses incorrectly on the pin the pin will be in clear focus and the target will be a little blurry of course those archers who focus on the pin are in for a surprise when they open that second eye since they will see two targets I've met some archers who went on this way they didn't know it was wrong no one has ever said anything to them and everyone just assumed they knew it was wrong and corrected it when an archer focuses correctly on the target the two targets will clear up and merge but there will be two sight pins with the little experimentation the archer can easily learn which pin to use and put that on the target but this isn't usually a problem because the risers in the way and it handily blocks out one of the sight pins archers will do quite well with this but they will have a bit of lateral variations then I asked where they're aligning the string this brings a universal answer I don't know oddly this big blurry string is right in front of their face and the archers don't even notice it it shows the power of the mind to ignore what it doesn't want to deal with but they have to deal with it they can't just let it move around with each shot most coaches have the archer move the string in their vision to one of two positions beside the sight pin or as I prefer to the riser the initial choice of where to align it is not that important what is important is that the string alignment be consistent this is critical and it will start to tighten up those lateral variations now let's talk about some of those details and how they affect the aim let's start with the string once in our twist pick the location to align the string it must be consistent moving that string alignment to the right we'll move the arrows to the left and conversely moving the string alignment to the left we'll move the arrows to the right it's critical therefore but it's also useful if the archer practice is using it and calibrates himself he can use it as a technique to aim off as a bear barter i use it as a method for adjusting my right and left sight a beginner shouldn't use this but it is an advanced technique that can be helpful if it is used correctly sometimes the Sun right can play tricks on us and make us move the string unknowingly look at how the Sun right on different sides of the string can make the string seem to move without it actually moving at all if the archer adjust the string to compensate for this apparent movement it will cause lateral movement in his shots at an outdoor tournament the apparent string will move throughout the day with the Sun at an indoor tournament standing on one side of an overhead light or the other could light up the string differently and cause the archer to aim differently similar lighting effects can take place on the side pin be careful about this illusion if you understand it you could be prepared for it and know how to correct for it now let's talk about how to bring that side pin on to the target experience searchers always do it the same way every shot some start above and come down to the target others start below and come up to the target but they always do it the same way every time now let's look at that side pin with both eyes before I do I'm gonna close one eye and point my finger at a target in fact I'm gonna put my finger right on the target but as my finger moves around a little I'm not really sure exactly if I'm centered on it or not let me open both eyes now I can see exactly where my finger is on it I can see both the finger and the target now let's see how this works with a side pin the same thing is also true at the site pen although to a lesser but still significant effect when you can see both the pen and the target you have a better picture of where you are hopefully now you better understand some of the factors that go into aiming nothing is as easy as it seems if you think beyond the obvious you'll figure out many other factors to understanding these factors will help you gain a better appreciation for your sport and make you a far better Archer

Channel: ArcheryWinchester

Views: 1,180,412

Keywords: Archery, recurve, archer, aim, aiming, winchester, sight, sight pin

Id: HnmnMhLJmuU

Length: 6min 59sec (419 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 22 2017