Archery is a skills-oriented Sport, which requires immense practice and experience, which is gained gradually. Being a good Archer demands a flexible mind, strong shoulders, fixed hands, eyes focused like still water, and away better disposition. But getting used to these attributes can provide several health benefits. But many people are wondering and way too curious to know if Archery really helps improve eyesight. Well, I’m not a Doctor. So don’t expect each minuscule detail. But in my research, found various conclusions, which I’ll be trying to explain here.
Importance of Eyesight in Archery
There’s a firm Myth that if one doesn’t have Good eyesight or not much focused vision, they can’t be an Archer. Well, let’s take a Look at a South Korean Archer ‘Hyun’. He, being legally blind, won and holds the Men’s record of 70m targets. When he’s shooting, he aims at the barely visible blurry target, focusing on the center to land his shot perfectly at his best. Now, I think this might be enough to break this fake myth. Having good eyesight will help you in improving for sure but it cannot prevent you to be an Archer. Just remember, Consistency is Critical!
The reality of Improvement of Eyesight through Archery
But does it really improves one’s eyesight? Long story short, absolutely it does. Archery provides much effective training for the improvement in focus, speed, and flexibility of eyes.
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Archers need to master their aim on the target, whether long-range or short-range, by having practice sessions daily. In simple words, practicing it makes one’s eyesight much effective. Sounds weird, right. Let’s take an example. A Girl, participating in a long-run Marathon, needs to practice it before the main event. On the first day of practice itself, she cannot cover the same long-distance as of the marathon. Does that mean she’s not suitable for the run? No! But by setting small distances, and increasing it gradually, she could cover the whole run without fainting away or giving up. You get better every time you practice. Training eyes daily, Archers get better, building up their sharpness and Coordination.
Not only improving and stabilizing eyesight, but it also provides mental focus. Shooting targets at variable ranges improves one’s eyes and mind coordination.
Eyesight is not just about having a fixed look towards the target, but rather it is mixed with the information processed by the brain at the very moment. Didn’t got my words. Just imagine yourself holding a Bow with an arrow, in a filled stadium with a target set at a distance of 60m. So when you’ll be aiming at your target, would you pay attention to the audience? Probably not. That is when you need concentration. You have to train your mind hard to resist such a situation and focus on your target with perfect accuracy. Back to the stadium, when you’re all set to make the shoot, won’t you examine the factors, such as wind effect, the angle, the velocity needed to shoot, co-relating your target with your position? Well, NO for sure, if you want to hit the Bull’s eye. This is the coordination of your hands, brain, and your eyes. You will automatically make out the expected trajectory path of your bow hitting the target, making up an imaginary laser sight through your eyes.
Thus, improving Eyesight doesn’t just mean building up your eye contact with the target, but rather taking up all the skills together and make them synchronize.
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Now taking an example of our Eyesight compared to their one, just one case is enough to explain. If we hold a stick in our hand and place some object behind it at a short distance, we could only focus at one sight, either the stick or the object behind. Focusing on one point, other points get blurry. Now that’s not any problem or complication, but rather a fact. But if we see take a look at a professional Archer’s Eyesight, there’s a completely different concept. A skilled Archer can look at both objects simultaneously. That is the bow and the target, simultaneously, blurring the vision of neither.
Conclusion
Overall, Archery is a great sport for getting into complex but exciting things. It helps improving one’s Eyesight, hand-eye coordination, reflex, and a bunch of other stuff as mentioned above. Anyone can take up Archery irrespective of their low Eyesight or Weak focus. Because nothing is impossible to achieve by practicing it on a Daily Basis.
