Fencing Targets: Small but Close vs. Large but Far

2/1/07

Pretend you are a foil fencer facing this fencer

Forget that his head is irregularly shaped and that he has no eyes. Just focus on the geometry of the situation.

If we divide up the shaded target area like so

we get two areas, A which is a small but close (to you) area, and B which is a larger area but is also further away.

The real-life dynamics that are present aside, which area, in general, would you prefer to aim for and why?