# Hitting Left



## Ray Ray (Aug 1, 2005)

Yes , being left eyed dominant will cause you to shoot left, when shooting with both eyes open.
Some of the more experience coaches will jump in & correct me, but here are some things to try.

1. Shoot left handed. problem solved.
2. squint you left eye forcing your right eye to take over.
3. shoot with left eye closed, not the best choice. I have done it for years though. My left eye is stronger, but not dominant. Thus it wanted to take over. Now that I wear glasses, this is not as much of a problem.
Hope this helps.


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## Archery Ang (Apr 24, 2006)

I'm left handed, shoot right handed and am left eye dominant. I wore an eye patch for about a year to strengthen my right eye to be the dominant one when I shoot. I'm a much stronger right handed shooter than I ever would be as a left handed shooter. It was easier to train my eyes than it would have been to train my body. If you can close your left eye when shooting that would take care of the problem. I couldn't relax while that eye was closed, so I used the eye patch. It might take some playing around to find what works best for you. I do know of archers who have gone from right handed to left handed and it really worked for them.


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## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

all the above info is good ... take a close look at the bow hand/arm... shoot a good close up video of yourself watch close at the hand, grip, arm...you should be able to see what the issue is ill bet its the arm/hand....coach mike


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## Archery Ang (Apr 24, 2006)

Could also be string alignment at full draw...


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## Ltdecuir (Feb 23, 2013)

Thanks guys. I decided to stick with a RH bow and just train my eyes. I'm doing better. Shooting at 10 yards, I finally am able to group them in the center. Shooting 25 yards totally different... My arrows are everywhere. Haha. So I am sticking with 10 yards till I feel like I memorized my form. Thanks for the advice again.


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

With recurves, your aiming eye should be aligned with the arrow. Anchoring beside you eye, gives you a perspective that makes it difficult to aim accurately. If you plan to shoot a traditional style, you can lower your anchor a bit and cant your bow so that the nock is directely below your aiming eye. If you plan to shoot Olympic style, anchor below your chin. Check out ArcheryTV on YouTube for good examples of how to do this. 

JMHO,
Allen


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## Ltdecuir (Feb 23, 2013)

I changed my anchor from next to my right eye (because it wasn't working for me) to the right corner of my lip. Works sooo much better. I just assumed the gentlemen knew what he was talking about because he shot it like that and hit dead center and he was a prior navy seal who supposedly fought in the Vietnam war and killed people with bows/arrows. I guess he has been doing it for so long that he probably doesn't even have to aim. 

A different guy told me to anchor the corner of my lips which I like much better. 

I noticed (painfully enough) that I whack my biceps a lot. I like locking out my arm but then my biceps get in the way... Of course, I think girls have weird arms that bend inward when we lock our arms.. It looks like I broke my arm but it's not broken. So now I just try to have a slight bend (not locking out) so my bicep doesn't get whacked. Don't know the negative effect it will have on my form but it's better then getting those really awful looking bruises









Linna

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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

Rotate your elbow out. If you can you want the crease on the inside of your elbow to be vertical. Not everyone can do this. If you can't, get it as close as you can .


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## TheAncientOne (Feb 14, 2007)

aread said:


> Rotate your elbow out. If you can you want the crease on the inside of your elbow to be vertical. Not everyone can do this. If you can't, get it as close as you can .


If your grip looks like this:









You can rotate your elbow out of the way better:









It should look like this if done correctly:









TAO


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## Ltdecuir (Feb 23, 2013)

Ooo, nice pictures! I tried doing it at home and I can rotate my arm like that . Now just to try it out at the range!


Linna

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## TheAncientOne (Feb 14, 2007)

Ltdecuir said:


> Ooo, nice pictures!


I saw your picture and all I could think was OUCH!

TAO


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## Ray Ray (Aug 1, 2005)

I just taught the women on target at my club. Several women had that mark, even though I tried to stress how to hold the bow so they wouldn't hit their arm. A lot of women hyper extend their elbow & hit their arm.


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## subconsciously (Aug 22, 2009)

It is better to rotate the elbow before coming into the "set" position and drawing to anchor. In other words get everything lined up in your grip and elbow before raising the bow.


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## Ltdecuir (Feb 23, 2013)

TheAncientOne said:


> I saw your picture and all I could think was OUCH!
> 
> TAO


Haha! It did hurt at first but after a while I hit that spot on my arm so much, the pain sort of went to the back of my mind. . 


Linna

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## Ltdecuir (Feb 23, 2013)

Ray Ray said:


> I just taught the women on target at my club. Several women had that mark, even though I tried to stress how to hold the bow so they wouldn't hit their arm. A lot of women hyper extend their elbow & hit their arm.


Yeah... I hyper extend my elbow because when I normally lock out my arm, it just goes that way and I hit it so much. I did the elbow rotation idea (the pictures posted earlier) and that has worked for me so far. Sometimes i forget to rotate my elbow to get that vertical crease.... Good thing I upgraded and got a armguard that covers my bicep too lol. 


Linna

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## TheAncientOne (Feb 14, 2007)

Ltdecuir said:


> Haha! It did hurt at first but after a while I hit that spot on my arm so much, the pain sort of went to the back of my mind.


Just consider it a badge of honor.

TAO


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