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?
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.
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!
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
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! :thumbsup:
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!
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!
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.
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
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..
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.
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.
Practice Practice Practice you will master it . :archer2:
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.
Stumpkiller- If you are only back to 90% now, the deer are in real trouble next fall.
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.
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.
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....
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.
I made the opposite switch after 50, due to suffering an eye injury and detached retina in my left eye. Shooting right or left seems equally natural now after 1 year. I just see the target better shooting right.
Left handed and right eye dominant. I shot right handed for 25 years and switched to lefty due to left shoulder pain. Keep both eyes open and go stump shooting. The coordination of nocking an arrow will come. I watched all the Masters of the Barebow dvd's but stump shooting helped me the most. Good Luck, JIm
This information is exactly what I was looking for as I maneuver through uncharted waters. The concept of closing the right eye is interesting and will add another ingredient to "throwing a baseball like a girl" (not that there is anything wrong with girls!) Thanks for sharing your experience and encouragement. It sure beats the alternative of transitioning into a compound. Now I am off to the classified forum to zoom into a light weight left- handed "traditional" bow.
I have posted about this before, but I switched because of release finger issues. You may notice that things happen differently on one side viesus the other. Your muscles may come in to gear at different point of your draw. When I first jumped over I thought that I would have to go to a more straight back draw, recurve style. I thought, 'oh well, it will be more like my target shooting form.' so I got a dandy left hand Grooves recurve. I got smoother and found that the old swing draw, anchor, release, with a bit longer hold would work great, so I went back to longbows. The sneaking through cover with a back quiver left handed was the hardest to learn, I hand to become full time left footed as well. Walt spoke of closing an eye and somone else said the he squinted his off eye, this may help you at first even though you are going to your dominant eye. Your brain will try to remember the old images. I do not have a dominant eye, I am ambidextrous, and there was still a learning curve for me in all aspects. When I jump back and forth from left to right, my first few practice shots feel off. I need to hold the bow back a bit longer, blink my off side eye a couple of times and try to get that full draw feel, before I release. With most of my bows the arrow settles directly in line with the target, of course the left eye sees one thing and the right something completely different. Without thinking about it I have caught meself splitting the difference. What that means is, shooting right handed I missed the 20 yard turkey shot by two feet to the left with my right hand Robertson. Then two days later I missed another turkey two foot to the right with my left hand Robertson. If I would have blinked the off side eye during the draw, perhaps, the shot would have been on.
Your draw length may be slightly different as well, people are not all that equal from left to right. You should start with the fundamentals of what you call good form for yourself and let it develop from scratch. Your draw may different, your anchor may be a little different, your shoulders may feel a little differnet, and your strength may not be the same, but you will be able to do it. Just take things easy and smart and try to not strain something. One more thing, if you pop the walllet on a light weight recurve, make certain the you have arrows that match it. A good set of woodies are easy to adjust and will work better than a set carbons that are way to stiff for the light bow. Nothing will confuse you more than having arrows that don't fly.
To stay on top of shooting LH, I work hard on my form in the shop. Shooting 7 yds into a pillow bag, roughly 50 arrows per week. I concentrate on "Both hands do nothing" upon release. I'm real satisfied with my shooting.
Me too!!!
I shot a compound right handed but was left eye dominant. When I went traditional I went left handed. It took a couple weeks to get it together but was best decision I ever made.
And yes I can still shoot pretty dang good right handed.
Agree with Danny. Keep both eyes open unless you are using some sighting method. Instinctive shooting use both eyes open. Better depth perseption. Never heard of an in-fielder having to close one eye to make a throw to first base. Same with instinctive shooting. I shoot right and left know from experience on using instincts.
Close my eye on rifle sights though. But hey if closing one eye works, well..........it works for you and that is the bottom line. Yes agree knocking an arrow is a bit strange for 6 months but I encourage everyone to shoot both sides. It Works great for form and building muscles. If ya like shooting a bow and something on your body craps out it is nice to have options.
QuoteOriginally posted by kat:
Stumpkiller- If you are only back to 90% now, the deer are in real trouble next fall.
:bigsmyl: The older I get the better I was.
The advantage of outliving eye witnesses. ;)
I am left eye dominate and grew up shooting a firearm lefthanded, but shot a compound bow righthanded, I guess being because I write right handed.
When I started shooting trad some 12 years ago I too shot righthanded and quickly became frustrated with my groups. My bowhunting mentor (Owen Jeffery) quickly told me that I needed to be shooting Lefthanded if I wanted to improve, and we then whiped together a 40lb takedown. I shot and shot with this until I finally started feeling comfortable.
Needless to say by groups greatly improved!
I have never turned back and am so glad I made that decision. The next thing you know you will be selling your righthanded bows and will be forever "wronghanded!"
Just give it a little time and much practice!
The act of "picking a spot" will come much easier.
I shot RH from the mid-1960's through 1995. I've shot LH since 1996. I'm left-eye dominant.
I changed because I had Target Panic very bad. Switching fixed that with the very first arrow. Of course I had to learn what causes and how to prevent the malady or I would have gotten it left-handed as well.
I was not shooting a recurve when I switched. That didn't start full time until 2010.
Now I can shoot either RH or LH but I only own LH equipment.
It took me about 3 months of shooting to make the switch. I can tell you the first shot that season was a very nice buck at 15 yards. I missed him because I closed the left-eye (the way I shot RH). I guess I needed a couple more thousand shots to get that out of my system.
I get 1-4 bow shots a year at deer. The only one I've missed since 1996 was that first one LH. I am very picky with my shot selection -- too picky at times.
Changed last year. I too have the left eye dominance issue. Shot right handed for ever until someone convinced me to change over. The first year it wrong pulling as a lefty but now it seems more natural. Give it time and you too will see a difference. Good luck