Help... Eye Doctor says new dominant eye, and need bifocals...

[Archie]

So the doc says my good eye has declined, and my bad eye has significantly improved, which is quite unexpected. 

That makes sense, and I've noticed that my sight picture looks different.  It's because my left eye is significantly dominant now, instead of the right. 

It hasn't ruined my accuracy, but it has changed the way I have to focus my vision when framing the shot.  I have to consciously settle in and wait until my right eye "contributes" to what I'm seeing, and the image shifts.  I really don't want to start shooting lefty.  Anyone have experience with this, or similar?

Also:  Any thoughts on switching to bifocals?  Should I keep a pair of single-vision glasses and use them for hunting?  I've never used bifocals before.

[Bowguy67]

Nearing 5 years ago my optic nerve was hit in my dominant eye during brain surgery. It started so bad I couldn’t see the first big E in the eye Drs office.
It’s better now, I can see but it’s frosted and often blurry a little.
You ought to be in my head as I try and wing shoot a pheasant as my eyes fight for dominance. The darn thing seems to dart all over. I’ve wing shot birds and shot big game both eyes now.
I was like you, as much I fully believe we need to shoot dominant eye I’ve got lots of righty bows, guns, etc. Early on they weren’t sure if I’d lose eye, if it’d totally heal, etc so I’d lean my head to stack my eyes. I couldn’t draw 42lbs back and was shooting 70lbs months earlier so I was rebuilding everything.
Fast fwd to now, if lighting is good I’m still frosted but my dominant (injured) eye can see my arrow tip. Not perfectly but it seems perfectly enough. Was outshooting a wheel bow friend 3D this summer and I really don’t have sideways flyers like my eyes have switched. Both eyes remain open and I’m not sure which assists who but I honestly have no trouble shooting w some haze the non dominant eye clears up. It’s still steering the ship even compromised. Hope that was understandable.

[Bowguy67]

Regarding the bifocals. Mine are the tri focal things. I hunt with a tiny single focal pair as it allows me to attain full draw. Also when hunting I’m never reading a book or anything up super close. Why would you need bi focals?,

[BS]

Blinking before you shoot is suppose to help.

If you try a sight pin, you will need a hood that blocks the left eye from seeing the pin.

[meathead]

Bifocals drive me crazy. I keep a pair of single vision lenses for hunting and shooting.

[Orion]

I've had bi-focals and for a long time now have progressive lens.  Never a problem with either.  Regarding dominance, some folks put a patch over the glass in front of the eye they don't want to control the shot or rub some opaque substance on the glass lens.  That keeps the now dominant eye from taking over, but it does reduce your depth perception. 

[MCNSC]

I wear progressive lenses. When I first got them it messed up my shooting, now they aren’t an issue. Just took time to learn how to look through them I guess.

[M60gunner]

I had a pair of single vision glasses I kept for shooting. I wore progressive lenses otherwise. I almost fell down the stairs my first experience with bifocals.

[McDave]

It is interesting to me that USA Archery evidently no longer believes that dominant eye should be the controlling factor in steering a beginning archer to a right or left-handed bow.  The recommendation now is to start them off with the bow that corresponds to the hand they write with.  I've taught hundreds of students, and one of the first things we have done in class has been to determine eye dominance.  Even while doing that with my students, I found out on my own that I could shoot a left handed bow as well as I can shoot a right handed bow, aiming with my right eye while shooting the right handed bow, and vice versa.

The bottom line is that I believe anyone can learn to shoot a bow accurately if they are consistent and want to badly enough, no matter what physical or visual obstacles they may have to overcome in the process.

[Bisch]

I have regular bifocals (not progressive). I purposely had them put the reader part as low as they could so it wouldn’t interfere with my shooting. It sux when I’m looking at a computer screen, so I just go back to regular readers the few times I do have to read on a computer. It does not mess with my bow shooting at all.

Bisch

[Jim Wright]

My personal experience is that bifocals from the moment I first put them on back in 1990 have never been an issue with anything I do.

[BS]

Read my post above, this is not a lens problem.

I have the same problem, right eye dominate, with a stronger left eye.

It is worse when my eyes are tired, or me in general.

[BS]

More info:

The hooded sight is the quick fix.

What I have done is: I shoot three under and have lowered my rest, so that I look straight down the arrow.

I don't shoot looking at the shaft, focus on the target. Blink just before you shoot, this allows the right eye to do the focusing.

I don't even notice that I blink now, just habit.

This is what works for me.

[Terry Green]

Great.... maybe he'll tell you how to draw a bow 

[Archie]

Great.... maybe he'll tell you how to draw a bow 

????

More info:

The hooded sight is the quick fix.

What I have done is: I shoot three under and have lowered my rest, so that I look straight down the arrow.

I don't shoot looking at the shaft, focus on the target. Blink just before you shoot, this allows the right eye to do the focusing.

I don't even notice that I blink now, just habit.

This is what works for me.

I have a sight on my recurve (although I prefer not using it), and when I hold the bow vertical and use the sight, it has been my life-long habit to close my left eye.  (I shoot right-handed.)   So what you're saying makes sense.  Over the past few months , I've noticed that when I close the (now dominant) left eye, the image in my vision makes a noticeable switch.  The right eye is the one that physically lines up with the arrow, which has always been a constant in my sight picture.  But now, when shooting with both eyes open, canting the bow, and forgetting about the sight -- which is how I shoot 80-90% of the time -- I'm no longer seeing the shaft pointing directly at the target; it is slightly offset because it's behind the wrong eye.  When I close the left eye, things get a bit blurry, and the image shifts back to where I'm looking straight down the shaft again.  The whole situation is forcing me to make a change, and I'm trying to figure out which way is the best to go.

Regarding the bifocals. Mine are the tri focal things. I hunt with a tiny single focal pair as it allows me to attain full draw. Also when hunting I’m never reading a book or anything up super close. Why would you need bi focals?,

I don't know how people wear bifocals... I've never had them.  I can't see my fishing knots, can't take out splinters, can't read small print (maps, GPS, satellite communicator).  Feedback has been good here, to get an idea of how people have found that they affect their hunting and shooting.

[BS]

Archie, try the blink before you shoot and see if it works for you.

[Larry Dean]

I always had 2010 vision and no dominant eye, ambidextrous. Eventually I lost close vision focus, too much reading and getting older. Then a while back I had a stroke in the pupil of left eye and was technically blind in that eye. With the use of eye drops and Hawaiian Astaxanthin, the sight came back to 2020in my left and 2015 in my right eye. One problem I had to work through was that things in my left eye appear smaller and further away. To shoot left handed, I had to employ more secondary aiming into my shot because my right eye would try to take over the shot which made me shoot high and right. To train for this, I took a cheap pair of sunglasses and popped the left eye lens out, when shooting left handed, this allowed me to 'see' what my left eye was seeing without the righty taking over the shot. That also works for those that wish to change hands and train their vision concentration.

[Danny Rowan]

I am left eye dominant and have shot right handed all of my life. 71 years old and still going. Lots of archers are cross dominant.

[mgf]

I wear regular bifocals. I don't notice that the bifocals cause issues with my shooting. My problem is that, with any glasses, it's difficult to rotate my head far enough when in good alignment. My right eye tends to see the target through the space between the lenses next to my nose. I suspect that I actually shoot with my left eye (shoot right handed). You get used to it. LOL

I don't dare go anywhere or try to do anything without the bifocal...I probably need trifocals but anything inside of arms length is nothing but blur without the bifocal...my vision isn't good near or far. In fact I can't actually see the arrow clearly with either lens. I can't shoot an iron sighted firearm either...can't see the sights. My squirrel rifle wears a scope.

I doubt any of that would help anyone else. When it comes to falling apart as we get older I think we're all different. 25 years ago my eyes were perfect and I didn't wear any glasses. then came minor problems in low light or with very small print. I got a pare of readers from the drug store and rarely had to use them. It progressed and now I'm pretty crippled without the glasses. I sleep with my glasses on because I don't like waking up and not being able to see...especially when camping in the cold and putting cold glasses on your warm face is instant and prolonged FOG.

Anyway it's been fun whinning...have a nice day.

[osage1]

I shoot both left and right hand almost the same, I started a few years ago when I had a injury to my left rotor-cuff and now with age and arthritis from a broken back. I found it helps my back pain to shoot both sides, I am left eye dominant and right hand. I don't wear glasses now but years ago they had a magic dot you could put on your glasses to block one eye when shotting.