# Left Handed/Right Eye Dominant - need help



## chiznitz (Nov 18, 2012)

i'm in the same boat as you and have been talking to Perry about this as well. I'm left eye dominant right hand. I may go with a left hand bow and left hand Perrys just because the sight is so good and will help me not have to use a peep.

I plan on starting at 50lbs left handed and hunting elk with that if thats all I can pull back safely. I would say stick to your dominate eye side if you can, however, if you get Perrys sight and it works great for you then let me know because I may want to change back lol


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## lefty40 (Nov 25, 2012)

Any coaches out there with any advice?


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## subconsciously (Aug 22, 2009)

The simple answer is to shoot what feels comfortable for you. Eye dominance is importatant but not everything. I do not reccomend the pirates patch but a blinder that clips on the cap. Keeping the non aiming eye in the dark is not a good thing. This can cause excess dialation in the aiming eye. With a blinder the non-aiming eye can still accept light. Which is important. 

KSL Archery states that shooting with a blinder (or lense cover on shooting glasses) can actually change change your eye dominace after about a 3 month period. If you do some research (please not on this site) you will discover that eye dominance can be changed.


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## lefty40 (Nov 25, 2012)

Any further advice on this problem, you can search the internet and I would say the advice is 50/50, some say without a doubt stick with your dominant eye and some say shoot your stong arm and deal with the eye dominance issue. I have enjoyed but feel like I wasted 2012 from a shooting standpoint.


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## markdenis (Sep 7, 2010)

IMO you should always shoot with your dominant eye...makes no difference if it puts you shooting right or left handed. You can learn to shoot just as good either way with desire and practice.


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## chiznitz (Nov 18, 2012)

Since posting on your post earlier I borrowed a friends lefthand bow and started shooting with both eyes open. It's pretty great I can see the arrow flight better etc and this should help me correct some other issues. The other thing i noticed is that I am able to hold much steadier using my strong arm as my bow hand. Only shot the bow twice now for about maybe 30 and 40 minute sessions. Loving it...


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## lefty40 (Nov 25, 2012)

chiznitz said:


> Since posting on your post earlier I borrowed a friends lefthand bow and started shooting with both eyes open. It's pretty great I can see the arrow flight better etc and this should help me correct some other issues. The other thing i noticed is that I am able to hold much steadier using my strong arm as my bow hand. Only shot the bow twice now for about maybe 30 and 40 minute sessions. Loving it...


Yeah, that is what makes it so hard for me, shooting left handed with my strong arm I can shoot for hours and not feel a thing, I don't know if it is because my form is better left handed because that is my natural side or what. I pull the bow back 1 time right handed and because of my pain in my elbow I feel it right away. So many options but it gets expensive when I keep changing my mind and buying new bows/accessories.


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## lefty40 (Nov 25, 2012)

markdenis said:


> IMO you should always shoot with your dominant eye...makes no difference if it puts you shooting right or left handed. You can learn to shoot just as good either way with desire and practice.


I agree from an accuracy stand point you are probably right but when you factor in shooting through pain in elbow and an overall weaker draw by 15 pounds or so it makes it tough.


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## chiznitz (Nov 18, 2012)

I would say if 55lbs hurts on what you feel is your better stance, I would just switch over and shoot opposite side if there was no pain. If it hurts when you shoot it's only going to get worse...unless you find a way to make it better


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## lefty40 (Nov 25, 2012)

Any other thoughts on my problem? I had a real good phone conversation tonight with a fellow AT member who thinks the hastle of hunting with a patch over your eye or tape over one of your lenses is too much, and that shooting a smoother drawing right handed bow at a lower draw weight and taking some time off to try and heal the elbow would be the best route. I tend to agree with him, although another thing he said made alot of sense. Archery is a very mental sport, and if you believe a bow is hurting your elbow, than you will probably never be satisfied shooting that bow. After talking it through, I think that the draw cycle and back wall of the Rampage along with as much as I was shooting over the spring and summer could have contributed to my elbow problems and I was too dumb or inexperienced enough to know it. The Rampage felt like it wanted to jump forward on me alot after i had it at full draw, that probably did contribute to me hurting my elbow by having to catch that jump and keep it back.


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## lefty40 (Nov 25, 2012)

Just wanted to give a little update on my situation, I went and shot right handed for an hour yesterday at a local indoor range from 20 yards. I wasn't concerned so much that i didn't shoot the greatest, had a couple of good 5 shot groups, most where a little scattered. What I wanted to see is how my right arm would feel and react, I havn't shot in a while and it was still a little sore before I started shooting. Today I woke up and there is absolutely no pain in my right elbow, I can bend it, straighten it and I don't feel anyting. I have been taking ibuprofen to help with any inflamation but after shooting yesterday it actually feels better today.


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## oldpro888 (Dec 31, 2010)

I am cross dominant right hand left eye and shoot right. I have had my large share of podium wins and hunting success. I have shot that way for so long that my brain switches dominance during the shot sequence. I used to squint a little to see right. I don't recommend switching due to your dominance but some do. Olympic style has no peep, you line the string in the center of the riser with your eye, and cross dominance can be ugly without a peep. But my 2 cents, with a peep shoot how you write


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## oldgeez (Sep 29, 2002)

same here...eye dominance is not that important..shooting your bow strong and pain free is no.1 preference. after about 10 years, my weak eye began to take over..now after 20 oe so, it's completely in control. just close that dominant eye and shoot. if i was shooting with my weak arm, my archery career would have been over a long time ago.


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## lefty40 (Nov 25, 2012)

Problem is I can't just close my eye and shoot like you guys are saying, I have to completely cover my dominant eye. If I try to squint or close my right eye, my left eye closes to, I just cannot see out of the peep with my left eye unless my right eye is covered.


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## oldgeez (Sep 29, 2002)

there are a lot of threads on here about this problem...a very informative and smart guy says to use a flip down blinder. no pirate patches or anything that completely keeps light from coming into the dominant eye, as it will mess with depth perception and other things. just block it...that's odd that you can't hold one eye closed...most folks can do that from a young age, lol


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## lefty40 (Nov 25, 2012)

oldgeez said:


> there are a lot of threads on here about this problem...a very informative and smart guy says to use a flip down blinder. no pirate patches or anything that completely keeps light from coming into the dominant eye, as it will mess with depth perception and other things. just block it...that's odd that you can't hold one eye closed...most folks can do that from a young age, lol


It's because of a car accident, crushed my one cheekbone, completely replaced with plastic, it inhibits me being able to wink like that. I did buy a flip down blinder from lancaster archery and when i attach it to the bill of my cap, it doesn't help. It seems to be too far away from my eyes to block anything, the angle of the string comes up underneath my hat and touches my nose, and that blinder on the bill of my cap is too far out to stop my dominant eye from trying to take over.


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## oldgeez (Sep 29, 2002)

you're going to have to fabricate one that telescopes in and out, so you can find the sweet spot. you may even patent it, and make a fortune, lol!! i already did the design for you..take one of those big clamp style paper clips..cut it in half..get something nontransparent and hot glue it to the springy wire side of the clip..hot glue or gorilla glue the flat 1/2 of the paper clip to the underside of the bill of your cap. for yours, since it has to be customized, drill a small hole in the 1/2 side and thumb tack it to your cap until it's just right, then make it permanent...just a thought. i use one just like it for a sight tape lens because i'm old and broke and can't see up close any more. the lens "flips" up and down...your blinder will do the same..necessity is the mother of invention, lol!! good luck experimenting


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## slicer (Dec 18, 2008)

Look up Dave Cousins. Reverse what he does.


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## lefty40 (Nov 25, 2012)

oldgeez said:


> you're going to have to fabricate one that telescopes in and out, so you can find the sweet spot. you may even patent it, and make a fortune, lol!! i already did the design for you..take one of those big clamp style paper clips..cut it in half..get something nontransparent and hot glue it to the springy wire side of the clip..hot glue or gorilla glue the flat 1/2 of the paper clip to the underside of the bill of your cap. for yours, since it has to be customized, drill a small hole in the 1/2 side and thumb tack it to your cap until it's just right, then make it permanent...just a thought. i use one just like it for a sight tape lens because i'm old and broke and can't see up close any more. the lens "flips" up and down...your blinder will do the same..necessity is the mother of invention, lol!! good luck experimenting


I thought about trying something like that with a pair of glasses with clear non prescription lenses. Attaching that flip down to the right lens that way while Im sitting in the stand I could have it up and see clearly out of both eyes and when I grab my bow, drop down that lens cover first. I would have to make it completely black though because I have tried it with a darker lens, bass pro had some glasses where the lenses popped out and I tried my left side clear and right side with the darkest lens they had and I could still see through it enough to mess up my peep.


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## zagyg (Nov 8, 2011)

I thought I may chip in with my position.. I am 'an archery dad', my daughter is 11 and has been shooting recurve for 2 and a half years. She is right handed and left eye dominant. She already uses glasses and has a prescription of -6.5 in each eye.

Kids of this age cannot wink in general, and my daughter could not so could not close one eye.

Initially I put tape on her left lens to obscure it, after about 6 months I used a clip on sunglasses, with the right lens removed and the left lens sandpapered to you cannot see through it. You can flip them up after the shot.

I then tried a self adhesive plastic that slightly distorted the image so the focus was transferred to the non-dominant eye

I found a few articles on cross eye dominance in sport, and after a discussion with an optometrist decided to try out contact lenses (my daughter uses them anyway). She tried a lens of -4.5 in the left dominant eye and her prescription of -6.5 in her right eye.

This led to two images in front of her one in focus and one not in focus. She rapidly learnt to ignore the slightly fuzzy one, but she still had vision in both of her eyes which helped with depth perception.

So I had a pair of her old glasses updated in prescription only in her right eye, and now a year on has mostly re-trained the dominance of her eye, and sometimes she forgets to swap glasses but with no effect on her shooting.

So I would try contacts, or glasses if you have them.

Luck


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## Mac of Michigan (Mar 26, 2009)

Lefty40,
I haven't read anything cmenting about your elbow pain here. I have what seems like the same thing you describe here and will throw my own thoughts out there on this. My elbow hurts a bit when I shoot and I suspect it has to do with the way risers and grips are being designed. The general shape of a lot of risers and their grips places the hand and fore arm in an unnatural position. We place stress on the joint in a manner that is not in line with the way the human body is 'designed'. Sharp elbow pain is the bodies' way of warning that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. Aspirin etc. will help the pain, but does not fix the core issue which is a misalignment of the joint when shooting. 
I've had success minimizing this pain by shooting bows with narrow grips and paying attention to the alignment my elbow makes at full draw.
Pearson and some of the other companies actually made grips that were angled and I believe well thought out to address this. The 'established archery industry' per say did not accept these designs ;and I think because the advertising was inadequate those companies may have stopped producing those bows. It's too bad because the sience behind the designs is solid and the more science gets involved with archery the better things will become for shooters.


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## lefty40 (Nov 25, 2012)

Mac of Michigan said:


> Lefty40,
> I haven't read anything cmenting about your elbow pain here. I have what seems like the same thing you describe here and will throw my own thoughts out there on this. My elbow hurts a bit when I shoot and I suspect it has to do with the way risers and grips are being designed. The general shape of a lot of risers and their grips places the hand and fore arm in an unnatural position. We place stress on the joint in a manner that is not in line with the way the human body is 'designed'. Sharp elbow pain is the bodies' way of warning that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. Aspirin etc. will help the pain, but does not fix the core issue which is a misalignment of the joint when shooting.
> I've had success minimizing this pain by shooting bows with narrow grips and paying attention to the alignment my elbow makes at full draw.
> Pearson and some of the other companies actually made grips that were angled and I believe well thought out to address this. The 'established archery industry' per say did not accept these designs ;and I think because the advertising was inadequate those companies may have stopped producing those bows. It's too bad because the sience behind the designs is solid and the more science gets involved with archery the better things will become for shooters.


Hi Mac, my pain is in my draw arm shooting right handed, not sure if that is what you are talking about. I have never had any problems with my arm that holds the bow, I think because that is my strong arm. I think me hurting my elbow could have been a combination of 2 things, bow/bow setup (Hoyt Rampage, rough draw cycle, jumpy back wall, maybe not the right draw length) and poor form on my part. I am anxious to drive up and learn from TAZ up in Woodstock, it will be well worth paying for a few hours of lessons to assure I atleast take form out of the equation and probably with a new bow some time down the road, take that out of the equation also.


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