I had same cross dominance issue. I switched to lefty and shot better with no occasional flyer. That was during my instinctive days. I now gap and close 1 eye to see my aim point more clearly. I also have been shooting a second bow right handed and just close my left eye. Both eyes open kills my accuracy.

 

Shooting cross dominant is "doable." I have known many cross dominant shooters. However I have yet to personally meet one that is really a good shooter, regardless of which eye is open or closed or both open or both closed or whatever.

Those I have met that are good are all FORMER cross dominant shooters who relearned shooting to their dominant eye.

This is true whether they claim instinctive or conscious aiming method.

 

Several early greats of our sport, all hunters more than target shooters, were cross-eye dominant. For that kind of shooting I suspect it was an advantage Howard Hill, Fred Bear, Glenn St Charles. For target shooting at various distances, as in field archery, I suspect it can be an advantage for some. For a conscious, calculated aiming system, it may be better to close the eye on the side away from the arrow, or at least to rely mainly on the one of the side nearer the arrow.

I believe that some archers are able to keep both eyes open and switch their attention from one to the other at will. Once you have learnt all the physical skills and developed the fitness, archery, like any other sport, is largely mental. - lbg

 

Two things to try;
Find someone who'll loan you a left handed bow for a week or so.
Learning to shoot to your dominant eye is actually pretty easy.
Plus you get to coach yourself out of all your bad habits.

Have your eyes checked just to see what the difference between them is.
Explain to the doc that you are right handed, left eye dominant and why you want a contact prescription that will make your right eye dominant.

After being a switch hitter most of my life, my eyes got old.
I'd be shooting and after a while the dominant eye would decide to take a senior siesta. (RH that means arrows crawling off at 3 o'clock)
For me it only takes +.25 in one eye or the other to force dominance.
I did the contact thing a couple years ago & so far it's working.

 

I have very strong left eye dominance. I discovered it, though I did not know what it was at the time, when I could not line up the back and front sights on a rifle at scout camp as a kid. I could not see one side of my face to shave. So when I took up archery I started left handed. If I try to shoot right handed it looks like the arrow is diagonal to the bow. I have discovered that I can get by if I close my left eye. But back in the day, even closing that eye was something I had to practice to learn how to do. Even now it is not natural for me to close my left eye.

 

. . . did Michael Jordan (of the Chicago Bulls fame) shoot with his right eye open or his left eye open . . . or both . . .

regards,

John

 

I shoot right handed and am left eye dominant. I used to shoot with both eyes open and just look at the “left” arrow. Now I close my left eye, and that seem more comfortable. I judge distance and determine aiming point before I draw. I’m a pretty good shot but no champion. I feel that my limitations are mental and not because of eye dominance.

 

I shoot right handed and am left eye dominant. I used to shoot with both eyes open and just look at the "left" arrow. Now I close my left eye, and that seem more comfortable. I judge distance and determine aiming point before I draw. I'm a pretty good shot but no champion. I feel that my limitations are mental and not because of eye dominance.

i missed this before my last post. Thats exactly what I was doing. I however find it harder to focus on the target rather than the arrow tip with one eye closed. With one closed it gets me a good shot but not the same level of focus on the exact spot i want to hit. Resulting in a lot of "close enough" shots. With both open i seem to get more "great" shots. Especially in regards to distance. Time will tell however. Sometimes things seem to work great for a while and then they don't.

 

Old age and lasik surgery over 20 years ago have resulted in a gradual change in my eye dominance (confirmed by optometrist and opthamologist) which has helped my shooting/aiming (to a degree; my eye dominance can't help my poor form).

I don't see it discussed but we could probably benefit from the vision training exercises used by baseball players and even those in other shooting sports.

 

Great insight. I appreciate it.
Im wondering about the double vision thing. Does anyone else have this? With both open I can see two distinct arrows. Both are transparrent so i can see the target in focus right through the arrow. The arrow on the left is what my right eye is seeing and the one on the right is my left eye. I superimpose the left arrow over the target and its right on providing my release is good. Im starting to think my eyes share dominance or i might be just slightly left eye dominant. When doing the test i can make the mental choice which eye to use prior to making the triangle with my hands. If i dont think about it it goes to my left eye but its pretty easy to just decide to use my right also. Anyone else see double transparent arrows when aiming?

 

I came accross this video. Its talking about olympic shooting with sights but at the 2:00 mark it explains exactly what I'm talking about.