Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

I am left eye dominant but shoot right handed, i know some people who are like this and relearned shooting lefty, i cant imagine what the advanatge is since i cant see my self shooting any better.
How do you guys shoot



(heres a link if your not sure which is your dominant eye http://drawsketch.about.com/cs/howtoindex/ht/eye_dominance.htm)

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Yes I am the same. I know that I'd probably be better off if I changed to lefty, but I am too set in my ways to change now. Plus I like the advantages rightys have in regards to purchasing equipment.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

I am with both of you guys, I was young and ignorant and didnt know any better when my buddy sold me his right handed bow. After shooting for a few years I learned I was left eye dominant by then I had a pretty good repetition of form and didnt want to change. I dont think I am overly dominant in my left eye but I know I am. I generally wear my cap a tic cockeyed to block it or squint my left eye and havent had much problems. Dont think it would help my accuracy to change, but then again I am still young and probably ignorant.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

I have the same problem. I guess I should switch as well, but seems like too much of a hassle now.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Man I wish I could shoot with my Good Eye!

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Same situation. I shoot gun left hand, pitch and hit baseball right, shoot bow right handed, write left handed. I am all jacked around. I guess over the yearsI have adjusted my style and it has not affected my accuracy as far as shooting a gun or a bow

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

im right handed right eye dominant...

that being said, i shoot both eyes open for everything except high powered scopes on my rifles...even upto 4x or so i shoot both eyes open...

found im more accurate and quicker on target and can follow through with the shot better and also keeps me from getting tunnel vision as bad and i can see the "big picture" opposed to closing 1 eye and looking through a peep and focusing on the target and sight with the only eye i have open...cant see a whole lot other than the target shooting with 1 eye open....

took a little while to get used to but my groups shrank with the bow and pistols...

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

I am lefteye dominate but right handed. Most people that aren't cross dominate will say to change but i don't think truly access the situation unless they have cross dominate. I can't see why i would want to change. I can pull back more poundage with my right hand ,it feels more comfortable, right bows are easier to find and sell ,and
I shoot very well right handed. So i say if isn't broke why fix it

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

I started shooting a bow in 1956-I do EVERYTHING left handed-played ball 9 years, golf, throw, write, shoot slingshot, pistol, rifle (military)LEFT handedBUT I shoot a bowRIGHT handed. don't know why.
In my tourny days I have posted many perfect 300 rounds, perfect outdoor 300 PAA rounds, Perfect (560) NFAA animal & field rounds in my day.Won some state competitions & oneGreat Lakes Sectional in my Division. I took 38 biggame animals with recurves with instictive (NO SIGHTs) & finger shooting. I have since taken well over 100 more animals with sights.I shoot with both eyes open.
My brother is LEFT handed in every way BUT shoots a bow RIGHT handed.
Excellent tourny shooter (many 300s) as well & a ton of Biggame kills to his credit.
I do not know why we started off this way but I am starting my 53rd year in Archery/Bowhunting & my brother is just a few years short of that.

My son is RIGHT handed but shoots a bow LEFT due to a lazy eye & I switched him due to that at age 6. He is a very good shooter with several animals to his credit.

I killed 2 wild hogs & 2 Whitetails this year & my brother took a nice 8 point Whitetail.
I have shot left handed & do just fine & my brother has switched for the heck of it BUT we cannot see shooting any better than we already have. Sorry for Long post.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

This is an interesting topic. I never realized there was so many cross shooters out there. I always thought it would be just about impossible to do but you guys have proved that wrong. I'm rt. eyed and shoot rt. handed and always both eyes open.

Dan

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

I am left eye dominate, but shoot right handed. I hit a golf club right handed but swing a bat left handed and I write right handed, so I am also one of those people all out of whack.lol

Shane

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

i can't shoot with my non dominant eye, every time a tried to shoot the left handed bow i missed, it was just to awkard to shoot off handed like that, so i'll stick to closing my left eye and shooting rightly

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

i shoot lefty but i dont have another option my right eye doesnt work

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

I am left eye dominant and right handed. I shot right handed for 15 years. I shot pretty well too. I made the switch last year when I wanted to get more serious about 3D shooting. It has made a difference, period. I know there are guys out there that are left eye dominant and shoot right handed very well. (Matt/PA) But for me, left handed is more natural. To clarify, I have always shot guns left handed.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

both eyes open for me.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

I am right eye dominant but shoot left handed. I shot right handed for most of my life then developed target panic. I switched to left handed to help cure the problem. It sucks for the most part but has helped my shooting.

Darrall

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Left eye dominant and right handed here. Like Ben, I made the switch. I feel I'm shooting better, although the more I analyze it, I know a lot has to be attributed to the re-learning of proper form without the inclusion of bad habits. However, the ability to shoot with both eyes open has made it a positive switch for me as well.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Left Handed

Right eye Dominant

I shoot right handed!;)

Dan

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Left-eye dominant, shoot right-handed. I just close my left eye... no problems.

Qualified expert with every weapon they put in my hands in the military... never missed during qualis with the M-16 out to 300 meters, 50 out of 50 with the .45, and I did miss once with the Beretta 9 mm (49 out of 50) -- have no idea what happened there.

used to routinely shoot dragonflies and swallows out of the air with my bb gun when I was little...

Ask the guys who've shot a few 3d rounds with me; I'd think they'd tell you it works out ok for me in archery, too. ;)

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

im left eye dominant and right handed,i threw a baseball with both hands (ya i know-cool right?), batted both ways, write right handed, eat with left hand, and i can ONLY cast the rod right handed, and i can ONLY reel left handed-idk whats up with me... BUT

-i shoot my bow righty, just close left eye-no big deal
-trap shooting, rabbit hunting etc is not a challenge either cuz i squint old lefty alot and that lets me keep full range of vision while only aiming with the right...i do the same with gun hunting for deer and stuff too, i could never move comfortably with moving shots left handed

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

I am left eye dominant too. I never realized which eye until I read a thread here a couple years ago. That season I noticed I closed my left eye and aimed with my right. I wasn't able to watch my arrows since I bought new bow. I ahve taght myself to shoot with both eyes open and do much better now.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Left eye dominant shoot right handed. I just close my left eye when shooting.

It does trouble me witha recurve however as I shoot both open and still right handed. Once in a while the left eye takes over and I get a BAD flier. Haven't decided what to do about this yet. I'll either just keep practicing until my eyes are trained or try some shooting glasses and spot the left eye.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

My left eye is dominant and i shoot righty and up until a few months ago i used to close my left eye, but ever since i opened both eyes im shooting even better...(not trying to brag) Butim only 18 and have beaten people with 20+ years experience than meshooting with there dominant eye/arm.
So unless something happens in the future i would never think of switching.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

noI don't and its a myth that you have to shoot dominant hand with dominant eye

closing your non-dominant eye is just plain silly too - do you close it when you drive? when you pour coffee? when you throw a baseball ?

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Have you tried it? Because I have, and it's impossible for me to shoot both eyes open using my non-dominant eye/hand. Unless I severely changed my anchor, I would always see double, and the sight ring housing would never line up with the inside of the peep.

No one said you HAVE to shoot the dominant eye with dominant hand, it's just the recommended way to shoot ANYTHING. Ask a shooting coach, I'm sure they will all share the general same opinion, imho.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Same here Matt! I'm not sure how anyone who is truly left eye dominant can shoot right handed without closing their left eye or making some radical adjustments.

IMHO when starting to shoot a Bow you should learn to shoot with the dominant eye. Thatis the smart thing to do. ;)

Dan

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

MGH_PA one thing is consistant with me .... I do not talk about things I don't know anything about.

I shot a compound upwards to 15 years right handed, strong left eye dominant. In fact, I was left handed in school, until the teachers forced me right is what my Mom says.


its called FOCUS and its what makes great archers great. ever heard of Howard Hill ? Cross dominant.

think about it- everything you DO in life you do cross dominant if you're like that. you write that way, drivea car, pour a cup of coffee ...... you play basketball, football, baseball, golf - EVERYTHING you do when you're awake is cross dominant

why would you change then, only ONE thing ?

your mind-body coordinates - thats how it works and it works very well


I never truly understood until I went to traditional archery. Compounds are so simple and easy - put the pin in the middle of the peep, sqeeze the trigger ....... how do people cross dominant shoot rifles/scopes ? pool ? bowling ?


I'll never switch, because IF I did, I'd switch everything I do in life to left handed and frankly, I think thats an impossible task to relearn everything and re-coordinate your mind/body

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

I am left eye dominate and shoot right handed. I always close my left eye and was thinking of trying to shoot with both eyes open until I found out my wrong eye is dominate. So I'll keep shooting with one eye closed.;)

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Well all the more power to you. I tried hard for months when I was contemplating switching to left handed, and I couldn't do it. The other tasks you mention (aside from shooting) aren't as reliant on focusing your vision through a small aperture like a peep, but I suppose it's possible with some people, just like every person has different variations in dominance across their eyes.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Matt, I guess most of us just aren't Great Archers!:eek:

Dan

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Thats not true, myfriend shoots lefty, and he tried opening both eyes to shoot and he nearly shot the arrow off the wall.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

Is there a way to change your dominant eye? Train the other to be more dominant?

I just realized I'm cross dominant but have no issue shooting doves, trap, archery, etc...except that I do close my left eye....But I remember growing up shooting my red rider (and by growing up realize I'm only 21 now :) I would actually close my right eye but shoot right handed so my head would cock over the stock so I could look down the barrel with my left eye haha...it worked at the time but i completely forgot about that until my recent discovery that I'm cross dominant.

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

and you'll lose all depth perception and field of view - but its your shooting, not mine


the peep makes it simple - even after years of shooting if I lost focus I would look outside the peep, not through it because my left eye would demand dominance over the right (shooting right handed) - its my personal opinion it made me a better archer becuase I HAD TO FOCUS

now I shoot traditional and I look over/above the arrow as it sits on the shelf, pure instinctive, no point of aim or anything like that can be done.




of course he did because he hasn't trained himself to focus. switching ANYTHING creates chaos with the mind/body - do you think Tiger Woods would shoot a 68 golfing left handed ?



I've heard that it can be done, but I was born this way and I believe with the exception of a few people are are non-dominant it can't be done

RE: Do you shoot with your non dominant eye?
 

I shoot with the arrow under my dominant eye. My son started shooting cross dominant, but we switched to a left hand bow at age8 ( we were not able to tell before that).