October 25, 2006

from D.G:

"I've been trying to find out if, when aiming, you should focus on the target and blur the sight or vise-versa. Is there a best way or is it personal preference? Thank you."

Below is a short extract from Total Archery page 79, which should be self explanatory.
 
Principle of Eye Control
Once more, let us look at the way some other sports do it. Looking at baseball, the hitter will not just try to look at the ball, but will also try to focus on the stitching of the ball. They want to see the ball very clearly, which can be further enhanced by going to a narrow external focus, which will allow a better look at the ball.
 
Similarly with a tennis player, when he hits the ball he doesn't look where he wants to hit it, but he focuses totally on the ball to ensure proper timing and impact and will not take his eyes off the ball.
 
The same goes for a golfer hitting the ball. The golfer has made up his mind where he wants to hit it too and the distance required and then focuses totally on the ball itself, right throughout the follow through. If the eyes are taken off the ball too early, to see where the ball is going, most likely a miss- hit will occur.
 
Equally in archery, the final focus has to be the target; not the sight pin and not the arrow. The eyes have to stay focused on the target till the arrow hits. Many archers try to watch the arrow and that is why they lose control and also the reason why lots of people have trouble aiming off.
 
Keeping the eyes focused on the target till the arrow hits, we call "Eye Follow Through".