Trad Gang
Main Boards => The Shooters FORM Board => Topic started by: BlackDog on February 09, 2011, 01:25:00 AM
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Seen Guru's post with Cade and thought I remembered something about him switching him to shoot left hand. My son (just turned 5) has been shooting the little mad dog pup for about 6 months now off and on (right handed). Figured out a couple months ago he is left eye dominant. He is definitely right handed though.
Have read what the olympic coaches teach, other threads, etc. Anyone else switch their kids, if so how did it go? Maybe I should order a lefty and let him figure it out???
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Jeeez! Didn't even think this might should have been posted in the shooters forum. Sorry, please move if so.
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I would switch to left hand. It is really the best way to go for anybody and should be pretty easy at such a young age. I would vote for showing him how to shoot lefty and let him figure it out. It will be much easier now than later in life
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I shot from 1966-1995 right handed but left-eye dominant. Had to shoot with left eye closed. Began shooting left-handed with both eyes open in 1996. In archery both hands have important job, which one holds the bow isn't as important as the string hand being on the dominant eye side of the face. I wish I had known this when I started.
Only about 50% of people who are left-eye dominant shoot with their dominant eye. More should. But, many people do just fine shooting "wrong-eyed", they just have to close, wink,or otherwise "fuzz up" the left eye to make the right eye carry the load.
The thing to watch for, if someone (especially youth) is shooting right-handed but left-eye dominant is they don't lean the head over the string to line up the left-eye. This can lead to form issues and even muscle injury.
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My son is 7 now, and is the same. Right handed, left eye dom. Switched him to lefty recurve last year. Best thing we've done, he shoots great now.
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Same here--I shoot my bows with both eyes open, "instinctively." It works for me. When I shoot my guns, I shoot left handed. Peace!
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I'm left handed and right eye dominate, I switched to shooting right handed when I was a kid. It's better to start young.
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My daughter is left eyed right handed and she won't shoot left handed, I guess she just doesnt feel comfortable doing so, so I cover her left eye with a patch. I've seen alot of kids / adults this way I believe you are better to follow the dominant eye and the younger they are when you get them shooting with the dominant eye the easier the switch.
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I started Erin when she was 3.5 years old as a right handed shooter but when she started school & was writing lefty & rechecked her eye dominance.
I made the switch from that day forward.
As long as she concentrates on what she is doing she is a much better & happier archer now.
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I made made the switch to left handed myself for the same reason. My 2 sons also are RH/left eye and I started them out lefty from the start.
Rusty
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I had my girlfriend, who is right handed but left eye dominant shoot her bow left handed. She adapted quickly and shoots her bow regularly without a problem.
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My son started shooting at age 5 left handed but was right eye dominant. We switched him quickly and he never looked back.
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Just thought I'd bring this thread to your attention:
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=005671
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My son is left handed and left eye dominate. When he first started to shoot with me I got him a left handed bow, the boy could not hit anything. One day he went with me to friends house to shoot with the son who had a right handed bow. He tried the other bow and I was amazed he hit fairly well. He is 31 now and shoots best right handed but can shoot both ways. I never pushed him in either direction, he found the best way for himself.
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Thanks for all the responses. Think I will order him a lefty and see if I can push him that direction.
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Originally posted by BlackDog:
Anyone else switch their kids, if so how did it go? Maybe I should order a lefty and let him figure it out???
Wish I would have figured out earlier that my son was left eye dominant. He had already been shooting for 2 or 3 years when I finally figured it out. I found an inexpensive LH bow and tried to get him to shoot it. He resisted, and from that point on he hasn't shown near as much interest (He had a really cool little RH Browning Cobra that had been shaped to fit a small hand and had the weight reduced-he loved that bow).
That may have happened anyway, but I really feel that I pushed a little too hard.
I guess the lesson I learned is this--when you're older it's easy to say "wish I would have started out LH", but when you are 7 years old, it really just needs to be fun!
So, based on my experience I would say to keep it enjoyable. If the love of bowhunting sticks with them like it did with us, then they can and will make all sorts of changes later on. I would make LH an option, but not force it.
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Thanks CG, that's exactly what I was thinking. Just going to give him the option and hope he will want to shoot the new bow.
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And if he doesn't want to shoot the new bow, don't sweat it. Remember, the point to shooting a bow is to put the arrow into the target and be able to do that consistently. If your son can do that, no matter how weird it looks, then he's a good archer.
My son is left handed and right eye dominant. He shoots left with the weirdest head tilt and anchor I've ever seen but it works for him. I'm a lefty that shoots a right handed bow. Looks weird, but it works and that's what counts!
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Does this matter if you shoot with both eyes open instinctively ?
I'm right handed, but left eye dominant, I don't know if this old dog can learn them new tricks !
If your shooting instinctively I wouldn't think it would matter ?
Dan
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Ok I posted without doing my homework, sorry, I see there are a lot of posts on this topic, I hope this statement is true because I like it so I'm going with it Lol
Dan
posted February 08, 2011 12:19 PM
Well, well well. Saw this quote as a TG signature;
"When shooting instinctively,it matters not which eye is dominant"
Jay Kidwell and Glenn St. Charles
That agrees with what my experience has been.
I think,
I'm gonna forget the whole eye dominance thing, an just shoot.
R
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Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.
Posts: 146 | From: New York | Registered: Sep 2010 | IP: Logged |
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I know that everyone is different, and I'm by no means an expert, but I can assure you that in my case, it does make a difference which eye is dominant EVEN when shooting instinctively. I think that you should ALWAYS start out shooting from your dominant side. Sometimes, your brain may not be shooting instinctively, even though your eyes "think" you are.
I have been a RH left eye dominant shooter for over 25 years but just picked up traditional archery around 2 years ago, 2010 was my first hunting season. I started out RH as I always have and am in the process of making the switch to LH right now after missing a very nice 130" plus whitetail in Oct, from the ground at less than 15 yards!! :banghead: I forgot to mention that I missed him by nearly 3 feet as my left eye took over and directed the shot even though everything "felt" just fine. I keep both eyes open at all times like you should.
I don't understand exactly what happens with the interaction between the brain/eye/body but I can shoot targets accurately from either side even though I'm understandably still a little better from the RH side due to my 25 year head start :D The problem for me comes during hunting situations. When my "instincts" take over and I'm focusing on making a clean, ethical shot on a live animal, no matter how hard I try, I can't convince my brain that my left eye shouldn't lead the way, after all, it is dominant, has better vision and doesn't have a string in it's way either!! It's very hard to overcome your body's natural programming and I'm starting to believe that if shooting with both eyes open, it can only be done consistently in a target shooting environment when you're relaxed and have time to work out in your mind how to compensate for your cross eye dominance. Shooting from the wrong side has the potential to have a negative effect on every cross eye dominant shooter at some point. I know guys that seem to have successfully worked around the problem by using a patch or closing an eye to take one element out of the equation. That works ok but adds a different set of vision problems.
I almost gave up on traditional archery until I decided to make the switch to LH shooting last year. The switch isn't easy and I'm not all the way there yet but I'm working on it. I still shoot targets from the RH side but I will never take a RH bow in a deer hunting situation again. I have learned my lesson and I believe it's unethical for me to take a weapon into the field that I don't consider myself to be completely competent with at all times. Traditional archery is difficult enough that I think you should always do what you can to stack the deck in your favor and eliminate all potential problems before they arise. Sorry, I forgot to mention, I think you should switch your son to left handed shooting :D
Sorry for writing a book, but this has been a struggle for me and I know that I can't be alone in my feelings on this.
Take care,
Jasper2
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I think its good your willing to get him a lefty to try out. I wouldnt force it, but if his experience is like mine, he will grab the lefty over the righty. Just have both bows available for him and encourage him to give the lefty a try. Tell him it would be cool if he could shoot both accurately. For those that think it makes no difference, get yourself the opposite handed bow and give it a whirl. I shoot decent right handed(left eye dom), but Im way better shooting lefty. Why make it hard for this kid, give him the proper tools while he is young.
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The way I noticed he was left eyed was when we were at the range and he backed off to about 18yds or so and shot 3 arrows in a row about 4 foot to the left. Although he shoots both eyes open, clearly his dominant eye takes over.
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I noticed the same thing with my oldest when he was about 7yrs old and tried to switch him to a lefty.
He shot the bow maybe 20 times and went back to his right handed bow and never looked back.
He wins 3-D shoots all the time, so i don't guess it hurt him any being left eye dominant.
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I had a friend of mine that was left handed/ right eye dominate. He shot left handed! He was the best shot bar none I've ever seen. Didnt' seem to affect him at all. Shot both eye's open, and shot that way all his life. Let him shoot however is comfortable to him. The main thing is that he has fun!! :thumbsup: Good shooting, Jason
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i've been shooting left eye dominant right handed for the last three years, didn't realize until this Fall. Could hit good enough, but never great. This Fall right before season opened(most intensive practice for most of us) i started getting headaches, went to eye doctor, he said everything looked good and that i was left eye dominant. Changed my shooting form a bit and started squinting my left eye, and started slapping the arrows together. I do agree things change in the field. The first time I drew on a deer with a recurve I tryed closing my left eye, after that my whole drawing sequence was screwed up. I do have a left handed bow on the way, so I'm going to give it a try. I do beleive everyones different, so do what works.
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This is actually a no brainer.
Teach him to shoot both ways like I do. I am right handed and formerly left eye dominant (check out my tag line below).
You teach him young and he will never know that he is not supposed to be able to do it.
DDave
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Almost forgot the most important part of the equation.
Like any shooting things start from the ground up. I teach anyone who is interested the mechanics of shooting both ways, and consistently the biggest issue is foot position.
Have him set up in shooting postion, square, open or closed, whatever works for him, before you put the bow in his hand. Have him shoot one arrow at a time until things start to come naturally and then turn him loose.
DDave
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Last, but not least, never underestimate the ability of a five year old. Just think about what he can already do with a computer, cell phone or digital camera. Kids do not live by all those rules that make things hard for us adults.
DDave