Just found your channel a few weeks ago. I just recently found interest in building my own bows. I have always been a wood worker and I have always been a hunter but I just never even thought to build my own bow. I find it very peaceful and relaxing and good for my soul. As I watch your videos and learn from you and learn more of the type of person you are I must say I have a lot of respect for you for being a good man and staying true to Yourself. Money ruins people that chase it
I‘m 62 and started olympic recurve archery 6 months ago. I‘ve learned a lot from you ! My Girlfriend ist left eyed and now, inspired by your video 🤗🙏, we will start to change her bow to a left hand version. Thank you from Germany 🇩🇪
I too am left eye dominant but right handed. I'm fairly descent with a bow shooting right handed, but rifles and shotguns I swap to my left shoulder to take advantage of my dominant eye. It's been years since I did that with archery. After seeing this, I may try it again.
Nice video man, im a 16 year old watching your videos for over two years. Thanks to you I have made countless bows and am now in an archery club. I met such nice people. Keep up the good work. You really inspired me.
So, I'm an Asiatic archer, and for Chinese (Gao Ying) style I shoot right handed (my dominant hand), but for Mamluk/Turkish Ive started shooting left-handed. This has two benefits. First, I get t train both sides, and work the muscles equally. But the second benefit? Neither interferes with the other! If you're trying to focus on one style and then introduce another, your muscle memory gets in the way - unless you're shooting on the the other side! I started with Chinese and then tried adding Mamluk, and muscle memory and habit got in the way. But by shooting Mamluk on the left, that problem just vanished. Sure, my left-hand side still sucks, and even knocking an arrow feels weird/clumsy, but it's getting better, and most importantly doesn't confuse me when I try to switch styles.
15:10 Loving this video! I am totally right handed but totally left eye dom. I bought a left handed bow and had been second guessing myself if I should change to a right handed bow and just force myself to learn over come my left dom, but this video has shown me the error in that thinking... now I just need to practice with what I have!
Welcome to the club! I'm a lefty, but I discovered that shooting right handed (when I made RH bows) really made me slow down and focus on my form. The same goes for shooting handguns. Looking forward to hearing more in the next video.
I'm left eye and right handed. I have chosen to use my right hand for archery and rifles for a few decades and always wondered if I'm leaving a lot on the table not using my dominant eye. Lately injuries and pain on my right side have me thinking now is the time to start practicing on my left. My kids also have this curse of cross eye dominance. I look forward to your next video.
I dont think you'd regret switching, shooting to your dominant eye is so nice. I had the same issue, right handed/left eyed, and switched to left hand for archery a few years ago, and it has made it so much more enjoyable.
Kramer, you’re a good man raised by good parents. I rarely comment but your calm, truthful delivery is always appreciated and I wanted to say so. Keep up the good work, and stay true to your convictions.
So true about the eye dominance prevailing over the hand. I've been left handed all my life but my right eye is dominant when it comes down to focussing on a specific spot. When I started archery, I started shooting a left handed bow because I thought that this would be the most natural thing for me. In the first month, I shot a right handed bow "just for fun" and it felt way more natural and more focussed and so I switched over immediately and I've been shooting right handed ever since.
As an archery coach, I have switched many "cross dominant" people to shoot with their non-dominant hand. It's a little weird at first but the vast majority improve much faster. Just getting the correct eye over the arrow allows them to aim more naturally. The best feedback, and I have heard it several times is "it's so much better/easier this way". I'm sorry that you didn't have someone to guide you correctly 20 years ago, but I'm happy that you figured it out and can now use your experience to guide others. In the long run, you are now an ambidextrous archer and will have the advantage of being able to shoot with either hand. Best of luck on your new journey.
Love your thinking outside of the box content and your enthusiasm! Im a righty, but experience a similar left eye taking over phenomenon and hitting left. Recently started squinting the left eye and my groups are shifting right and tightening up. Keep up the good work Kramer!
Thank you Kramer for what you saying. Thanks for your honesty! This is whats bring me back to your videos. Just a normal nice guy what I would like to go to the range and shoot little, talk little.... you know. World is full of "superstars" who nobody needs! Thanks and God bless! Greetings from Sweden
25:12 been watching you for like 2 or 3 years I guess. Your videos made me start archery! Your one of the most humble RUclipsrs out there imo. Have good one Kramer.
This video really hit home with me. I am a right handed, right eye dominate person. In 2013 I sustained a left shoulder injury that made it nearly impossible for me to hold a bow of any draw weight out in order to shoot. The doctors said there was too much rotator cuff injury to allow me to have any strength in the forward and upward motions. Depression set in because traditional archery was a large part of my life. After a year I decided to try shooting left handed and it has worked out. It took a lot of practice shooting, but since switching in early 2015 it has become almost as easy as when I shot right handed. I am 72 years old and shoot at least 5 days a week and still love it. I can shoot very light weight bows right handed and do, but I have become better left handed than right handed. You being more left eye dominate will have no problem switching. I have noticed that if i miss a target shooting left handed, 90% of the time I miss to the right because my right eye takes over. I can see that in your shooting too.
I shot right handed till my 50’s when my eye dominance changed to my left eye. I got a left handed bow and switched. Now at 75 I can shoot with either hand.
Its so refreshing to see you who upholds their moral integrity to the highest regard. SO many content creators on YT would take a quick buck and throw away their morality. Please never change that about you. Mad respect to you, sir.
I started left hand shooting because I wanted to learn thumb draw and all I had was a right hand bow. I probably am a little better left handed but I switch day to day to keep my muscles balanced. Great video.
Fascinating subject for a video. I am not an avid archer, but in terms of shooting firearms I have always understood that eye dominance is more important than handedness. My son is right handed and left eye dominant. Hunter's safety instructors tried to get him to shoot left handed, but he either couldn't or wouldn't make the switch. He still shoots right handed but uses his left eye for handgun shooting and closes his left eye when shooting a rifle. He consistently out-shoots me with handguns. Dad still wins with a rifle though.
Life long lefty here. Grew up shooting right handed because in the 70s that was all available to me. Switched back to left 3 years ago. A wonderful welcome back to a childhood addiction.
I've always shot right-handed, and I'm right-eye dominant. When I bought my daughter her first bow, my friend in the shop tested if she was right or left-eye dominant, and we went from there. It's great to find someone who wants to sell you the right equipment for you before you spend too much. Turns out she was right-eye dominant, so she has learnt to shoot right-handed.
Welcome to the dark side bro lol! I'm all messed up. Left eye dominant so I shoot bows left handed as well as rifles. Plot twist.. I shoot pistols right handed though. No idea why, but I've trained this way forever and it works.
Welcome to the wonderful world of cross dominance. As a Bowyer I've built ambidextrous wood bows so family and friends can shoot. A 30-lb hickory recurve selfbow is the all-time favorite. You'll be fine!
I have always been right side dominant, hands, feet, and eyes. When I had to switch sides (say shooting a basket or dribbling) it forced me to concentrate more. Batting left handed, forced me to pick the ball up earlier, because my bat speed was slower. I was still able to make positive contact as often, but with less power. Again, forcing myself to concentrate at a higher level. My natural/dominant side I performed effortlessly (maybe lazier) since I didn’t have to concentrate or work as hard to accomplish the same task. Your case is unique, living in a right sided world and being left eye dominant. I would say that from your study, shooting left handed is the right choice in your case. Great video! This should help out a lot of those folks that are left eye dominant. You can send those right hand bows my way so you can make room on your wall for all of those left hand bows that you need to start making 😂! Thanks again for sharing.
Dominant eye is by far the most important thing when it comes to shooting. I was born right handed so that’s my strong hand but when it came to shooting rifles i automatically shot left handed because it felt more natural, not even being aware of eye dominance as a child. When I shot my first bow at a much older age, I felt arm strength was most important so I shot archery right handed over a decade before I learned about importance of eye dominance. I changed over to left handed & was immediately more consistent. Anyone wanting to be their best, must always shoot with their dominant eye.
This is really interesting, I'm starting archery and having cross eye dominance always made things a bit awkward, been wondering for a while if I should shoot left handed or wear an eye patch to try and train my right eye to be dominant
I'm right handed and left eye dominant. When I started archery, it felt just as natural to hold the bow in my dominant hand as it did to hold the string with my dominant hand. So I shoot according to my eye dominance.
Thank you for this video. Appreciate your content, and cheering you for your full time endeavor this year. I have an idea for your next video, how about shooting crossed eyed with both hands? lol I'd love to see a video of you shooting right handed with your right eye closed, and left handed with left eye closed, and maybe end it with shooting both sides with both eyes open! I live in urban confined areas and can't legally shoot a bow openly, so I shoot a flat band slingshot instead, and I pretty much have similar challenges as you, and I'm also discovering that shooting from my "weaker" side was more accurate and I spend much lesser time trying to establish a proper sighting. Thanks for validating my thoughts.
Kramer please take a look at your follow through when you shoot left-handed. We don't want you to get any rotator cuff injury, it can become a serious issue later if not fixed early. Love your channel and thank you for knowledge, honesty and entertainment.
Always shot right handed with left eyed dominant due to an eye injury when I was a kid. Now I’ve injured my right shoulder and am considering moving to the other side because of this video. Thanks for this video. Great job.
I'm excited to see this left handed journey. Maybe you try your hand at making and shooting a twin bow so you can switch hands mid round. The flexibility of mind you gain doing it is awesome and the challenge of doing it is fun.
I'm cross lateral (left eye, right hand) and used to shoot medieval long bow right handed by placing the arrow head over the target at half-draw, then going to full draw and loosing (I was self taught). It worked well enough to make me one of the better archers in the reenactment society, but I'm sure inconsistency would have appeared at a higher level. Now I'm thinking of taking up modern archery and if I do that I'll be shooting left handed. The hands are much easier to train than the eyes.
I found out over four decades ago I was great shooting with both left & right hands . I pickup my friend left hand bow & shot 10 times & 8 out of 10 shots were dead on & same right handed so I,m 50/50 with which hand I shoot with . I,d only wish I could have a riser made that’s either or that way I could shoot however I wanted if I needed that shot .
I'm a left handed archer/right handed person. I have an astigmatism in my right eye, so my left eye is dominant. I naturally started archery with my left because that's how I used slingshots and it just felt smoother, but being naturally righthanded it bugged me, so I started practicing with my right. I found that I'm 2 different archers because my left hook is shallow, but my right hook is deeper. My left anchor point is lower on my face than my right and of course gap aiming points are different. My right hand form feels clunkier than my left. String walking is of course pretty much the same though. My scores however are still a little further apart than I'd like, but I'm getting there. This dual handed archer thing is also useful in balancing your arm and shoulder sizes and should I have an injury during a competition, there's more chance of me being able to continue (thankfully that scenario hasn't occurred yet). Great video mate. All the best in your quest for 2025.
0:04 Disgraphia I am amazed I never heard this term. My teachers literaly met with my parents to explain why they would no longer accept cursive writing on my home work? Sad part diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD and never heard the term disgraphia? My dad was ambydextrious totaly. I as a kid several pictures at young age drawing cap pistol left handed and several other task. Never tried shooting left handed. But did temporarily become left eye dominate from cataracts. The cataracts were advanced so didnt realy shoot much afterwards . Went blind for 7 months till surgery. Quit shooting compound with sites and now shooting instintive because lens implants are set for long distance. Love that you took us through your process. And thanks for sharing disgraphia like I said I never heard the term I always assumed my issue was something from dyslexia.
Hi Kramer this was a joy to watch. I'm kinda a weirdo in that I'm right handed, but left eye dominate. Whenever I try to shoot rifles, or bows it's like a fight between my eyes for where to aim. I'm pretty good with a pistol though. I'm going to try using a bow lefty after this.
I have been practicing both due to past injuries and my right hand not always working effectively. My biggest problem is my effective draw is well past most commercial bows. I need to get an English longbow or a Mongol type bow capable of a 32" draw. And they're expensive.
I am left eye dominant, but for all I try the bow is like an alien object in my right hand, I can shoot goodish but its awkward as hell no matter the shots
I only have a right handed bow but I tried this myself over the fall season, I was surprised by the good results but definitely needs some work, but trying to learn on a bow not properly set up for left shooting is a big reason I don't stick with doing it more, but I feel I'm more natural with my left
I was born lefthanded and very naturally skilled. But right eye dominant. My dad had 50 lb Fred Bear bow that he let use to learn on. The bow is right hand. So I started shooting right hand at age 7 . I'd never even a laft hand bow until my friend got one . I tried it and sucked at it bad. My release wasn't working at all. Even though I'm very skilled left hand. At that point I figured I'm very good right hand and right eye, why change now. I enjoyed your video and your journey!!
I taught archery at a kids camp back in 1997. I was 23 and had shot archery with accuracy right handed since I was 7 years old. One of the kids asked if I could shoot left handed. I mentioned I never tried so I might miss. The kids said to try anyway so I did. I ended up shooting 1-2 inches to the right of the target. I later learned I was left eye dominant. I tried so more things left handed and it was really awkward for me. I started thinking back to other things I did well when I was younger left handed like floor hockey, and baseball. I tried shooting shotgun left handed for trap and sporting clays, and I need basically to retrain myself from a left handed way. I got to watch you do that in this video. Looks like it worked out for you :) Have you tried shooting a left handed bow? I noticed you were shooting a right handed bow.
With shooting/ aiming in general eye dominance only matters if your aiming with both eyes open. Hand dominance matters more in my opinion. The dormant hand typically does fine motor movements better and the non-dominant hand typically do gross motor movements and bracing equal to the dominant hand.
I did this this year also. I'm left dom shooting right handed. So I got my wife a bow and she shoots lefty so I tried. I haven't been able to shoot 1000 arrows yet, but I am not bad. Truly I just don't have the money to switch lol
How ironic I got served this video tonight. I literally just unboxed a left handed longbow 3 hours ago to try the same thing. Right hand dominant, left eye dominant. Shot right handed for the last 37 years. Time will tell.
When I started Asiatic archery like 6 years ago, I trained both hands equally. My thumb would get really sore in the beginning, so switching was convenient. When really started zeroing in my accuracy, I committed to right. I'm still pretty good on the left tho. Also, I shoot slingshots exclusively left handed.
I am ambidextrous when it comes to sports, like yourself. I can shoot the bow with both eyes. But I tend to do waaay more instinctive shooting on my left :) Keep going! :D
All of this eye alignment...your brain compensates automatically. You can't stop it or alter it. Your brain will do everything it can to make things "correct" visually. You're eyes are directly connected to your brain physically. Very interesting and well done video. I look forward to see more about this.
I am a lefty who is right eye dominant. It's taking so much practice, but I'm teaching my brain to use my left eye both eyes open...kind of ignore the "dominant" view. It's getting easier but I imagine relearning to shoot with my right side would be faster.
When I started, I was trying both hands. Right hand seemed better for bow hand. Since my right hand is stronger, it felt like I could hold the bow more securely in my right hand. I always wanted to train ambidextrous with archery as it seemed the only reasonable way to do it safely and usedully. Nowadays, years later, I like the bow in my left hand slightly better, but I think it is mostly due to ease of handling arrow with my right hand.
I'm right handed and left eye dominant. I shoot instinctively with both eyes open. Works pretty good. But a shotgun is a problem! It's the side to side tracking! A clay coming from the right is fine--my right eye looks over the barrel. But if the clay comes from left--my left eye locks on and wont ket go.
i am 43 only ever shot right handed my hole life til 2 months ago ... im naturally lefty but i always got my das used bows growing up realized when i started making bows 4 moths ago i wanted to try shotting lefty and instantly it felt natural and a 100 percent improvement
Have you done the eye dominance test with looking through a hole made with your fingers in front of you? If the picture changes when you close of your eyes then the other eye is dominant. That's what you're explaining with having to close your left eye to shoot right handed. This is how I figured out I'm left eye dominant
When I first started archery (at over 60) I shot right handed because I'm right handed. Very predominantly so. When I bought my first bow the shop owner had me check which eye was dominant and that turned out to be my left eye. Bringing my new, left handed, bow to the range I discovered my accuracy had improved significantly. If I try to shoot right handed (which is easy enough of course) I tend to miss to the left quite consistently. The only awkward part of shooting left handed, despite my very right handedness, was manipulating the arrow onto the string. This has diminished with practice. I've also recently been shooting a really tight 2 or 3 shot group then getting outliers. Usually either high or low, often to the right. So... hmmm...
My nephew shoots clays, skeet and trap. One day a world champ style guy comes and coaches his group, goes one by one through each shooter and helps them fine tune their technique. Does the "make a diamond with your hands" test with him and pronounced him left handed. Nephew was upset to tears, was very scared of changing, the gun cost big bucks and the stock curves for a right handed shooter and he loved the gun. Anyway, he tries it, loves it, and now shoots left handed and is better for it.
Hi Kramer, I'm left eye dominate and right handed ( Sort of ) and I shoot most everything left handed all my life. It never felt right too shoot any other way.
Sometimes, I wish I was ambidextrous... unfortunately, I'm not. I learned at a young age to always close my left eye. Some time in my 30s or 40s, I figured out to leave it open. Though I will 100% agree with you on the issue of a dominant eye when it comes to drawing a bow. Like you.. it's taken a bit to brace the good and minimize the bad, and try to make them work together.
What a great video thanks. I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve spoken too or coached over the years who have shot right-handed but are in fact left eye dominant. After spending time with some of them, they find shot far better left-handed, with some swapping fulltime. I’ll admit I’m one of the weird nerds who can write left or right-handed and have done so since a child. I often swap hands when working in the shed with tools. I think the most embarrassing thing was being out with friends at a Chinese meal and half way through the meal I swapped hand and picked up wrong set of chopsticks. I’ve found using my SLR and DSLR cameras I hold it to me left eye as it’s the stronger eye. In tests I’m right-handed and right eye dominant. But and this is the really freaky thing. If I have been out with my camera and then pick up a bow my shooting is way off and I have to close my left eye until I settle back to shooting right handed. I have and do occasionally shoot left handed , especially when coaching or trying out bows and for equipment reviews and testing. I might have to do the 1000 arrow thing myself and see how it goes. Anyone thanks for the video. PS like you I will always try and do the right thing when writing or recording material for podcast or RUclips with reviews of kit and the like . I give my honest opinion and that’s not always gone down well with some. Keep going and happy new year.
Yeah❤ I'm doing a lot right handed, but writing. My grandson shot my left hand into pieces (football or Soccer). So during this healing process, I used the right a lot more. No problem, in fact, I now get confused at times.
MAY I PLEASE HAVE A RIGHT HANDED BOW!!!???😭🤣 I would love one of your hand crafted bows and since your switching!👀 I would like to possibly take one off your hands😂
Great set of morals on you! You have got me thinking i may be better left, i always played hockey left, could bat either way. I trained to shoot using a lefthand bowbut in my right hand....im all kinds of messed up haha🤣
Great video. Guessing you are more cross dominant than ambidextrous. I am the same. Kind of whatever hand I started doing something with becomes dominant in that activity. For example I throw a ball left handed but throw a frisbee right handed. Hand tools I can use either hand. I am slightly right eye dominant so I shoot right handed bows. Thinking of trying to learn to shoot my right handed bows left handed with a thumb ring so I can cover those weak side shots when saddle hunting. That should be interesting. Keep the good content coming.
I was originally left handed and my second grade teacher made me switch to my right hand. I am also right eye dominant. But some things i have to do right handed and some things i'm better left handed and some things i can do either right or left handed
Great video buddy 👌 I'm naturally right handed so shot rifles and crossbows right handed but can only shoot a bow or a slingshot left handed but I'm right eye dominant so have to slightly shut my right eye it's confusing for most people but it feels totally natural to me 🤷
Great video. In your final group of 5, you did close your right eye on the first 2 shots. You are probably doing it when not consciously thinking of keeping it open. Also, if, in the past you have been using your right eye, your brain probably automatically shuts it when it tries to take over.
When I first took up archery, the first thing the coach did was assess my eye dominance. He insisted that you had to shoot to your dominant eye, not hand. I'm left-eyed and left-handed, so it wasn't a problem for me; but about 10% - 12% of people are cross-dominant. They might struggle a little at first shooting with the "wrong" hand, but soon took to it.
When I was a kid everything that I learned I did right handed like all my friends. My parents told me I always wanted to use my left hand to do things and they tried to brake me of using my left hand. By time I learned to write I was using my left hand. To eat I hold the fork in my left hand but, I swing a bat and a golf club right handed. I shot a bow from a young age and always drew the string right handed but like you the arrow never appeared to fly strait so I compensated somehow to hit where I was looking. Later as a teenager when I started hunting with guns I learned I was left eye dominate and changed to shooting left handed and aiming with both eyes open. I then got into bow hunting and found by switching to a left hand bow I definitely shot more accurately. So now I am 70 years old and I write, eat, shoot guns and bows left handed. But I still golf and use rift handed clubs and if I were to swing a bat it would be right handed but have always wondered if I would have been a better golfer if I would have changed to left handed way back ?
archery is one of the sports that has very nuanced techniques. i wonder are you aiming over the arrow tip or shooting on "instinct/experience"? my guess is the latter one because you are always gripping directly below the arrow. this makes it harder but is it's own area of techniques. for the release your ellbow should naturally go back after losing the tension. you don't open your fingers. you just relax your fingers and the bowstring naturally goes out and the elbow back. if you need to actively open the finger then you have the string too deep on your fingers. (at least that is how i learned it). from the 995th shot at 13:23 you are gripping twice as deep as i do, your middle finger is fully hooking the string and touching your face in the hooked form. this is where your "slap" can come from. your finger needs to open so far that you scratch along your skin for 1-2cm before the string is released. then it is very important to keep the position of the shadow of the bowstring to the wood of the bow consistent. for example as right hand shooter i have the bowstring overlap the wood of the arrow window slightly. it isn't way off to the right or left. if the bowstring is off your arrow will go to the right or left of where you are targeting. (you are twisting the bow or your body and that increases the archers paradox) for my anchor i'm actually hooking my thump behind the chaw bone and have my index finger by the mouth. the hand is pretty open (only the last finger joint is actually bend) and the string is mainly held by the middle fingers tip. (my middle finger is almost 2cm longer than my index finger and 1cm longer than my ring finger). i don't know how much training you did with a coach or what style of archery you do (it seems to be a form of instinct shooting). in general the used technique looks better than many yt archers have (especially the ones that claim to shoot 100+lbs bows (they do but with very bad technique)) so that's a major + point. btw what draw weight are you using? an you hold the bow for around 10 seconds before your arm(or back) starts to hurt or you start to vibrate? if yes then the rule of thumb i learned is that you have the correct strength for your current level. my guess would be around 25 to 30 lbs. too light and you don't get enough tension behind it to get a good release.
My family all shoot trad archery. I am ambi, right eye dominant. My wife left handed right eye dominant. My son, left handed right eye dominant and my daughter, right handed right eye dominant. We all shoot right handed archery but my wife still (with very little practice) kicks all our butts. So, I'm so interested in this conundrum.
I shot right handed from 6-17 years old. I then went almost entirely blind in my right eye, so I switched to shooting left handed. From 18-21yr, I shot left handed Mediterranean and got so much better than I ever did right handed. Then at 22yr I tried out thumb draw, and I shot better than I ever had in any year or technique prior. Now I’m 23yr and I’ve been shooting better than I ever thought possible using left handed thumb draw, and it feels more natural than ever before. It’s WILD what switching hands, techniques, and styles can do for your brain and improvement. It’s SUPER SUPER cool to see you make a video on this process, especially experiencing the same things I experienced. Love the content!
Whether it's a rifle or a bow, you should always shoot the way that corresponds to your dominant eye. I'm right-handed, but I shoot left-handed since my left eye is dominant. It isn't really even uncomfortable for my hands since I've been doing it this way since I started.
Your down to earth honesty makes watching your videos a real pleasure. Stay that guy.
Was about say the same thing! 👍
Just found your channel a few weeks ago. I just recently found interest in building my own bows. I have always been a wood worker and I have always been a hunter but I just never even thought to build my own bow. I find it very peaceful and relaxing and good for my soul. As I watch your videos and learn from you and learn more of the type of person you are I must say I have a lot of respect for you for being a good man and staying true to
Yourself. Money ruins people that chase it
That was very interesting and refreshing to have honesty that is rare on YT.
I‘m 62 and started olympic recurve archery 6 months ago.
I‘ve learned a lot from you !
My Girlfriend ist left eyed and now, inspired by your video 🤗🙏, we will start to change her bow to a left hand version.
Thank you from Germany 🇩🇪
I too am left eye dominant but right handed. I'm fairly descent with a bow shooting right handed, but rifles and shotguns I swap to my left shoulder to take advantage of my dominant eye. It's been years since I did that with archery. After seeing this, I may try it again.
Nice video man, im a 16 year old watching your videos for over two years. Thanks to you I have made countless bows and am now in an archery club. I met such nice people. Keep up the good work. You really inspired me.
Congrats, you're ambidextrous. Meetings are Thursday nights at 8pm.
😂❤
Thanks Kramer. Great archery equipment and even better character 😊
Hey Kramer, love your honesty!
So, I'm an Asiatic archer, and for Chinese (Gao Ying) style I shoot right handed (my dominant hand), but for Mamluk/Turkish Ive started shooting left-handed. This has two benefits. First, I get t train both sides, and work the muscles equally. But the second benefit? Neither interferes with the other! If you're trying to focus on one style and then introduce another, your muscle memory gets in the way - unless you're shooting on the the other side! I started with Chinese and then tried adding Mamluk, and muscle memory and habit got in the way. But by shooting Mamluk on the left, that problem just vanished. Sure, my left-hand side still sucks, and even knocking an arrow feels weird/clumsy, but it's getting better, and most importantly doesn't confuse me when I try to switch styles.
15:10 Loving this video! I am totally right handed but totally left eye dom. I bought a left handed bow and had been second guessing myself if I should change to a right handed bow and just force myself to learn over come my left dom, but this video has shown me the error in that thinking... now I just need to practice with what I have!
Welcome to the club! I'm a lefty, but I discovered that shooting right handed (when I made RH bows) really made me slow down and focus on my form. The same goes for shooting handguns. Looking forward to hearing more in the next video.
I'm left eye and right handed. I have chosen to use my right hand for archery and rifles for a few decades and always wondered if I'm leaving a lot on the table not using my dominant eye. Lately injuries and pain on my right side have me thinking now is the time to start practicing on my left. My kids also have this curse of cross eye dominance. I look forward to your next video.
The struggle is real work hard and you will succeed
I dont think you'd regret switching, shooting to your dominant eye is so nice. I had the same issue, right handed/left eyed, and switched to left hand for archery a few years ago, and it has made it so much more enjoyable.
Kramer, you’re a good man raised by good parents. I rarely comment but your calm, truthful delivery is always appreciated and I wanted to say so. Keep up the good work, and stay true to your convictions.
So true about the eye dominance prevailing over the hand. I've been left handed all my life but my right eye is dominant when it comes down to focussing on a specific spot. When I started archery, I started shooting a left handed bow because I thought that this would be the most natural thing for me. In the first month, I shot a right handed bow "just for fun" and it felt way more natural and more focussed and so I switched over immediately and I've been shooting right handed ever since.
As an archery coach, I have switched many "cross dominant" people to shoot with their non-dominant hand. It's a little weird at first but the vast majority improve much faster. Just getting the correct eye over the arrow allows them to aim more naturally. The best feedback, and I have heard it several times is "it's so much better/easier this way". I'm sorry that you didn't have someone to guide you correctly 20 years ago, but I'm happy that you figured it out and can now use your experience to guide others. In the long run, you are now an ambidextrous archer and will have the advantage of being able to shoot with either hand. Best of luck on your new journey.
Love your thinking outside of the box content and your enthusiasm!
Im a righty, but experience a similar left eye taking over phenomenon and hitting left. Recently started squinting the left eye and my groups are shifting right and tightening up.
Keep up the good work Kramer!
Thank you Kramer for what you saying. Thanks for your honesty! This is whats bring me back to your videos. Just a normal nice guy what I would like to go to the range and shoot little, talk little.... you know. World is full of "superstars" who nobody needs! Thanks and God bless! Greetings from Sweden
25:12 been watching you for like 2 or 3 years I guess. Your videos made me start archery! Your one of the most humble RUclipsrs out there imo. Have good one Kramer.
This video really hit home with me. I am a right handed, right eye dominate person. In 2013 I sustained a left shoulder injury that made it nearly impossible for me to hold a bow of any draw weight out in order to shoot. The doctors said there was too much rotator cuff injury to allow me to have any strength in the forward and upward motions. Depression set in because traditional archery was a large part of my life. After a year I decided to try shooting left handed and it has worked out. It took a lot of practice shooting, but since switching in early 2015 it has become almost as easy as when I shot right handed. I am 72 years old and shoot at least 5 days a week and still love it. I can shoot very light weight bows right handed and do, but I have become better left handed than right handed. You being more left eye dominate will have no problem switching. I have noticed that if i miss a target shooting left handed, 90% of the time I miss to the right because my right eye takes over. I can see that in your shooting too.
awesome kramer. loved the self-reflection. sticking with your 3 sounds like a killer move :)
always pleasing to watch your content.
I shot right handed till my 50’s when my eye dominance changed to my left eye. I got a left handed bow and switched. Now at 75 I can shoot with either hand.
Agreed. Eye dominance is more important than handedness.
This is the Way
Its so refreshing to see you who upholds their moral integrity to the highest regard. SO many content creators on YT would take a quick buck and throw away their morality. Please never change that about you. Mad respect to you, sir.
I will always teach eye dominance over hand dominance with archery . Great video!
I started left hand shooting because I wanted to learn thumb draw and all I had was a right hand bow. I probably am a little better left handed but I switch day to day to keep my muscles balanced. Great video.
Great job lefty. Thanks for the video
Fascinating subject for a video. I am not an avid archer, but in terms of shooting firearms I have always understood that eye dominance is more important than handedness. My son is right handed and left eye dominant. Hunter's safety instructors tried to get him to shoot left handed, but he either couldn't or wouldn't make the switch. He still shoots right handed but uses his left eye for handgun shooting and closes his left eye when shooting a rifle. He consistently out-shoots me with handguns. Dad still wins with a rifle though.
Life long lefty here. Grew up shooting right handed because in the 70s that was all available to me. Switched back to left 3 years ago. A wonderful welcome back to a childhood addiction.
I've always shot right-handed, and I'm right-eye dominant. When I bought my daughter her first bow, my friend in the shop tested if she was right or left-eye dominant, and we went from there. It's great to find someone who wants to sell you the right equipment for you before you spend too much. Turns out she was right-eye dominant, so she has learnt to shoot right-handed.
Welcome to the dark side bro lol! I'm all messed up. Left eye dominant so I shoot bows left handed as well as rifles. Plot twist.. I shoot pistols right handed though. No idea why, but I've trained this way forever and it works.
Welcome to the wonderful world of cross dominance. As a Bowyer I've built ambidextrous wood bows so family and friends can shoot. A 30-lb hickory recurve selfbow is the all-time favorite. You'll be fine!
I have always been right side dominant, hands, feet, and eyes. When I had to switch sides (say shooting a basket or dribbling) it forced me to concentrate more. Batting left handed, forced me to pick the ball up earlier, because my bat speed was slower. I was still able to make positive contact as often, but with less power. Again, forcing myself to concentrate at a higher level. My natural/dominant side I performed effortlessly (maybe lazier) since I didn’t have to concentrate or work as hard to accomplish the same task. Your case is unique, living in a right sided world and being left eye dominant. I would say that from your study, shooting left handed is the right choice in your case. Great video! This should help out a lot of those folks that are left eye dominant. You can send those right hand bows my way so you can make room on your wall for all of those left hand bows that you need to start making 😂! Thanks again for sharing.
Dominant eye is by far the most important thing when it comes to shooting. I was born right handed so that’s my strong hand but when it came to shooting rifles i automatically shot left handed because it felt more natural, not even being aware of eye dominance as a child. When I shot my first bow at a much older age, I felt arm strength was most important so I shot archery right handed over a decade before I learned about importance of eye dominance. I changed over to left handed & was immediately more consistent. Anyone wanting to be their best, must always shoot with their dominant eye.
This is really interesting, I'm starting archery and having cross eye dominance always made things a bit awkward, been wondering for a while if I should shoot left handed or wear an eye patch
to try and train my right eye to be dominant
I switched 6 months ago, the best decision I've ever made in my archery.
I'm right handed and left eye dominant. When I started archery, it felt just as natural to hold the bow in my dominant hand as it did to hold the string with my dominant hand. So I shoot according to my eye dominance.
Thank you for this video. Appreciate your content, and cheering you for your full time endeavor this year.
I have an idea for your next video, how about shooting crossed eyed with both hands? lol
I'd love to see a video of you shooting right handed with your right eye closed, and left handed with left eye closed, and maybe end it with shooting both sides with both eyes open!
I live in urban confined areas and can't legally shoot a bow openly, so I shoot a flat band slingshot instead, and I pretty much have similar challenges as you, and I'm also discovering that shooting from my "weaker" side was more accurate and I spend much lesser time trying to establish a proper sighting. Thanks for validating my thoughts.
Staying Shatterproof. Super smart
Kramer please take a look at your follow through when you shoot left-handed. We don't want you to get any rotator cuff injury, it can become a serious issue later if not fixed early. Love your channel and thank you for knowledge, honesty and entertainment.
Always shot right handed with left eyed dominant due to an eye injury when I was a kid. Now I’ve injured my right shoulder and am considering moving to the other side because of this video. Thanks for this video. Great job.
I'm excited to see this left handed journey. Maybe you try your hand at making and shooting a twin bow so you can switch hands mid round. The flexibility of mind you gain doing it is awesome and the challenge of doing it is fun.
Congratulations bro. Learning new stuff about yourself is always really cool.
I'm cross lateral (left eye, right hand) and used to shoot medieval long bow right handed by placing the arrow head over the target at half-draw, then going to full draw and loosing (I was self taught). It worked well enough to make me one of the better archers in the reenactment society, but I'm sure inconsistency would have appeared at a higher level. Now I'm thinking of taking up modern archery and if I do that I'll be shooting left handed. The hands are much easier to train than the eyes.
I found out over four decades ago I was great shooting with both left & right hands . I pickup my friend left hand bow & shot 10 times & 8 out of 10 shots were dead on & same right handed so I,m 50/50 with which hand I shoot with . I,d only wish I could have a riser made that’s either or that way I could shoot however I wanted if I needed that shot .
I'm a left handed archer/right handed person. I have an astigmatism in my right eye, so my left eye is dominant. I naturally started archery with my left because that's how I used slingshots and it just felt smoother, but being naturally righthanded it bugged me, so I started practicing with my right. I found that I'm 2 different archers because my left hook is shallow, but my right hook is deeper. My left anchor point is lower on my face than my right and of course gap aiming points are different. My right hand form feels clunkier than my left. String walking is of course pretty much the same though. My scores however are still a little further apart than I'd like, but I'm getting there. This dual handed archer thing is also useful in balancing your arm and shoulder sizes and should I have an injury during a competition, there's more chance of me being able to continue (thankfully that scenario hasn't occurred yet). Great video mate. All the best in your quest for 2025.
That’s interesting on the left hand shooting, and on the second half of the video, always stick to your heart and morals buddy, be blessed 🙏🏻
0:04 Disgraphia I am amazed I never heard this term. My teachers literaly met with my parents to explain why they would no longer accept cursive writing on my home work?
Sad part diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD and never heard the term disgraphia?
My dad was ambydextrious totaly. I as a kid several pictures at young age drawing cap pistol left handed and several other task. Never tried shooting left handed. But did temporarily become left eye dominate from cataracts. The cataracts were advanced so didnt realy shoot much afterwards . Went blind for 7 months till surgery. Quit shooting compound with sites and now shooting instintive because lens implants are set for long distance.
Love that you took us through your process. And thanks for sharing disgraphia like I said I never heard the term I always assumed my issue was something from dyslexia.
2 things:
1: it seems like you haven‘t ever done and eye-dominance test. Have you?
2: I love your stance about brand deals!
He has had many eye dominant tests.
Hi Kramer this was a joy to watch. I'm kinda a weirdo in that I'm right handed, but left eye dominate. Whenever I try to shoot rifles, or bows it's like a fight between my eyes for where to aim. I'm pretty good with a pistol though. I'm going to try using a bow lefty after this.
great video, very relateable being a left eye right eye dominant archer, very interesting and entertaining to watch.
Amen my friend. 🙏🏼 🙏🏼
Interesting video Kramer, may have to try left handed, see how it goes. Thanks for the personal insight at the end 🏹
I have been practicing both due to past injuries and my right hand not always working effectively. My biggest problem is my effective draw is well past most commercial bows. I need to get an English longbow or a Mongol type bow capable of a 32" draw. And they're expensive.
I am left eye dominant, but for all I try the bow is like an alien object in my right hand, I can shoot goodish but its awkward as hell no matter the shots
I only have a right handed bow but I tried this myself over the fall season, I was surprised by the good results but definitely needs some work, but trying to learn on a bow not properly set up for left shooting is a big reason I don't stick with doing it more, but I feel I'm more natural with my left
I was born lefthanded and very naturally skilled. But right eye dominant. My dad had 50 lb Fred Bear bow that he let use to learn on. The bow is right hand. So I started shooting right hand at age 7 . I'd never even a laft hand bow until my friend got one . I tried it and sucked at it bad. My release wasn't working at all. Even though I'm very skilled left hand. At that point I figured I'm very good right hand and right eye, why change now. I enjoyed your video and your journey!!
I taught archery at a kids camp back in 1997. I was 23 and had shot archery with accuracy right handed since I was 7 years old. One of the kids asked if I could shoot left handed. I mentioned I never tried so I might miss. The kids said to try anyway so I did. I ended up shooting 1-2 inches to the right of the target. I later learned I was left eye dominant. I tried so more things left handed and it was really awkward for me. I started thinking back to other things I did well when I was younger left handed like floor hockey, and baseball. I tried shooting shotgun left handed for trap and sporting clays, and I need basically to retrain myself from a left handed way.
I got to watch you do that in this video. Looks like it worked out for you :)
Have you tried shooting a left handed bow? I noticed you were shooting a right handed bow.
With shooting/ aiming in general eye dominance only matters if your aiming with both eyes open. Hand dominance matters more in my opinion. The dormant hand typically does fine motor movements better and the non-dominant hand typically do gross motor movements and bracing equal to the dominant hand.
I did this this year also. I'm left dom shooting right handed. So I got my wife a bow and she shoots lefty so I tried. I haven't been able to shoot 1000 arrows yet, but I am not bad.
Truly I just don't have the money to switch lol
How ironic I got served this video tonight. I literally just unboxed a left handed longbow 3 hours ago to try the same thing. Right hand dominant, left eye dominant. Shot right handed for the last 37 years. Time will tell.
Stay true to yourself. And keep the videos coming. STAY SHATTERPROOF.
When I started Asiatic archery like 6 years ago, I trained both hands equally. My thumb would get really sore in the beginning, so switching was convenient. When really started zeroing in my accuracy, I committed to right. I'm still pretty good on the left tho. Also, I shoot slingshots exclusively left handed.
I am ambidextrous when it comes to sports, like yourself. I can shoot the bow with both eyes. But I tend to do waaay more instinctive shooting on my left :) Keep going! :D
All of this eye alignment...your brain compensates automatically. You can't stop it or alter it. Your brain will do everything it can to make things "correct" visually. You're eyes are directly connected to your brain physically. Very interesting and well done video. I look forward to see more about this.
I am a lefty who is right eye dominant. It's taking so much practice, but I'm teaching my brain to use my left eye both eyes open...kind of ignore the "dominant" view. It's getting easier but I imagine relearning to shoot with my right side would be faster.
When I started, I was trying both hands. Right hand seemed better for bow hand. Since my right hand is stronger, it felt like I could hold the bow more securely in my right hand. I always wanted to train ambidextrous with archery as it seemed the only reasonable way to do it safely and usedully. Nowadays, years later, I like the bow in my left hand slightly better, but I think it is mostly due to ease of handling arrow with my right hand.
I'm right handed and left eye dominant. I shoot instinctively with both eyes open. Works pretty good. But a shotgun is a problem! It's the side to side tracking! A clay coming from the right is fine--my right eye looks over the barrel. But if the clay comes from left--my left eye locks on and wont ket go.
You just reinspired me to do the same thing man. Thanks!
i am 43 only ever shot right handed my hole life til 2 months ago ... im naturally lefty but i always got my das used bows growing up realized when i started making bows 4 moths ago i wanted to try shotting lefty and instantly it felt natural and a 100 percent improvement
Have you done the eye dominance test with looking through a hole made with your fingers in front of you? If the picture changes when you close of your eyes then the other eye is dominant. That's what you're explaining with having to close your left eye to shoot right handed. This is how I figured out I'm left eye dominant
I am a new archer with the same mixed dominance. I bought a right and left handed beginner bow to find out what works better
When I first started archery (at over 60) I shot right handed because I'm right handed. Very predominantly so. When I bought my first bow the shop owner had me check which eye was dominant and that turned out to be my left eye. Bringing my new, left handed, bow to the range I discovered my accuracy had improved significantly. If I try to shoot right handed (which is easy enough of course) I tend to miss to the left quite consistently. The only awkward part of shooting left handed, despite my very right handedness, was manipulating the arrow onto the string. This has diminished with practice.
I've also recently been shooting a really tight 2 or 3 shot group then getting outliers. Usually either high or low, often to the right. So... hmmm...
Great job, I also am equally uncoordinated with both 🙌
I am 100% in agreement with you. Ambidextrous and honest. Character.
Kramer keep your integrity. You are only good as your word.
Welcome to the leftie club!! Iam right handed for everything apart from archery! Loving the content !!
My nephew shoots clays, skeet and trap. One day a world champ style guy comes and coaches his group, goes one by one through each shooter and helps them fine tune their technique. Does the "make a diamond with your hands" test with him and pronounced him left handed. Nephew was upset to tears, was very scared of changing, the gun cost big bucks and the stock curves for a right handed shooter and he loved the gun. Anyway, he tries it, loves it, and now shoots left handed and is better for it.
Hi Kramer, I'm left eye dominate and right handed ( Sort of ) and I shoot most everything left handed all my life. It never felt right too shoot any other way.
Sometimes, I wish I was ambidextrous... unfortunately, I'm not.
I learned at a young age to always close my left eye. Some time in my 30s or 40s, I figured out to leave it open.
Though I will 100% agree with you on the issue of a dominant eye when it comes to drawing a bow.
Like you.. it's taken a bit to brace the good and minimize the bad, and try to make them work together.
When I changed from right to left handed, it changed everything. I had given up on archery until I started honoring my left eye dominance.
I switch to shooting trad right handed because I am right eye dominant. And have been shooting compound bows left handed for a few years.
What a great video thanks.
I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve spoken too or coached over the years who have shot right-handed but are in fact left eye dominant. After spending time with some of them, they find shot far better left-handed, with some swapping fulltime.
I’ll admit I’m one of the weird nerds who can write left or right-handed and have done so since a child. I often swap hands when working in the shed with tools. I think the most embarrassing thing was being out with friends at a Chinese meal and half way through the meal I swapped hand and picked up wrong set of chopsticks. I’ve found using my SLR and DSLR cameras I hold it to me left eye as it’s the stronger eye.
In tests I’m right-handed and right eye dominant. But and this is the really freaky thing. If I have been out with my camera and then pick up a bow my shooting is way off and I have to close my left eye until I settle back to shooting right handed.
I have and do occasionally shoot left handed , especially when coaching or trying out bows and for equipment reviews and testing. I might have to do the 1000 arrow thing myself and see how it goes.
Anyone thanks for the video.
PS like you I will always try and do the right thing when writing or recording material for podcast or RUclips with reviews of kit and the like . I give my honest opinion and that’s not always gone down well with some. Keep going and happy new year.
Yeah❤ I'm doing a lot right handed, but writing. My grandson shot my left hand into pieces (football or Soccer). So during this healing process, I used the right a lot more. No problem, in fact, I now get confused at times.
MAY I PLEASE HAVE A RIGHT HANDED BOW!!!???😭🤣 I would love one of your hand crafted bows and since your switching!👀 I would like to possibly take one off your hands😂
Great set of morals on you! You have got me thinking i may be better left, i always played hockey left, could bat either way. I trained to shoot using a lefthand bowbut in my right hand....im all kinds of messed up haha🤣
You wanna run for president? I mean for real man. Morals, integrity, and not compromising them for money! Kramer 2029 let's roll!
Great video. Guessing you are more cross dominant than ambidextrous. I am the same. Kind of whatever hand I started doing something with becomes dominant in that activity. For example I throw a ball left handed but throw a frisbee right handed. Hand tools I can use either hand. I am slightly right eye dominant so I shoot right handed bows. Thinking of trying to learn to shoot my right handed bows left handed with a thumb ring so I can cover those weak side shots when saddle hunting. That should be interesting. Keep the good content coming.
I was originally left handed and my second grade teacher made me switch to my right hand. I am also right eye dominant. But some things i have to do right handed and some things i'm better left handed and some things i can do either right or left handed
Great video buddy 👌
I'm naturally right handed so shot rifles and crossbows right handed but can only shoot a bow or a slingshot left handed but I'm right eye dominant so have to slightly shut my right eye it's confusing for most people but it feels totally natural to me 🤷
Welcome to the club!
Great video. In your final group of 5, you did close your right eye on the first 2 shots. You are probably doing it when not consciously thinking of keeping it open. Also, if, in the past you have been using your right eye, your brain probably automatically shuts it when it tries to take over.
When I first took up archery, the first thing the coach did was assess my eye dominance. He insisted that you had to shoot to your dominant eye, not hand. I'm left-eyed and left-handed, so it wasn't a problem for me; but about 10% - 12% of people are cross-dominant. They might struggle a little at first shooting with the "wrong" hand, but soon took to it.
When I was a kid everything that I learned I did right handed like all my friends. My parents told me I always wanted to use my left hand to do things and they tried to brake me of using my left hand. By time I learned to write I was using my left hand. To eat I hold the fork in my left hand but, I swing a bat and a golf club right handed. I shot a bow from a young age and always drew the string right handed but like you the arrow never appeared to fly strait so I compensated somehow to hit where I was looking. Later as a teenager when I started hunting with guns I learned I was left eye dominate and changed to shooting left handed and aiming with both eyes open. I then got into bow hunting and found by switching to a left hand bow I definitely shot more accurately. So now I am 70 years old and I write, eat, shoot guns and bows left handed. But I still golf and use rift handed clubs and if I were to swing a bat it would be right handed but have always wondered if I would have been a better golfer if I would have changed to left handed way back ?
archery is one of the sports that has very nuanced techniques.
i wonder are you aiming over the arrow tip or shooting on "instinct/experience"? my guess is the latter one because you are always gripping directly below the arrow. this makes it harder but is it's own area of techniques.
for the release your ellbow should naturally go back after losing the tension. you don't open your fingers. you just relax your fingers and the bowstring naturally goes out and the elbow back. if you need to actively open the finger then you have the string too deep on your fingers. (at least that is how i learned it). from the 995th shot at 13:23 you are gripping twice as deep as i do, your middle finger is fully hooking the string and touching your face in the hooked form. this is where your "slap" can come from. your finger needs to open so far that you scratch along your skin for 1-2cm before the string is released.
then it is very important to keep the position of the shadow of the bowstring to the wood of the bow consistent. for example as right hand shooter i have the bowstring overlap the wood of the arrow window slightly. it isn't way off to the right or left. if the bowstring is off your arrow will go to the right or left of where you are targeting. (you are twisting the bow or your body and that increases the archers paradox)
for my anchor i'm actually hooking my thump behind the chaw bone and have my index finger by the mouth. the hand is pretty open (only the last finger joint is actually bend) and the string is mainly held by the middle fingers tip. (my middle finger is almost 2cm longer than my index finger and 1cm longer than my ring finger).
i don't know how much training you did with a coach or what style of archery you do (it seems to be a form of instinct shooting). in general the used technique looks better than many yt archers have (especially the ones that claim to shoot 100+lbs bows (they do but with very bad technique)) so that's a major + point.
btw what draw weight are you using? an you hold the bow for around 10 seconds before your arm(or back) starts to hurt or you start to vibrate? if yes then the rule of thumb i learned is that you have the correct strength for your current level. my guess would be around 25 to 30 lbs. too light and you don't get enough tension behind it to get a good release.
Do you have any Ambidextrous bow building guides??
My family all shoot trad archery. I am ambi, right eye dominant. My wife left handed right eye dominant. My son, left handed right eye dominant and my daughter, right handed right eye dominant. We all shoot right handed archery but my wife still (with very little practice) kicks all our butts. So, I'm so interested in this conundrum.
Left hand gang! 👊
What a great video, thanks
I shot right handed from 6-17 years old. I then went almost entirely blind in my right eye, so I switched to shooting left handed. From 18-21yr, I shot left handed Mediterranean and got so much better than I ever did right handed. Then at 22yr I tried out thumb draw, and I shot better than I ever had in any year or technique prior. Now I’m 23yr and I’ve been shooting better than I ever thought possible using left handed thumb draw, and it feels more natural than ever before.
It’s WILD what switching hands, techniques, and styles can do for your brain and improvement.
It’s SUPER SUPER cool to see you make a video on this process, especially experiencing the same things I experienced. Love the content!
Whether it's a rifle or a bow, you should always shoot the way that corresponds to your dominant eye. I'm right-handed, but I shoot left-handed since my left eye is dominant. It isn't really even uncomfortable for my hands since I've been doing it this way since I started.