Posted by Louise P on 2nd Nov 2016

Can Archery Improve your eyesight?

Can Archery Improve your eyesight?    Can Archery Improve Your Eyesight? Lets Take A Look!

Although it is a myth that great eyes are necessary to be an accurate archer (with even some Olympic-level competitors being visually impaired), still many ask, “can archery improve your eyesight?” The short answer is yes, it can, and the practice offers many benefits to eyesight as it incorporates elements of some of the most commonly prescribed exercises that improve vision. The nature of aiming, and the different ways you are forced to use your eyes in order to shoot requires them to adapt and improve in the same way lifting weights will cause your body to build muscle.

Some military officers began to notice that the eyesight of their trainees would get better from archery practice, where soldiers would often sit and watch the arrows from the side as they flew towards their targets. This exercise is called pursuit tracking, and improves a person’s ability to follow an object as it moves, benefiting eye speed and flexibility. While this effect is lessened when you are the one shooting, it means that you can improve your eyesight simply by watching the arrows shot by others in their paths to the target.

Another valuable exercise that archery provides is called fixation, which refers to a person’s ability to focus their eyes on a single point, such as a target in the distance. Not only does fixation improve eyesight, it also benefits mental focus. The varying distances that archers shoot from create variety, strengthening the effects of the exercise. The more you are able to focus on the bull’s-eye, the more your sight and your mind will improve, not to mention your accuracy.

Probably the most beneficial of all the different ways archery can make our eyesight better, as well as the most well known eye exercise in general, is the successive focusing of the eyes on two points of different distances. This happens in archery when we look at the target, then at the sight, then back at the target, etc. This forces the muscles responsible for focusing vision to quickly readjust, thereby strengthening them and improving the speed we can focus on points at varying distances. Doctors will often recommend this type of exercise for improving eyesight, usually simply by focusing on your finger, or a similarly close-up object, and then focusing on something in the distance. This is exactly what we are doing when we move our eyes back and forth between the target and the sight, and is essentially the opposite of watching TV, or staring at a computer screen; both modern activities that contribute to worsening vision.

Clearly these exercises offer many ways to strengthen your eyes. And can archery improve your eyesight? yes, making it hawk-like in fact! This is only one of the many benefits archery gives us, however, and there are endless ways the sport can make us stronger, sharper, and more aware individuals. Even for those who are just looking for better eyesight, taking up archery will still provide numerous benefits that will affect all areas of life.