Blind Archery: How Visually Impaired People Aim and Compete

By Carlos Acosta · November 1, 2026 · 10 min read

Blind archery is target archery for people who are blind or have low vision. The archer aims with a tactile sight: a small point on a stand that touches the back of the bow hand. A sighted spotter sits behind and says where each arrow landed.

This guide is for a blind or low vision person who wants to try it, for a coach who has been asked to help, and for the curious. It covers what World Archery's para archery rulebook says (the January 27, 2026 version), what the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) says, and where to start in the US and the UK. For goalball, blind soccer and other sports, see our guide to sports for blind people.

Key points

The aim comes from touch. In World Archery's visually impaired (VI) division, archers use a tactile sight and "no other sight will be permitted" (World Archery Book 5).
A spotter is allowed. The spotter sits 1 m behind the shooting line, says where the arrows landed and does the scoring (Book 5).
Two classes. VI1 archers wear blindfolds and VI2 archers don't. Men and women, recurve and compound, shoot together (Book 5).
Not in the Paralympics. World Archery says the VI category is "currently not included in the Paralympic Games programme" (World Archery).
Starting is simple. In the UK, British Blind Sport says to find a club and take the beginners' course on club equipment (BBS Archery). In the US, USA Archery runs an adaptive archery program (USA Archery).

Question	Short answer
How do blind archers aim?	With a tactile sight on a stand that touches the back of the bow hand
Who says where the arrow went?	A sighted spotter, usually by ring color and clock position
What bows are used?	Recurve or compound, the same bows sighted archers use
What are the classes?	VI1 (blindfolded) and VI2 (no blindfold)
How far is the target?	30 m outdoors and 18 m indoors, under World Archery rules
Is it in the Paralympics?	No. It has its own world title at the World Archery Para Championships

Sources: World Archery Book 5, World Archery para archery, BBS Archery spotters' guidebook, BBS Archery equipment.

A sighted archer lines up a sight pin on the bow with the center of the target. A visually impaired archer can't do that by eye, so the aiming point moves off the bow and onto a stand next to the archer.

Rule 34.4.2 of World Archery's Book 5 sets the limits for this tactile sight (Book 5):

It is the only sight allowed in the VI division.
The tactile part can't be bigger than 2 cm in any direction.
It touches only the back of the hand, between the wrist and the base of the fingers. "It can sit between the knuckles but not between the fingers."
The stand and the foot locators together can be no more than 80 cm wide.
The stand can stay on the field until the archer's competition ends for the day.

In practice, the archer stands in the same spot for every shot, found with foot locators on the ground. They draw and bring the back of the bow hand against the tactile point. If the feet and the hand are in the same place each time, the arrows land close together. World Archery has described the tactile sight as "a pin or rod" on the stand that the archer presses into the bow hand (World Archery, 2015). A 2023 article says a simple version can start as a standard archery sight on a tripod, plus some target pins in the ground (World Archery, 2023).

British Blind Sport's archery section recommends this back-of-the-hand method and calls it "the only one accepted under most rules" (BBS Archery equipment).

The bow. Recurve and compound bows are both allowed, under the same equipment rules as the other para divisions, with three exceptions: a compound bow's peak draw weight is 45 lbs, it can be shot with fingers or a release aid, and a level device isn't allowed (rule 34.4.1, Book 5). British Blind Sport says visually impaired archers use the same bows and arrows as sighted archers, with no need for adapted ones; a bright or high contrast cock fletching can help some archers orient the arrow (BBS Archery equipment).

What the spotter does

The spotter is the archer's eyes on the target. Book 5 says the spotter's role is to "tell the athlete the position of the arrows in the target face" and to warn them about safety issues (rule 35.2, Book 5). The other rules in World Archery competitions:

The spotter sits 1 m behind the shooting line.
The spotter can adjust the sight and set up equipment only between practice or scoring ends. The archer can adjust the tactile sight at any time.
The spotter can guide the archer to the target and back.
The spotter does the scoring, and the archer signs their own score sheet.
Archer and spotter wear the same uniform.
During qualification and matches, an archer can have "a spotter or a coach, but not both."
At international events, no assistant or support dogs are allowed on the field of play (rule 35.3).

British Blind Sport describes the spotter as "a sighted person who accompanies you every time you shoot." It can be a friend, a relative or a club member, and finding one is not the club's job (BBS Archery, new archer). The BBS spotters' guidebook says the call usually names the ring color and a clock position, for example red at 2 o'clock. The spotter must not adjust the tactile sight, or coach, between the whistle that starts a scoring end and the whistle to collect arrows. During sighters, the practice arrows, there are no limits on what they can say (BBS spotters' guidebook).

The classes: VI1 and VI2

Book 5 says: "There will be two sport classes for Visually Impaired athletes, VI1 and VI2." The rules for each (rules 28.4, 34.4.3 and 35.1, Book 5):

VI1 archers wear blindfolds: a sleep mask, wraparound glasses or goggles, checked by the judges and worn the whole time on the field of play.
VI2 archers don't wear blindfolds.
Combined class. If there aren't enough entries, all VI archers shoot as one class, and all of them wear a blindfold.
Mixed. "There will be no distinction between men, women, compound, or recurve" within either class. There are also U21 classes.

The class comes from classification, not from the archer's own description. Book 5 says para archery classification is based on the IPC's definition, and every para athlete needs a valid international classification card (chapter 45). USA Archery notes that classification for visually impaired archers is "a separate process through the International Blind Sports Federation" (USA Archery classification). Those sight classes are B1, B2 and B3, which our sports guide explains.

You will also see other names: VI1 and VI2/3, or V1 and V2/V3. Some World Archery news pages describe the partially sighted class as blindfolded (World Archery, 2025). The 2026 rulebook is the rule: blindfolds for VI1 only, unless the classes are combined.

In the UK, British Blind Sport's recreational system adds B4 and B5, so more people can compete in local and national events (BBS Archery). In record events or events with VI categories, B1 to B3 archers often have to use tactile sights, and B4 and B5 archers a bow sight (BBS Archery competitions).

Distances, rounds and scoring

Under Book 5, the VI qualification round is 72 arrows at 30 m outdoors, or 60 arrows at 18 m indoors (rule 29.1, Book 5). World Archery's para archery page also gives 30 meters (World Archery). Matches use the set system: five sets of three arrows.

The top title is VI World Champion at the World Archery Para Championships (rule 31.1.2), which World Archery holds every two years (World Archery). A record 22 visually impaired archers competed at the 2023 edition in Pilsen, in the Czech Republic (World Archery, 2023).

In the UK there are also the Burntwood rounds, made for visually impaired archers. Instead of the target moving closer during the round, the target face gets bigger, so archers with tactile sights don't have to realign them (BBS Archery competitions).

Not yet. Archery has been part of every Paralympic Games since Rome 1960, according to both World Archery and the IPC (World Archery, IPC). But the IPC lists three Paralympic categories: recurve open, compound open and W1, for athletes with impairments in both the top and bottom halves of the body (IPC). There is no VI category.

World Archery says the VI category is "currently not included in the Paralympic Games programme." In a March 2026 article, it wrote that "the category will not feature at LA28," and that World Archery is pushing for it at Brisbane 2032 (World Archery, 2026). That is a goal, not a decision. For now, the biggest stage is the World Archery Para Championships.

A short history

British Blind Sport says one of the first aiming aids for visually impaired archers was a hospital drip stand with brush bristles at the top (BBS Archery, about). Roger Rees-Evans, a British archer who helped write the first rules, told World Archery: "We got a drip stand from the hospital" (World Archery, 2026). In the mid-1980s, visually impaired archers worked out rules with the body now called Archery GB (BBS dates the meeting to 1985, the World Archery article to 1986). The first international rules followed in 2005 (BBS Archery competitions, World Archery, 2026).

Where to start in the US

USA Archery says archery is "a sport that is open to everyone" and runs an adaptive archery program (USA Archery adaptive archery):

A manual for instructors. The Adaptive Archery Manual, made with Disabled Sports USA, helps instructors bring archers of all abilities into existing programs (USA Archery resources). It is a good thing to send a coach before your first class.
Material on vision loss. The same page has a section called Archery and the Vision Impaired, with videos and a resource guide (USA Archery resources).
A club finder. Search Find a Club on USA Archery's site.
A contact. The adaptive archery page lists the Membership Services Manager at (719) 866-4621 (USA Archery adaptive archery).
A path to the national team. In its team selection update for 2023, USA Archery opened the United States Archery Team to visually impaired archers classified "V1 or V2/V3" (USA Archery, 2023).

Where to start in the UK

The British Blind Sport Archery Section, a sports section of the charity British Blind Sport, gives new archers these steps (BBS Archery, new archer):

Find a club. All archers, sighted or not, must take a beginners' course to learn shooting and safety. BBS points to the Archery GB Club Finder.
Tell the club. Say you are visually impaired and want to take the beginners' course.
Use club equipment. The club provides what you need, and you won't need tactile equipment at first.
Bring a spotter. The club may ask your spotter to come to the course, and they learn with you.
Wait before buying. Clubs usually have bows they can loan or rent for a small fee.

You don't need to be a BBS member or have a sight classification to shoot in club tournaments. To enter the BBS Indoor Championships (April) or Outdoor Championships (September) at Lilleshall, in Shropshire, you need BBS membership and a valid sight classification (BBS Archery competitions).

For coaches and clubs

Start like any beginner, on club bows, with no tactile kit at first.
Build a simple tactile sight: a standard sight on a tripod and target pins in the ground. For competition, check rule 34.4.2.
Train the spotter in the ring color and clock position call, using the BBS spotters' guidebook.

Where Braillito fits

Braillito, our app, teaches braille. It teaches the braille cells in lessons with exercises you play, with lives, levels and a daily streak: 59 lessons in 8 worlds in English. It also has a translator, a dictionary and a cell builder. The English lessons are uncontracted braille (grade 1); they don't teach contracted braille or transcription, and Braillito isn't a braille transcriber.

You don't need braille to shoot a bow, so archery and braille are separate skills. If you are losing your sight and also want to read by touch (learning braille as an adult), or you are a sighted spotter or relative who wants to learn the code (learning braille as a sighted person), that is the part we help with. The translator on braillito.com shows how a word or short phrase looks in UEB, but it only applies the rules a program can apply, so it doesn't replace a transcriber. Without paying, the braille translator works in any browser.

Braillito is a subscription with no free version; depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription (is Braillito free?). Get Braillito.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. World Archery has a visually impaired division with its own rules, two sport classes and a world title. The archer aims with a tactile sight on a stand, and a sighted spotter says where each arrow landed. The usual first step is a beginners' course at a local club.

With a tactile sight: a small point on a stand that touches the back of the bow hand. Foot locators put the feet in the same place for every shot, so the same touch gives the same aim. Under World Archery's rules, it is the only sight allowed in the VI division.

No. The IPC lists three Paralympic archery categories: recurve open, compound open and W1. World Archery says the VI category is not on the programme and wrote in March 2026 that it will not be at LA28. VI archers compete for a world title at the World Archery Para Championships.

The spotter sits 1 m behind the shooting line, tells the archer where each arrow landed, warns about safety and does the scoring. Between ends, the spotter can set up the equipment and adjust the tactile sight, but not during a scoring end.