Shooting w/ glasses vs. without

[Str8Shooter]

I've got a question for anyone who shoots with glasses and without. I've worn contacts mainly for the last several years. I recently switched jobs and have to wear glasses most of the time. I've found that if I shoot with glasses and then switch to my contacts I shoot way to the left. I've even tried adjusting my anchor (which I don't like doing). But it still doesn't seem to help much.

This is really irritating to me. I don't want to have to adjust things if I switch between contacts and glasses. That would really be a pain hunting.

Any suggestions? Anyone else have this problem?

Chris

[bowdude]

Get lasik - you will never regret it.

[TheArc]

Lasik just isn't for everbody. Maybe using a kisser button will help your anchor. I wear both and don't experience that but could imaging some subtle change in form due to head position not having to be as directly forward for focusing with contyacts vs. that need with my specs.

[DarkeGreen]

My guess is one is correcting your vision better than the other. Very much the same as the left eye dominate issue. Try doing that test to see if one causes your "point of aim" to move more than the other.

[TexMex]

I have to wear glasses, have thought of contacts but have not done it.  I have also thought of the Lasik, but it's run be computers and computers hickup sometimes and I could be the one in it's aim.  :eek:

[Golden Hawk]

Been shootin with glasse for about 10 years now and I have shot with contacts also. I didn't have any issues with either and can shoot just as well wearing either. I would say if you have to wear your glasses at work then you should shoot with them too.

[possumtrot]

I shoot with glasses and until a year ago I have not had any problems. After the last eye appointment the doc suggested progressive lenses. I still shoot o.k. but the target is out of focus due to how the lenses are made. Actually I shoot better without the glasses since my sight is not that bad. I can almost pass the driving test w/o glasses. But as Bowdude said, lasik is going to be something that will happen in the future.... John

[Whip]

I need my glasses mostly for reading, although the distance thing is starting to be more noticable as well.  

I made an effort to get used to shooting with them last summer, and it worked pretty well at known distances.  But is seemed I wasn't as accurate with judging distance when stump shooting, so I gave up and went back to shooting without.

Eventually I know that I will need them for distance as well, but will put it off as long as I can and just deal with it when I have to.  For now I keep an old pair in my daypack when hunting in case I need to see close up for something. (like punching a tag!)

[madness522]

My guess is if you are a right handed shooter when you are wearing your glasses your eye is not directly over the arrow but slightly to the left of the arrow.  This will cause you to pull the arrow to the left to line it up with your target and subsequently cause it to hit left of where you thought you were aiming.  I do the same thing when I try to wear sunglasses when shooting.  I'm afraid of the glasses being rudely ripped off my face when I drop the string.

[Roadkill]

I wear trifocals.  Two  weeks ago we had a tournament in driving snow. I took off my goggles and had to shoot for center of mass rather than at specific areas of the target.  It's what you get used to.
I had the chance for various eye surgeries, but I have had my eyes saved many times by those glasses while wandering around inthe dark-heading to treestands as a civilain and night patrols while in the military for 30 years.  I will take the glasses over a sahrp stick in the eye.

[lilbobby]

Made a similar post a couple of years ago and the advice from the Gang was to open my stance up a little, well it worked! Good luck!

[SteveMcD]

I wear glasses. I had progressives a few years ago and my shooting went into the toilet! Switched back to distance glasses for shooting and by either opening the stance a little bit or a little more cant on the bow seems to make things right for me.

[Str8Shooter]

Thanks for the replies so far. I'd love lasik but it's not in the budget right now.


I've tried altering my stance, anchor, etc. As Dark Greene suggested I tried closing one eye and the other. With my contacts if I close my left eye (right handed) the arrow runs right down to the bull. Both eyes open, off to the left. With glasses, it doesn't seem to make a difference. Guess I'll be wearing glasses when I shoot.

Chris

[Brian Krebs]

I am supposed to wear glasses; but I don't; the last time I went to the eye doctor my vision had improved.
 When I first needed glasses I got plastic lens ones ; then glasses with bifocals; and man that was a mistake! When I was coming down out of treestands; the bifocals made the treesteps disapear..
 I decided to get contacts. My granddaughter said "grampa- there are two things about contacts" "first you have to convince yourself to get them; and then second: you have to convince your eyes!".
 Right she was/is - I have a heck of a time getting contacts in. I seem not to be able to convince my eyes that contacts are a good idea.
  I hate the fogging; the scratches; the breaking of glasses; etc etc. I would stick with contacts if I were you- as your eyes and eyelids seem to accept them  

[JiminTexas]

I use the no line bifocals and, for me, they aid in beinbg able to keep my head at the same angle all the time. If I nod my head up or down, everything goes out of focus. Now if I can just remember to keep my head from swiveling left or right I may be able to stop ripping the skin of of my nose with the string!

[2fletch]

Sounds like it has about been figured out. I wear progressive lenses and they are a bear to get use to for shooting.I don't like an open stance, but it's the only way to shoot with progressive lenses. It seems that you get a distortion caused by refraction as well as being out of focus when you look through the side of the lenses.

In addition to focus and refraction problems there is also the problems of glasses sliding down on our nose in hot weather and fogging up on humid days.

I once lost a state championship tournament on two targets missed completely when my glasses unexpectedly fogged up at anchor. I also got a bad shot on a deer when this happened.

I believe that when shooting with progressive lenses (to shoot well) you will need to practice more as it does add another element to your shooting procedure.

[fflintlock]

Funny, I was just thinking of this the other day.
I too have progressive lenses and have not used them while shooting. The thought of a 400.00 pair of mangled glasses laying at my feet did'nt appeal to me, LOL. I can shoot good no problem without them, but I need them to see things clearly a few feet away. I wanted to use them in hunting season and thought I should start using them while practicing out back some.
 Does anyone have any problems with their glasses getting in the way of the string ?

[Bow n' errors]

I've been wrestling with this for several years also.  Like others above, I now require bifocals and have opted for the progressive lenses, but since that type of seamless lens design results in a more narrow pane of correction, the L and R edges of the lenses are not corrected as wide (have to turn your head and look straighter at the object you want to focus on).  My most comfortable stance and anchor puts my face at an angle so that when I wear glasses, I'm looking through nothing but hardware and uncorrected lens at the target.  With no glasses, I can't see or focus on "the spot" well enough.
My solution was to get bifocal contact lenses.  They take some time to get used to because of how they work with the eyes and brain, but for me they work pretty well and I don't have to deal with glasses and their related problems.  
Best wishes.

[TaterHill Archer]

I don't wear glasses most of the time, but my eyes are very sensitive to bright sunlight.  I have to wear sunglasses if its a bright, sunny day or my eyes water so much I can't see.  I've found I don't shoot as well with glasses either. The first couple of arrows I loosed the string hit my glasses and nearly pulled them off my face.  I think I'm now doing something (anchor, head tilt, release??) different to keep my string from hitting my glasses and it affects my shooting.  Now that we have plenty of sunlight again here, I'll probably try to figure out what it is.

[wasapt]

Cant your bow to the R, assuming you are R handed and that should take care of your tendency to shoot to the Left.