Just returned from Hamilton MT where I met with Craig Ekin of Howard Hill Archery. What a great guy and a great addition to our sport. He's the type of guy that makes you proud to be a Christian. The reason I am writing is that while there, I mentioned that I had to shoot left handed even though I'm right handed and right eye dominate. I told Craig that due to a target panic issue that I've fought for years, I finally switched to shooting "cross eyed". I knew that both Glenn St. Charles and Fred Bear shot that way. Glenn because of a snap shooting problem and Fred because he was missing part of his ring finger on his right hand due to a childhood accident. Craig then dropped a bombshell. Howard Hill also shot cross eye dominate. Left eye dominate and right handed. Just makes me appreciate his skills all the more. Learning to shoot cross eyed isn't easy but is obviously doable. Also got to handle some of Howard Hill's arrows, quivers and bows. It was like touching the holy grail. If you ever get up to Montana, make a point to visit HH archery. You won't regret it.
There's a fella I used to shoot with that was left handed, right eye dominate. He was one of the best shots I've ever seen. So don't think of it as a handy cap, never know... might be a blessing! :-)
Jason
Jason, had to comment on your signature. My friend used to say "If you don't have time to do it right, when are you going to have time to go back and fix it?"
My wife,son and I visited with Craig at his home a few years back with the same results. He's an outstanding guy making awesome bows and arrows! BTW, my wife was one of the top 10 women shooters at the GLLI event in '88. Right handed and left eye dominant. An excellent shot with the longbow made specially for her by Jerry and Rick at Great Northern. The funny thing was she couldn't cant the bow, but, had to hold it straight up and down like a target archer does. I was very proud of her.....still am! :) Horserod
I was left eye dom and shot righty for years, always had to close left eye....
Finialy I taught myself to shoot lefty and keep both eyes open, no I shoot both sides with both eyes open....
So it can be done, if i did it....LOL
My next bow from Craig will have no shel's so I can shoot it both ways....
I'm a lefty and after shooting olympic recurve for years, I now shoot the instinctive way with both eyes open and doing really well too. Never though in a million years I could stare at a spot and get a nice grouping without even "aiming" !
I'm cross dominate, right handed, left eye, I shoot primarliy right handed, both open and I don't have a problem with my shooting. But I can shoot left handed as too. It help me being "that way" because when I make a bow for a left handed customer, I can varify that it's a good shooter like I can with my right handed bows.
The only time I have to close the left eye is when I shoot a rifle. I shoot hand guns with both open using only the left.
I had a real tough time adjusting to cross eye dominance keeping both eyes open bringing the string back along side my nose at anchor.
i found that by shifting to a slightly lower anchor point and bringing the string to the tip of my nose gave me much better consistency.... So it can be done... it also helped a lot shooting with no cant at all.... bend at the waist when needed.
i truly believe it's best to shoot with your dominant eye if it all possible.... i'm working on it myself. kirk
Yep,
Been doing it for over 40 years.
Right handed..Left eye dominate......shot right handed for years, not knowing any different. I developed target panic shooting target archery with a compound, during this time I switched to shooting lefty trying something different to keep target panic at bay, seemed to work for me for a while, but was only a temporary fix. Target panic came back. Discourage I quit archery all together for a few years. Started back up with Traditional equipment.......been having fun ever since. stayed lefty BTW.
what's target panic?
QuoteOriginally posted by oulibeez:
what's target panic?
If you don't already know, you may not want to know.
Some guys claim to have suffered from it only after having someone describe the symptoms .
I developed target panic after getting harassed at a 3d shoot by two compound shooters that were cheating on their score. I could not shake it. I started shooting in my back yard at close range and noticed that more and more people driving by were honking their car horns trying to distract me. John Schulz suggested that I never shoot where I would fear the chance of someone bothering me. I started going out and just stump shooting, that worked and I preceded to kill about 30 deer without a miss. Then my fingers started to hurt and the flinch came back, I switched to left hand. I did need to slow my tempo down and hold at anchor a bit left handed, about a half second, but I could shoot very tight groups, even with cars riding by. The hard part was knowing which foot to lead with when ducking through tangles and getting my left hand back quiver through the brush without hanging up. I can shoot both sides again, but I limit my right hand practice to less than 60 arrows a day twice a week.
I, too, am cross-dominant. Right handed (to a fault) but left eyed. I had a hard time tuning my compounds, back when I used them, and when I switched back to traditional gear, I had a time retraining my natural aim. Once I worked my form issues out, I found that I have to either close or squint my left eye during my shot. I keep both open until I'm committed, then close the left as I come to anchor. So far, it works, and I am confident in. the woods out near 30 yds.
Been cross eye dominant and killing stuff dead and have a box full of old 3D trophies in the basement when I used to do that sort of thing
I keep both eyes open so I am not certain how much of a difference it makes because by canting the bow I'm not blocking either eye from focusing
QuoteOriginally posted by oulibeez:
what's target panic?
Something you never want to experience.
Forget about it......pretend you never heard of it.
Ok, I know that will not do. I'll do my best to explain. It's been descibed as the fear of missing. It's a mind thing. Lots of symptoms, freezing off target, sudden uncontrolled release,snap shooting. The best way to overcome target panic is blind bale shooting,grooving your shot into your sunconscience mind while building your confidence back up.
Another fix......don't shoot in public for a long, long time.
Ray,
I did not know you were cross dominant like me,LOL. I do the same, both eyes open, never had a problem.
Thanks for explaining :-)
Sounds horrid to have