I'm cross eye dominant wondering how others who are cope when shooting.
July 20, 2019, 02:04 PM
sns3guppy
I shoot with both eyes open. If I'm shooting with the right hand, I sight with the right eye. If shooting with the left hand, I sight with the left eye.
July 20, 2019, 02:16 PM
giuseppepepperoni
My son is right handed and left eye dominant. When he went through the academy, they taught him to lay his head on his right shoulder and turn to the (right) rear slightly so his left eye lined up, and shoot right handed.
It worked well for him (but looks a little strange). Personally, I would have had him shoot left handed but I wasn't his instructor.
I taught a woman to shoot 2 weeks ago. She was the same - right handed left eye dominant. She's also an archery instructor for the girl scouts.
We did like she does in archery - shot left handed. She did a fantastic job.
I think if you can go to your dominant eye and shoot with that same hand, you'll be better off.
I guess my answer would be use the method that works best for you.
g
July 20, 2019, 02:50 PM
motoboy
I have been shooting the way Lucas talks about in this vid for the last bunch of years. I only wish that I could actually shoot like him !
July 20, 2019, 03:37 PM
sigfreund
Although someone will probably chime in and say I’m doing it all wrong, for handgun shooting I cannot understand why there is any sort of deal at all, much less a big one. I’m not cross dominant, but when I want to shoot with my nondominant eye, I simply move the gun in my normal isosceles stance and grip over to that eye, align the sights, and shoot. No contortions, no sacrificing any chickens, no humming airs from Aïda, just do it. And it’s not as if shooting with the nondominant eye is something I’ve only considered in theory. Because I cannot focus on the front sight with my dominant right eye, when I want a precision shot that requires the sight to be sharp and clear, I use my left eye, even when shooting at speed.
Cross dominant shooting with a long gun is another matter entirely that I won’t attempt to get into, but when I teach a cross dominant handgun shooter, I just say, “Move the gun over to your dominant eye.”
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July 20, 2019, 05:23 PM
SIGWolf
quote:
Originally posted by motoboy: I have been shooting the way Lucas talks about in this vid for the last bunch of years. I only wish that I could actually shoot like him !
Thanks! I had found this and watched it. He has some good suggestions.
July 20, 2019, 05:23 PM
SIGWolf
quote:
Originally posted by sigfreund: Although someone will probably chime in and say I’m doing it all wrong, for handgun shooting I cannot understand why there is any sort of deal at all, much less a big one. I’m not cross dominant, but when I want to shoot with my nondominant eye, I simply move the gun in my normal isosceles stance and grip over to that eye, align the sights, and shoot. No contortions, no sacrificing any chickens, no humming airs from Aïda, just do it. And it’s not as if shooting with the nondominant eye is something I’ve only considered in theory. Because I cannot focus on the front sight with my dominant right eye, when I want a precision shot that requires the sight to be sharp and clear, I use my left eye, even when shooting at speed.
Cross dominant shooting with a long gun is another matter entirely that I won’t attempt to get into, but when I teach a cross dominant handgun shooter, I just say, “Move the gun over to your dominant eye.”
That's one of the suggestions from the guy in the video above.
July 20, 2019, 05:36 PM
egregore
I did a little experiment, covering alternating eyes while holding the handgun in a normal stance, and found that while the front sight appeared to shift, I just had to turn the gun a little bit to bring it back in line. Cross-eye dominance is a much bigger problem with long guns.
July 20, 2019, 06:22 PM
Steve in PA
My wife is cross eye dominant; right handed, left eye. All she does is move the gun in front of her left eye. She shoots quite well.
Steve "The Marines I have seen around the world have, the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps." Eleanor Roosevelt, 1945
July 20, 2019, 06:53 PM
Orive 8
My wife is also cross eye dominant, she shoots right handed and uses her left eye.
She shoots shotguns and rifles left handed. She found that working the pump on her shotty's was actually easier with her dominant hand.
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July 20, 2019, 06:57 PM
RHINOWSO
I'm right handed, left eye dominant.
All you do is grip the pistol, align sights with dominant eye, regardless of your hand or eye.
It's basically a non-issue with pistol.
For rifles it took some mental time to shoot without closing my dominant eye (I shoot rifles right handed as well), but now it's also a non-issue.
July 20, 2019, 10:07 PM
henryarnaud
Right-handed, left-eye dominant. I shoot with both eyes open, but I turn my head slightly to the right to line up my dominant eye with the sights.
Don't have any long guns, but when I get around to getting one I'll probably try it as a lefty.
"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." Sherlock Holmes
July 21, 2019, 05:54 AM
henryaz
quote:
Originally posted by RHINOWSO: I'm right handed, left eye dominant.
All you do is grip the pistol, align sights with dominant eye, regardless of your hand or eye.
It's basically a non-issue with pistol.
That's the way it is for me. There is no thought involved, nor "adjustments" to my position, the sights just naturally line up with my dominant left eye (right handed).
When in doubt, mumble
July 21, 2019, 07:17 AM
SigM4
^^^Same
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Complacency sucks…
July 21, 2019, 09:15 AM
Old Vark WSO
^^^ Ditto. Although I shoot long guns left handed - feels very natural. Ever since I was six or seven - Dad handed me the Remington Scoremaster .22 for the first time and I put it up to my left shoulder. He asked if that was how I wanted to hold it. I said yes - he never tried to change it. He was a very good shooter.
____________________________________________________ Easily distracted by shiny things
July 21, 2019, 03:02 PM
GP229
quote:
Originally posted by sigfreund: Although someone will probably chime in and say I’m doing it all wrong, for handgun shooting I cannot understand why there is any sort of deal at all, much less a big one.
I'm cross eye dominant and couldn't agree more.
July 21, 2019, 03:41 PM
powermad
Right handed and right eye dominant but use my left eye. I have something going on in my right eye that I'm not able to get a clear focus with.
With my right eye I can't get a clear front post with one or both eyes open. I just switched my stance to line up with my left eye and can see the front post clear with one or both eyes open.
July 21, 2019, 03:50 PM
BuddyChryst
I’m cross dominant. For pistol, it’s just a slight tilt of the pistol or shift it over. Move the pistol, not your head. Admittedly, the reason I’m cross dominant relates to torticollis I had from the womb and my head still naturally slightly tilts right anyway, so I don’t have to tilt the pistol quite as much.
For rifle, my right eye isn’t so bad I can’t do it. But there are some challenges. Plain red dots kinda turn into slightly angled dashes. The EOTech circle dot reticle helps focus a lot. Even with that, and with scope crosshairs, after a bit my eye looses focus and I have to close and reopen or look away to refocus. Had I known I was cross dominant when I started shooting I may have tried being a lefty. But it’s not too bad to be insurmountable for me. It does mean that two eyes open doesn’t work well.
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July 21, 2019, 05:03 PM
DaBigBR
quote:
Originally posted by giuseppepepperoni: My son is right handed and left eye dominant. When he went through the academy, they taught him to lay his head on his right shoulder and turn to the (right) rear slightly so his left eye lined up, and shoot right handed.
It worked well for him (but looks a little strange). Personally, I would have had him shoot left handed but I wasn't his instructor.
The way your son was trained is consistent with how I have trained and our academy trains cross eye dominant shooters. Usually they don't possess refined enough motor skills to learn to shoot lefty at a pace consistent with the rest of their class. While it is aspirational to build competency shooting with the non dominant hand, it takes more work to truly be proficient than there is time to go through in a typical academy firearms program.
I have seen exactly two shooters who were trained to shoot handguns with the non dominant hand. One was absolutely terrible and switched back to the dominant hand to save his ass so he could qualify. The other was switched by the army and spent about ten years with us before deciding he wanted to try shooting dominant hand. Scores went up.
For long guns, though, we'll generally have them shoot on the shoulder that matches the dominant eye. The long gun mechanics are more forgiving for the non dominant hand and arm.
July 21, 2019, 08:57 PM
1KPerDay
Right handed, left eye dominant. Shoot handguns righty, long guns lefty. Like Larry Vickers, incidentally.
And hickok45, except he shoots long guns from his right shoulder with his weak eye.
Handguns, basically move the gun over a little to the left and/or turn my head a little to the right. Both eyes open.
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