LEFT eye dominant, RH shooter...

[graybarkhunter]

anybody out there shoot this way? i do everything with my right hand: write, throw football,drill on teeth, use striker on a slate call, cast a bait and shoot a sticknstring.  only thing i shoot left handed is shotgun. im left i dominant (as i cannot wink my left i and keep my right i open) and shoot bow RH, i shoot with both eyes open and pretty decent groups and it feels comfortable, but would it make more sense to try a LH bow, or just keep on keepin on with what im used to and have always done?maybe im thinking too hard about this??///    

[Danny Rowan]

You are thinking too much. If it aint broke don't fix it,LOL.

I have been shooting a bow for over 40 years and shoot right handed and am left dominant. Lots of archers are. Fred Bear was right dominant and shot left handed. Glenn St. Charles was right dominant and switched to left handed due to a bad case of TP early in his career. If you shoot instinctive and keep both eyes open it maters not which eye is dominant. Bunch of people will tell you to switch but there is no need if you shoot instinctive, now if you shoot gap or use the point of the arrow as a reference then you may have to switch.

[texbow2]

If you're happy with your performance on targets and game then why switch. Just have confidence in what you are doing. That said,I'm RH, LE as well and I just learned to shoot LH from the beginning so it always seemed natural to me. Maybe after hunting season go get a cheap/used LH bow at a light weight and give it try. Just commit at least a few weeks to the effort, it may surprise you.

[Javi]

right eyed... left handed.. shoot right handed.. I recommend my students change if they can.. some can some can't.. I'm not going to throw them out with the bath water.. either way..

[Jack Whitmire Jr]

Change now and never ever look back , Done that about 1993 . BEST THING I EVER DID FOR MY BOW SHOOTING! Still feels weird nocking arrows after all these years . Sell all you bows and buy leftys .

[bolong]

I'm the same. I do everything left handed except batting a baseball, swinging a golf club and shooting a bow. I am left eye dominant but it just feels natural shooting a bow right handed. I been doing it that way since 1960 and I figure as long as I'm satisfied with my accuracy I'm not gonna change at this stage of the game.

[karrow]

im like you as well, but... i shoot LEFT handed id say if your happy with your shooting then let it be. i personaly cant even think how weird it would be for me to switch. just dont feel right.

[njloco]

Last week, I was at the achery club and my friend brought along his brother who had never shot a bow. My friend is a compound shooter and his brother tried that first but couldn't get the hang of it. So, he showed interest in the trad bow that were around. I got him set up with one and that is when he and I found out that he is a righty that is left eye dominant. I asked some of the other people for recommendations and they said let him shoot righty since he said he feels more comfortable. Some of these guys are ex. Nat'l champs and Olympic shooters, so I figured they would know.

He is a natural, and took to it right off, he took to Terry's form a clock right away and the rotational draw. He had a little trouble with his release but some trouble is to be expected.

[trad_in_cali]

Right handed, left eye dominant. Shoot left-handed. Tried RH, but it feels just too weird now.
Enjoy what works.
Marco

[trad_in_cali]

Oh, if you start shooting lefty, remember, the used bow market is not nearly as fun. So few used bows. It's a curse, really (or a blessing?).
Marco

[StephenG]

I am right handed also with a very dominate left eye. I never shot that good either. (still don't!) After reading an article that G Fred wrote about the subject I bit the bullet and bought a Wing Hunter left handed recurve off of a web auction and tried the business of shooting from the other side of the fence. Like I said earlier, I still don't shoot all that good but I sure do shoot better. Sold all of my righties and bought lefties. I will never go back to right handed bows again. YMMV.

[StephenG]

Originally posted by trad_in_cali:
Oh, if you start shooting lefty, remember, the used bow market is not nearly as fun. So few used bows. It's a curse, really (or a blessing?).
Marco

So very true and well said! If I still shot right handed I'd probably buy about half of the bows posted here!

[JamesKerr]

I used to have the same problem but it is possible to train your right eye to become your dominate eye. The best way I know to do this is with a rifle put shooting glasses on and put tape over the left eye. Eventually you will get to a point where your right eye takes over.

[FightingCelt]

Right handed...left eyed.  I shoot left handed with no problems.  
As I understand it...your dominant eye allows you to see straight ahead whereas your non-dominant eye is used for depth-perception.  Accuracy is the end game.

[bigugly1]

I trained my right eye as I had the same issue. I took an old pair of sunglasses knocked out the right lens left in the left. Shot it like that for about a month. Now I use nothing and shoot just fine.

[rluttrell]

I am right handed and left eye dominate, I decided to try and shoot left handed. I will admit my ego took a hit when I had to shot a lighter bow; it took me awhile to build up that side of my body. It’s taking time and I am getting better. I do still have a way to go. But I am happy I went with my dominate eye. It just feels right.
So if you can take the time to build up your left side I would suggest you do it.

[atatarpm]

I am a righty and left eye dominate. And I buy about every lefty bow that I see. My rifles are made for lefties so are my telescopes. Important things I seam to do left handed. Works really good for me.

[Greybark]

Would just getting perscription glasses even out your vision and present no problem shooting with both eyes open ?

[Jack Whitmire Jr]

I'm going to go a little deeper into this . I'm not the best a explaining it but will give it a whirl . Plus I'm far from being an expert archer .

If you are shooting RH and are left eye dominate do the following exercise.

Pick up your Right hand bow , close your right eye ( you already know you are left eye dominant) now SLOWLY draw your bow until everythng lines up -the spot you picked -the arrow and you dominant eye . You should be about 4-6 inches from anchor . HMMMMMMMMM that might cause a short draw problem don't you think ?

I had a short draw problem - was diagnosed as  Traget Panic -it went away when I started shooting LH ( left eye dominate ) I feel it was due to not shooting with the dominate eye and everything lining up correctly .

I feel lots of people think they have target panic but are shooting with the wrong eye and afflicted as I was .

I'm real strong willed and opionated ( at least my wife says so) an wasn't willing to change for years until I shot a Left handed bow for about 30 minutes . I had shot guns left handed from the start . I couldn't hit a baseball until I changed to LH .

I still have problems nocking arrows after all these years and certin things feel weird. I drew a RH bow a while back and the old short draw is still there    Who would have thunk it    

Good Luck and don't be a knucklehead like myself and give it a whirl . Best thing I ever done for my archery .

Jack a righty whos shoots lefty

[T Lail]

I have shot right handed for years with a VERY dominate left eye....shoot both eyes open and have little issue...always thought that I probally shoud shoot left handed but never have had the guts to switch......