Cross-dominance between eye and hand worsens accuracy

8 studies · 1,467 archers measured

Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

The direct measurements are few, and their sign depends on who is shooting. Among 82 sport science students picking up a bow for the first time, with a beginner's recurve and no sight at 7 m, those whose dominant eye and hand were on the same side scored more than the cross-dominant ones (F = 27.47, p < 0.001). Among trained archers the advantage does not show: in 1986, across 81 American archers split into four score levels, cross-dominance did not separate the levels (p > 0.05), although none of the nine world-class archers was cross-dominant; in 2009, in questionnaires from 1,135 French archers, the share of cross-dominant archers stayed between 15 and 19% from club to international level (p = 0.19), and the authors think the sight cancels out the beginners' disadvantage. A 2022 systematic review takes up these same two samples (34.1% cross-dominant among the beginners, 17.7% among regular archers) and warns that the reference value for the general population is not settled (estimates run from 24 to 41%) and that every study is observational, with a moderate to high risk of bias: the difference in frequency may come from who gives up, not from lower accuracy. The studies on archers therefore point in opposite directions, and nobody has followed cross-dominant and same-side archers over time on the same training.

Also phrased as: "cross-dominant archer"; "cross-dominance in archery"; "left eye dominant right-handed archer"; "should I shoot left-handed if I am left eye dominant"; "eye dominance and accuracy"

In practice

Archers are often told that if their dominant eye is on the opposite side to their dominant hand they should switch to a bow for the other hand, or close one eye, because otherwise their aiming will never be accurate.

Evidence

1986
Against Archers Published later

81 American recurve archers split into four score levels: cross-dominance between eye and hand is not distributed differently across the levels (chi-square with 3 degrees of freedom = 5.19, p > 0.05). None of the nine world-class archers in the sample was cross-dominant, a trend in the expected direction that stops at p < 0.16.

A Psychobiological Study of Archery Performance · Daniel M. Landers, Stephen H. Boutcher, Min Q. Wang
2009
For Archers Published later

82 right-handed sport science students with no experience of aiming sports, after 30 minutes of instruction with a beginner's recurve and no sight: ten arrows at 7 m on a 60 cm target face and ten on a 40 cm one. The 54 whose dominant eye and hand were on the same side scored more than the 28 cross-dominant ones (F = 27.47, p < 0.001); eye dominance was estimated with a single test, the finger-pointing one.

Interaction of Hand Preference with Eye Dominance on Accuracy in Archery · Sylvain Laborde, Fabrice E. M. Dosseville, Pascale Leconte, Nicolas Margas
2009
Against Archers Published later

Same paper, second part: a postal questionnaire to 1,323 French archers from club to international level, 1,135 analysed by level. The share of cross-dominant archers, by the laterality they use when shooting, is 19.0% at club level, 14.9% at regional level and 19.4% at national and international level, with no difference between levels (p = 0.19; with everyday laterality p = 0.16). The authors read the contrast with the beginners as the effect of the sight, which would cancel out the disadvantage.

Interaction of Hand Preference with Eye Dominance on Accuracy in Archery · Sylvain Laborde, Fabrice E. M. Dosseville, Pascale Leconte, Nicolas Margas
2016
Context Archers Published later

A vision examination protocol with a pilot study on 57 adult recurve and compound archers: combining dominant hand, dominant eye and aiming with one or both eyes gives eight shooting configurations, and many elite archers also use inconsistent ones. It reports no frequencies and no comparison with score.

Vision Examination Protocol for Archery Athletes Along With an Introduction to Sports Vision · Seyed Farzad Mohammadi, Mohammad Aghazade Amiri, Homa Naderifar, Elham Rakhshi, Banafsheh Vakilian, Elham Ashrafi, et al.
2016
Context Archers Published later

A master's thesis on 29 experienced Irish archers and 30 non-archers: among the archers 24 are right eye dominant and 5 left, among the controls 24 and 6; right-handers are 25 of 29 against 26 of 30. Archers who shoot at a good level are not distributed by dominant eye differently from people who do not shoot.

The Impact of Expertise in Archery on the Attentional Biases of Perceptual and Representational Pseudoneglect · Kate A. Forte
2021
Context Archers Published later

75 German competitive archers: right eye dominant in 69.3%, left in 29.3%, undetermined in 1.3%, with the same distribution among those who train on one side only and those who train on both (chi-square 3.0, not significant). It shows how common the case is, not whether it costs points.

Unilateral and bilateral training competitive archers differ in some potentially unhealthy neck-shoulder region movement behaviour characteristics · Mareike Schmitt, Lutz Vogt, Jan Wilke, Daniel Niederer
2022
For Review Published later

Systematic review of 14 studies and 2,759 athletes: in aiming sports three studies point towards the same-side profile. Cross-dominance is 34.1% among archery beginners and 17.7% among 1,323 regular archers; among 536 Spanish elite athletes, 6.9% of sport shooters are cross-dominant, a prevalence of 9% (95% CI 2.69-15.31) against 55% (95% CI 44.03-65.97) in golf; in 37 biathletes the same-side profile shoots more accurately. In 20 beginner darts players, by contrast, there is no difference between the two profiles.

Could hand-eye laterality profiles affect sport performance? A systematic review · Miquel Moreno, Lluis Capdevila, Josep-Maria Losilla
2022
Context Review Published later

Same review, the limits it states: no study has measured a direct effect of cross-dominance on the performance of trained athletes, and the evidence for the same-side profile comes mostly from its greater frequency among those who reach a good level. The reference value for the general population is not settled (34.8% in a meta-analysis of 47 studies, 24-27% in another, 41.4% in a sample of 1,005 people); 78.5% of the studies are cross-sectional, none is experimental, and the risk of bias is moderate to high in most. Methods for establishing laterality are not standardised.

Could hand-eye laterality profiles affect sport performance? A systematic review · Miquel Moreno, Lluis Capdevila, Josep-Maria Losilla
2022
Context Archers Published later

A basic archery course for adult beginners, all shooting right-handed bows, in a regional journal: the 7 who were left eye dominant made more letter errors than the 19 who were right eye dominant on an attention test (errors 19.4 ± 28.7 against 13.8 ± 12.8; error rate 12.1 ± 9.0 against 8.4 ± 5.5; p < 0.05), but their attention scores (464.5 against 461.5) and concentration scores (149.8 against 142.4) were not lower. It does not measure accuracy on the target.

Temel Okçuluk Eğitiminin Dikkat ve Konsantrasyon Yetisine Etkisi · Üstün Türker
2023
Context Archers Published later

14 archers from the Osaka university club, with three to five years of practice: the eye used to look through the sight was the right one in all of them, and in every case it matched the dominant eye, established with the hole-in-the-card test. Nobody aims with the non-dominant eye, so the study does not compare the two cases.

Effect of binocular vision during target shooting in archery · Masakazu Hirota, Tatsuhiro Hanai, Takeshi Morimoto

Status history

1986 Contradicted The first study on archers goes against the claim: across 81 American recurve archers split into four score levels, cross-dominance between eye and hand does not separate the levels (chi-square 5.19, p > 0.05). One detail points the expected way, with no cross-dominant archer among the nine of world class, but it is a trend that stops at p < 0.16. A single study, and it runs against: contradicted.
2009 Contested The first result in favour arrives, and the same paper brings a second one against. Among 82 right-handed beginners, with a recurve and no sight at 7 m and ten arrows at each of two target faces, those with eye and hand on the same side score more than the cross-dominant ones (F = 27.47, p < 0.001). In questionnaires from 1,135 French archers, on the other hand, the share of cross-dominant archers stays between 15 and 19% from club to international level (p = 0.19), and the authors suggest that the sight cancels out the disadvantage. With data on archers both for and against, the status becomes contested.
2016 Contested Two descriptive studies add context without settling the question. In 57 adult recurve and compound archers, combining dominant hand, dominant eye and aiming with one or both eyes gives eight shooting configurations, and some elite archers use inconsistent ones. In 29 experienced Irish archers eye dominance is distributed as it is in 30 non-archers, with 5 and 6 people respectively who are left eye dominant: those who get good at shooting do not seem to be selected by their eye. Neither study measures accuracy, and the status remains contested.
2022 Contested A systematic review of 14 studies and 2,759 athletes lines up the data: among the French beginners and regular archers of 2009 cross-dominance is 34.1% and 17.7%, among Spanish elite sport shooters 6.9%, against 55% among the golfers of the same sample; in biathlon the same-side profile is more accurate, in darts nothing changes. The same review warns, though, that the reference value for the general population is not settled, with estimates from 24 to 41%, that every study is observational with a moderate to high risk of bias, and that a different frequency is not an effect on performance. In the same year, on a course for adult beginners shooting right-handed bows, the seven who are left eye dominant make more letter errors on an attention test than the nineteen who are right eye dominant, without lower attention scores; since 2021 we also know that about three in ten of 75 German competitive archers are left eye dominant. No new data on the accuracy of trained archers: contested.
2023 Contested In 14 Japanese university archers the eye looking through the sight is always the right one, and in every case it is the dominant eye. Nobody in the sample aims with the non-dominant eye, so the study shows how common it is to line up eye and sight among archers with a few years of practice, not what it costs not to. The status remains contested.

Related studies

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Research lines

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Cite

APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Cross-dominance between eye and hand worsens accuracy (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/cross-dominance-eye-hand

BibTeX

@misc{campagna2026_dominanzacrociataprecisione,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Cross-dominance between eye and hand worsens accuracy},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/cross-dominance-eye-hand},
  note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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