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Left eye dominant, shooting right handed.

CooterBrown

CooterBrown

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2020
Messages
1,978
So I've been having some bow problems and considering buying a bow. My question is I am left eye dominant but right handed and have shoot right handed for 25 years. Some say you should shoot your dominant eye and now that I'm getting older and my eyes are diming I can see for sure why someone would shoot there dominant eye especially late/early low light conditions. What do y'all think? An old dog try something new or stick with the old. What do y'all suggest for new archers, shoot dominant eye or dominant hand?
 
CooterBrown said:
So I've been having some bow problems and considering buying a bow. My question is I am left eye dominant but right handed and have shoot right handed for 25 years. Some say you should shoot your dominant eye and now that I'm getting older and my eyes are diming I can see for sure why someone would shoot there dominant eye especially late/early low light conditions. What do y'all think? An old dog try something new or stick with the old. What do y'all suggest for new archers, shoot dominant eye or dominant hand?
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I'm the exact opposite, left handed/right eye dominant. I chose to learn right handed because the dominant eye is more important than dominant hand in my opinion. Also I've heard right handed you have more options/accessories etc.

Not sure how much your extensive experience factors in though, I might be tempted to try an eye patch on the non dominant eye or switch to an open sight like the ez-v and keep shooting same side with all that muscle memory. Just a newbie here though, wait til some of the OG crew weighs in...
 
I’m the same boat. Right handed, left eye dominant. I have an astigmatism in my right eye and my vision isn’t as crisp in that one. I ended up switching to left hand bow, and my shooting cleaned up significantly, quickly. I’d shot righty for ~20 years, from age 12-31. Knowing what I know now, I’d have shot lefty the whole time. Makes a world of difference.

And honestly, it’s not as hard to switch as you think. Learning to load the arrow was the hardest part for me. I was shooting right groups pretty dang quick.
 
Go with the dominant eye. You might be surprised in how quickly your eye adapts. Many find that your groups will actually be better than the non-dominant eye, even after many years of doing it the other way.

Suggestion: instead of going out and buying a new setup right away, go to a local archery shop, explain the situation to them. Most will listen and likely let you try out a bow for a while in their shop. See how it goes! Good luck!
 
I absolutely recommend switching. I switched after shooting a bow right handed for almost 20 years...best choice I ever made.

I was right handed, shooting right handed and left eye dominant. Was having issues with eyes, having to shoot with one eye closed, not being able to shoot past 25 yds, etc. Within days of switching I was confident it was the right call - took me a few weeks to settle into routine/muscle memory. Ive been 10x the archer I was right handed shooting left.

Hardest part was relearning how to pick a tree for hunting. Kept setting up as of I was still shooting right handed.

Another bonus was I am now comfortable shooitng a rifle left or right handed. That has come in handy more than once.
 
Anybody go a used left hand bow for sale on the cheap to try?
 
CooterBrown said:
Anybody go a used left hand bow for sale on the cheap to try?
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The new breed USER=6441]@Red Beard[/USER] is selling In the classifieds is great bow don’t know what trouble finding mods would be. I also have a 2016 Elite Synergy I’ll be posting soon. Since I’m you’re in Alabama you’d be welcome to shoot it to see how you like it. I think you got my number.
 
gcr0003 said:
The new breed USER=6441]@Red Beard[/USER] is selling In the classifieds is great bow don’t know what trouble finding mods would be. I also have a 2016 Elite Synergy I’ll be posting soon. Since I’m you’re in Alabama you’d be welcome to shoot it to see how you like it. I think you got my number.
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So you left eye dominant and left hander or no?
 
gcr0003 said:
The new breed USER=6441]@Red Beard[/USER] is selling In the classifieds is great bow don’t know what trouble finding mods would be. I also have a 2016 Elite Synergy I’ll be posting soon. Since I’m you’re in Alabama you’d be welcome to shoot it to see how you like it. I think you got my number.
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Think its sold also was afraid of parts issues.
 
I shoot trad but am left eye dominate and was a right hand shooter. I injured my right shoulder and could not draw my bows without pain for several months. During this time I switched to lefty. It was a difficult transition and was weird at first but was well worth it. Now I can shoot both hands equally well but primarily shoot lefty. I also feel there are some fringe benefits to being a south paw. I have found in trad world that new (commercially made) and used bows in lh do not sell as well. And therefore I can usually get a way better deal on a bow when dealers are trying to make room for new inventory.
 
Lefty shooting will come natural too you. It will feel awkward for a couple weeks. You will still be shooting decent but it will feel awkward.

I’m right handed but left eye dominant and I’ve always shot a rifle left handed but a pistol right handed. I can shoot a trad bow either way but a compound feels best left handed. Like anything it’ll take some practice but you should pick it up no problem.
 
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