Righty to Lefty Revisited

[Dave 55]

Been practicing left handed quite a bit and it seems to be coming around,the secret for me seems to be canting the bow and pointing my bow hand at the target instead of looking down the arrow.Ive been working on a red elm sap wood bow all I had to work with,it was coming along real well tillered to my draw length and 58# at 26 inches But I decided to lightly toast the belly and my patience wore out too soon,strung it up after only 3 days tho I knew better and the bottom limb pulled splinters accross the back and vertical along a grain,so much for that left handed bow,have to try to round up a decent stave and go again,Lord give me patience.

[Scowler]

Can't be easy switching from right to left.  Stay positive and good luck.

[Sidewinder]

Dave. I am left eye dominant and learned to shoot right handed. I swore I was gonna learn someday to shoot lefty. I injured a finger on my drawing hand ( right) and figured I didnt want to wait 3-4 wks to shoot a bow again so I tried shooting lefty. I felt like a wierdo and did'nt do too well. Then one day a few months later I made a bow for a girl that plays soccer in college with a cousin and she's a lefty. I set the bow up to shoot lefty and shot it in that way and lo and behold I started hitten as good left as I was right. It can be done but its hard to switch back and forth too quickly for me. If I warm up with one side I should stick to that side during the duration of my shooting session. If I try and switch back and forth during that session it does'nt do well for my accuracey.  It can be done I guess you just have to work at it and there probabaley needs to be a good reason to do it. The main thing is that you are accurate, regardless of what side you shoot from.    Danny

[TRACY]

I shoot both, but naturally left handed in everything barring shooting a bow/gun. I find that I shoot left handed close to vertical with good results and cant the bow ~ 45 deg to the right of vertical when shooting right handed. I have not shot a deer yet lefty, but will some day when I have more time and more deer to shoot at.


Tracy

[JW_Halverson]

I stopped trying to shoot left handed, was spending too much time making new arrows to replace the ones lost!

But I revisited the reason I chose to try shooting lefty....to balance out the muscle development in my back and shoulders.  I have a lot of back problems, and often they are caused by one set of muscles being out of strength balance with it's opposing set.  I have gone back to pulling a bow left handed, if only to build stronger and more balanced muscles, small as they are.  I imagine the better strength may translate to more fluid draw when it's crunch time and I'm looking at a deer over a broadheaded arrow.

[TRACY]

I stopped trying to shoot left handed, was spending too much time making new arrows to replace the ones lost!


Sounds like you we're closing the wrong eye

You have a point about building up muscle in the less used form. I'm always a little sore in the lats after shooting lefty, unless it is several days in a row.

Have you noticed a more fluid draw right handed by doing this cross training?

Tracy

[JW_Halverson]

I shoot with both eyes closed!

Yeah, I do notice a more fluid draw.  I also noticed I could shoot longer before tiring.  Maybe it was partially because I was sticking to a training schedule, too.  I try to draw every other day, one day to tear down muscle, one day to build it back up, repeat.

[TRACY]

I think I will try to do this along with shooting at least three times a week ALL year. I struggled at the beginning of bow season because I hadn't shot often enough in the off season.


Tracy

[Stoker]

Being left eye dominat and right handed. My name is Leroy and I haven't shot a compound for 16 years. With using a peep sight it never bothered me. When I found the light I couldn't shoot with both eyes open had to close my left eye. When I shoot left I just close my right eye. I also do better when using a lighter bow. Muscule devolpement on the left side just not there, don't use it enough. My first bow I built was 43lbs and that one I could shoot both hands.
Thanks Leroy