Matteo Campagna
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Some archers shoot with an uncorrected refractive error

5 studies · 166 archers measured

ForContextAgainst20102015202020252026, context, n = 672016, for, n = 572016, context, n = 572010, context, n = 282023, context, n = 142010, context
Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

A minority do, judging by the only count there is. Of 57 Iranian recurve and compound archers examined in an eye hospital, in a pilot study inside a protocol paper, about 13% had an uncorrected refractive error, roughly one in eight. The only other measurement on archers does not count the errors but is consistent with it: in 2010, of 28 South African archers, 22 reached full acuity with both eyes and six did not, without the study saying why. A field measurement shows why it matters: at 30 metres the 80-centimetre target face takes up a degree and a half, and seeing the central ring requires acuity of at least 0.218 logMAR. The status stays reported because there is a single count, it is descriptive, and nobody has checked whether correcting the error changes the score.

Also phrased as: "myopia and archery"; "archers who do not wear glasses"; "eye test for archers"; "refractive errors in archers"

In practice

Among archers it is taken for granted that good shooters see well, and eyesight is checked only once the target face starts to look blurred.

Evidence

  • 2010
    Context Archers Published later

    28 South African archers from three styles, acuity measured with a Snellen chart at 3 metres and with the correction they already used, if suitable for shooting: 22 reach 1.0 with the right eye, 23 with the left and 22 with both. The others fall short, but the study does not say whether because of an uncorrected error, presbyopia or something else. Regional journal.

    The role of vision and visual skills in archery* · B. Strydom, J. T. Ferreira

  • 2010
    Context Model Published later

    An optical calculation with no participants: in the single-lens system, with the lens on the sight and the uncorrected error acting as a second lens, an archer with one dioptre of myopia and the lens at 0.80 m would need a -5 dioptre lens and would get an image reduced to 0.20 rather than magnified. For significantly short-sighted archers the authors advise correcting their eyesight first.

    Optical lenses and magnification in archery · B. Strydom, J. T. Ferreira

  • 2016
    For Archers Published later

    57 recurve and compound archers registered in Tehran and Alborz, aged 18 to 38, examined in an eye hospital in a pilot study inside a protocol paper: about 13% have uncorrected refractive errors. The percentage is not broken down by level or linked to the score.

    Vision Examination Protocol for Archery Athletes Along With an Introduction to Sports Vision · Seyed Farzad Mohammadi, Mohammad Aghazade Amiri, Homa Naderifar, Elham Rakhshi, Banafsheh Vakilian, Elham Ashrafi, et al.

  • 2016
    Context Archers Published later

    The same sample: 35 elite archers (17 men, 18 women, aged 28.25 ± 5.4) and 22 non-elite (10 men, 12 women, aged 28.64 ± 4.8), with at least six months of shooting. The full battery, static acuity, refractive error, contrast sensitivity, ocular alignment at 40 cm and 6 m, stereoacuity and eye dominance, took about 40 minutes per athlete.

    Vision Examination Protocol for Archery Athletes Along With an Introduction to Sports Vision · Seyed Farzad Mohammadi, Mohammad Aghazade Amiri, Homa Naderifar, Elham Rakhshi, Banafsheh Vakilian, Elham Ashrafi, et al.

  • 2023
    Context Archers Published later

    A field measurement on 7 Japanese university archers at 30 m: the 80 cm target face takes up 1.53 degrees, and seeing the central ring requires acuity of at least 0.218 logMAR. With the correction used in competition, mean refraction is -0.66 ± 0.68 dioptres in the right eye and -0.54 ± 1.16 in the left, and five of the seven archers wear contact lenses between -1.00 and -7.00 dioptres.

    Effect of binocular vision during target shooting in archery · Masakazu Hirota, Tatsuhiro Hanai, Takeshi Morimoto

  • 2026
    Context Archers Published later

    A randomised trial of precision-sport athletes, archers and target shooters together with e-sports players, with acuity measured at 2.5 metres using their habitual correction: 94% of the shooters and archers reach at least 20/24, against 95% of the e-sports players. Mean age 27.53 ± 7.32. The authors also write that the athletes were screened for acuity of at least 20/24, so the percentage may depend on the entry criterion; the figure does not separate the archers and does not count uncorrected errors.

    The effect of macular carotenoids and omega-3 supplementation on performance in precision sports: the sport nutrition intervention in performance exercise (SNIPE) study · Parimala Sivaperuman, Fraser C. Horn, Warren Roche, James Stringham, Richard Swinbourne, John Nolan

Status history

  1. 2010 Not studied The first eye examination of archers, 28 South Africans from three styles, finds that 22 reach full acuity with both eyes, measured at 3 metres with the correction they already used if it suited shooting. Six do not, but the study does not say why and does not count refractive errors. In the same year an optical calculation shows that for a short-sighted archer the scope lens combines with the uncorrected error: with one dioptre of myopia and the lens at 80 centimetres, a -5 dioptre lens would be needed, and the image would be reduced rather than magnified. The problem is described, but nobody has yet counted how many archers shoot without correction: not studied.
  2. 2016 Reported The first count arrives, in a pilot study inside a protocol paper: of 57 Iranian recurve and compound archers aged 18 to 38, 35 elite and 22 not, with the same average age in both groups, about 13% have an uncorrected refractive error. The authors also show that a complete, archery-specific examination takes about 40 minutes per athlete. A single descriptive study, with no link to the score measured: reported, and the figure should be read as indicative.
  3. 2023 Reported Context arrives that explains why it matters: measured in the field, at 30 metres the 80-centimetre target face takes up 1.53 degrees of visual field, and making out the central ring requires acuity of at least 0.218 logMAR. Five of the seven Japanese archers measured shot with contact lenses between -1 and -7 dioptres. It is not a new count of uncorrected errors, so the status holds.
  4. 2026 Reported A study of precision-sport athletes reports that, with their habitual correction, 94% of the shooters and archers reached at least 20/24 acuity. The same paper, however, says the athletes were screened for that acuity threshold, so the figure may reflect the entry criterion and does not tell us how many archers see well; it also mixes archers and shooters and does not count uncorrected errors. The picture stays as it was in 2016: a single count, reported.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Some archers shoot with an uncorrected refractive error (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/uncorrected-refractive-errors-in-archers

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_difettivistaarcieri,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Some archers shoot with an uncorrected refractive error},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/uncorrected-refractive-errors-in-archers},
  note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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