I've always shot guns right handed and bought a right handed bow a couple years ago which I shoot pretty well. I do always close my left eye when shooting. Last year my kids joined archery and determined they are both left eye dominant. Up until this point I had always thought I was right dominant. Well it turns out I'm also left eye dominant. Felt pretty silly to figure this out after all this time. Too late to make the switch or just stay with what I got? I'm just curious how much of a difference it might make. TIA
I personally would try to shoot left handed if I were left eye dominant, but I like to leave both eyes open quite often. I think it is a matter of how much a person tries to make it work. It can be made to work though. My oldest daughter is left eye dominant and I determined that the first day I taught her to shoot. No matter how much I tried I couldn't convince her to shoot left handed, she said it just "felt weird". To this day she shoots right handed and I even see her try to look through a scope with her left eye once in a while and then correct herself. It's more comfortable to her and she's a good shot, so I have long since just let her do it her way. She even joined the military and was practiced enough in using her "off" eye that they didn't pick up on it and she passed all their shooting tests.
Do yourself a favor and switch to left-handed. You'll be surprised how much more natural your sight picture will be. At first it might feel strange because your drawing with your weak arm, but keep after it and you'll be glad you did.
I was told at an NASP coach class that I was left eye dominant. I have two eyes and use both of them. Reflecting now, I keep both eyes open when shooting anything. A friend taught his grandson the shoot right-handed since it was, at that time, easier to find a RH bow. It is recommended to follow your eye dominance but one can adapt.
My son is right handed but left eye dominant. When he started shooting NASP, the coach recommend he shoot left handed. I've been shooting rifle, pistol, shotgun, etc. right handed my entire life. Just picked up archery and bought a left handed bow strictly because I'm left eye dominant.
Left eye dominant but right handed and shoot a right handed bow, never had a problem shooting a bow with one eye closed.
Have a kid on my NASP team that has one side of dark sunglasses removed and the other lens covers his left eye.
Personal opinion is unless you have the time to "relearn" to shoot left handed then stick with what you know and is currently comfortable if it is working. Thinking of it like any other sport. Everyone does things differently. Golfers don't swing the same, baseball players throw and bat differently. As long as it works for you then leave it alone and continue to hone your craft that way. We all anchor a little different, grip a little different etc. Long story short -- do what works for you and go with it.
Good advise FRO. I say this from personal experience. lft gun , rt bow, but left eye dominance. My eye sight isn't the issue. It is my arm/shoulder strength but also coordination. Now I could spend years building up the strength of my left arm and shoulder to draw the bow. I can not force the coordination to pull off smooth shooting. Just like when teachers tried to force me to write right handed, just wasn't going to happen. Some people can do this switch, but it is something only each persons body can tell them. You can give it a try, but if it's a forced issue and your body will tell you,not worth it IMO.
I’m right handed and left eye dominant. ive been making the change to left handed firearms. I’ve been shooting a left handed bow the last few months and now I can’t even shoot a right handed bow anymore! The left handed feels natural to me now. If your right eye can maintain focus then it’s not a big deal but if you notice a significant difference in the focus ability of your eyes then make the switch. my right eye has 20/20 vision but it lacks the ability to focus that well so I have a slight double vision in it. My left eye is clear and 20/20! So I have to go with my left eye if I want any precision accuracy! I shoot everything left handed except for pistols which I can simply lean over for.
Sure everyone is different, but being extremely LE dominant and a natural RH shot took me less than 2 weeks to convert to shooting a bow LH. Been shooting a LH bow since 2013 and will never "look" back. Long guns have been more difficult to get comfortable with but I'm getting there. Shooting clays has helped a lot. Pistols don't matter. Just shift stance to aim w/left eye.
dnoodles, interesting post. Just for funsies, I shot trap from both sides, depending on which station I was shooting from. No difference in the score. Just get the right lead.
