[Shhhthunk] Hey guys this is NUSensei If you are getting into archery, and you're looking at the freestyle or Olympic style recurve then you will have to get familiar with
this. This is the sight, and it's the defining
feature of your classification. Now using the sight may seem very obvious, but you will come across many questions which you never thought you had. Firstly let's go through the parts of
the sight. The one I'm using is a Shibuya Ultima which
is the very top end of recurve sights, although all sights share common features and
functions. The sight consists of a long horizontal bar attached to a vertical
bar that typically has the sight markings and a removable sight block. The sight block has an aperture. Normally it looks like a plain iron sight with the red contrasting dot painted on. I've actually replaced mine with a larger
aftermarket aperture, in this case the Titan Scope. It's important to note that rules for
recurve shooters forbid the use of magnified lenses so this is just a plain
zero power piece of glass. The sight block has methods to change its elevation and windage. The exact method depends on the model. Some use micro
adjustable wheels, others require loosening screws and turning by hand. The sight is mounted onto this block, which must first be screwed onto the riser. The bar is inserted into this block and
secured by a large screw. Now the most common question I get
about using the sight is: "How far do I set the bar?" Basically, the closer the sight the bigger the adjustments are. This is because the site is closer to
your eye so each adjustment will have a bigger effect on target. If you move the site further out,
adjustments will be finer due to the increased gap. This allows for more precise adjustments
especially when shooting at long-range targets. This vertical bar can also be adjusted. Most sights have it screwed on from behind so removing these screws will allow you to move the entire bar up or down. This is useful if you need sight settings
for close distances or very long distances. There is one side effect to adjusting
your sight distance. The closer it is the larger the sight
will be in front of your eye. This is usually not a factor when deciding how
far to place it, but it may be worth noting that, at certain distances, the sight may
obstruct the target. Generally speaking, most archers will prefer to keep their sight further out. This is because, especially at longer distances, even the most minute of adjustments will make a big difference on target. So having the sight further out will
give the archer more control over their micro adjustments. Of course you can set which ever notch you want, and you may find that you have different
sight settings for different distances at different notches. It's essential that you record your sight
setting and your notch setting so that you have the same reference point each time. Speaking of sight settings, what you will find on your vertical bar are numerical references. This is what you write down for your sight settings. Now these numbers don't actually
refer to specific distances. They're simply arbitrary units for you to
write that when you do get out and do your sight setting. So for example, at 30 meters you might be shooting 1.5, at 50 meters it might be a 3.0, and so on. Alternatively some archers prefer to print
out or write out a sight tape which they stick onto the sight bar which indicates
which level is which distance. By the way, do remember that your
sight is directly over the arrow. If you do set the sight too low you can shoot it off. I have seen it happen. Now that we've covered how the sight works let's talk about how to actually use one. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the sight
should not be the focal point. You should be looking at the target, and the sight
should be a blur. This gives you an overlay and a
reference point. The second reference you need is your
string. You should see the string somewhere in the side of your vision. This forms a rear sight allowing you to
align it with the site ring. This specific spot varies between archers. Some archers keep it to the side of the ring, others align it with the inside of the riser. Most importantly the sight picture must
be consistent. So basically, don't treat the sight like a telescopic sight you're aiming through. It's only a reference point, and you have to
remember that to get the arrow on target you need to focus on the rest of the
shot process. One important thing to remember for beginners, is that you have to adjust based on your groupings and not an individual arrow. Now you might see at a professional level that archers will make really fine adjustments every single shot. This
is because they're trained to the point where their form is perfectly consistent. So they know they are doing the right thing which means that sight adjustment means something. If you're beginning and you make adjustments every single arrow you're not actually understanding what
causes the arrow to go off. It isn't always the sight that is wrong,
and most of the time it's you. So, as a beginner, practicing, use the
groupings as an indicator, but don't adjust for single arrows. Focus on getting your form right, and the arrows will start coming into place, and only then will sight adjustments mean something. There's one more thing you should remember about using the sight. It's "follow the arrow." This rule is used
to remind you of how to adjust your sight in order to get your arrows on target. In this example, all my arrows are going
too low. To compensate for this I need to move my sight down. This will cause me to lift my bow
higher. If my shots are too high I put my sight up, which brings my bow
down. If my arrows are to the left I wind my sight to the left and vice
versa for the right. In this demonstration I'm going to shoot
three arrows to establish my grouping and adjust my sight from there. Here I can see that my grouping is
slightly high. By following the rule of chasing the arrow I need to move my sight up. I will now shoot another set of arrows. I'm in the center, however, my elevation is still a little
low, so i'm going to make one more micro adjustment. Now my grouping is dead center. Even at very short distances small
adjustments make a difference. Now it's one thing to get your sights on
target for close practice distance, however, if you are shooting at long
distance competitions. you will need to know how to sight your
bow at different ranges. For this we need to do a walk back. To do this properly and efficiently,
start at a distance that you know you are able to hit the target from. I'm
going to start at 20 meters and shoot a group. I currently don't have a target pinned up, but I am aiming at this cardboard piece, and my arrows are pretty
much on target. I now need to take note of my sight
position and record it on a notepad or on my phone. With that done I can now step back to 30
meters. I estimate my sight drop and make the
alteration and shoot a group. This time it's a little too high and a bit to the right. My adjustment is to lift the sight and
move the sight to the right. Now I'll shoot another group to verify my settings. I made one bad shot but the others are
on target, so this is good enough. I then walk back to each successive
distance: 40 meters, 50 meters, 60 meters. Even 70 if I have to. That way I have accurate sight settings
for all the distances I will need to shoot. Once you get your sight settings down you have something to work with. Now
these sight settings won't be perfect. Things will change. Maybe the weather
conditions will be different on the day. It might be warmer, therefore air rises,
therefore the arrows will carry further. Maybe there's more cross wind. Whatever
the case you have something to base your sight settings on rather than going in
blind. There are a couple of tips that I have
using the sight. First is you need to have confidence in
your sight. If you're not sure where your sight is pointing, and you have to aim off all the time then
it kind of defeats the purpose of having a sight. Measure your sight settings as accurate as possible and make meaningful adjustments. Secondly, don't become too fixated on the
sight. The site is only a reference point, and
you may start developing target panic because you become too obsessed with
getting the sight on target. Don't forget the rest of the shot process. Where to aim, and how to get it there, are
different things, and if you're not shooting well then it doesn't really
matter where you aim. Anyway I hope this video was helpful.
Thank you for watching. This is NUSensei, and i'll see you next time.
Thanks for the info. Great video. One question: you mention that if you set the sight too low, you could shoot off the aperture - so what happens if you're shooting long distance with a low-poundage bow and the sight needs to be that low? How do you avoid this problem?
Great timing NUSensei! Thanks for covering this aspect.
My beginners class just started using the entry level sight on our club bows (a mix of Samick Polaris & Core Pulse) on Friday during our second session, so although we have a really good coach, it's nice to have another clear demonstration/explanation to reinforce what I learnt.
I was wondering, about the sight picture, I cannot get any of my shots to stop pulling right sighting around the string. I started sighting between the riser and the string last club session, and this seemed to correct the issue. This meant that my sight picture was the string touching the left hand side of my sight in my vision. It seemed to work for me. Just wondering if there's any real issues with this?
You mention the "sight-string-riser" picture. My coach also talked about that. My issue is, I don't seem to see a string. I see a blurred sight and riser, but not a string..? Also, I'm in this stage where when aiming with both eyes open, I used to see two sights and being right eye dominant would aim with the left sight picture. However, I am also starting to only see one sight sometimes I feel like when aiming even though both eyes are open? Maybe this is affecting my string picture?