[Sportsandrec] Blind archery

Sat Oct 5 00:15:05 UTC 2013

It's not nearly as practical as it sounds. I've tried a few audible "systems," and there are just too many drawbacks. It would have to be loud enough to be heard clearly from 30 meters (100ft roughly)or farther if you progress to over 30 yards. Then, with the background noise of other archers, ventilation systems (indoors) or the wind (outdoors) makes the focusing in on the sound even more difficult. The sound would have to be relatively high pitched for increased accuracy (its more difficult to aim into lower frequency noises). Finally, at least in competition, the sound would have to function in a way as to not interfere with other archers...In other words, you would have to be able to hear it from 100 feet but the person standing next to you should not. There are some radio frequency (RF) aiming systems where there is a transmitter on your bow and a receiver/transmitter on the target. The closer your aim gets to the target, the higher the frequency. You would then wear headphones so that other shooters could not hear your audible system. These systems are, however, not very accurate, extremely difficult and time consuming to set up (and you still need a sighted person to help because like a tactile target it would need to be sighted in every time you move it), and cost in the thousands of dollars. They are legal in competition provided they do not interfere with neighboring archers. Could you make it work, probably, but you could also paint a house with a toothbrush...

On a lighter side, when I took archery as a college course I did nearly have two classmates convinced that I would get to have two students standing on either side of the target yelling and I could shoot between the screams. You would want to go with what is the most practical, and almost [if not all] international shooters use some sort of tactile stand, and most of those being built around a camera tripod. 

On Oct 4, 2013, at 4:18 PM, justin williams wrote:

> How about a noise maker or something.  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sportsandrec [mailto:sportsandrec-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Kelly Thornbury
> Sent: Friday, October 04, 2013 5:50 PM
> To: Sports and Recreation for the Blind Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [Sportsandrec] Blind archery
> 
> Based on my skills, sometimes I don't, and I have a load of arrows that need
> to go to recycling. Now seriously, most of the time I use a "spotter," which
> is nice to have to tell you where you are hitting through a flight so you
> can make minor adjustments. On the occasions I shoot alone (we have a 24-7
> indoor range near the house), I run a rope (an old climbing rope works well)
> from a specific point at the base of the target through my tripod stand.
> That way, even if I'm not perfectly square to the target (i.e., a little
> left or right), the straight line of the rope allows me to place the stand
> at the correct angle (or degree of rotation) to still be close to the
> target. Our club has a continuous target bail from one end of the back wall
> to the other that runs from about knee level to about head level of a
> nine-foot Irishman, so I'm less worried about a major miss as I would be on
> a standard 122cm round target or a stack of hay bails. I also have mounted a
> laser sight from a pistol to my stabilizer that, when properly sighted in,
> allows a spotter to see exactly where I am aiming while we sight-in the
> tactile stand. This method, however, is not legal in international
> competition, but with time and experimentation a spotter could look down
> your firing line from a certain pint on your stand (I'm working on the
> center mounting screw of my pointer now) to get the stand reasonably close.
> I have heard of another method of simply running a line from the target to
> your bow and taking a reference from that, but I don't speak Czech (where it
> is being developed) and it is also not legal yet in competition. Once I can
> figure it out I would like to try this method simply because it supposedly
> allows you to walk up to any target and sight in by yourself in your first
> flight. Hope this helps. 
> 
> Kelly
> 
> On Oct 4, 2013, at 3:28 PM, justin williams wrote:
> 
>> How do you locate your target?
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Sportsandrec [mailto:sportsandrec-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf 
>> Of Kelly Thornbury
>> Sent: Friday, October 04, 2013 5:20 PM
>> To: Sports and Recreation for the Blind Discussion List
>> Subject: Re: [Sportsandrec] Blind archery & blind tennis infor...?
>> 
>> Kathuy,
>> 
>> Sorry this took so long to respond, a "user glitch" in my mail program 
>> sent nearly 3,000 emails to my junk folder without my realizing it, 
>> and I'm just now catching up.
>> 
>> I am a blind archer (although, based on my last practice and the 
>> number of arrows I stuck in the college's wall, I should probably give up
> that title).
>> I don't know what type of information you are looking for, and quite 
>> honestly, there isn't much to be found through USABA or other blind 
>> sports-related sites. I found most of my information through the 
>> British Blind Sports website under the archery section. Blind archery 
>> has had its greatest influence by the BBS, and it is possible to find 
>> blind archers in many local clubs shooting alongside sighted archers. 
>> I think, and this is only through third-hand sources, there was one or 
>> maybe two blind archers at the national championships this year.
>> 
>> While there a few different ways of sighting in a shot, the most 
>> common method, and the one used in international competition, is the
> tactile stand.
>> This would be a stand where the archer would place a point of contact 
>> (somewhere between the elbow and the back of the hand) to get a 
>> reference of where they are shooting. The most common set-up is the 
>> use of a camera tripod with a horizontal "pointer" attached to the 
>> camera mount. A stand needs to be easily adjustable, and this set-up 
>> seems to work the best for now. I'm not aware of any commercial 
>> sources for a complete stand, but the BBS site does sell plans and 
>> pointers I believe. The stand needs to incorporate foot markers so 
>> that your position relative to the stand is consistent. Using a 
>> pointer sounds easy enough to my sighted peers, until they try it 
>> themselves... With only one point of reference to the stand it takes
> practice to position your rear shoulder exactly the same every time.
>> From experience, a one or two degree rotation of the rear shoulder 
>> equates to a meter or more of movement in your shot (hence, all the 
>> arrows I've stuck into the walls).
>> 
>> If you (or anyone) is interested in more details, international rule 
>> books, or pictures and ideas for stands, contact me off-list.
>> 
>> Kelly
>> kthornbury at bresnan.net
>> 
>> On Sep 24, 2013, at 6:17 AM, Romeo, Kathleen wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Hello,
>>> I am looking for information on blind archery & blind tennis.
>>> Thank you.
>>> Kathy Romeo,
>>> WPB VAMC
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