Switched to left handed bow from right

[Sage Custom]

Anybody here but me have to switch shooting to opposite hand. I'm right handed and right eye dominant but had to resort to shooting left handed. I know that Glenn St. Charles switched because of a snap shooting problem and Fred Bear never really was able to shoot a bow anyway but left handed due to a partial finger amputation when he was just a boy, even though he was right handed and eye dominate.  I did it because of a major target panic issue and guess what, it worked completely. Weird at first because it now looks like I'm going to shoot completely left of the BALE, but your mind adjusts.

[Sage Custom]

Sorry for the double post.

[khardrunner]

I did it in march and I am shooting very well now for the most part. In some ways I can shoot better than before. I did not try to teach myself to shoot left eye dominant, I am simply training my brain to accept a new sight picture.

[McDave]

I shot left-handed for a while when I was recovering from tennis elbow. I never got very accurate at it, so switched back to right-handed when my tennis elbow got better. I still like shooting left-handed though, and shoot that way at close ranges with long hold times a few times a week just to keep my opposing muscles in balance.

[Sage Custom]

I would recommend that anyone who has physical (or mental, as in my case) problems shooting try the opposite hand for a while. It really was the only solution I found other than shooting a compound that worked 100% of the time. And who wants to go there??

[DamselflyFarm]

I'm right handed and right eye dominant, but I shoot a left-handed bow. Always have. Can't explain why that is, but I've tried over and again to shoot righty but it just doesn't work.

[olfatguy]

I'm left eye dominant but, shot right handed for around 35 yrs. because that's what was available,
when I started, and I didn't know any better. In 1994 I had some eye problems and had to switch to left handed equipment (bows and firearms). It took a couple of weeks to get used to the change but, after that, my shooting improved quite a bit. I wish someone had started me on the right path from the beginning.
I still catch myself trying to reach for the quiver with my right hand once in a while

[McDave]

Mike,

As you note, target panic is a mental issue.  People, including me, have tried various ways to solve the problem, and I'm glad switching to left-handed shooting worked for you. I wonder why it worked?

My theory, which is worth exactly what you're paying for it, is that it is working because you are more aware of your bodily movements when you try something new. Increased awareness of body movement is a key to improvement in any sport, and also, by the way, focusing your attention on body movement means that your attention is not focused on destructive thoughts that cause target panic and other mental barriers to good shooting.

Try not to lose this increased awareness of body movement as you become more comfortable with left-handed shooting, and maybe it will help you to keep target panic away. If you can continue to focus on awareness, without consciously trying to control your movements, you may get to the point that you don't have to see a missed shot to diagnose what you need to correct; you'll be able to feel the difference as you draw the bow and can let down before you shoot a bad shot.

[Ed Q]

I agree with McDave.  I switched left-handed because of a temporary right-hand injury.  I immediately noticed my target panic went completely away, and it was a joy to shoot again.  As I got more comfortable shooting left-handed and improved, I began to notice myself shooting more quickly and without the conscious thought of my body movements.  I seemed to be heading towards the same target panic I developed shooting right-handed.  So I now try to recognize this and hope to prevent it from developing like it did shooting right-handed.

I still shoot right-handed, but I mostly do drills involving draw, anchor, expand and let-down more than anything.  Plus, I think it's better to shoot both left and right to help balance muscle development.

[Stumpkiller]

Well I'm following Fred.  I just did a bad and stupid thing last week on my tractor that cost me a bit of finger on my right hand and now I have to learn to shoot left handed - or wait 'till it fuses and heals.  So far it is "taking" and it is hopeful I'll have the whole finger.  Happily the reason I had the tractor out was to get a nice buck in because my season ended fast!


Several Tradgangers have stepped forward with LH loaners or very good deals and it does warm the heart to have such support.  I'm hoping I can get past the right-eye dominance.  It trying a light RH bow just to see if I could draw lefty the BIG problem seems to be the visual . . . at least for me.

[Ed Q]

Stumpkiller - What I do when shooting lefty is concentrate on my left eye. I'll occasionally close my right eye to make sure my left eye sight picture is lined up correctly with the arrow. At first I closed my right eye a lot, but after I got used to shooting left, I noticed my left eye usually takes over without thinking about it. Not sure if it's a subconscious thing with that, but that's been my experience.