Eyeglass sweet spot, anchor?

[howl]

This is a little long. So, please bare bow with me.

If your eyes are bad enough you know there's a sweet spot in your lens where you get the clearest vision. There's a plain correlation with how accurately I can place an arrow and how clearly I can focus on where I want the arrow to go. Finest accuracy is only when looking through the sharpest part of the lens.

Trouble is, now that middle age took more of my vision this is so critical I pretty much have to have the lens square to the target to get a good focus. Totally ruins my form bringing my arm around and leads to plucking the string. I've been shooting the same old way I always did and letting the groups open up, but I'd like to improve.

I'm looking at moving my anchor to below the jaw to maintain form while still being able to square the lens to the target. Anyone had the same problem but a better idea?

[M60gunner]

Are your glasses single vision or progressive lens? Reason I ask I wore progressive lenses and had nothing but trouble. I had a pair of glasses made just for distance that solved my alignment problems. One bennie of not being able to see good close up, I wasn’t allowed to keep score. No one trusted my eyesight for that chore.

[Orion]

Shouldn't have to change your anchor.  Take your normal stance and just turn your head more toward the target. That will square the lens to the target. That should actually improve your left/right accuracy because your eye will be above the arrow looking over it, rather than looking across it, which is the case if your head isn't turned toward the target enough.  Good luck.

[MnFn]

My Uncle Gene shot his Bear recurve with an anchor below his chin/jaw. (I think he pulled the string into/across his face. I don’t remember for sure because the last time I saw him shoot was over fifty years ago. He shot pretty  well as I recall.

[McDave]

Many modern lenses are made from polycarbonate, which is very strong and so can be made thin, which looks better than the thicker plastic lenses.  Unfortunately, it is only in good focus in the center of the lens.  You would be better off getting plastic lenses, which are thicker, but are in focus over a much wider section of the lens.  This enables you to glance sideways at the target and still have the target in focus.  Orion is correct that it is best to rotate your head until you are looking squarely at the target.  Unfortunately, we don’t all have a sufficient range of motion to do that.  Fortunately, old fashioned plastic lenses made for distance only without any reading correction are the cheapest lenses you can get, so it shouldn’t break the bank.  You may have an old pair of glasses in a drawer somewhere that you can use the frame from, so you wouldn’t have to buy that too.

[Red Beastmaster]

Progressives are no good for shooting a bow. My shooting glasses are lined bifocals with a very low line.  No problem focusing on the spot, no tripping in the woods, and I can still see things up close. Also, plastic frames that sit right on your nose work better than nose pads that can let you look through the gap.

[MattfromVT]

Licensed optician here. I assume you're in progressives now. Since there's so much going on in a progressive, the "corridor" of usable area is pretty narrow. You really need to be facing whatever you're trying to see. Like others said, get a set of distance glasses just for shooting and you'll get more peripheral vision from them. That said, depending on your Rx and the frame shape/size it still may be more limited than what you're used to. If you have specific questions please feel free to DM me and I'd be happy to help. I would note that the material shouldn't make much difference in this situation unless your Rx is pretty strong. I'd recommend sticking with poly, trivex, or another impact-resistant material. Accidents happen in archery/hunting and it's good to have the protection.

[Sam McMichael]

My glasses are progressive, and I have never found that sweet spot. In fact, I never shoot with them on, mostly because the string has slapped them off my face a few times and it hurts. Fortunately, my distant vision has not deteriorated much, so I can actually shoot well without glasses. If my distance vision does go bad, my anchor will definitely need to change. In a couple of weeks, though, I will have cataract surgery. I know some people do not need glasses after this. I also know there are no guarantees, but I hope to be one of the lucky ones.

[MattfromVT]

My glasses are progressive, and I have never found that sweet spot. In fact, I never shoot with them on, mostly because the string has slapped them off my face a few times and it hurts. Fortunately, my distant vision has not deteriorated much, so I can actually shoot well without glasses. If my distance vision does go bad, my anchor will definitely need to change. In a couple of weeks, though, I will have cataract surgery. I know some people do not need glasses after this. I also know there are no guarantees, but I hope to be one of the lucky ones.

Generally they can get your distance vision to 20/20 with the surgery but you'll definitely need reading glasses. The artificial lens they put in your eye can't make the switch from distance to reading like a natural lens does.

[howl]

Thanks for all the replies. I will ask about distance glasses at my next doctor visit this Spring. When I've broached the topic in the past I got the impression I'm lucky to be able to see as well as I do with what I have.

I'm not in progressives yet. I just have to use Hubble telescope lens rejects 'cause my eyeballs are shaped like footballs.

[David Mitchell]

Discuss the problem with your optometrist.  My son is an optometrist and always happy to work with patients to accommodate their special, sports related needs. 

[Lefty38-55]

If your eyes are bad enough you know there's a sweet spot in your lens where you get the clearest vision. There's a plain correlation with how accurately I can place an arrow and how clearly I can focus on where I want the arrow to go. Finest accuracy is only when looking through the sharpest part of the lens.

Thanks for all the replies. I will ask about distance glasses at my next doctor visit this Spring.

I'm going through this right now; I wear progressives (and Transitions lenses, that darken in the sun) and I have an appointment with an optometrist on FRI who just so happens to be a rifle shooter too. Thus I will report back my progress or success!

I asked about this issue last night during the mid-shoot 10-min break at our weekly indoor league. Surprisingly to me, 3 there were wearing contacts and say they only use them for archery as they too had problems with lenses, especially with progressive lenses. I don't see them outside archery, so I had no idea of their eyesight. For the 4 others (yeah ... we're all old(er), lol!) they all agreed progressive lenses are an issue, where 3 of them were wearing non-progressives for archery-use only.

And to a man ... none of them were ever successful in turning their head all the way needed to look through that 'tunnel' of clear vision, as was suggested.

My plan is to remove the progressive feature from my shooting eye only (we'll see ...) and eliminate the Transitions darkening in both, making them into just a pair of "shooting glasses". So preferably I'd like to stay with high index polycarbonate lenses, as I also shoot muzzleloaders and other toys that go 'bang'.

[Huntschool]

My eyes started going south about 22 years ago.  So, I went to progressive lenses.  I may be the odd ball here (nothing new) but I never experienced any problems with those lenses.  I was able to shoot my usual 3 under with an anchor on the front of my face right next to my nose.

Fast forward to the cataract stage....  This past Oct/Nov I had both eyes done and it has worked nothing short of magic.  One eye is set a bit for distance and the other for closer up.  I was able to read print nd the computer screen without assistance until about a month ago and now use low powered readers.  I knew this was a likely outcome so no big deal.  I can see what I want and that is what matters to me.   

[Bowguy67]

Something to think about. A low anchor like you state makes gap much larger. I’m 53 with eye issues. I wear just small distance lenses when I shoot. I hit nothing w my string and have no issues. Your eye Dr if he’s not an archer might have difficulty understanding what you need exactly

[Orion]

I had cataract surgery last year, but before that I had progressive lenses.  Never a problem.  But, I turn my head toward the target rather than looking across the arrow so I didn't get any distortion. It's really a pretty easy fix.   

[LC]

I only have one thing to add to all the great advice above. I hope this is OK to mention Zenni glasses on the web. You can literally buy five pair of glasses as to one pair of glasses from your local eye Doctor. So you can buy a pair of progressive, single vision, bifocal all with spare sunglasses for what you'd pay for one pair from Wally world.  Enter your up to date prescription and place the order. My wife and myself have been using them for the last several years with only one complaint which they fixed promptly. I presently each year get a pair for work (which I'm tough on) a Sunday go to meeting pair, a bow shooting pair all with spare sun glasses as I'm really hard on sun glasses. I am in no way connected to or work for them just trying to save some frugal trad bowhunters some money so they can buy another much needed  bow.

[YosemiteSam]

The last time I shot with glasses, the string caught the side of the lens & they flew off my face.  My arrow landed on target but the glasses went almost halfway downrange.  Never could figure out how some people shoot with them at all.

[katman]

Licensed optician here. I assume you're in progressives now. Since there's so much going on in a progressive, the "corridor" of usable area is pretty narrow. You really need to be facing whatever you're trying to see. Like others said, get a set of distance glasses just for shooting and you'll get more peripheral vision from them. That said, depending on your Rx and the frame shape/size it still may be more limited than what you're used to. If you have specific questions please feel free to DM me and I'd be happy to help. I would note that the material shouldn't make much difference in this situation unless your Rx is pretty strong. I'd recommend sticking with poly, trivex, or another impact-resistant material. Accidents happen in archery/hunting and it's good to have the protection.

Matt, can the 'sweet spot' be moved on a lens to accommodate an archer?

[MattfromVT]

Matt, can the 'sweet spot' be moved on a lens to accommodate an archer?

It can... but you wouldn't want to walk around wearing them. I've done it for rifle shooters but I'm not positive I've done it for an archer. You'd essentially want to move the spot in the right lens towards your nose so you get your best vision when your head is turned for shooting. If your eye is pointed in that direction toward the target you'd be able to see well, but when your eye faces straight ahead it would feel like it's being pulled off to the side. It could cause double vision and definitely eye strain.

[Terry Green]

Maybe I missed it... what about contacts?