Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

Hi all.
i am left handed and was messing around with a buddies bow today as I am kicking around buying one for myself.

I although I shot way left I did group consistently in the same spot.

if it were my bow i could have adjust the sights and probably been on target.


And of course shooting left handed theres no chance of stringslap. I am wondinering If i even need a lefthanded bow because I have had to adjust to much tougher righthanded devices than this.


is there any reason why shooting a righthanded bow in a lefthanded sstance could be disadvantageous other than the fact you are putting the arrow in on the other side?

anything that would keep you from acheiving consistant accuracy? ( such as line of sight versus path of arrow)

I dont know much about bow to eye sight geometry as i am more of a shooter ( and crossbower..) but i am curious as what the general consensus is on this

tia

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

WOW, I never really thought of any reason what so ever one would want to do that if buying a new bow...if your buying one, buy a proper one...string slap should never be a problem with proper bow length and form....

Shooting one opposite handed could of course be consistance when redundancy/repetitiveness is acheived however down sides could be not having enough adjustment in sights, rests adjustments, odd form etc...I'd imagine one could do it, I just don't know why one would.

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

My buddy shoots a left-handed bow. I shot it a few years back and loved the way it felt, it just lined up better than any right-handed bow I have ever shot. I shot it using the traditional right-handed stance.

I don't see anything wrong with it and to be honest there are a few positives.

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

I too am a left handed person. I always thought about getting into archery hunting. One day I found a good bear bow at a yard sale with everything including a case for $150. One problem, it was a right handed bow. I bought it anyway and have had no problem adjusting to shooting right handed. But like Rob said, if your going to buy a new bow, go get a left handed bow so you won't have to make the sacrifice.

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

Do it the right way, get a left handed bow, and it will allow for better performance that if you shoot on the wrong side. It is the way to go, especially if you are getting a new bow. I don't have to worry about string slap. Rotate your shooting elbow out and you will be fine once you have the form down. But get the right bow man. Those are my $.02...

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

but why will I get better performance? I honewstly dont know , I have zero experiance with compound bows and proper form. I know to aim the sucker, plant my hand on my cheek and pull the release trigger.

what am I missing here that changes performance depending on which side of the bow you are on?

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

yeah I was really surprised to discover that holding the bow the wrong way felt waaymore comfortable than adjusting my stance to use the wrong hand.. go figure :)

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

It's kind of like running with your shoes on the wrong feet. Sure you can do it, butwhy would youwant to?

The biggest problems I see are the grip feeling funky and the riser cutout being on the wrong side which would make it real hard to see your sight pins.

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

Which is your dominate eye? What ever your dominate eye is which bow you should get. I am a lefty but right eye dominate, I shoot my bow right handed as well as shooting a gun.

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

ummm yea, are you insane, or are you impadextrious?

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

I am just the opposite--I am rt handed and left eye dominat,shooting a gun and bow lh--as well as pool!

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

ahhhh. i guess do what ever is more comfortable for you then. what ever works.

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

lol... well I don't know... I shoot traditional (would really effect performance in this case) but I don't really know anything about compounds. Maybe it wouldn't effect your performance, I don't know, I just really think you should go with a left handed bow man...

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

If you're going to buy a left handed bow make sure you buy left handed arrows to go with it or it won't shoot straight!:D:D:D

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

If you live anywhere close to the Baltimore area, stop by my shop and I'd be glad to show you how to shoot the "X" ring whileshooting the same bow both left-handed and right-handed. In order to do it you must have good form, correct draw length, a well tuned bow, a neutral grip, and the strength to pull the bow efficiently with either hand.

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

Im left hand, right eye dominant. :DI shoot bow, rifle and pistol righty, just came natural even as a kid. But shoot pool lefty. Were all a little weird i guess. ;)

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

When I was about 10 years of age the so called 'trainer' at our club asked me; 'What hand you use to write with, boy?'
I said; 'Left, sir'
He said; 'Take a left handed bow and start shooting'

I remeber i could not hit a target att all untill somebody told me to close my right eye.
So, many years later I found out about the eyhe domitation thing and today, some 30 years later, I still shoot one eye closed, left handed.
Thats right, I have a right dominant eye and can hit a pushpin at 30 yards.

In your opening line you said you where thinking about shooting a right hand bow left handed.
Thats a double nono.
You shoot left handed bows left and right handed bows right.
I can also a right handed bow but if i try so wrong handed, my arrows will only 'get to the other side' and never properly in a spot.

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

This happened to me...I am right-handed and a baseball bat and the asphalt rendered my right eye useless at an early age. I hunted many years with a right-handed bow and just missed many deer and some were very large, but never did get one. I had already switched to shooting a gun left-handedand my brother gave me an old left-handed bow he had. What a difference it made...Three deer the first year

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

Ihave a friend of minewho is a lefty he ended up getting a sweet deal on a right hand mathews bow for 200.00 all set up with a case and hindsite, with alittle pratice he was shooting 1 1/2- 2 groups at 40yds, not saying this is for everyone but hes had no problem adjusting:D

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

nah ill be fine, I plan on going to australia with it.....the arrows spin backwards there anyways

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

does the point of impact change depending on sides? i noticed i was shooting way left but i was grouping tight.

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

Like others said, it's not the hand you shoot with as much as it is what eye is dominant.

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

im definately left eye dominant

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

Exoman, some bows, like the Hoyt would create a problem because they have that support brace in the way. Len's point of impact is the same either way. You'd have to be closing one eye if one is really more dominant and you're shooting from the wrong side. Personnally, I buy a bow of the right side for various reasons. Also, how would the quiver and the loading of a new arrow be effected. Oddly I predict. Shoot with the right sided bow and your free hand, the one you release with is free and clear to get the arrow quickly without problems. If you shoot the wrong one you'd have to turn the bow on it's side or reach across to get the arrow and bring it back. Just makes more sense to do it right to begin with. Kind of like shooting a right handed gun left handed.

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

ive been shooting guns since i was little, and until hunters' safety i didnt realizei was left eye dominant, but im a righty. ive always just shot w/ my left eye closed and everything seems to be working fine. id say if shootin a bow not made for the hand ur shootin it w/ works fine for you, then stick with it. with some practice you should be able to overcome any problems, except the whole quiver thing that was mentioned before, not much you can do about that.

RE: Anything wrong with shooting a righthanded bow lefthanded?
 

my main concern is if shooting a right handed bow left handed is going to handicap me in the mechanics of sight alignment and proper form. i am used to dealing with clumsy operation... right handed bolt actions, my ar10 can really give me a faceful, not to mention ak47's.

arrow loading seemed more intuitive when I shot this bow backwards, the quiver could always be outrigged somewhere else. I dont have my mind made up but I just want to stay open. I have found operating right handed obejects left handed can sometimes gives unseen advantages. like playing guitar for example. your left hand is on the fret board instead of picking. it gives you quite an advantage with note speed simply because your left hand is used to being more dexterous.