Shooting Right AND Left Handed

[Bud B.]

Some folks switch out of necessity; An injury, eye dominance, or because it just "feels better."

I have tried teaching young shooters and some older shooters about traditional archery and trying to get them into a style I thoroughly enjoy. I guess in the back of my mind I'd love to see one or two take it to the woods and drop their wheels.

Doing such I have bought a few right handed bows, which, for a lefty was a little bit contradictory to my right-side-brain-minded self. I have a Shakespeare Wonderbow 30#, a Browning Mohawk 24#, and now a Browning Wasp 45#, and also a Maddog Pup 17#. As with any bow I buy I must shoot it. In shooting these bows I have learned to overpower my left eye dominance when shooting them. I can go back to 20 yards without missing my target backstop. And with a little time on the string can get pie plate accuracy at times out to around 15.

I say all the above to bring to point the doors that could opened to more bow opportunities if one could switch hit, so to speak.

For those out there who have or can shoot on both sides of the shelf I'd like to hear from you. How is switching working out for you? And for those who ever thought about it, now might be a chance to give it a try and hear from those who have done it similarly.

My ultimate goal would be to harvest a deer in the future, but my accuracy would need to improve to equal my natural southpaw side of the shelf.

Hopefully I can pick up some pointers from others.

[straitera]

Just got a very nice Harrelson LH lb about 6 months ago. Initially, hit consistently a pie plate backed by a very tall dirt embankment from 10 yards. No big deal. Stepped outside 3-4 days into the experiment, bow in hand at 40 yards, just testing progress. Missed the whole dang dirtpile, judo centerpunched a hardwood near 20' up, CountdeMoney de cat fell out the tree screaming bloody murder, & Ruth came running w/butcher knife swearing, plus took top layer of skin off underside of my forearm. Impossible how far I missed that dirtpile! Still explaining it wasn't on purpose. Humbling at least. Might take a little more practice you think? Still learning but it's fun. Hat's off to much advantaged ambidextrious shooters.

[JamesV]

I can see a person changing because of eye domainance or maybe an injury. Maybe a great uncle left you a other handed bow and you want to learn to shoot it. For myself I have been shooting right handed since the 50's, have had no desire or reason to switch. I haven't mastered the right hand thing yet.

[Bud B.]

To often I have come across right handed bows for dirt cheap only to walk away. If I can get some string time from a good deal RH bow I'm now more inclined to buy it.

Thanks for the replies so far.

[shoothathang]

Bud,learning to shoot wrong handed isn't too difficult if eye dominance isn't an issue.I'm very left handed and trying to learn to shoot right was...well,let's keep it polite and just say frustrating.But what made it easier for me was mixing it up a bit.I shot a few arrows left,then shot a few right.I got an arm guard and glove for each hand so I don't have to fuss with switching them from one hand to the other,just swap bows n get back to shootin'.I started out blank baling til I got my form down and a few months later I'm shooting 8" groups at 20 yards,either hand

[Bud B.]

I got some more string time in today from both sides of the shelf. Not only does shooting both sides help with muscle conditioning, I believe it has helped me tighten up my lefty shooting as well.

[shoothathang]

Yup,I got the same results,too.It helps you focus more.Kind of like one side competing against the other

[jon_j]

I've added left-handed over th4 past 18 months- had a shoulder problem which has since healed.  Now I'm shooting both ways- i think it helps my muscle balance.  That being said-- for the first few months it was a bit frustrating.  I'm right-eye dominant and shooting left-handed the arrows seemed to "jump" sideways about 12-15 inches a few yards in front of me.  At first I compensated by focusing over a foot of where I wanted to hit.  After several months my brain became acclimated to the different picure and now I can shoot either side during the same session without thinking about it.  I never mastered split-fingered on the left side however.

[McDave]

I've tried shooting left-handed in the past, just to keep both sides of my body in better balance, but that doesn't seem to be enough motivation for me to shoot left-handed enough to make any difference.

Lately, I developed tennis elbow in my left elbow.  As part of rehabbing it, I'm shooting left-handed.  My son-in-law is an orthopedic doctor, and thinks that pulling with my left arm rather than pushing with it is a great idea to help the tennis elbow to recover.  One thing I didn't realize about tennis elbow until I spoke with him is that, other than a few days at first on ibuprofin for the initial inflamation to go down, resting the elbow is not a good idea.  He gave me a series of exercises to do in addition to shooting the bow left-handed.

So far, switching feels great on the left elbow.  The only problem is that I'm used to shooting a lot, and clearly I have to take my time building the opposing muscles up or I'll be trading one problem for another.  My plan is to alternate days shooting left and right-handed.  It would be nice to get good enough shooting left-handed that I look forward to it rather than looking at it as just a chore.

I switch back and forth all the time. It started when I developed a tendon problem in my release fingers of my right hand. I shoot better groups with a recurve left handed and moving targets better right handed. It helps keep everything in balance according to my chiropractor. I shoot the same form both sides, just a little slower rhythm on the left side.

[Ed Q]

Yeah, I switch hit, too.  I first started with a 30# selfbow with no shelf mainly because my right draw hand was hurting from a minor injury.  The first time I tried shooting lefty it felt very awkward.  But I kept at it and even went so far as to buy a left-hand Samick Sage.

One suprising thing I noticed shooting left-hand is that my target panic went completely away.  I was able to draw and hold without having that uncontrollable mental urge to loose prematurely or snap shoot.

Another thing I noticed was how weak my back muscles were compared to my right when I shot lefty, for obvious reasons since I had been using my right rhomboid all the time.  I figure that by shooting left, I'm able to work the opposite side muscles equally, preventing strength and muscle growth imbalance and instability.  I now shoot right and left at every practice session in my backyard.  At close distances (10 yards or less), I'm able to group better left-handed.  But at longer distances, I'm able to group better right-handed for some reason.

[McDave]

One suprising thing I noticed shooting left-hand is that my target panic went completely away. I was able to draw and hold without having that uncontrollable mental urge to loose prematurely or snap shoot.

 

I noticed the same thing, and in my case, that I don't have my easy spontaneous subconcious release like I do shooting right-handed.  In other words, I kind of get stuck at full draw until I consciously release the arrow somehow.

If Jay Kidwell is right about target panic being a learned response, our natural progression will be to develop a subconscious release after we get comfortable shooting left-handed, and then after we shoot a few thousand arrows that way, we'll develop left-handed target panic!

[Ed Q]

Originally posted by McDave:
 

One suprising thing I noticed shooting left-hand is that my target panic went completely away. I was able to draw and hold without having that uncontrollable mental urge to loose prematurely or snap shoot.

 

I noticed the same thing, and in my case, that I don't have my easy spontaneous subconcious release like I do shooting right-handed.  In other words, I kind of get stuck at full draw until I consciously release the arrow somehow.

If Jay Kidwell is right about target panic being a learned response, our natural progression will be to develop a subconscious release after we get comfortable shooting left-handed, and then after we shoot a few thousand arrows that way, we'll develop left-handed target panic! [/b]

Hmm, I also read Dr. Kidwell's book, and I think you may be right.  And yes, I also noticed I don't have an automatic subconscious release yet shooting lefty and have to actually think about it, unlike when I'm shooting right handed.  I did notice my target panic sometimes getting worse shooting right handed after having gotten more comfortable shooting left.  Whereas before, I had it a bit more under control.