I am 66 , been shooting right handed my whole life. I want to shoot left handed. Can it be done?
Simple answer is yes. You have to want to, or have a reason to. Why switch?
Absofreakinlutely. Start doing it and just keep at it until holding the bow that way is comfortable. Shouldn't take too long. Your accuracy should improve if you get your 'new' form down.
Howard Hill was RH and left eye dominate. Glenn St Charles and Fred Bear were RH, and assumed to be right eye, but switched to LH. I am RH, and shoot both, but prefer RH. You can do it, but may have to drop in bow weight, and spend some time strengthing the rotor cuff in both shoulders, to avoid problems.
I have several dual shelf, Kodiaks and one longbow to shoot LH.
No, 65 is the cutoff for switching. Really, I think you will be surprised how fast you can pick it up. Like Hud said, you will probably have to start with less weight. I shoot both, and a friend keeps switching back and forth due to medical problems. Best of luck.
For sure you can do it. I posted on another thread about my experience. I shot RH (left eye dominant) for 28 years. Been very happy shooting LH since 1996.
I wasn't shooting recurves or longbows when I switched but I had to drop 10 pounds in draw weight. It took me about 3 months to get really comfortable. I do have to report though that on my first shot I closed the left eye as I had been doing for 28 years and of course missed the buck (PY caliber) at less than 15 yards. Reckon I hadn't shot enough arrows to change the habit.
Sure it can be done...I switched in Feb. of this year and was totally confident on opening day in September. Akward at first but after a couple weeks it almost becomes natural.
I did 20 years ago. Right handed left eye dominant. Shot guns lefty all my life but I shot archery right handed. Best thing I ever did for my shooting, but left hand bows are hard to sell. I have 2 almost new compounds that I need to sell bad and can't even get a look. Trad bows are not as hard to sell. Don't drift to the dark side as I did for a while.
Tom
The wrong hand shooting part came more easily for me than getting the arrow nocked. Don't try it in front of a crowd for the first few hundred shots. After that, it's a great party/camping trick.
Dogs aside you are never too old to learn a new trick.Besides we need more lefty shooters ,I have some bows I need to sell!
i'm lefty all the way, but i grew up shooting both ways. it really helps to have your dominant eye in line with your draw hand when shooting trad. line everything up and let 'er rip!
Short answer, yes. I did it at 65.
Dr. Mo....
The answer is "yes"
I'll be 62 next month and I just got my new HHA Tembo with no shelf on it so I can shoot it from both sides....
I took her to range yesterday and shot her both left and right....I have not done that in years and I still got a couple of bulls eyes....
It's going to awhile before I come to full draw on the left side....And let me tell ya, it's a work out to shoot both sides....
As mentioned above, the hard part is nocking the arrow....LOL.
I redesigned my Quiver to sits in the middle of my back, So I can draw an arrow from both sides, And I wear two armguards and two tabs....
Kinda fun to shoot one arrow righty and then one lefty....
When you first try to switch and keep both eye's open, It kinda makes ya dizzy sometimes, but that will pass....
I say just go for it....
I switched several years ago--best thing I ever did for my shooting. I know that some great shooters were cross dominant--I am not one of them. I had a friend years ago who was taught to shoot by Fred Bear (my friend was a sportscaster for ABC at the time Fred was doing some shows on American Sportsman), and the first thing Fred did was determine which eye was his dominant eye. I need to follow the general rules of shooting under the dominant eye. You will find even putting an arm guard on will feel really weird at first--but stick with it, you will adapt much faster than you think.