[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.