Switch to left hand

[Mark70]

Hi, hope someone can help. I’ve been shooting compound for about 6 years, I shoot right handed but I’m left eye dominant. I’ve never liked shooting with my left eye closed, I just don’t find it comfortable or particularly successful. So due me having a break from archery I thought I would give left hand shooting a try, and shoot with both eyes open I bought a cheapish left hand bow and rest, I‘ve converted my sight by flipping the carbon bar and the sight block. Today I shot the bow for the first time, I set up the target nice and close at 10m but my first arrow missed completely to the right. It was only then I noticed if I really concentrate I’m seeing two scope dots a clear one and another that’s not always in-focus or even there. If I aim with the clear dot the arrow go’s way off to the right even though the point of aim is central but if I then close my right eye the clear dot which was central with both eyes open jumps to the right to the point the arrows are actually impacting. The other faint dot seems to be a true reflection and if I aim with this the arrows hit central, but I can’t always see it, without really concentrating on it. I don’t want to start closing or covering an eye or I may as well of stayed shooting right handed. I’m guessing even though I’m left eye dominant I’m somehow favouring my right eye and looking past the peep when aiming, rather than my left eye looking through the peep, habit maybe? Any one had similar or pointers on what I can do,
Thanks Mark.

 

[geoffretired]

When I lost clear vision in my right eye, I shot my compound right handed, as always, but put the sight ring( scope) on an extra long threaded rod. That placed the sight in front of my left eye. With that set up, I saw two sight rings to start with and knew that the left eye uses the right hand picture of the sight ring. I aimed with that and also noticed that my right eye was still showing the string blur( peep sight) . AND that string blur or peep picture was lining up with the scope that my left eye was using. It looked normal; which was not what I expected.
I did shoot a couple of arrows with the wrong eye but that was because I was rushing the shots.

 

[dvd8n]

When I started to develop a cataract in my right (dominant) eye I switched to shooting both eyes open. For a few weeks I had to concentrate really hard on which of the arrow images I was lining up (it's barebow but a similar problem), sometimes having to close my left eye briefly to check, but it soon became natural.

I only screw up now if I make the mistake of over thinking it.

 

[Mark70]

Thanks for the reply’s, I guess it’s just a case of practice makes perfect, or at least practice makes it easier! I just felt a little disappointed after shooting yesterday and felt I‘d wasted my money and should of stuck with right handed. That said it didn’t feel totally alien shooting left handed, so perhaps there’s some hope.

 

[jerryRTD]

The problem with opening both eyes when you shoot is that the information picked up by the eyes is different one eye will see the peep and the the scope with a dot. This image will also be enlarged The other will not see the the peep because you have drawn the peep and string to the other eye.I
I do not think you are as left eye dominant as you think you are. Good luck with what ever you choose.

 

[Mark70]

The problem with opening both eyes when you shoot is that the information picked up by the eyes is different one eye will see the peep and the the scope with a dot. This image will also be enlarged The other will not see the the peep because you have drawn the peep and string to the other eye.I
I do not think you are as left eye dominant as you think you are. Good luck with what ever you choose.

Thanks for the reply, all the usual tests of eye dominance always point my left eye being dominant. I can at least see something with my left eye because when I was shooting right handed if i tried having both open I couldn’t focus on anything with my right eye. Once I even found myself shooting right handed but somehow tilting my head over and looking through the peep with my left eye which sort of worked other than it looking odd and not being the done thing.

 

[Geophys2]

My background is 40+ years in target rifle shooting, right up to World Championship level and national coach, in my dotage I switched to archery.
The thing that amazed me when I changed target sports was that archers that normally wear glasses were just peering through the top corner of their normal glasses instead of through the optical centre of their lenses. From quite low level club rifle shooting, no shooter would ever consider this, with 90+% wearing specialised shooting glasses that give not only the ability to look through the centre of the sighting eye lens but also enable the shooter to keep both eyes open, so that both eyes receive the same amount of light, but also have a blind fitted on the non-sighting eye so that the sight and target are not viewed through that eye. Shooters tend to use the non-sighting eye to watch the wind flags.

When I switched to archery I automatically used my Standing/Kneeling Glasses (I had a different pair for shooting prone) to shoot both sighted recurve and compound. If you can shoot without corrective glasses just use some clear sport glasses and place a blanking sticker over the portion of the non-sighting lens that obscures just the sight and target from that eye.

This also gets over the problem of opposite dominant eye.

One manufacturer of special shooting glasses actually makes a model of frame specifically for archery.

Sorry for the photo, but Brad Pitt wasn't available to model them!

 

[Mark70]

My background is 40+ years in target rifle shooting, right up to World Championship level and national coach, in my dotage I switched to archery.
The thing that amazed me when I changed target sports was that archers that normally wear glasses were just peering through the top corner of their normal glasses instead of through the optical centre of their lenses. From quite low level club rifle shooting, no shooter would ever consider this, with 90+% wearing specialised shooting glasses that give not only the ability to look through the centre of the sighting eye lens but also enable the shooter to keep both eyes open, so that both eyes receive the same amount of light, but also have a blind fitted on the non-sighting eye so that the sight and target are not viewed through that eye. Shooters tend to use the non-sighting eye to watch the wind flags.

When I switched to archery I automatically used my Standing/Kneeling Glasses (I had a different pair for shooting prone) to shoot both sighted recurve and compound. If you can shoot without corrective glasses just use some clear sport glasses and place a blanking sticker over the portion of the non-sighting lens that obscures just the sight and target from that eye.

This also gets over the problem of opposite dominant eye.

One manufacturer of special shooting glasses actually makes a model of frame specifically for archery.

Sorry for the photo, but Brad Pitt wasn't available to model them!

View attachment 9135

Thanks for the info, funny enough I do wear reading glasses, but my distance vision is perfect, but I never thought of wearing my glasses, I guess because I’m focusing on something some distance away it never occurred to me, but I was disregarding the relationship of the peep and scope and the target. I will definitely give them a try next time I shoot. Thanks again Mark.

 

[bimble]

the one thing I'd say about switching to left hand (especially in compound) is that it can make trying out bows or getting left-handed specific equipment more tricky. Even more so if you happen to be looking for something in a specific DL and poundage.

 

[Mark70]

the one thing I'd say about switching to left hand (especially in compound) is that it can make trying out bows or getting left-handed specific equipment more tricky. Even more so if you happen to be looking for something in a specific DL and poundage.

There’s definitely less lefty kit around, but it can sometimes sort of work in your favour. I’ve been looking at various archery bits and bobs and the right handed version is sold out but the left hand is still in stock, it was like that with the bow and rest I bought and a sight I looked at. That said some items I looked at don’t seem available in left handed at all, perhaps I’ve just been lucky so far.