Right Handed but Left eye dominant--Why way?

[Bama]

Have friend who ask for help. His daughter is right handed but left eye dominant. She is wanting to start shooting. The question is should she be taught to shoot left handed or taught to use non dominant eye? Which and why. If you have any directions to articles or where to find information on the subject it would be appreciated by her dad. Would like to get her started off in the sport the best way possible. Thanks in advance.

[nagantguy]

Shooting truly is the ambidextrous sport,very few muscles or fine motor skills involved we teach to shoot on the side with the best eye. It is very easy to train one finger on the former "offside"hand

[GhostHawk]

Starting out I would say teach her lefty.

For an older person who used to be right handed, right eye dom, then finds left eye is stepping up as right eye slips. That is a harder fight.

Pretty easy to go either way with many pistols.

Let her decide what is comfortable.

[claude]

That depends on a lot of things, such as how good is the vision in the non dominant eye, is she going to be taught to shoot both eyes open, what action she will be using.

The reason I say that is because I have always been Left eye dominant and shot righty until the right eye was no longer able. I either had to switch eyes or quit shooting, and shooting righty with the left eye sucks. I was always a bolt shooter, after the eye went bad I switched to mostly pumps and levers, and do all my rifle and shotgun work lefty, I still shoot righty with handguns but use the left eye. With the crossover, shooting shotguns both eyes open left eye dominant right shoulder arms was a joke, I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn so quit using shotguns for about 45 years.

Being extremely right handed it was a challenge to switch over to lefty, but well worth the effort.

If the girl really wants to shoot, teach her to shoot lefty from the beginning, teach her to shoot both eyes open, and use guns that lend themselves readily to lefties. If she insists on shooting righty, she will need to shoot left eye closed simply because it is dominant and will line the front sight up for that eye, especially with moving targets and shotgun beads.

YMMV but that has been my experience, I was forced to shoot righty from the git go because most people thought it was best to shoot righty if one is right handed.

claude

[clum553946]

I’m left handed & right eye dominant. I just sight down the barrel with the right eye, both eyes open shooting lefty! This is for pistol. For rifle, I shoot right handed, which was the way I was taught when I was a kid.

[DocSavage]

Interesting I'm right handed but left eye dominate and have no problem shooting a right handed rifle. I can't explain this but I've never closed the non dominate eye,the best way to describe the processes is I learned how to turn my right eye "off" for lack of a better term.

[Texas by God]

I have to close my right dominant eye when shooting a shotgun or rifle left handed, but both eyes open for pistol. I'm right/right severely.

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[Omega]

Right handed, left eye dominant here. Shoot rifles and bows left handed, but only left handed bows, due to the sight window, my rifles are all right handed. I held a left handed rifle, bolt action, and it was just awkward working the action.

As to the OP, just give her an empty rifle and tell her to look through the scope without telling her how, you will have your answer. Teach her the way it feels more comfortable for her, no sense going against her natural instinct.

[Wild Bill 7]

If she wants to shoot with both eyes open go left handed. If she doesn't care about closing her left eye then shoot right handed. I am left handed but right eye dominate, so I learned to shoot right handed. It is the best way for her if she wants to do it but she has to make her own decision. Two eyes open or one eye open that is the question. JMHO

[runfiverun]

left--left.
she will be a better shooter with her dominant eye in alignment with the sights.
if she decides to take up shotguns down the line she will thank you.

btw most women are left eye dominant.

[shooterg]

Right eye dominant , right hand shooter. Now have damage in right eye due to diabetes. Pistols fine, use left eye. Tried to shoot lefty iron sighted service rifle, just can't cut it. Guess I need to switch to scopes like everyone else !

[popper]

First was she tested to find eye dominance and is it an adolescent situation. Was left eyed, after cornea scrape, right eyed. Only matters when both eyes open.

[danmat]

Without a doubt lefty for shotgun and rifle. I'm righty and left eye dominant, pistol I can shoot either way. Shotgun is where I can really tell the difference.
I never was coached either way, first BB gun naturally went to my left eye. I've known a couple of friends that shot opposite their dominant eye,they never could keep up with better shooters, but otherwise pretty decent athletes.

[crackers]

"Guess I need to switch to scopes like everyone else !"
You can go as high as a see-through ring and all will be fine. I'm somewhat in that boat and my first real gun - a Win 94 - is again a cross-eyed favorite with a sidemount scope.

[Thundarstick]

My youngest son is left eye dominate but absolutely insisted on shooting right handed. I thought him to shoot with a scooped rifle from the beginning and even had to cover his left eye for a while. Now he's a very good shot right hand, right eye, open or scope even though he's left eye dominate.

[Old colt]

Place a small piece of scotch tape overthe left side of shooting glasses. Partially blurs the vision on that side, it's easier to teach using the dominant hand and the tape keeps the dominant eye from being an issue. Remember the dominance of kids eyes can change over time.

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[CastingFool]

I am right handed, left eye dominant. When I shoot pistols, I use my left eye. With a shotgun, I may as well close my eyes and pull the trigger on crossing shots. Rifles, I use my right eye, as the sights help line things up. I have tried to shoot left handed, but find it extremely awkward. I can do many things left handed, but shooting is not one of them. Years ago, I took up skeet, hoping to learn to overcome the cross dominance issue, so I tried a patch on my left eye. Tried different sizes of patches, none was a good solution. For some reason, I had no problem shooting doubles, or on station 8. Station 8 was my favorite station. After a couple of years, I gave up shooting skeet.

[marlin39a]

I am RH, dominate LE. I remember it was discovered by my mother when I was around 5 yrs old playing with a toy gun. That was over 55 yrs ago. I have always mounted long gun on my left shoulder, and held handguns in my right hand. I suggest she be allowed to be comfortable with her shooting, and encourage her interest.

[WebMonkey]

i'll go against the grain:

eye dominance is too wide a description to make a blanket rule 'shoot with the dom eye'.

if the dom is due to focus priority rather than physical imperfection, you can simply relax the dom eyelid and the non dom eye will 'take charge'.

i encourage this before switching sides, so to speak.

i have no experience in benchrest or bullseye shooting.

my comments are born from combat styles where handling the firearm and gear is as important as accuracy. new troopers fumbling with magazines or charging handles or even swapping hands to 'work' the rifle caused a bit of frustration.



again, my comments are not meant to address those with eye problems.
thank you and good night.

[kens]

Let her shoot a single shot and let her decide which side feels more comfortable. her dominant eye side will likely be her comfortable side, but let her decide that with a neutral rifle such as a single shot.