Hello all, I instruct a 4H archery class. About 1/2 the kids shoot trad and the others shoot compound rigs. I have a new shooter (a 13 year old girl) who is right handed and left eye dominant.

she is borrowing a 20 lb recurve from me and I haven't asked yet, but I suspect it is not in cards for her parents to run out and purchase a lefty (they may not want to buy a bow anyway until they see just how interested/committed she is in archery).

I'd like some help with how to instruct this young lady. Does she crank her head around so she can use her left eye? Should we get an eye patch over the left?

all help is appreciated here. Thanks

Have her place her head so that her right eye is lining up the blur of the string with the arrow tip. It makes the right eye sight picture different than the left so you don't mix them up. Im also left eye dominant shooting right handed.

I'm also cross dominate. Left eye, right hand

Teach her with a LH bow. Everything shooting I do LH. I think its more natural and comfortable that way.

Im left eye and shoot right. No issues.

Depends on the degree of dominance. But in general, she will do better and enjoy the sport more shooting left handed. No tricks to alter the sight picture and will have the benefit of holding the bow in her strongest hand.

Took the armed services a long time to accept letting folks shoot left handed who were left eye dominant. Scores on the rifle range typically increased 30-50%.

Many folks have 'learned' to force things and shoot right handed with a dominant left eye. So it can be done. But, when you accept and work with the body's preference, I believe you do better with less effort and fewer ups and downs. It may feel a bit awkward to pull the string with her left hand, but with a light weight bow this should be no problem.

There are enough challenges to traditional archery so don't force her to add going against her body preferences.

I shoot as you described. I'm not sure I recommend shooting this way if it can be avoided. Ask if they would get a lefty. Failing that, I tune my arrows so I can shoot split vision. I use the arrow shaft to control my right and left while putting the string blur in the same place on every shot. I do not shoot a concious gap, instead using intuition for elevation.

One can learn to pick up on the off eye. The string blur helps to focus the off eye. I put mine toward my nose to help separate the images. I shoot with both eyes open to help with depth preception. It took a LOT of work to be able to do this, that is why I don't recommend it for a kid who may not have the perserverance necessary...

I didn't have to force anything. I started long before anyone knew much about eye dominance. I was right handed so shot a right handed bow. It came natural to me. Later years when I found out about eye dominance I figured out I was left eye dominant. Finally figured out why I had no problems. I was seeing the string blur in my right eye sight picture. So I never had to learn to do it, it just came natural. I do everything except shoot guns right handed. I shoot long guns left handed.

I'm afflicted too and have a very simple system for you. Have her take the index finger of her bow hand and point it at the target and then concentrate on that ignoring the arrow. The left hand will be pretty much under her dominate eye, and bingo.

TMBB

Your Screwed!

While I would agree with bow bob if we were talking about stumping or huntin accuracy, I do not feel she could be consistent enough for target archery.

But I did start out in much a similar fashion...

I shoot right handed, and am left eye dominant.

I wink my left eye until the right takes over, or even close the left eye entirely if I am tired, or otherwise having trouble focusing.

As long as you keep both eyes open to anchor & settle, your depth perception will set, and closing the off eye won't have any effect on it.

I've shot this way all my life, and have never had any problem with it, except when folks started telling me I needed to fix it. 8^)

Rick

I switch from left to right hand all the time. Eye dominance is a subjective thing. A person with equal eyes always sees too arrows. Check for yourself with a pencil at arms length, you will see two pencil tips and if your vision is normal,(you don't need reading glasses) both will be rather clear and not blurred. According to my eye doctor the human eye does not have the focal length to blur things out like a camera lens. The right eye sees the left pencil tip and the left eye sees the right pencil tip. If the head is slightly tilted the right pencil tip see with the left eye will be lower. When shooting right handed that one is irrelevant. When shooting shooting left hand with the head slightly tilted the lower one to left is irrelevant. I secondary aim Hill style and get my aiming done as I complete my draw, releasing the arrow in a1/2 second or less. When I am teaching someone how to shoot and they CAN hit the broadside of my garage, but have trouble finding the target, I put a bright red ball on the ground approximately where their secondary should be without telling them what to do with it. Almost always it gets them hitting the target more than my garage.

In some cases I have taped a bow sight to the bow to help condition the eye of some. I have them shoot with both eyes open, I put one pin too high and another pin too low and tell them the right spot is somewhere in the middle, Repeating, "Remember shoot through the bow sight, not at it".

My son is is left eye dominant and right handed. I've taught him to shoot right handed, winking or closing left eye to get his sight picture. He's done awesome, is now a State Trooper, and has no problems shooting right handed ; firearms or bow. SHE CAN DO IT!

I am also right handed and left eye dominant. I switched over to a left handed bow several years ago and it was the best thing I ever done for my shooting.

If she hasnt shot very long...if at all possible I would switch her over to shooting lefty. Its alot harder to do if they have been shooting righty for awhile...and you try to switch em over.

I dont have a light enough lefty for this young lady or I would send it to you. But maybe someone on here has one collecting dust on the rack and can hook her up.

I also do exactly as Rick and also have no issues. Just wink left eye until you get centered then open both eyes to anchor and settle in on the target.

I know most will argue with this, but if a person is shooting without aiming, what most people say is instinctive, left or right eye dominant should not be an issue. I say it is like throwing or hitting a baseball, hitting a golf ball etc.both eyes are in use. If aiming, point of aim, gap etc, then eye dominance is very important. I'm not wanting to argue the point, just my opinion.

I'm cross-dominant, too. -- I shoot bows right-handed but am strongly left eye dominant. From my experience, I think you would be doing her a big favor by starting her out with a left-handed bow. Ask around, see if anyone has a lightweight lefty you can borrow for her to use.

Our local hunter ed facility has left handed recurve bows for novices to use. Maybe your state hunter ed coordinator can help you find one. Check to see if any local archery clubs exist that might be able to help.

And just because Rick Barbee has no problem being a crack shot as a cross- dominant archer, for mere mortals like the rest of us, working with one's natural eye-hand inclination will be an advantage down the road.

I aim. Always have, even though I've been accused of instinctive quite often. 8^)

Rick

What rick said that's the way I shoot and I don't have any problems with it

IMO eye dominance is a lot like TP...mostly superstition.

Jk-- IYO!

Been experimenting with this myself due to glasses/neck issues. Close the off eye,find your alignment,set the arm position to hold that alignment and execute the shot.Muscle memory and kinesiology.With time it will become consistent. Also get some mileage out of picking which blur to pick up. Lefty use the right blur.Righty use the left blur. Hope something helps.Know your pain. NASP/4H Volunteer Sack

According to John Schulz, Howard Hill was left eye dominant.

Deno

Do not start her out RH get a LH bow , I did that and it screwed me all up . Get her a LH bow !

I am left handed, and left eye dominate. I shoot all guns left handed. A messed up shoulder though causes me to shoot bows right handed. I do mostly like Rick said, except when I anchor I close my left eye completely or almost completely. While I am not the greatest shot in the world, I am not terrible, so it can be worked around. I have also seen others use a patch. FWIW I shoot split vision/gapstinktive. Good luck

I am cross dominant and shoot both right and left handed. I see no harm in starting her shooting right handed. Refinement can come later.

DDave

Ditto of what Rick Barbee said !

I've learned after 40 yeas as a Tennis Pro that some kids are lefthanded and play tennis righthanded and vise versa. I also learned most importantly to not to treat each kid like they're going to be the next top ranked tennis pro. I could write a book on parents who won't spend 10 cents on a "decent" racquet or the ones that outfit their kid with the best that money can buy only to watch their kid abandon the sport My best advice is to not to over think the process. Let the girl shoot whatever way she feels comfortable and have fun. Will she be a hunter or target archer? or just have fun with another activity.

Deno

Parents will spend money on baseball camp, football equipment, a thousand dollar bicycle, tennis lessons, and running shoes. They seem to be afraid to spend $150 on a Samick Sage that suits their kid, until they are sure they will stick with it. The right bow, in this case a lefty, may be the difference between frustration and success in archery. (Success here is defined as having fun shooting a bow). Yes, there are work arounds, but why not just buy the right bow. If it does not work out the bow can be sold and the money used to buy an aluminum bat. John

Left eye, right eye dominance - does it make a difference if you shoot with both eyes open? It's not like looking through a peep.

Thanks guys for all the input. For those that suggest that she just get a lefty bow, Like I said in the original post, I'm not sure that's in the cards financially and I'm sure her folks want to see if there is a long term interest.

I'll try a few suggestions and perhaps most of all, just let her have fun!

My vision switched from LED to RED after LASIK and age, but I was still left handed,so I learned to shoot RH, then DDave inspired me to switch back and forth ( and collect twice as many bows!), and now I do both with a perfectly natural rhythm and form, but RH/RED is more accurate, especially if I don't practice every day. Except possibly the squint method described by Rick, which works once you've got some experience, I would avoid any "tricks" starting out..just learn good form and practice.

Good thing you're doing for those kids Michael. Good Luck!!

Deno

she may find shooting left handed too awkward. Try both. The reason we are called individuals is that we are individual. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for others. I be she'll do fine with closing the left eye, and pick it up quicker than trying to switch her to left hand. But try both for a while and she which she does best with.

If one is right handed, arrow handling can be difficult going left handed. One day while shooting left handed, I thought that I was confusing eyes,(I don't really have a dominant eye). I took a pair of cheap dark sunglasses and popped out the left lens. I could keep both eyes open and really tell my eye alignment. I made the suggestion to a right handed left eyed person that I wanted to give a bow to, it worked for him as well. At the time I did not have any left hand bows anyway.

Don't try to force a theory (dominant eye) on her.

Riflemen that know what they're doing shoot iron sights with both eyes open...they don't squint because that action affects focus unreliably. If they wear an eye patch they do that specifically to avoid squinting.

Eye dominance doesnt effect too many people till yoi bring it up. They think too much about it and it becomes a problem.

Sounds like many adults here have never tried to teach a cross dominate kid. Just cause you can wink don't mean each kid can. Wearing a patch causes it's own problems. Watch a kid draw the bow to the wrong eye sometime, it's not easy to get them to draw to corner of mouth and wrong eye for them. Ever see a kid turn their head to look through a scope with wrong eye? Get her a lefty bow. Your dominate eye is the one with the best vision, why not use it to aim?

Why not get a nun with a ruler? They got lefty kids to write right handed in school.

Geesh, I can't believe some of the advise you're getting!

Do the girl a huge favor and get her a left handed bow!

Red, I was thinking the same thing! I even got pretty good writing cursive right- handed, but my teacher told me it was fine to write left so I switched back.

At the risk of being rude, I will say this: those who aren't cross-dominant have no idea what it's like and are the least suitable for giving advice about how to deal with it. Yes, it can be done with various levels of success--I shoot that way as do many others, but it is not optimal. I do it by keeping both eyes open and focusing on my target. I do NOT use the arrow as an aiming reference.

Two weeks ago I picked up a Pearson lefty at a garage sale, for $10, 30 pounds. I gave it away two days later with 6 arrows. That bow cost me about $40 to own for two days.

I am right handed and right eye dominant and my vision in my left eye needs correction with glasses. So one thing to look at is how good her eyesight is with either eye. If she can't see out of her right eye all that well, then she might have a problem, but she might see even better, as I do, which is another change up.

I do the left eye right handed thing, First of all I believe there is truth to left eye left handed right eye right handed ideas, left handed would be best.

As a left eye dominant I shoot right and do not pay any attention to the aiming methods advised. I simply nock my arrow, pick a spot and shoot. The brain takes over and will do the adjusting it needs to do, with many many hours of practice you will be accurate.

Am I as accurate as I would be shooting dominant eye? I do not believe so, am I accurate? Yes.

oz

As a Sunday archery coach I get a lot of beginners- whether kids or adults I like having lots of ambidex/dual shelf bows available in various lengths & draw wts. Ranging from the fiber glass crappy slats they sell now for kids up to 50's Bear Polars and stuff in between. (Really like the older Bear and Pearson solid "self" fiberglass recurves).

I always encourage my beginners (or their parents) NOT to immediately run out and get a bow. Shoot with my stuff for the first month or two at least- even longer, eventually we will sort out this eye dominance/hand dominance thing (if there is any question.

Next point- it takes some practice and shooting experience to stabilize the draw wt. (and length) issue- as we all know, 1st day draw wt. is too radically lower than a few weeks later. Shoot my bows first, work their way up- and we will be more in the ball park for making a more informed purchase decision.

Anyway, we also need to find out if the new student is even going to be serious enough? So many of us end up with sports equipment of all sorts littering the closets & garages that were only used a few times. Some of my students go a couple of years just using our club equipment. Fine with me!

One anecdote- one of my adult students has become a fanatically devoted regular. (started out bringing his two adolescent girls; they're good but now only occasional shooters) He's total lefty, eyes and hands- but he adamantly decided to shoot RH anyway. Got himself a mint condition beauty of a Kodiak Special, RH, and he shoots it quite well at a recreational level. Yesterday at the range, finally tried LH shooting. "WOW, I CAN REALLY SEE WHERE THE ARROW IS GOING NOW!" (No s---, Sherlock!) As he has been shooting less than a year, the switch was not a horrendous ordeal.His other bow is an early no shelf Polar long bow, he's good to go- both sides blazing. More time on eBay coming up, I'll bet.

I have noticed in general- kids or adults- major changes are not that hard if they take place within two or so years of beginning to learn shooting.

One point I would like to clarify- most of the contention centers around the peripheral vision at full draw while aiming (or "not" aiming!) and the stronger Dominant eye image throwing off the aiming direction.

With my LH adult student referenced above, he never had a problem with the full-draw sight picture when shooting RH, he just sort of triangulated the aim from his dom. eye on the wrong side. But when he switched to lefty it was SEEING THE ARROW IN FLIGHT, AFTER the release that made all the difference to his new appreciation of shooting on the same side as his dominant eye. Tracking the arrow's flight to the target with direct vision gave him useful feedback for the next shot. And the next!

Me too, by the way RH, dom. left eye, mainly a lefty shooter. But have been training RH for past 10 years; just because I want to. Also, I can do a much better job as a teacher/coach to be able to competently shoot either side.

Incidentally, there was a specific aiming technique used by some Turkish/Arabic thumb release specialists for learning "off sides" aiming dominant eye on the "wrong" side. Archer wanting to learn this particular technique HAD to learn to shoot opposite their dominant eye. I read about this one in Adam Swoboda's book, "Learning to shoot the short, reflexed bow with a thumb ring". (Great book, by the way.)

OK, boys 'n girls- just got this email- straight from the horse's mouth (so to speak, sorry Kevin!)...

"Dan, I have to say shooting lefty yesterday nearly reached the epiphany stage! Even with my nasty kicking polar! Nonetheless, I have soreness in my left shoulder/upper back, which is new. Emma and I have a volleyball tournament in Reno this weekend, so see you in 2 weeks. Thank you!"

Way to go, Dan!

I am surprised that no one recommended a bow sight of some sort. When I have had people trying to aim or getting confused about which does what. A simple aiming aid such a bow sight, a large paper clip, a couple of match sticks can help train the eyes in short order, regardless of which one is dominant.

Dean, if you have a bow with sights, try this: Make sure you have it hitting where you want. Assuming you are shooting right handed, put a patch over your right eye and shoot again. And again. Several times.

Then adjust the sights so it works aiming with your left eye. Come back here and let us know how that works out.

Once again, don't be "stuck" on one method of teaching. Do what is best for the student. Try BOTH approaches to see what is best for the student. I play hockey left handed, do everything else right handed. I can shoot firearms either right or left. Trying to shoot a bow left handed is just awkward. DO WHAT IS BEST for your STUDENT, despite how offended others may get that you aren't teaching the way they think is "right".

ken, Why would I want to that? if that is your problem, you have an eye dominance issue that is a bit beyond anything I have ever seen. I switch back and forth from left to right all the time, although I shot mostly right handed most of my life. Training to know what eye sees what is not that complicated. It soes seem to be more of an issue to instinctive shooters that don't acknowledge the arrow than to shooters that do. One of my early mentors was left eye dominant and shot a Patriot with a sight. He could shoot as fast as a snap shooter or as slow as a target shooter. He shot the first pheasant out of the air with a bow that I ever witnessed, I shot the second one. He always said that he shot through the sight not at it. One my favorite quotes from him, when he got criticized for shooting too fast, "How long does it take you to move your bow hand and 1/8 inch?"

I agree with Dan as a left eye right handed shooter I do not see my arrow in flight like I did when I shot left eye left hand. It has been an issue with 3D, if I miss a target, I rely on other shooters to help, and Hunting I do not get a good visual of arrow impact.

oz

If you are not using sights, it makes no difference! How can I say that. Studies have proven that the dominate can and does switch sides! I shoot both left and right handed too.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698901000797

My take on the article is twofold. First, it indicates eye dominance does not switch when it comes to tasks like aiming a rifle. Second, the switch they measured occurs only in a reach/grasp test. Meaning dominance tends to switch according to the hemisphere of the gaze angle. In other words when scanning left to right or vice versa, dominance can shift like when you pass the nose. This is for congenitally 'normal' eyes. Normal meaning each presents the brain with equally good images of the object of interest. There are many eye afflictions including simple need for glasses that can make eyes present somewhat different images. This means the brain picks the one it thinks best shows the object of interest. In these situations the brain learns to favor one eye resulting in 'dominance'. This form of dominance does not shift unless physical changes, like an injury, impact one or both eyes.

What Rick Barbee said is what I tell my wife. I've also advised a few right handed rifle and pistol shooters the same.

George,

Almost here is another study That states that it is something different.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698903006424

Here is a study with it using Darts:

http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/JNBH/article-full-text- pdf/1F219865202

Here is another study about it using Golf:

https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/ttu- ir/bitstream/handle/2346/15686/31295004418405.pdf?sequence=1

There is plenty of supporting information that shows that the dominate eye can and does switch back and forth.

Back when I didn't notice the arrow and shot right handed, I did better than average even though I was left eye dom. However now and again i would get unexplained flyers and realised my eyes would switch dominance without warning. I tried a left handed bow at 10yds and even though my release was horrible, the bow sounded like it was being dry fired from torquing it, but I was as good within several arrows as I was right handed. I made the switch and feel it was the right thing for me. I shot right handed compound and gun for 30yrs, but a peep and a sight kept me on target.

Well I am fortunate to be right handed and right eye dominant. No matter how often I have verified my eye dominance when giving advice to others on this subject, lol, it always has been right eye for me. After extended shooting sessions looking through a rifle scope, I have done the wink thing with my left eye, to get my right-dominant- eye to relax, and keep on focusing.

The odd way I am wired, is, as soon as I get both my hands on something with a handle, like a golf club, bat, tennis racket, axe, etc., I instantly become left handed. I can't bat or golf etc. with any coordination right handed. Even splitting and chopping wood, my left hand has to lead, and be closest to the business end of the tool. If I reverse my hands on the handle, and have my right hand lead, I become totally uncoordinated. Now that is flat out weird. I know a couple others that are the same.

The issue of eye dominance exists over a continuum from 'indeterminate' (either eye could be dominate depending on the visual task) to 'absolute' (never changing due to complications from conditions like amblyopia or strabismus). There is a lucky small percentage of folks with 'central vision' meaning eyes are perfectly balanced and never changing. They have perfect 'binocular vision' all the time.

Eye dominance, when present, often follows hand dominance. Some speculate this may be a factor influencing how folks become left or right handed-- they follow, unconsciously, eye dominance. Problems tend to occur when a person is cross dominant (dominate hand and eye are not on the same side of the body). This can cause a lot of problems in any activity like the shooting sports. If you have indeterminate or slight levels of dominance, the impact on the activity will be minimal. So one can use their dominate hand without any significant problems. However, the closer one gets to 'absolute' dominance, the more significant the problems become for a cross dominate person.

So what is the right answer? As with many things in life, it all depends. In this case one needs to determine where on the continuum of dominance a cross dominant person is located.

Recent estimates suggest 70% of the population are right eye dominant, and 30% are left eye dominant. Knowing dominance and the level is important. For example, the success of mono vision LASIK surgery or contacts can be heavily impacted by dominance. Absolute dominance won't work well with a mono vision approach of correcting for distance in one eye, and close up work in the other.

Many ophthalmologists will encourage folks to follow eye dominance when it comes to the shooting sports. This is because many people find it easier to build hand dexterity than to try and change or manipulate eye dominance. The coach I use for sporting clays is of the same opinion. Go with what the brain prefers. But as the EPA says, your mileage may vary.

One way to interpret this thread is everyone who has shared an opinion is right for their particular circumstance. Key is if you are cross dominant, it may be worthwhile to get some professional help to determine where on the continuum of dominance you are located. Then how to approach the shooting sports could be tailored for what you need vs. spending a lot of time and money experimenting and getting frustrated along the way.

Finally, an explanation that makes sense.

George you wrote:

"Eye dominance, when present, often follows hand dominance."

"Recent estimates suggest 70% of the population are right eye dominant, and 30%"

But isn't the population of left to right 90% to 10%

I know it is nit picking, but what you said and wrote are not close to being correct. I will say that I agree with your final statement. I will add that studies and science has proven that the dominant eye can and does switch sides. Now to clarify, this happens you you are using booth eyes at the same time. Not when you use just one.

Here is a study about that: https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758%2FBF03194802

Then to totally confuse you add this into the mix: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0042698995002685

If you can please provide me with the studies that claim the dominant eye does not switch. I would love to read it.

Have her learn to shoot left handed.

I just witnessed a cross dominant thing. I tossed a perfectly functioning stray cat Jennings compound into my trash, about half sticking out. The garbage truck just got here. He looks out at it, almost ran the lift, then jumped out of the truck. He pulled back left handed, right handed, upside down handed, looked it all over, and then tossed it into the garbage bin.

right handed my whole life of sports. didn't know I was left eye dominant until I began shooting. Best thing I ever did was to switch.

gmr12508, you have stated in previous threads that you can shoot both left snd right-handed. You also state that you do not believe eye dominance exists.

Well, you are indeed a rare individual. How does that qualify you as an authority on eye dominance? George and others have offered plausible explanations for how eye dominance can occur to various degrees in different individuals.

You should not presume to speak for anyone else who struggles with cross- dominance.

I know one person that had widely distinct differences in his eyes, cataracts in dominant eye. When he switched to a left hand bow, he was all thumbs at first. I made an aperture sight for him to try. It worked. The DAS sight worked better. In another case painting a single fluorescent chartreuse stripe on top of the arrow at the point allowed the shooter to notice the arrow better. After a while with both of these cases, it was no longer an issue in any way.

Rick Barbee & Zman are right on given my experience.I am VERY left eye dominant and VERY right handed.I shoot right handed. Tried to switch...Dumbest thing I ever tried to do.I shoot both eyes open with no problems. Wouldn't have tried to switch but many told me I should.Happily back to where I began and never trying to switch again.Just my experience !!

I shoot both right an left handed. I am left eye dominant. I close my left eye when shooting right and leave both eyes open when shooting left handed. I close my left eye when shooting right handed because I have a stigmatism in my left eye.

Backcountry, You wrote: "How does that qualify you as an authority on eye dominance?"

It does not, and I never claimed to be one (an authority). But did I not provide multiple scientific studies that show that the dominant eye can and does switch back and forth?

Before we speak on a subject, should we not have all the facts? How many people here knew that the dominant eye switches? I'm a lefty, but was taught to shoot right handed. In the service they refused to let me shoot left handed, i was forced to shoot right handed. Was it easy? Nope, but in time I learned how to do it.

As for archery, I have shot right handed since the 70's. Why? because my two brothers are right handed. My father was not going to buy a bow just for me. Yet, I leanred. I only started shooting left handed a few years ago due to an injury to my right hand. So, you see, i do have experience with it and I also have the studies to back up what I'm saying.

I am fairly ambidextrous, I always know that I could shoot left handed. I switched because of a heavy bow injury to my right hand, I can shoot some right handed again after years of laying off the right hand shooting, but as a musician, my hands come first and I need to control how much strain I put on the injured joint to prevent flair ups. I use to buy up those Pearson semi recurves that had no sight window, then when young people earned a bow I could in a sight window on the proper side. I think they were the Pony model. As far as the Op goes, any archery youth program should have both left and right hand bows available, if i had one I would gladly donate it.

Gregory, sorry, but when you stated that what George wrote was wrong, to me that came across as you being an authority on the subject. Yes, I saw the references you cited, and George offered an explanation of those studies and the conditions under which eye dominance can switch.

If the military forced you to shoot against your dominant eye, that was a long time ago, apparently before they fully understood the implications on accuracy. But that also means you are a veteran, and for that reason alone I do apologize for my impertinence.

George's explanation pretty accurately covers my experience with cross- dominance. Eye dominance seems to manifest itself differently in different individuals--I will just leave it at that. But I see no reason to add another obstacle to his left-eye dominant student's introduction to, and possible enjoyment, of archery.

"Eye dominance seems to manifest itself differently in different individuals--I will just leave it at that. But I see no reason to add another obstacle to his left-eye dominant student's introduction to, and possible enjoyment, of archery."

Indeed. I don't care if there are a billion studies out there from a billion brilliant retinologists, opthalmologists, neurologists, and a holy edict signed by Their Holinesses the Pope, the Dalai Lama, and Charles Darwin's ghost. I TRIED TO CHANGE NY EYE DOMINANCE FOR A YEAR! And it could not be done. Call me a freak of nature if you want.

This was back in 1987, my first year shooting RH with left dominant eye. Worked at a print shop, traditional pre=press, process camera, film developing,and film stripping. Looking through a loupe magnifier 8 hours a day, 5 to 6 days a week. Stopped looking with left eye, switched to right- but it made no diff shooting the bows. Never could frame the sight picture correctly or comfortably, stayed mediocre, got TP - switched to lefty and all worked out.

Now decades later resumed practicing RH I now know what the correct sight picture looks and feels like, I go very slow with light draw wt. bows, hold at anchor until the right eye wakes the hell up and lets me know where the arrow is pointing, and when released I see it's path to the target. Sometimes the left eye takes over anyway, but I've learned to triangulate from the "wrong" side to compensate, unlike my first year in archery, and can still make the hit. Sometimes both eyes contribute at the same time- that's when it's really fun!

Bottom line, no change whatsoever in MY eye dominance, but now having fun working with it to shoot either side, and enjoying the differences in the shooting experiences.

Gentlemen,

I wish to express my life's experience with shooting guns and bows for fifty years. I am right eye dominant and shoot left handed. Done this all my life. I've done the dominate eye test for years and did it today, and I can tell you that my eye dominance has not CHANGED! And it dosen't seem likely that it will change soon. But, what I will say... If I knew what was causing me to have accuracy problems when I first started, I would of liked to have known this. It's been a long road sorting out what my problems were when I first started shooting. I had to train my brain to focus on the correct sight picture, which was always faint. I can now do this without thinking about it. That being said, I would not recommend someone starting out as young as she is who has not developed bad habits and is capable of learning something with either hand (especially at her age) to start off shooting cross dominant. I say this from experience, not a study. If someone really wants to do this, and do it right.. Get him/her a bow that matches their dominant eye and encourage them till the cows come home.. WE have great coaches and life eperiences.. why not use them. VRV

eye dominance to me is like whether or not an individual can smell asparagus in their urine. some can and some can't. I can smell it and have not no doubt my left eye is more dominant than my right but I have always been right handed in all the sports I played. An injury to my left elbow cause me to shoot left handed and I found whether with a wheelie or Trad bows no issues infact with the wheelie bow and sights I shot better.

So wake up and smell the asparagus!

It is wild asparagus season, I prefer mine with a Hollandaise sauce.

Biggest mistake I ever made regarding archery was trying to shoot right handed just because I am right handed, but I am left eye dominant. I fought that mess for years until Mike Fedora told me I need to be shooting left handed and a friend loaned me his wife's left handed bow to try. Before he and I got around the range I was convinced I needed to shoot lefty and have ever since. When I pick up a right handed bow now I wonder how I ever managed to shoot that way at all. And, yes, I know some people successfully shoot cross dominant, but I am convinced the majority need to shoot on the dominant eye side. Even the folks who manage to shoot well cross-dominant might do even better shooting under their dominant eye. It can't possible hurt to start the young lady out shooting dominant eye side like Fred Bear taught. It may cause lots of issues if you don't.

Backcountry,

When I said George was "Wrong" was because of this: He stated in his post and I quote: "Eye dominance when present, often follows hand dominance". He then stated this: "Recent estimates show a split of 70/30 (Right eye v Left eye" But we know that population wise the breakdown is 90/10. a 20% difference is not a small amount. In fact, there a studies that have shown there is ZERO correlation between hand and eye dominance. I did not say he was wrong on anything else.

I in fact agreed with is final statement, something most seem to have missed. I also never said it is not real. The key here is that when most shoot "Traditional" and use the "Instinctive" method, they use booth eyes open. They do not look down the arrow. This is called binocular vision and is exactly what the studies were about.

Now looking down the arrow, or at a sight is monocular vision and is totally different and not covered in the studies.

As for my service training (Airborne Infantry and Pathfinder). They knew all about accurate shooting. We practiced for two weeks dry firing and working on site picture before we fired our first round. If they did not know about it, how could I have hit a target 300 meters away, using iron sights and shooting from my opposite side? The reason they made us all shoot right handed was due to our weapon. The M16A1 did not has a brass deflector, so you would get hit in the face if you shot left handed. When i was in it was about uniformity and no one got any special treatment. You do not have to show me any special treatment for being a vet, that is not what I served for and while appreciated, it is not necessary.

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