Eye Dominance VS. Comfort

popeandyoungchaser · 03-22-2007, 01:30 PM

Hi guys i have been watching Ebay and ArcheryTalk pretty closely for small frame bows since my girlfriend has told me she would like to learn to shoot, which is great! The thing is she is a southpaw ( wish i was sure would help when i'm pitchin' sometimes)

and she is righteye dominant (which was the first thing i checked when she toldme this.So do i get her a left or right handed bow? I sayright becausethats her dominant eye, but she thinks maybe left because it would be more comfortable. I think thoughsince she has never shot a bow that whatever she learns with will be the most comfortable. She said its up to me because i know more about this than her, but i'm just not sure, and i don't want to start her wrong. So any advice would be helpful. Thanks!

TFOX · 03-22-2007, 02:58 PM

Going with a right handed bow would be considered "correct" by MOST coaches and I also believe it to be correct.You talk about comfort and going with the dominant eye is a more comfortable way to AIM and that is the most important part,imo.

My daughter is right handed but left eye dominant and she has shot both ways and she is shooting left handed because she aims better and after getting used to it,comfort isn't an issue.She also shoots a rifle left handed and took a deer at 140 yards last year and she is only 12 and hit it dead center.

BOWTECHBO · 03-22-2007, 04:55 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: TFOX

Going with a right handed bow would be considered "correct" by MOST coaches and I also believe it to be correct.You talk about comfort and going with the dominant eye is a more comfortable way to AIM and that is the most important part,imo.

My daughter is right handed but left eye dominant and she has shot both ways and she is shooting left handed because she aims better and after getting used to it,comfort isn't an issue.She also shoots a rifle left handed and took a deer at 140 yards last year and she is only 12 and hit it dead center.

TFOX's is one school of thought...the other is to train you non-dominant eye:

If she wears glasses you can put a small strip of clear tape over the dominant eye side of the glasses, this will blur vision on that side and your brain will adjust with time and some practice. If she does not wear glasses you can do the same with a pear of safety glasses. Hope this helps.

Bo

AR Bowhunter · 03-22-2007, 04:58 PM

Go with your dominant eyethe comfort will come along later.

bow_hunter44 · 03-22-2007, 05:29 PM

I'm a right handed person, in everything. On the other hand, I'm left eye dominant. I shot right handed as a kid. It was a wreck. There is no issue with comfort when I now shoot left handed. If face, if I shoot right handed (or atempt to shoot right handed) it feels like some one else is holding the bow or gun. In other words, go with the dominant eye!

KS227 · 03-22-2007, 06:47 PM

I am left handed and right eye dominant. I shoot right handed. Go with eye dominance. As most everyone points out, compensating for it will take a lot of practice. She ALREADY needs a lot of practice. Don't add frustration to that.
And something else; the first time ( second, third, fourth...) buckfever hits her, her eye dominance would betray her if she shot lefty.

popeandyoungchaser · 03-22-2007, 07:51 PM

Hey thanks for the great info guys thats what i had thought all along, but her question about comfort got me thinkin'(as women always seem to do

) so i am now in the market for a right handed small frame bow with a 24" draw and a 30-40# draw weight anybody sellin'?

cr422 · 03-23-2007, 07:08 AM

Go with whatever gives you peace of mind. But I firmly believe that the eye dominance thing is nonsense. I don't know how it ever got started but it seems to have all kinds of normally sensible right-handed people learning to shoot left-handed.

Are you a right-hander who is left-eye dominant? You can easily switch for any shot.

1- Sight on your target with left eye closed.

2- Open left eye, you will be right eye dominant until you close your right eye. No kidding.

Don't believe me? Do the test. Do the traditional test sighting with your finger on the upper corner of the room. Only do it with your left eye closed. Now open your left eye. You'll notice that you are now right-eye dominant. Alternately close each eye. You will still be right-eye dominant. It will go back again, but you'll be okay long enough to shoot.

It only really matters if you're shooting a bow without a sight. If you're using a peep sight on a bow or sights on a gun, you're focusing with only one eye anyway, even if both are open.

DaveH · 03-23-2007, 07:44 AM

When my oldest son started shooting a bow, no thought was given to eye dominance . . . and then it was discovered that his left eye was dominant and he was shooting right handed. I taught him to shoot by closing his left eye leaving only the right eye for aiming. He was a great shot and dead on on both targets and animals. His first deer was a beautiful P&Y buck at age 14.