How do you sight?

[Neo]

Have just posted this somewhere else as well but never mind

i started shooting longbow as well as recurve when my recurve scores dramatically dipped. I lost all form and couldnt even get a grouping in the reds. Shocking.

I then shot longbow for 3 months before returning to recurve. after 2 triaining sessions on recurve i then shot a comp at wakefield and got my PB. 547

Try taking your sights off for a session and shooting barebow or borrow a longbow and try shooting instinctively, Look at the gold and will your arrows to it. Always focus on Gold......unless you want to hit blue that is!

[napolienne]

My focus is on the gold, looking through the sight ring rather than at it. When I'm shooting really well, I don't even register where the sight ring is on the target, in fact hardly remember "aiming" at all. Horses for courses, I suppose.

[jet186]

Originally Posted by buzz lite beer

always a clear picture of the target from start of draw to follow through, I like looking at where I want my arrows to go, string and sight ring are blurred, with using a open ring sight rather than a pin it does reduce the tendency to flash your eyes between target and sight and getting lost somewheres in between.

Agree entirely with Buzz, I found that I was overaiming and concentrating on the sight pin, so I swapped for a Gehmann iris scope which took my focus away from the sight pin and onto the target.Regards John

[Jumile]

Originally Posted by Schme1440

Hitting what we are focusing on is part of our nautral abilities.

Anyone who's ever played golf will attest to the power of focus. If you've ever tried to tee off over a lake and done the "Don't go in the drink... Don't go in the drink... Don't go in the drink..." mantra will know that the ball will go exactly to where your focus is based: the drink.

However, while one's intention must be to the gold, I'm not convinced you need to keep the sight over the gold from the point where the string is at rest to anchor. There's some logic to the idea that keeping it honed on gold from rest through anchor to loose will minimise variables, but my limited understanding of biomechanics is that the body doesn't work that way.

I'm more inclined to think that you should be "pointing" (not aiming) above the target during the draw and approaching straight-and-level coincidentally with reaching anchor. That way the muscle groups and bones aren't pulling up to the ideal position, but have gone fractionally past it and then relax marginally to the ideal centre.

It's like Ruth's coach's recommendation to her on reversals. The whole point is the draw past anchor to a point beyond so that your muscles aren't matched exactly to the anchor point, but are strong beyond it which makes the anchor point that much easier. It goes along the Korean thinking that one should train with a bow weight a few pounds heavier than the competition bow or cricket fielders using a single stump to throw at and batsmen using a stump as a bat (or my theory that practising for Portsmouth is best done on a FITA-18 target!) - so when you get down to business, you find it easier.

But then, I'm an archery newbie of only 5 months... take what I say with a pinch of salt.

Originally Posted by buzz lite beer

using a open ring sight rather than a pin it does reduce the tendency to flash your eyes between target and sight and getting lost somewheres in between.

This is something I've been doing with target rifle for years - it works without question. The mind can automatically line up concentric rings without thinking, whereas I think lining up a pin on a target requires effort. Why make it more difficult than it needs to be? Stick an arrow through your sight ring, I say!

I love the Bieter open ring sight on my bow (and the A.J. Parker iris aperture sight on my rifle!).

[geoffretired]

I'd agree with Jumile about aiming all through the draw. Very restrictive! You can point in the general direction quite easily, and let it settle for the final aim with less movement when done that way.

[Shirt]

I point the thing somewhere near the middle, pray, release, and yank my arm at the last millisecond to get it right.

[madmac]

I shoot with the target in focus and the sight pcture out of focus , I found this easier when i got my titan sight and dont even aim the pin now

[MINIMike]

I use a Beiter 12mm sight pin with a number 12 insert.

Like many, I found concentrating on the target nigh-on impossible with a small aperture with a pin.

Using my current sight I find I can concentrate on the target much more effectively.