Anyone successfully changed from right to left hand shooting?

myshootinstinks · October 14, 2016, 10:57:00 PM

I'm very right eye dominant and my right eye is failing me badly. Retinal detachment surgery has given me sight in the right eye but it's nowhere near normal. A target at 20 yards is now a blurry mass.
I've tried to shoot lefty but it is like starting over completely. My strength and coordination are far less, even with a 30# bow.
Anyone had a similar experience? If you swapped right to left, how long did it take to become proficient to the point that you were confident?

McDave · October 14, 2016, 11:07:00 PM

Many people on this board have successfully switched to left handed shooting. I don't need to switch, but I learned to shoot left handed in order to keep my body in better balance. I found that as I learned to shoot left handed, I learned things that helped me with my right handed shooting. An example is alignment. I didn't need to be perfectly aligned shooting right handed because I was strong enough to handle it. I needed to train myself to be in better alignment in order to hold the bow steady left handed, and then transferred that to my right handed shooting too.

Practice all the fundamentals before you worry too much about accuracy: alignment, anchor, focusing on the target with your left eye, etc. You'll catch on much more quickly than you would imagine.

You might also want to keep shooting right handed, for the same reason I shoot both ways.

BlacktailBowhunter · October 15, 2016, 01:03:00 AM

Dan Fitzgerald is blind in his right eye but shoots instinctively with a right handed bow. Have you considered placing a patch on your right eye and shooting your right hand bow?

DWT · October 15, 2016, 05:42:00 AM

My Dad switched after 50 yrs left handed to right hand, he had shoulder replacement surgery and eye issues to compell him to switch, took a little time but hes not a bad shot at 70 yrs old. It can be frustrating at first but to watch him now you wouldnt know he ever shot any other way.

BWallace10327 · October 15, 2016, 07:14:00 AM

Fred Bear successfully swapped his bow lateralization.

r.spencer · October 15, 2016, 08:18:00 AM

20+ years ago I had an injury to my shoulder that forced me to shoot left handed. Back then I was shooting with training wheels. Dint take long at alll, maybe a couple of months. Once I went trad is a diffferent story. I am still struggling after several years.I have to force myself to shut my right eye and go through my set sequence every time or my accuracy goes to pot

myshootinstinks · October 15, 2016, 08:33:00 AM

It's not that I can't shoot at all right handed but there's no way I can hunt with a RH bow. I can actually shoot a decent group on a bright colored target but "picking a spot" on a critter is impossible.
I'll try a patch on the bad eye, shoot right handed but with the left eye. In any case I have a long re-learning curve ahead of me.

EwokArcher · October 15, 2016, 08:43:00 AM

I picked up a 30 pound left hand bow to play around with. I am left eye dominant. It felt really weird forcingywelf into proper form but my groupings were getting close to my room hand shooting in a couple days. I was shocked. I still shoot r handed, can't trust those backwards bows

jcar315 · October 15, 2016, 08:46:00 AM

I can't speak to switching to LH for the reasons you've outlined but as I switched due to left eye dominance.

For me and my personal experience it was the single best thing i ever did. The switch was a natural as could be and it happened very quickly. Putting an arrow on the string using my left hand is still a bit odd but after all these years it's a fun part of the process.

There is some great information about this here on TG and many others have made the switch for a variety of reasons. I wish you nothing but the absolute best.

Bladepeek · October 15, 2016, 09:13:00 AM

Do a search of earlier posts on the subject. There are dozens of us on here who have switched. I switched at age 70 because of left eye dominance.

The only thing that was difficult for me was nocking the arrow left handed. Took a few weeks (or was it months?) for that to feel natural. Now it feels strange to nock one with my right hand. I do still shoot both ways, just to prove to myself that I can, but left handed now feels like the "right" way to me.

Frank Novak · October 15, 2016, 09:23:00 AM

I switched a few years back due to target panic.I dont believe anyone could have it worst than I had.It completly went away and no problems for the last 5 plus years. The hardest thing was getting used to knocking the arrows on the opposite side.

Bowwild · October 15, 2016, 09:36:00 AM

I'm a RH person. I shot Rh from the mid-60's until 1996. I'm left-eye dominant. I wasn't shooting recurves when I switched in 1996 though. It took me a couple of months to become proficient. I dropped 13 pounds in draw weight when I switched.

Cherry Tree · October 15, 2016, 10:38:00 AM

I switched 8 to 9 years ago. Best thing I ever did. I did it because I was left eye dominant. Take your opportunity to learn proper form and whatever method of aiming etc you want to use cause now is your chance.

October 15, 2016, 03:20:00 PM

I shoot left or right on any given day, I even change my mind when I get to a particular spot with my dual shooter. I have a friend that had his dominant eye go bad. We started out with a stiff yellow coated wire that was extended with a tapered aperture shape, so he could shoot right handed and left eyed. I tried to size it so a close shot was wider at the top and the longer shot narrower at the bottom for deer. It worked, but wasn't stable. We made a flat metal bracket and mounted a DAS site on it. That did the job for two years, while he worked on his left hand shooting. He now hunts with a DAS site left handed. He can gauge a deers distance from 12 to 25 yards pretty consistent with it.

Krex1010 · October 15, 2016, 04:22:00 PM

I have a friend who switched when his eye was injured in a fishing accident...took him a bit but he now shoots his guns and bows left handed and does pretty well.

nek4me · October 15, 2016, 04:44:00 PM

Another option would be to shoot RH with both eyes open but learn to aim primarily with the left eye. That way you don't have to relearn form just the aiming part. Would think with your right eye failing the left would become dominant at some point anyway.

I am LH but strongly right eyed and shot LH since a kid with my right eye closed. About 20 yrs ago I tried to switch to RH recurve but couldn't. Tried several times but eventually gave up and shot a RH compound. This year I went back to LH recurve but with both eyes open. Cross dominance isn't the best way but is proving easier to learn for me than switching to RH.

Some famous archers shot this way - Howard Hill, Fred Bear, Glenn St Charles. Jay Kidwell and Jeff Kavanagh shoot cross dominant as do others on here. Jeff is the best shot on moving targets I've seen and he has a video on shooting cross dominant.

Wish I knew it was a practical option 20 years ago but it wasn't until I got on here and found how common it was that I gave it try.

Paul Cousineau · October 15, 2016, 05:21:00 PM

I switched from right to left to match my eye dominance. First of all, the first shooting session after switching does feel like starting all over. It only took me a week for it to feel normal. In a month my shooting was as good as ever. It took a little longer to get the hang of carrying the bow in my other hand and to nock arrows. I switched in April, I'm hunting with a lefty bow this fall with more confidence than ever. The process wasn't even close to starting over. You don't have to relearn everything just mirror it over to the other side. Used lefty bows are cheap too. I tried the eye patch once, what a pain in the butt, and a big waste of time. Take the plunge.

J. Holden · October 15, 2016, 06:51:00 PM

Sorry to hear of your deficit. I switched from a righty to lefty. Best thing I ever did. But I am left eye dominant. Not sure if that played a role in my experience.

-Jeremy

northener · October 15, 2016, 07:20:00 PM

Switched years ago No big deal, seemed a little different at first but only took a few months to get used to it. I am righted handed in everything else but archery

ron w · October 15, 2016, 08:52:00 PM

I'm working on left, I am left eye dominate but have shot right hand since 1964. Now I want to be able to shoot either side if I have to and to be more balanced physically. It's coming along nicely.......but it takes time.