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Right handed but left eye dominant, how do you handle it?

4K views 70 replies 48 participants last post by  XDRoX 
#1 ·
I took my son who's 8 shooting for the first time yesterday.
He's left eye dominant making shooting a right handed rifle pretty difficult.

How should I handle this? Can someone learn to focus out of their right eye even though LED? Should I have him shoot rifles left handed but pistols right handed?

He had no problems with the handguns because he was obviously sighting with his left eye. But the rifles were difficult.

Will he ever be able to shoot both eyes open right handed? Does it matter?

This is all new to me so any advice is appreciated.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I'm in the same boat - RH and left-eye dominant, discovered when I started shooting around 9 years old (44 now). I would encourage you to do the same thing my dad did - don't make too big a deal of it. Have him shoot rifles LH, and handguns RH (unless he's more comfortable doing both LH.) I started off thinking that I could shoot rifles right-handed, but it didn't take long to realize that wasn't going to work well. I recall using an eye patch to block my right eye for a while.

Don't worry about getting LH rifles for him for a while. Have him use what you have, as often as you can. He will adapt. I've found that most left eye dominant shooters can operate RH rifles well enough (scopes on a RH bolt-action make it harder for a LH shooter to use, but it's doable.) Repetition and patience... He will probably be frustrated for a while - being RH, it takes a while to get comfortable with holding a rifle LH.

Good luck!
 
#5 ·
I'm right handed and left eye dominant.

Handguns I shoot right handed, right eye with pistols. I'm not sure how much I had to "persevere" doing this, but I shoot what most would consider very well, especially for a once or twice every month or two kind of shooter.

Rifles I've learned to shoot both. I'm a little better at 100+ yards left handed prone/bench, and a lot better right handed with semi rapid fire/cqb kind of stuff.
 
#9 ·
I'm left handed, right eyed. I shoot long guns off my right shoulder. Unless its a right handed bolt action (and that can be learned off the left shoulder), I'd have him shoot long guns off his left shoulder. My dad was right handed and left eyed. He just closed his left eye when shooting long guns.
 
#13 ·
It doesn't matter near as much with a pistol. You can use whichever eye you want since the sights are at the end of your arm. It's a little harder when you have to press your mouth into the stock of a rifle to get your left eye over to align the sights, if shooting right handed. Personally, if it was my son, I'd have him close his left eye if he holds righty. He can adapt, especially since he's only 8. An acquaintance of mine lost the use of his right hand in a work accident and racks his pistol slides by sticking the rear sight in the edge of his jeans' pocket and pushing the gun down. He was right handed, and he's a pretty decent shot, now.

A person can adapt.
 
#11 ·
Also "cross dominant." Had trouble when I first started shooting until I realized I was left eye dominant. Things got much easier once I started using the correct eye.
I've read that it's easy to change eye dominance if you want to go that route. Glad I didn't because I had to have a medical device implanted in my right shoulder making it useless for rifles, and the chemo messed up my right eye.
 
#12 ·
I have this problem too. I duck hunt, deer hunt, and shoot handguns and archery. The best method for me, but not always practical when hunting, is to wear clear glasses and put a piece of tape over my left eye. In general, I just got into the habit of closing the left eye when aiming. Even works with a shotgun, but takes a hair longer to get on target.
 
#14 ·
My daughter (pictured in my Avatar) is right handed and left eye dominant. It hasn't been a problem with "her" pistol - she just aims with her left eye - I haven't been able to get her to shoot with both eyes open yet. Rifle is still a bit awkward. The scope on the rifle sits kind of high, so she moves her head over a little so she can shoot left-eyed (I'm looking for a better solution, but for now it seems to be working for her).
 
#15 ·
Wow, thanks for all the advice so far. Seems like there's not one answer. Don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing :D Sometimes it's nice to just hear, "This is how you should do it." :D

When I taught my nephew to shoot years ago I used an eyepatch and that seemed to work OK. To this day he just closes one eye to shoot.

Keep the advice coming guys. I will PM Hickok45 as well. Thanks!
 
#18 ·
Seems like there's not one answer.
That's what's tough...there really isn't. I don't know how much $$ you can invest, but you could look in to off camber or off set scope mounts and sights. The scope mounts would bring the scope over to allow left eye and right hand shooting. Eye patch, closing the left eye, or a modified stock, even, should he want to continue to shoot left eye and hold right hand. There's a few things he can do.
 
#16 ·
Same here. Didn't even realize it until a couple of years ago. I have always closed my dominate eye and shot one eye'd (thought everyone did that). I now tilt my head like Hickock45 if I want to use the dominate eye. Doesn't really matter, I shoot just as well with either... but I can't shoot at all with both open.
 
#21 ·
I haven't uploaded the pictures yet but we had a great time. He shot a Ruger 10/22 although it was a little long for him. He is a pretty tall 8 year old but he couldn't really shoulder it properly. He also shot a Walther P22 which he loved and my full size S&W 586 with mouse fart reloads that I loaded. Feels like a 22 with my reloads.

We really need to hit the backyard with BB guns and air rifles before we go shooting again. We especially need to get this eye dominance thing sorted out. But he loved his first time out. We went to the desert so we were the only ones around.
 
#22 ·
I'm right handed, left eye dominant, and I started shooting very young with a BB gun. Without coaching, I learned to shoot long guns right handed with the right eye. Its too difficult to see the sights on a long gun with the left eye; its awkward, unnatural. Its also awkward and unnatural for me to shoot left handed.

I shot rifles and shotguns for many years before taking up handguns. Because it's easy to get a good handgun sight picture with the right hand/left eye, and without knowing any better, that's how I have always shot them. Honestly, I don't think it makes a lot of difference with handguns.

Experts will probably say its best to teach young shooters to use their dominant eye for all firearms, and it might be easy to do with an 8 year old.
 
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#23 ·
You Can Correct Cross Eye Dominance!

Yes, correct it.

1. Look over your sights with Both Eyes Open. (This will give you Two sight pictures.)
2. Blink your Left Eye Closed. (This will give you the correct sight picture.)
3. Open the left eye while still Focused On The Right Eye. (This will develop Right eye dominance.)
4. Repeat.
5. Repeat some more.
6. etc.

Every time the Left eye takes over, blink it, to reestablish the right eye dominance.

Very soon, the brain will learn the new trick.

My Right eye now is like a targeting laser. It just comes on and works.




Nutter
 
#24 ·
I took my son who's 8 shooting for the first time yesterday.
He's left eye dominant making shooting a right handed rifle pretty difficult.

How should I handle this? Can someone learn to focus out of their right eye even though LED? Should I have him shoot rifles left handed but pistols right handed?

He had no problems with the handguns because he was obviously sighting with his left eye. But the rifles were difficult.

Will he ever be able to shoot both eyes open right handed? Does it matter?

This is all new to me so any advice is appreciated.
I lost vision in my right eye 10 years ago and I used to be right-eye dominant. It's no problem with a handgun because I hold the gun in my right hand and just move it in front of my left eye. --no problem there.

But for me it's very hard to shoot a rifle or a shogun left handed and do something like work a bolt action rapidly even with a left-handed bolt or shooting a lever action or a pump from my left shoulder. Semi-autos are better but after a lifetime of shooting from the right shoulder, it's very hard to learn to shoot from the left shoulder but I've been told it's possible to learn with enough training.

That's the bad news for me but the good news for you and your son is that apparently it's possible to change eye dominance and it's not that hard to do. And I't something you should do becaseu not only will it help you son toe be able to shoot but it might help him in other ways as well, but you might want to get a professional opinion.

See the link or google Ocular dominance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocular_dominance
 
#25 ·
I'm right handed and left eye dominant.
Rifles - I just shut my left and use my right. I was a competitive smallbore shooter in high school, so I don't think using the "wrong" eye hurt me much. Used to be able to put 100/100 .22s into a dime at 25 yards, with peep sights, all day long.
Pistols - I use my left eye and a Weaver stance, bringing the sights over to my left.
Shotgun - both eyes open.
 
#27 ·
just have him do whatever is most comfortable. i'm left eye dominant and i do everything requiring two hands (long guns, baseball bat, golf) left-handed, and everything requiring one hand (throwing, pistol, writing) right-handed. for handgun i just align the sights using my left eye, no big deal. i don't cock my head or do anything weird, just bring the sights up aligned with my left eye. while i do have some lefty long guns, a lot are righty and again no problem.
 
#28 ·
I used to be cross eye dominant. All I did was shoot with one eye closed. Problem solved. I had an excellent instructor who handled the same problem the same way.
Then, upon reading this thread, I did the eye dominance check and noticed that it has changed. Maybe it's from 53 years of shooting with one eye closed, maybe I was hit with gamma ray radiation like the Spiderman or the Incredible Hulk. But, according to wikipedia, you can change it (and I never bothered with an eye patch).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocular_dominance
wikipedia said:
It is possible to change eye dominance by actively suppressing the visual field of thedominant eye. This is achieved with an eye patch bandage that covers the dominant eye, with adhesive tape around the patch perimeter.
 
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#29 ·
I'm right handed and left eye dominant.
Rifles - I just shut my left and use my right. I was a competitive smallbore shooter in high school, so I don't think using the "wrong" eye hurt me much. Used to be able to put 100/100 .22s into a dime at 25 yards, with peep sights, all day long.
Pistols - I use my left eye and a Weaver stance, bringing the sights over to my left.
Shotgun - both eyes open.
Shotgun, both eyes open shooting right handed?
 
#30 ·
I'm in the same boat. When I finally sought out someone to teach me to shoot he asked me which was my dominant eye, not dominant hand.

He had me shoot with the dominant eye and within an hour I went from shooting 24"+ groups to about 10" and I continued to improve from there. Granted part of that was proper instruction, but I'm a firm believer in shooting with the dominant eye.

Cool part is, now that it's a few years later I can shoot almost equally well with either hand.
 
#31 ·
I'm about as un-expert about this issue as anyone can be, so is there a really good reason for shooting based on the dominant eye rather than adjusting to accommodate ones dominant hand?

As a right hander, shooting a long gun left handed is terribly awkward and unnatural. It seems like training ones eye to accommodate the dominant hand would be more 'natural'.
 
#33 ·
If you can sit through it, just watch the movie "Firebirds".

wp
 
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