Right handed, left eye dominant archery?

[Muskles]

I noticed when my son was little and learning to shoot a BB gun, he would hold the gun right handed and look down the sights with his left eye. I tried to get him to hold the gun left handed, but it was too awkward for him. I just had him close his left eye and he could shoot fine right handed. Fast forward to last year, I bought him a right handed bow, and he shoots it well. This year (freshman 14 yo), he's taking an outdoor activities class. They're starting archery and his teacher is setting him up with a left handed bow, since he's left eye dominant. He hasn't said how it feels or how it's going and he didn't tell the teacher he already shoots a bow right handed. Should I have him ask the teacher to change him to a right handed bow, or let him try the left handed?

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[TxSon1836]

i say let him try lefty and see which is a better fit. nothing wrong with him being able to shoot both ways and he has a decent back up LH or RH

[glen]

I’m same. I wish someone would have informed me and set me up with left hand bow . If he ever shoot trad being left eye dominant and shooting from right side is horrible.

[lovemylegacy]

Let him shoot it left eye/handed. Iam in the same boat as him. Shot righthanded guns left handed all my life. I wish many times I would have swapped. Even now when I set up a treestand, I set it up for a lefthanded shooter and Im righthanded.

[Stuck]

I’m left eye dominant, left handed and shoot everything right handed. Never been an issue, just adjusted. Glad no one was around to tell me what I was doing wrong growing up.

[AgBow25]

Im right handed but left eye dominant. shoot bow and rifle left handed

[glen]

He should be fine but will never be able to shoot traditional as well. I shoot everything right hand. I do switch with handguns once I get past 15 yards. Rifle is fine but when it shoot anything long distance I have to wear an eye patch over my left eye

[PYBUCK]

Get an eye patch at Wal Mart for $3 and put it on his left eye. shoot right handed. Worked for my grand kids that were left eye dominant

[Mountaineer]

My 7 yo is the same. He can’t close only his left eye only yet to shoot right handed. We’ve tried a patch, but I might just get him a left-handed bow and rifle.


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[glen]

Mountain you are doing him a favor trust me

[jerp]

I think it is wise - in the long run - for bows/guns to align with the dominant eye and I think he will adapt to shooting left handed fairly quickly. A friend of mine had been shooting for years right handed when he lost his right eye in an accident. He had no choice but to make the switch and said it was awkward at first but after a couple of months of practice he was shooting just as well left handed as he ever did right.

[Dusty Britches]

Lots of research has been done on this in the last 10 years. Shooting a bow is not the same as shooting a rifle. I know - duh!

The school of thought was to shoot the side that was eye dominant, regardless of physical dominance. But research has shown that archery requires full body engagement and balance, so if the person is physically right side dominant, then they should shoot right handed.

But, how to handle the left eye dominance??? Using a eye patch or closing the weak side eye is probably the worst thing to do, honestly. The light reduction to the open eye can reduce vision by 20-30%. The best scenario is to use a blinder on a cap or put a blinder on the sight housing. These are about $10 from Lancaster Archery. Some people do find just switching over to left hand shooting is fairly easy, so in the end, try different things.

I am right handed and right eye dominant. But an interesting fact about eye dominance, particularly in women, is it can change. For about 3 years, I became co-dominant. To adjust, I used a blinder and a slightly larger peep which allowed more light into my right eye. I struggled with the blinder on my cap so I used one on my sight housing for a few years. This year, my right eye has become full dominant again so I was able to remove the blinder. Weird, right??

[whakm]

In on this one. Have been right eye dominant my whole life but as of late my eyesights been changing and now I'm actually left eye dominant. ( weird). I just squint now where I use to shoot with both eyes open. Even been thinking of going to an eye patch. Sucks getting older.
If he's young and not set in his ways yet try letting him shoot left handed. We have an archery program at work and that's we've had to have some of our kids do. Not THAT big of an adjustment when you're first starting out.
Just read post above. I think the blinder would be an even better idea.

[Chew]

I'm right handed, left eye dominant. I close my left eye and shoot with my right. Didn't realize it was a handicap.

[HeyMikey]

I'm right handed, left eye dominant. I close my left eye and shoot with my right. Didn't realize it was a handicap.

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