How well can you personally see an arrow fly?
So much of bow tuning, at least historically, is based on watching if the arrow planes to one side, fishtails, porpoises, or minnows. All of these require being able to watch the arrow fly.
Here is my level of "ability" for this task
- at outdoor competitions I enjoy watching the large diameter wooden longbow arrows arc at the longer distances, and I can definitely see that they are moving (at ~30m/s after drag). I can't see any of the "out of tune" flight patterns above, but I would also expect that most arrows brougth to competitions are generally tuned.
- For other bowstyles or at shorter distances (below 40m or so), I can just about see one glimpse sometimes when the arrow is somewhere between the bow and target. It'll usually show up in an untuned arrow that "points" at maybe 60 degrees to the target shortly before it hits. I expect there is some forshortening and therefore an exaggerated apparent angle in this case. It is easier with reflective aluminium arrows that tend to catch the light, or if very big fletches are used. With my ACEs at about 60 m/s, I don't see the arrow at all from when I release until I'm practically pulling it out of the target.
This has been the case for as long as I've been shooting, almost 10 years starting as a teenager. My average nearsighted eyesight is corrected to normal with glasses or contact lense; my visual reaction time is average; I have no other problems with my sight and can drive/cycle fine, and I am in good health. One thing that is likely relevant is that my rapid hand eye coordination in school rivaled that of a sloth - by the time I can see an object coming at me and figure out where to put my hand to catch it, it's usually long gone. So there's a distinct possibility that my eyes/brain are just a bit on the slow side and everyone else has been happily watch arrows writhing around in flight, or at least getting enough information to use when adjusting tuning.
So much of bow tuning, at least historically, is based on watching if the arrow planes to one side, fishtails, porpoises, or minnows. All of these require being able to watch the arrow fly.
Here is my level of "ability" for this task
- at outdoor competitions I enjoy watching the large diameter wooden longbow arrows arc at the longer distances, and I can definitely see that they are moving (at ~30m/s after drag). I can't see any of the "out of tune" flight patterns above, but I would also expect that most arrows brougth to competitions are generally tuned.
- For other bowstyles or at shorter distances (below 40m or so), I can just about see one glimpse sometimes when the arrow is somewhere between the bow and target. It'll usually show up in an untuned arrow that "points" at maybe 60 degrees to the target shortly before it hits. I expect there is some forshortening and therefore an exaggerated apparent angle in this case. It is easier with reflective aluminium arrows that tend to catch the light, or if very big fletches are used. With my ACEs at about 60 m/s, I don't see the arrow at all from when I release until I'm practically pulling it out of the target.
This has been the case for as long as I've been shooting, almost 10 years starting as a teenager. My average nearsighted eyesight is corrected to normal with glasses or contact lense; my visual reaction time is average; I have no other problems with my sight and can drive/cycle fine, and I am in good health. One thing that is likely relevant is that my rapid hand eye coordination in school rivaled that of a sloth - by the time I can see an object coming at me and figure out where to put my hand to catch it, it's usually long gone. So there's a distinct possibility that my eyes/brain are just a bit on the slow side and everyone else has been happily watch arrows writhing around in flight, or at least getting enough information to use when adjusting tuning.