Does it matter whether I am left or right handed to shoot a bow?
We feel it doesn’t matter if you are left or right handed, but which eye, left or right, is dominant (or the eye you naturally aim with). You may be more coordinated on one side, but you might be more accurate on the other side.
With our lessons and any time we teach archery, the first thing we do is check your dominant eye, so that we set you up with the correct equipment from the very beginning.
If you were to have bought a right handed bow and you turn out to be left eye dominant, it will be much more difficult to train you to be accurate at further distances than if you were to have known ahead of time that you are left eye dominant and then be able to buy left handed equipment.
Archery manufacturers would have the general public believe that the majority of people are right eye dominant, or a right handed shooter, however, after teaching and coaching archery for over a decade now to several thousand youth and their families, we have found that statement to not be accurate. Everyone is unique. Your dominant eye, or the eye that you will be most accurate using or aiming with when doing any shooting sports, is not determined by the hand you write with or the side you are stronger, but the eye that God made automatically be more dominant – nothing you can do about it.
We say it is similar to a “no, thank you bite.” Try at least one bite of some type of food you have never had before, before you decide you don’t like it. In the same way, at least try the dominant eye side and see how you do.
It is not impossible to learn how to shoot a bow that is set up for the nondominant side (for instance in the case that you do everything right handed and are stronger on the right side and you turn out to be left eye dominant), but it is much more difficult to train you to be exceptional as a right handed shooter if you are left eye dominant.
Some students are right eye dominant and write right handed. Some are right eye dominant and write left handed. Some are left eye dominant and write right handed, and some are left eye dominant and write left handed. Not sure which one you are? That is okay, because we make sure you at least get the chance to try both ways and see the difference.
You will always be more accurate with your dominant eye, or the eye you naturally aim with, even if it takes some training to get used to the coordination of it, especially if you want to go on to the Olympic level or high-end tournaments and be able to compete well.
Perfect practice will always make Perfect!
- by cbayou
- posted at 1:40 pm
- August 22, 2013
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