just curious to see how many of us are out there. and are you comfortable with your shot?? meaning being right handed and left eye dominant or left handed and right eye dominant??
I fall into the category of being right handed and left eye dominant. I've only been into trad equipment for a short while, but I have a problem with shooting left of where I think I am aiming. I've wondered if it is a result of being left eye dominant. Any thoughts? :confused:
i had the same problem how i fixed the problem for me was to caint to bow meaning lean the bow to the right and lean your head into the bow and anchor at the corner of my mouth
Hello. My name is Killdeer and I am cross-dominant.
I miss sometimes. :rolleyes:
Killdeer :archer:
I'm a right hand shooter and left eye dominant. I've been shooting trad so long (since I was about 8 years old), ( yikes thats almost 50 years now!!!!) that I wouldn't know the difference. I can shoot passable left handed tho too.
I don't have a doninate eye . Some things I do right hande and some left. I struggled with my shooting for a long time and I still miss sometimes. :rolleyes:
Bill
I am one of those right handed but left eye dominant mutants. I shoot left handed. The choice was made even easier by my torn up right shoulder.
ive been left eye dominant all my life , its something im still working on overcoming. ive just had an eye exam , dr. says my eyes are equal in strength . its just something some of us has to deal with. i shoot alot so its something i always work on. ive tried a new aproach , not worrying about which eye is mor dominant but i guess you could saymore of knowing what the arrow is going to do when it leaves the bow.also slowing down the shot process. concentrating on the the one spot and not the whole target. and trying to be concistent in my form.plus it helps with the people you shoot with.id say with in the past few months my shooting has improved alotive been fortunate to be in good comany with a few members of tg here in nc and they are great shots.and i guess some of their habits have rubbed off so to speak.even though i shoot primitive and they shoot glass bows i strive to keep up with them in freindly competition.it helps to find more expereinced fellas to shoot with, they may have some insight on how to help you improve, freindlyand constructive crititcism can be a great educational tool. ive learned alot. i would suggest you find localfellas who are in tg to shoot with.there are so many here at tg that are willing to help others improve, it keeps our sport alive and thriving. keep at ityou can adjust and overcome it just takes some diligent work :archer:
i'm left eye dominant and mostly right handed. I just do some things left handed and didn't know why. I shoot guns, bows, pool (billiards) tie my shoes?? (somebody told me that once?? .. left handed Didn't know why until I did the eye dominance test years later. I've also read (and I'm sure you have) that eye dominance shouldn't matter if you are shooting "instinctive".
you are right it doesnt matter which eye is dominant if you are truly instictive. I guess thats why i can compensate so easy..
I am left eye dominant and shoot right handed. I think I was right eye dominant early in life but due to an accident at a car wash at age 25 my right eye was injured and had to wear a patch for about 3 weeks. When the patch came off I was left eye dominant. I still shoot right handed but have to cant the bow and lay y head over. I wear glasses now and I see the target thru the top of the left lense. I cannot hold long because my eyes start arguing about who is in control. Guess I am a bit cross dominant. I built myself a light weight left handed bow and tried to learn to shoot left handed but it was fruitless. Felt like a monkey hunpin a grilled cheese sandwich. I could barely get the arrow on the sting. I shoot ok as is so I think I will stick with it. The brain is an amazing thing if you give it the chance.
I'm right handed/left eye dominant.
All of the experts will tell you it doesn't matter when shooting instinctively. Obviously I'm not an expert because I shoot much better since I started shooting left handed.
I shoot left-handed even though I am a righty, left-eye dominant. Every archer I have talked to that has switched from shooting right handed to left-handed due to their eye dominance have said it is the best thing they have ever done. So I just started out shooting left-handed
Tell you what, those right-handed shooters shoot really funny, heck it is weird to pull a bow back with my right hand...weirdos
Shot cross dominate for 35 yrs, left eye, right hand. For most of that time I didn't know or care about my dominate eye. But I can tell you that even though I was a pretty fair shot, it was never as well as I should have shot. If I was using sights and closing my left eye,I could shoot from as far as I wanted and get tight groups. Instinctive, well not too bad, but always wanted it to be better.
Turning point came after reading an article in TB by G Fred A, I knew it was time to switch. Sold most of the RH bows, bought a lefty and haven't looked back. Left eye and left hand for me now!
I am right/right but I know a local archer who is one of the best traditional shooters in Texas who shoots right handed and is left eye dominant.
Bisch
Jay Kidwell's book on Instictive Archery suggests (not everyone will agree) that if you're shooting instictive, as said above, the arrow is using bi-nocular vision so eye dominance shouldn't matter.
I've been left dominant and unlike some of you ambidexterous folks, I can't wipe my nose left handed ...Dominance changed in my 40's I guess. Not the best shot, but it has to do more with other form issues than eye dominance.
Due to a knucklehead on a cell phone I had to change to left handed shooting. I'm as right eye dominent as you can get. With that said, and as I shoot instinctive, the only problems I have are holding the bow and not removing skin layers each time I shoot.
This has been hammered time to time , but Im right handed,lefty eye dominate. Switched few years back and it has really brought back fun again to me. It took me about 3 months shooting lefty , lighter bow to start, a really light bow. after 3 months every thing started feeling natural to me . Now, it wasnt a first , but I never gave up. Man Im glad I dint!!!!pick spot.. :)I can shoot heavier weights now if I want to also. The big plus is increased my yardage I can shoot as well ...go LEFTIES..longbows rule!!! :thumbsup:
Left handed, right eye dominate. Been shooting this way for about 40 years. I just look at what I want to hit.
Left eye dominant, right hand shooter (at the moment), but I've been working on being the natural lefty that I am, and I miss all the time no matter which way I shoot :D
I am, as soon as I shot a Lefty bow everything just clicked.
I agree with bayoulongbowman, switch to shooting lefty, I did about 10-12 years ago, took about 2-3 months and I was shooting better than ever. If you are right-handed, your strong arm is your bow arm and you should have better bow control. I switched in the summer and was ready easily by bow season.
I too am RH but left eye dominant. Shot RH until this spring and made the switch. BEST thing I ever did for my shooting!! I was an ok shot RH but could not shoot truly "instinctive" as I had to look at the arrow and hold way to the right to hit where I wanted it to go. I read G. Fred Asbell article and he was pretty clear that if you were left eye dominant you should shoot LH no question. No offense to anyone intended but that whole "if you shoot truly instinctive it doesnt matter what eye is dominant" is a bunch of hoohey! Made the switch and it was easy as butter and didn't take me more than a few shots to get comfortable with it. Sometimes still pick up the arrow with my "wrong" hand but that is the only thing. If you are cross eye dominant make the switch. Sell all you RH bows and don't look back. As the famous explorer said "men we are burning the boats so there is no going back."
I am right shot left eye and have some issues as well. I have been trying to do more of a look where I want the arrow to go type thing. Its getting better and easier the more I shoot. I have played hockey for along time and the way you aim is to look where you want the puck to go and point the stick there on the follow through.
QuoteFelt like a monkey hunpin a grilled cheese sandwich.
Bob, we need to talk. How would you know that? That's funny don't care who you are :biglaugh: :biglaugh: ...Van
My wife and both of our children are right handed and left eye dominant.
However, I determined that early on for both son and daughter so they both shoot left handed longbows with excellent results.
Shoot straight, Shinken
I'm RH and LE dominant...have been as long as I can recall. My shot is pretty good, but far from perfect. I use the split vision method of aiming and practice almost daily in order to maintain accuracy. Still...sometimes I just plain miss!!!
Claudia
I'm RH dominant and LE dominant. I never noticed a problem until one day hunting whitetails about 15 years ago. I had missed a deer earlier in the week and was frustrated because I had been shooting well on the 3-D courses during the summer. I had a doe in front of me about 25 yards away. I pulled my compound bow string back, lined up my sights on her vitals and then closed my left eye. My pins were way right of the deer's vitals. Up to this point, I had always shot with both eyes open. Shooting targets this way was no problem, however, when shooting at game, I realized the stress of the encounter caused my left eye to become more noticeably dominant. To cure this, I shoot with my left eye closed.
Just a quickie since I just read on that last night.
Also recommended elsewhere in TG concerning "tt tt tt tttarget ppppanic" Jay Kidwell's book on instictive shooting is a good read.
He himself will tell you each of us has our own stance, etc and if working decent but not always he offers hints and exercises to improve YOUR form, not introduce "just one that work's for everyone".
All of us know that no ONE form with work for all and it was refreshing to read something written more on the MENTAL process than the physical one.
The new edited version I just got had the TP chapter added but....for this thread it was a plus that he covers Right hand dom and Left eye dom....which he is himself.
It's NOT a cure all that makes everything better NOW but has some really interesting thought processes and hints on form that I know has helped me already....and I think will continue to do so.
TO ME, it is a refreshing book on true instinctive shooting from A to Z and I think it was CHEAP at 14 bucks shipped.
Some are going to say it wasn't much help but if you're serious about improving and continuing to do so , I would highly recommend this book.
Being "slow" in more ways than one, I'll be rereading it again and again this summer.
Like his book informs us on shooting, I know the more I read it the more this information will be programed into my "head computer" to use when needed.
BTW.......this book will inform you that you do NOT have to switch right to left, and he didn't.
Just MY opinion, no one gets to sue me if you don't feel it helps......but from one trad shooter of 50 yrs to all of you, I honestly wish I had heard of this YEARS ago.
http://www.n-sights.net/n-sights.net.html
God Bless!
I have shot compounds for 25 years and just now returning to traditional. My eye dominance shifted in my 40's; talk about screwed up. So I now shoot my scoped rifles, compound (with pins) and shotguns RH and my pistols RH but left eye and longbows LH. Probably weird but seems to work for me as in hunting situations needing speed the form just seems to be their without confusion. Need to get my longbow accuracy at longer ranges sorted but feel good that it will come with practice, which I enjoy.
As you will see at the bottom of my post the issue of a master eye is no longer a problem for me.
I used to be left eye dominant and am very right handed, ie. mixed dominance.
The way that I solve the problem is to shoot both right and left handed. That way eventually I will find something that works for me. Right now I seem to be shooting reasonably well left handed with sights and right handed instinctively.
Right Handed but LH eye dominant , I used to shoot rh , and could not lift a bow the diferent way, but if you just do it and try to learn it will all be natural and I am a better shot LH now!!!
go with your eye you will get the hang of it eventually
I am right handed, left eye. Figured it out 37 years ago and switched. So is my father, my brother in law switched 3 years ago he is a better shot now. I used to think that was the only way until I found out just how many folks shoot cross dominate and are good and even great shots. I personally believe it depends on your own vision, more specifically how great the difference between your eyes is.
I used to believe that you should shoot on the same side of your dominant eye. However, I am leaning the other way now and believe that you should shoot with your strong side and let the eye dominance problem work its way out.
My son originally shot right handed and was left eye dominant when he was around 7. After two years of shooting right we switched him to left and he has shot that way for a while. Recently we moved him back to right again will probably keep him this way for good.
FWIW, I believe olympic coaches are having students shoot strong side and do not worry about eye dominance anymore.
I just bought Glenn St Charles' book, "Billets to Bow" and he definitely has an opinion in this regard.
Anyone else that finds his ideas make a lot of sense for you?
I am going to stick with Glenn's ideas until they prove to be unmanageable for me.
QuoteOriginally posted by BobCo 1965:
I used to believe that you should shoot on the same side of your dominant eye. However, I am leaning the other way now and believe that you should shoot with your strong side and let the eye dominance problem work its way out.
My son originally shot right handed and was left eye dominant when he was around 7. After two years of shooting right we switched him to left and he has shot that way for a while. Recently we moved him back to right again will probably keep him this way for good.
FWIW, I believe olympic coaches are having students shoot strong side and do not worry about eye dominance anymore.
I was watching some video of the world archery championships today and I noticed that the Korean lady who won the gold shooting right handed was using her left eye with her spotting scope.
Read Jay Kidwell's book... eye dominance is not a factor in instinctive shooting. I believe Mr. St Charles held the same view.
And although there is no reason to declare each of these gentlemen's opinions to be right or wrong, there is a need to decide what works for each of us.
I should be shooting some 3D next weekend with the new carbon arrows that I have coming. My goal is to pick a spot on every target and shoot to that spot.
If I have success fine, and it I do not then the week after I will try something a little different. Part of the fun of being early in the learning curve.
I think a lot depends on your shooting style. In a previous poll on TradGang we discovered that there was a fairly even split between "instinctive" and "hybrid"/"gap" shooters. When I said in the book that it doesn't matter which eye was dominant I was referring to a person who shot according to the "instinctive" definition and I still believe the evidence supports this view. I also still shoot right handed with a left dominant eye. If I ever revise the book I will likely make note that "hybrid"/"gap" shooters would absolutely benefit from shooting with their dominant eye directly over the arrow. I've included the poll and results for those interested.
INSTINCTIVE - You have no conscious awareness of your bow or arrow and focus 100% of your attention on the target 100% of the time. You typically do not think much about "yardage" and just trust yourself to make the appropriate adjustments.
HYBRID - You begin with a conscious awareness of your bow or arrow and use it as a beginning reference, and then you shift your focus 100% to your target. You tend to give some thought to "yardage" as you relate it to your beginning reference point.
GAP - You use the gap method, or a similar method of aiming where you consciously consider "yardage" and use some reference (arrow tip etc.) to align to the target. You split your attention between the target and the reference point to stay aligned.
Results – Total Votes 267
Instinctive = 52% (139)
Hybrid = 38% (102)
Gap =10% (26)
The advantage for me of shooting instinctively has mostly to do with the fact that I do not have either eye that I can convince to take a dominant role.
When I shoot left handed with sights I close my right eye in order to have any chance of selecting a sight pin that is something other than an illusion. There is a limit to how well I am going to be able to shoot that way. So what, it is still enjoyable. The main reason that I am shooting that way at all has to do with my archery coaching role as a teacher.
Likewise there is a limit to how well I am going to be able to shoot intstinctively simply because I am not really going to work at it very hard. For now all I am going to hunt is foam and enjoy the heck out of being outdoors and meeting some great new people. Of course I will get the urge to bowhunt and I will deal with that according to circumstances. I live in an area where the most likely target for a bow would be a moose anyway, and that gives one a little larger kill zone to work with than your average whitetail.
I have been primarily a rifle shooter all my life and never once saw a bullet on its way to the target. I could care less where the arrow is until it hits something.
QuoteWhen I shoot left handed with sights I close my right eye in order to have any chance of selecting a sight pin that is something other than an illusion. There is a limit to how well I am going to be able to shoot that way. So what, it is still enjoyable. The main reason that I am shooting that way at all has to do with my archery coaching role as a teacher.
As long as it's enjoyable all is well. I also can identify with the concessions you make to enhance your teaching. I spend at least 50% of my shooting time experimenting. That's how we test ideas and gain insights. It hurts my overall accuracy in the back yard but it makes me a better teacher. Actually, when it comes to shooting game I go into a different mode and typically hit what I'm looking at.
I'm left eye dominant right handed. i shoot split vision and still shoot right handed. What i do do is very slightly squint my left eye. I have shot competion shotgun skeet and sporting clays with good results the same way.
Everyone, I'll butt in here with a few comments. I'm just returning to the bow after a self imposed hiatus of several years. I'm 60 years next month and naturally left handed but grew up poor and learned to do some athletic things right handed when hand me down equipment dictated so, golf,and baseball (all right handed gloves, for example. Picked up the bow as a Boy Scout in the days of Fred Bear and naturally shor left handed and instinctively, there was no other way that I was aware of. Well fast forward a decade to getting serious about longarms and discovered that I'm right eye dominant. Even then it took another decade before some wisenheimer expert told me I needed to switch to pulling a right handed bow. I've since worried, read and pondered all the arguments pro and con and here's my final thinking: 1. I agree that the naturally stronger, more coordinated body side should take preference over the eye dominance for reasons stated above. My left bicep is a full incher bigger than my right, balance, stance, everything the body puts into shooting a bow comes naturally to my left side. Why would i fight that? 2. Consider that shooting a bow instinctively is a classic exercise in hand eye coordination, like shooting hoops or throwing a baseball, not so? When you shoot your bow, are you not looking straight ahead (mostly) with both eyes open? If you are a sight shooter, pin or peep, yes, most definitely use your dominant eye and let the weaker eye perform its function of determining field of view and depth of field. But instinctive shooting? The change that i eventually made to become more consistent left to right on target was also mentioned above, I cant my bow, lean my head over the bow and anchor on the corner of my mouth. Beyond that, keeping my arrows in tight groups at ever increasing distances is a function of correct practice and lots of it. Hope that hhelps a wee bit.
I am right handed and left eye dominant,the only problem I ever had was before I realized.Now I shoot instinctive with both eyes open looking at the spot,my only bad shots come from era in my form.Pluck release, drop bow hand,look away lose focus.Not trying to brag,but I am one of the top competitive shooters.
Gonna try to revive this thread instead of starting a new one.
Instead of buying an old double shelf bow I am going to build a new one from a blank.
DDave
I am in the same boat as you, right handed and left eyed so I shoot left handed.
I'm right hande, left eyed. I have shot right handed instinctive for ever.. that said I tend to hit left on the targe on some ocasions but never right!?!? I'm not convince that I could make the switch, it feel so weird to pull with my left hand and so unnatural... I'm realy puzuled about what to do, I would lie to get a new bow for my 40th BD and don't know what to do!! This winter at the indoor club, I will try to borrow a light # lefty to try and see what hapen!?
I switch back and forth, I sometimes find that I am out guesing myself when I hold for a long time or think about my draw length etc., then I can get left right misses a bit. To fix it, I shot right handed until recently, I have a pair of dark sunglasses with the left lens taken out. This reaffirms the dominance of the eye over the arrow. Lately I have been shooting only left handed and when doing the simple eye dominance test, my left eye is dominant. Earlier when doing a lot of back and forth shooting, I got mixed results with which eye was dominant. I could control it if I thought about it, but would revert back to the right eye if I just let it happen. It usually takes me a few shots when I switch, to get things squared away. The hardest part was learning which way to duck when trying to get my back quiver full of arrows through the brush.
Count me in, sort of.
I most definitely used to be that way.
Now you might say I am right handed and both eye submissive.
To complicate things even further I shoot both ways on a regular basis. I was within a hair yesterday of ordering a bow blank designed for a double shelf bow. Then I ended up ordering another right handed bow so I still do not have a bow I can shoot off the shelf left handed. My current left handed bow is designed to be shot off a rest.
DDave
Before I bought a custom left hand longbow I made a pignut hickory with two arrow rests. The bow had been dunked and then redried with no finish and then reworked. Problem is, it shoots great and is about as fast as a longbow I had of same poundage and deadly quiet, it is a shame that I did not know how could it would be after I got it dried and reworked. It makes a great bow for changing hands to shoot at deer when they come from the wrong side. I find that to keep on line with a both sides bow when shooting, I need to cant the bow more. The thing that takes a couple of shots though, is the stepping into the shot the same when switching. I believe that being fluid when hunting is more important than eye dominence. If one were to make a switch and find themselves with stiff unnatural form, even though they may have tighter groups on a target, they may have been better off not messing with it, when it comes to hunting shots.
I thought I was the only one with this issue.I shoot long gun left handed,pistol right.Yesterday my son and me were playing around in the back yard,me with a right hand recurve,then I went to my self bow that is either hand.Shot left handed,everything went to "poo",but I did good right handed,never shot right before,I dunno.(both eyes open on right)
I'm a righty, but left eye dominant. I decided to practice archery left handed so I wouldn't have to think about compensating. And, I figured I'm not that young so why not put a little exercise/wear 'n tear on my left side and do something lefty. It's worked out fine, though I think I could get along alright shooting righty.
Right handed left eye doninant.I switched to lefty.I know 1 thing for sure.If I had perfect eye sight in my right eye I would be 1 hell of a good shot as I shot right all my life.
Until TP took your form down or your fingers started giving you trouble, like myself. I cannot shoot coins out of the air left as well as right, but the switch is keeping me shooting. Sometimes we just gotta do what we need to do to get by. At least it is good to know there are options.
right handed everything, left eye dominant. Anything that can be shot is done so on the left side. Cannot even comprehend shooting something on the right side. Been that way since I was a kid.
One thing, doc, if one switches back and forth there is less strain on the dorsal/cervical connection. Don Fowley, who I conned into buying a recurve, from Cresco was very good at that adjustment, not all chiropractors can make that one stick very easily.
Very true pavan.
i learned how to shoot a right handed compound left handed and was very accurate with it too. but then i stared shooting trad gear and it was way harder so i started shooting right handed letting my vision cross the arrow and meet at the target. i can shoot well enough to hit a target or a few fish that way but when i switched to shooting a left hand recurve i could really stack some arrows on top of each other. but i still practice my abillity to shoot right handed as well. the way i see it is how will it hurt if i ever loose my ability to shoot on left side i can always switch.
I am left eye dominant and shoot right hand, does not seem to matter to me. However, after reading some threads, I would like to try shooting left hand, just to see if it makes a different.
Another one here. Left eye dominant, right hand shooter.
The only real difference I see is when I lay off for a while and go back to shooting, I have to think about which eye I'm focusing with. When I focus on the spot with the wrong eye I miss by 8" or so at 15 yards.
Shooting left hand there is no thought conversion. I just shoot.