Right Hand to Left Hand

[Apadaka]

Due to reoccurring shoulder injuries, I have to attempt to transition from being a right hand shooter to left hand. The only thing going for me is I am left eye dominant.  Assumming I can pull this off in a proficient manner, will I still be able to shoot righthanded? The idea of shooting left handed seems to be similar to throwing a baseball like a girl. Anyone out there have any experience or pearls of wisdom with making the change?

[macbow]

I have several friends that have made the switch one of them was 65 at the time.  It took months but every one said they shot better.
These were all shooting right with left eye dominate before switching.

[GoBow]

35 years trying to shot right hand w/dominate left eye.  Switched to left hand a few years ago.  Shooting better than ever.  I did end up losing a few pounds of draw weight.  Shooting 53# now instead of 60#.  Best of luck to ya!

[tree dancer]

Shot left hand  fifty years.
I am right eye dominant so I made the transition to right hand at sixty .
Could not belive how easy it was.
Had a hard time keeping the arrow on the string for a few days.
In a couple of months I shot  better than I ever had
That was four years ago.
Get you're self a light bow to get started , that is important
George

[jmrsyrs]

I made the switch about 20 yrs. ago due to being very strongly left eyed dominant - shoot so much better I never looked back. Start off light until you get your co-ordination and muscles built up. You'll be surprised how fast you pick it up and I bet you'll even shoot better than you did righty. Good luck!    

[tree dancer]

[Cookus]

I've been a righty since I started shooting bows  about 40 years ago.  The wife is left eye dominant (after shooting 4 years a RH bow with less than stellar results) and we decided to try a vintage lefty bow from Ted at Raptor Archery... Heckuva nice guy and a great sponsor here I might add!  Anyway, I set the bow up and tuned the arrows for the good wife and the change was... EASY!   My hand mechanics were slow (awkward) but my left eye (I had to close my right) kicked in and I was able to shoot pretty accurately out to 20 yards within no time.   CLOSE THAT RIGHT EYE OR BUY A PATCH AT THE DRUG STORE TO START IS MY BEST ADVICE... You're brain already knows how to judge the distance!   Now train the other eye!

[jcar315]

RH but left eye dominant.....made the switch to LH shooting several years ago and without a doubt it was the best thing I have ever done regarding my shooting. Didn't take any time really at all to get used to shooting LH. Nocking an arrow.....still takes some effort!

Good luck!

[Walt Francis]

I went from shooting left-handed to right-handed twenty five years ago because of being right eye dominate.  It was a little uncomfortable the first couple of months but became natural after shooting daily for four or five months.  Twenty years later I had to switch back to shooting left-handed because of shoulder problems.  For the first month your baseball analogy was how I felt.  Now I practice with both left and right handed bows and they both feel natural.  Now I just need to remember to close the right eye when shooting left-handed.

[damascusdave]

I shoot right handed and left handed all the time...right now I shoot in my basement and I have already shot my righty RER and my lefty Robertson today...when I teach others I always take the time to ensure they start from the ground up...decide whether you prefer an open, closed or neutral stance and then work on being consistent...it will only be as difficult as you decide to make it

DDave

[rluttrell]

I am left eye dominant but and right handed. I would suggest starting out with a lower poundage bow. I got a 20 pound bow worked on form..  take your time and you should be fine..

[joe skipp]

Took me one month of practice to figure out the poundage I was comfortable at switching over to LH.

Then, had to work on making sure the right eye stayed out of the picture. Every now and then my arrows fly wild because of this.

Now...no problem shooting both RH and LH. Rotator cuff on the right shoulder forced me to bowhunt LH.
After surgery, 6 months later after rehabing real hard....I was back shooting all my RH bows but I really enjoy shooting lefty.

[Stumpkiller]

I'm right handed - right eye dominate.  But dumb.  I stuck my right hand where it didn't belong and lopped the last 1/2" off my right ring finger and broke the second joint.  The good news is it was while putting the tractor away after hauling my bow killed eight-point out of the woods - so I had a long time to recouperate.

While that was healing I switched to left-handed.  The muscles cooperated but like your "throw like a girl" it took some time to get the shot into the target near where I wanted.  Helped to squint my right eye.  I started at 10 yards and worked back five yards at a time.  I could probably have been hunt ready at that distance by fall . . . but it always felt wrong.

Interestingly, it forced me to rethink EVERY motion of the draw and release.  A good exercise for anyone.

Eventually I figured it was easier to work back to right-handed.  At the emergency ward I stressed that I was an archer and needed the finger as it was.  They brought a surgeon in from NYC (waited four hours for him - it was worth it) and I am back to 90% with the only problem being numbness of the last 1" of that finger, it's bigger around than it was, and the nail bed is a bit "puckery".  I lucked out.

[BOWMARKS]

Practice Practice Practice you will master it .  

[Dave Worden]

Due to an elbow issue a couple years ago, I had to shoot left handed or not at all for about 6 months.  I shoot a 40 lb bow and shot about 80% as well as I do right handed.  Switched back after the six months.  I wouldn't hesitate to switch hands.  I'm sure had I stuck with it I would have improved accuracy and increased draw weight.  I just didn't NEED to.

[kat]

Stumpkiller-  If you are only back to 90% now, the deer are in real trouble next fall.

[muth]

I am Right handed left eye dominant.  Started shooting trad RH switched to LH. Now I shoot both.  My release with my RH is a little better.  Good excuse to have more bows.

[Bladepeek]

Don't worry about it. Just do it. I switched 3-4 years ago - right handed; left eye dominant. Inside of a month or so it will feel completely normal. You will probably have to close your left eye to shoot right handed, but no big deal.

[mike g]

I'm right handed and left eye dom.
First thing I did was train myself to keep both eyes open....
   Then my Barber gave me an old 50's Lemon wood longbow that had no shelfs on it, I started shootin left and right with it, the hardest part left handed was nocking the Arrow and then you have to build up your left side, But that was a good thing because after awhile my 50 felt like a 40 pound....
   It did not take me long until my accuracy was ok....But I put that bow up, I was worried it would break, so I have not shot both for awhile now....
   But my next Bow from HHA will be with no shelf, so I can shoot it both ways....

[Danny Rowan]

I must disagree with closing an eye, if you shoot instinctive there is no need and your depth perception will suffer, besides if a person is right handed and left eye dominant or vise versa, the dominant eye will be in play when you switch hands. While I do not agree that you have to switch, unless there is something wrong with your bow arm or drawing arm, if you want to, do so, just takes practice as with anything it will become natural for most. I am not one of the most, I am strongly right handed and left eye dominant and tried to switch but have always shot right handed and am a good shot, killed a bunch of critters and see no need to switch after over 45 years of doing this.