Eye Dominance

Callem'In · Sep 21, 2016

My 10 year old daughter is just getting into archery. I picked up a good deal on a Bear Apprentice bow that fits her well. I took her out to the range and as she pulled back the bow, I watched her head tilt to use her left eye to look through the peep sight on a right handed bow. I failed to check eye dominance before the purchase. Are any of you left eye dominate and right hand shooters? If so, how have you over come this? Should I sell the bow and get her a left handed setup and have her start shooting left handed even though she is clearly right handed? Or would shooting glasses with a distraction on the left lens be a better option?

Callem'In

SDMF · Sep 21, 2016

She should shoot her eye dominance for everything. One can train their hands to do anything, there's really no training eyes.

Easy eye dominance test:

Have her stand ~10' away and ask her to point @ your nose with each pointer finger (one at a time). Her pointer finger on either hand will line up with her dominant eye.

KDM · Sep 21, 2016

I'm left eye dominant and shoot a bow right handed. I know if wrong, but that's how I have shot my whole life. A peep sight has really helped me, but I still have problems when a quick shot situation arrises. I would go with SDMF's advice and trash the right handed bow for a lefty and get her to shoot the way she should. Good Luck!!

NDwalleyes · Sep 21, 2016

Having taught youth sporting clays for a few years, this is a great age to address this. She needs to understand that she will have to learn to do this stuff weak handed and that it can be frustrating for a kid. It will will pay dividends in her shooting ability big time though. Will obviously carry over to her firearm shooting too. If you find her to be left eye dominant, don't take the fun out of shooting, but be persistent in having her shoot left shoulder. When the shotgun comes out, have her shoot 5 left shoulder then 5 right shoulder and repeat. Eventually she will start shooting better using the left and the issue will resolve itself. Good luck and be patient.

svnmag · Sep 21, 2016

Consciously squint the dominant eye. Be conscious of the eye as you squint in bright sunlight and painfully/purposely change. This seems to achieve cross dominance and allow for good shooting with an "off-eye" squint. You'll tend to shoot better with a SXS. This does not negate the style and class of a SXS. An M12 can be aimed.

SDMF · Sep 21, 2016

No need to band-aid a new shooter who hasn't developed bad habits or muscle-memory yet. Can't fathom why one would voluntarily give up FOV on day one. Svn, you're suggesting eyes-wide-shut. I prefer both eyes wide open.

Account Deleted · Sep 22, 2016

You would be the guy to shoot a SxS.

deleted_account · Sep 22, 2016

Ghost said:
You would be the guy to shoot a SxS.

watch it, the other one pictured is mine

DirtyMike · Sep 22, 2016

And here I thought you borrowed one from sdmf. Those guns are beautiful.

ndbwhunter · Sep 22, 2016

At such a young age, I would try to prevent the bad habits from forming right now. If she's trying to use that left eye, let her use it, but make sure she has the proper equipment. Take her to the nearest archery shop and let her shoot some left handed bows to see how they feel.

nxtgeneration · Sep 22, 2016

I'm left eye dominant and shoot right handed. I am drastically handicapped at anything left handed so that was never an option. I had a really hard time closing my left eye when I was young but I would work on it all the time and eventually it became easier to do. Shooting bow was never a problem as you generally have some time to get set up and get the correct eye lined up. Same with sitting for deer. I am still left eye dominant but have gotten myself to overcome it.

sierra1995 · Sep 22, 2016

I am left eye dominant and shoot right handed. Never really had an issue with it, I still hit as many pheasants as all the guys I hunt with. I also catch just as many walleye, but eye dominance may not matter for that.....

JCNodak · Sep 22, 2016

I am right eye dominant and left handed. I was horrible at shooting bow left handed so I learned how to shoot right handed to match the eye.

Bfishn · Sep 22, 2016

I'm left eye dominant, left footed, but right handed. Ive always shot right handed because i feel like a tard doing anything left handed. They do say the correct thing to do is match eye dominance so it may be worth trying at your daughters young age. When I grew up you just shot whatever your hand was, i didn't realize i was left eye until a few years ago. I've read that unless you are going to be shooting competition archery, left-eye/right hand isn't going to hold many people back.

Callem'In · Sep 22, 2016

I will let her shoot a few left handed bows to see how it feels to her. I think this may be the best route for her. I really appreciate the suggestions as they confirm what I was thinking. I am slightly right eye dominant over my left and ambidextrous as I shoot as well right handed as I do left with rifles/shotguns, But it is very awkward for me to pull a left handed bow.

aron · Sep 22, 2016

make the switch to shoot bow, guns, etc. with the dominant eye.

I'm left handed right eye dominant and shot left handed for 25+ yrs. In the past few years, I've been making the switch. I now shoot bow and rifle right handed with no problem. Still working on shotgun and pistol but this would be much easier when starting at 10. Having the option to shoot with both eyes open and getting the extra FOV and depth perception is a big benefit.

- - - Updated - - -

When first making the switch with the bow, I've caught myself sitting in the stand multiple times with my release on the wrong wrist. Good thing there wasn't a deer coming by that I was planning to shoot.

wby257 · Sep 22, 2016

I to am left eye dominant and shoot right handed, I have never had a issue with closing my left eye. Shot lots of 25/25 in trap. Shot many more 25/25 in 5 stand. Rifle shooting is just as easy.

SupressYourself · Sep 22, 2016

You left-eye dominant, right-handed shooting suns-a-bitches. You are the reason it's so hard to get left handed guns and bows. ;:;banghead
I would bet if everyone shot with their dominant eye, there'd be a lot more choices for left-handed guns on the market, and I wouldn't be so frustrated every time I try to buy one.

When I was young, my dad tried to make me shoot right handed. Even though I'm right handed, it never seemed quite right because I'm left-eye dominant. So I started shooting right-handed guns left-handed, which is fairly awkward with bolts. I started shooting bow right handed because at my meager price-point at the time, that's all you could get. A few years ago I made the switch to left. The better bow may be a factor too, but I can now shoot lights-out to 60 yards.

Anyway... to the OP. Please do your daughter a favor and fully evaluate her eye dominance and set her up with the proper equipment. That will save her years of frustration and potentially poor shooting.

huntinforfish · Sep 22, 2016

Left eye dominant and shoot everything right handed here as well. I'm sure I was taught that way as I am right handed. Makes me curious if it would make much difference in my shooting ability. I could see benefits of using the dominant eye in "quick" shoot situations like pheasant, grouse, dove and others that are more of a reaction than anything. Teach her to shoot both - hopefully you will be able to tell which works best.

SDMF · Sep 22, 2016

aron said:
Having the option to shoot with both eyes open and getting the extra FOV and depth perception is a big benefit.

Huge advantage to shooting "two-eyed" if shotgunning is ever in the mix of hobbies due to most shotgun targets being a surprise moving target that needs to be acquired and engaged relatively quickly. Peeps/pins, irons, and rifle-scopes make non-dominant shooting less of an issue, but, speed and proficiency still suffer. I.E., Sitting in a blind/stand waiting for a critter to clear cover, one can only keep their dominant eye shut for so long before their eyes get "buggy". A non-dominant shooter will have issues judging distance and lead on movers quickly and while kiddo might never shoot a deer on the run, varmints don't typically stand around very long waiting to get perforated.

Eye Dominance

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