Tips for switching from right hand to left

[statedriller]

I'm going to try following my dominant eye to see if it increases my consistency.  I would appreciate any pointers or things to watch for.  I shoot 50# RH so I chose to start with a 35# LH.  Thanks in advance for any advice...

One week after you start you'll be amazed.  You're starting right by reducing the weight.  I would simply encourage you to be mindful of you're shot sequence on every shot.  Focus on every aspect of your form.  You'll do fine.

[trad_in_cali]

I would make sure you started close up at a blank bale. It would allow you to concentrate on your form, which will feel quite unnatural at the beginning.
Marco

[fmscan]

You will be surprise how quickly you will adapt, and how quickly your shooting improves. Believe it or not, your brain was doing a lot of adjusting to make your shots work when you were shoting with you weak eye, now you can truly shot instinctively. Good advice above from Marco, to work on form, best time to do it is now with your new shooting style.

[statedriller]

Thanks for the advice.  I never had "proper" training when learning to shoot trad.  I've learned so much from this site.  I'm heading out to the garage to set up a blank bale and getting to work on being a better archer.  Thanks.

[KyStickbow]

I switched over to shooting left handed about a month or so ago. For the short time I have been shooting traditional I shot with my weak eye....and believe me when u switch over to the dominant eye u will see improvements almost instantly in your accuracy. It feels a little wierd at first but after about a week or so everything kinda clicks into normal. Great job on stepping down the draw weight..that's what I did as well and it made it alot easier for me. Congrats on making the switch!

[bsoper]

I just made the switch to lefty due to my dominant eye as well. I dropped the # from 50 to 44. The first couple dozen shots were SCARY, but then I felt it. I could see straight down the shaft to my target, and I knew that this was how I was meant to shoot. I took 20 paces back and was doing great.!

[joe skipp]

I made the switch also but not permanently. My goal is to take a few whitetails this fall with shooting both ways. Bone spur and rotator cuff in the right shoulder made the decision easier.

My recurve is 47#...the problem guys have is starting too high a bow weight. I started slowly in Feb and finally started shooting with confidence out to 30 yds in May.

I began by drawing back a 55# every day to build up my shoulders and back muscles. Then when the 47# felt good, I began to draw back an arrow and hold. I had to develop a solid anchor AND at times would put too much tension on the string causing my arrow to come off the shelf.

Once I was secure in drawing back, anchoring, and making sure I didn't curl my fingers too much, I would shoot 5 yds in my archery shop into a LARGE pillow bag. At times my right eye would take over and arrows would miss the mark.

My main concern here was PROPER FORM and CLEAN RELEASE. No torquing the bow, no plucking the string. Once satisfied, I hit the back yard for my standard roving and stumpshooting with Judo points.

Started picking spots at 10 yds and gradually worked my way out to 30 yds. It took time, patience and hard work. Now...I can pick the bow up, nock and arrow and hit my target WITHOUT thinking about anything else. Every now and then I get that "flyer" due to the right eye fighting me but 95% of the time...my arrows fly true.

[Hopewell Tom]

I made the switch because of eye dominance not hand dominance. Loved the feel of everything except trying to nock an arrow with a hand that wasn't used to doing the "little" things. After a bit though, it's pretty natural. Much prefer this "new" way.

[Bowwild]

I'm RH and left eye dominant as well. I shot RH from 1963-1995. I've shot LH since 1996.

Last week in Pennsylvania while certifying some folks for NASP, a young lady archer in my class discovered she was Left-Eye dominant. She took advice (but not insistence) to try a LH bow.

She had to learn how to shoot all over again..which isn't a bad thing for most folks because we've been given too much poor advice in the past. Like some have written above, she concentrated on consciously learning each step of the process (eleven of them) and converting those learned steps to her subconscious. Her early shooting was  done at 7 yards at blank bales.

 By the end of the first day of a 3-day workshop (much more covered than just shooting) she was thrilled and almost robin-hooded an arrow during a demonstration to her classmates. I've seen this many times over the past 10 years. A person can get beyond the awkward feel, which will disappear in surprisingly few shots if you concentrate on learning a very specific process with zero regard for "score".

Too many people simply give up after just a few, I'm talking less than 10 shots, because it feels too weird and they don't like their "big" groups.

Shooting with the dominant eye allows the string hand to come to the dominant-eye side of the face. This allows the archer to shoot with both eyes open; better depth perception, better peripherial vision, and for some folks better balance and zero anxiety.

[jon_j]

I recently switched to left - lots of right shoulder damage when I was much younger.  I have taught archery at the local college for several years and really believe in the dominant eye principle.  Now, for me, I'm doing the reverse - going away from my dominant right eye.  To say the least, it was awkward just to get comfortable nocking an arrow with the new hand. Then shooting was just plain scary as I began.
However, I just heard a golf analyst on TV say, "Concentrate on the proper form and then repeat the process 10,000-15,000 times and you'll have it down."  Seriously, practice and practice and practice and it will become natural and the results will be astonishing.

[Bill Skinner]

I had to change to left hand due to an old neck injury.  I am right eye dominate.  I tried a 32# left hand bow from Oct to Feb with very little sucess.  I then tried a 29# right handed bow, shooting left handed with a thumb ring.  My accuracy improved immeadiaately.  I have managed to work up to 40#, I hope to get to 50# by deer season in Oct.  Bill

[doowop]

I switched about a year and a half ago. Start light and concentrate on EVERY shot. Maintain good form. I am shooting better now than I ever have and I have been shooting 37 years.

[BobCo 1965]

It usually starts a lot of controversy, but depending on the amount of muscle dominance and general coordination, I usually stick with training the eye instead of switching shooting sides.