Dominant eye and POI shooting offhand Questions

[41 mag fan]

Ok not sure where to put this as there's no sub forum for shooting accuracy. So here goes and please lets keep this on topic.
What I've got is a g/f whose an addict (very good thing!!!) on shooting, casting, reloading and guns. Most guys dreams! And she's damn good looking too!
But what I'm trying to figure out, and I've got the pistol and rifle military targets guide showing what is going on with each shot, she's left eye dominant but right handed.
All of her shots are low and to the left.
She's had and still does have Bells Paulsy in her right eye. I've had it twice on the left side of my face but not in my eye nerve.
Shooting is very awkward for her using her left hand, so she shoots right handed but using her left eye.
Even shooting rifles using a scope left handed, her shots at to the left but centered more.
So what can i do to get her more on target and hitting center of target?
Would basically her shooting using her right hand and her using her left eye for sighting be causing the shots to be all over the board and low left?
And the same using a scoped rifle...i.e. 22LR.
I'm trying to help her out and am hoping to get advice on what i can do to get her hitting more close to bullseye so she wont get discouraged.
She mentioned last night she wanted to start learning revolvers, as shes been shooting my 1911's and now her RIA 9mm she bought.
I'm thinking the revolver might be more accurate...38spl or 357 loads thru my blackhawk as compared to the 1911's.

Thanks for any advice or help thats given.

[BCgunworks]

I have a few customers who have had change if life things like that where they had to switch eyes or whatever.

What some of my customers do is use the shooting glasses where you can change the lenses out and they put a clear in for their eye they want to use and a dark one for the one they don't. Seems to keep them from switching focus

[Swede 45]

I can only give you some advice on the handgun part..

From a "classic" right handed bullseye stance you cannot just change eye.. a dominant left eye and a right hand stance will cause a different angle in the wrist and a non relaxed tension in the upper chest muscular and shoulder/neck area. Thats probably the cause of pulling low left in this case?

That awkward angle in the wrist makes the triggerpull not go straight back into the line of her arm, and causes a slight left pull (the wrist are looking for a straight line)

I´m an instructor for my club and this yr I had a student with the same hand/eye coordination thing..
Once I figured that out (he didn´t even knew it himself and was switching eye back and forth.. hits all over the target) I changed his stance to a more "square to the target torso" stance (one handed bullseye shooting) and put a piece of tape over his right lens of his shooting glasses, forcing him to use only one eye. His groups tightened up and he passed his accuracy test with honour.

So, adjust the stance and the grip, make sure just the dominant eye are used, fine tune with adjustable sights and try it from there.

Swede

[41 mag fan]

swede
She's not standing. .. we are shooting arms laid out on a picnic table for full steadiness as she can get. .. same way with the rifle. .. off of the Caldwell bag.
I tried her shooting with her left hand only and using her dominant left eye and her shots at 10yrds were not even on target.
I think I'm going to try what BC and you have suggested and put a piece of tape over shooting glasses over her left eye to try and train her right eye to be dominant. One thing on that though is I could get her to try her right eye but if she closes her left eye her right eye wants to close also die to the bells palsy affecting get muscle control of her right eye lid. .. basically it wants to shut also...I know what she's going thru as my left does the same due to nerve and muscle damage from 6 mo of paralysis from bells palsy back in 96 and 97.

[44man]

Seems more common with the ladies. I have a friend that is left handed but he can write and shoot right hand.
You can block the left eye and force them to use the right eye. It will see as good. I use both eyes when hunting but close my left for target. Many have a shield to block the left eye for competition. Eyes are more relaxed with both open.
Another thing I learned is to keep breathing as you acquire a target to keep oxygen going to your eyes. At the second before trigger break hold after breathing in.
It is awkward to lean over a rifle to see with the left eye and sure will cause the POI problems.
I shot IHMSA and kept breathing until the last instant.
Left eye dominant only means the left eye is in line to what the person looks at, block it.

[41 mag fan]

Hey Jim.... on the rifle she shoots off the bag left handed... of course the scope I've set up for me who shoots right handed.. so that might be the issue on it. .. with the pistol she's holding right handed using her left eye. .. breathing I have worked with her on. . and maybe need to revisit it with her. .. she wears contacts. .. her glasses are thick due to poor eyesight...
On your friend being left handed and all ect ect... I'm the exact opposite... right eye dominant. . left handed at writing using utensils ect ect but I cannot shot or throw a ball or anything except right handed. ..

[41 mag fan]

You know now I think on it. . all my scoped 22s she's dead center but left. .. which could be due to them being set up for me

[dvnv]

I am right handed/left eyed...I shoot handguns right handed, rifles and shotguns left handed.

While she might shoot someone else's handgun to a different poi than they do, it shouldn't matter with a gun sighted in for her.
Low left sounds like recoil anticipation...I'd try with some empty chambers mixed in to see if there is movement.

[41 mag fan]

Yes on that one I am thinking of trying also. ..I thought of it last night...

[44man]

Yeah, never seen anyone like him, does good both ways. Shoots archery right hand too. Yet he is left handed.
Pressure on the rifle is different from the face between right and left hand shooters. Cheek weld affects it. So does trigger pull. She will need different sight settings then you.
Don't give up. You are a lucky man to have a lady that likes to shoot.
She needs her own rifle ya know.

[41 mag fan]

Yes I am. .. last night about 5 minutes before we fell asleep it turned to guns and now her wanting to try my revolvers. .. this morning before she went to work she was texting me about buying some 22s...... she wants to learn casting esp... if she ever gets time to sit down long enough. ... but you know you got an addict when my father came to visit and see where I moved to due to my divorce when he was home. .. about 30 minutes here she was getting antsy and saying we ought to retire to the back yard and shoot and visit some! ....
And if you ever want to get all worked up just hear one way she wants to start going to the gunshows on her Sunday day off! I almost wrecked when she told me that!

[LUCKYDAWG13]

my son is right handed left eye dominant lost most of his eye sight in his right eye about 8 years ago he got hit with a snow ball
anyway he shoots pistols right handed just tilts his wrist to the left just a little. it did take a lot of tin can shooting in the backyard
with a BB gun for him to be comfortable shooting left handed.

[41 mag fan]

Hmmmm... that might be what I need to do if I can't get her comfortable shooting the other ways

[lefty o]

first of all, without pics we cant really believe you!!! lol on to the shooting issue, when it comes to handguns for the most part im cross dominant i am naturally left handed, i am left eye dominant , but most of the time i shoot pistols right handed sighting with my left eye. if the sight alignment is on, the bullets will go where they are aimed. id have her start working on basic trigger, grip mechanics, and then shooting 22's working through eye issues, one eye closed, both open, other eye closed, until you hit the magic recipe. get back to basics and dont try to over diagnose it. ear plugs and muffs, small calibers, slow fire. now shooting rifles left eyed and right handed just doesnt work. for the most part (excluding some weird sighting contraptions) with long guns you are either right handed or left handed.

[41 mag fan]

Lefty. .. she can't close one eye vs the other due to having Bells palsy... she classes her left eye her right eye closes due to muscle and nerve damage in her eye lid and eye itself

[USAFrox]

I have the same problem with being right handed, but left-eye dominant. The way I dealt with it was to go get an eye patch from the pharmacy, and wear the eye patch over my left eye. If I didn't physically block it, I would automatically bring the gun up to my left eye with my right hand, which made my shooting awful. Once I had shot with the eye patch for a while, I basically had trained myself to use my right eye. Don't have much problem with it anymore.

you just have to expect a few pirate jokes at the range... ;-)

[hp246]

She is cross dominant. Not as unusual as some people think. The options: 1) Learn to shoot with the strong hand, but with the dominant eye, by canting the pistol to the strong eye. 2) Learn to shoot with the weak eye by closing the strong eye or wearing a patch over the strong eye. 3) Learn to shoot with the weak hand and strong eye.

Any one of these can be the right choice, it just depends on the shooter and how comfortable they are. I've had success teaching all three methods. One of my sons is cross dominant.He shoots strong hand with his strong eye closed.

[opos]

I'm an old duffer with eye problems...here's my deal... I am right handed and right eye dominant...I've shot hand guns and long guns for decades...I had a "branch retinal occlusion" in my right (dominant) eye several years ago..that's a blood clot that ruptured one of the tiny arteries in the retina...right at the point of focus...It healed and is stable but left me with "odd" vision in my right eye...it's like looking through a blob of clear silicone right at the point of focus...

I tried cross eye shooting...I tried switching to lefty...I tried using the little paste on circle on my glasses and finally settled on shooting head up ....both eyes open...all focus on front sight...I have the bright "tube" sights on my handguns...I have red on the front sights and green on each side of the rear notch. Again I do not focus or even attempt to focus on anything but the front sight...the rear and the target just sort of "fall into place"...it's taken practice and lots of dry firing but I'm a decent shot again and once the "feel" is acquired it just falls into place normally without any strain or problems....I can't shoot any iron sight long guns and I can't shoot where it's really dark...I do have red dots on the long guns and also on a couple of my hand guns and that really works great.

Hope someting here helps.

[Swede 45]

Sorry Mag fan.. the "off hand" and "accuracy" made me think you where talking classic bullseye stance..

But I think there´s other things to it than just her eye/hand combo? With a solid rest, two handed shooting (handgun) and proper sight picture, trigger work and a solid grip and a gun sighted in for her, her shots would be on target.. or at least into a group.. if the shots group well, adjust the sights to hit POA.

Let her use the eye thats she´s most comfortable using and block the vision on the other. Then she can shoot with both eyes "open" but with full vision on only one.
Practice,practice,practice.. cheap ammo, dry fire practice and patience.. alot of it all! :smile:

[canyon-ghost]

A good instruction manual is available from GabbyFranco.com, the top shot competitor and women's instructor. She teaches without fancy explanations and brings it all together. I bought the book myself, good manual.

Good Luck,
Ron

[lefty o]

Lefty. .. she can't close one eye vs the other due to having Bells palsy... she classes her left eye her right eye closes due to muscle and nerve damage in her eye lid and eye itselfcouple pieces of scotch tape over the lense of her non dominant eye, put the tape right in the line of vision on her shooting glasses, this helps to blur that eye forcing the dominant eye to do the focusing.

[contender1]

As an instructor,, I see the cross hand/eye dominance often, (including in my wife.)
First,,, if the ONLY type of shooting she'll be doing is at the range, or for pleasure,,, the scotch tape on her shooting glasses will be the easiest & best overall. She can keep both eyes open, and make her weaker eye step up & work a bit harder.
However,,, if self defense is another reason for her shooting,,, then using the taped glasses is no better than a crutch. It'll only work if you know you need it.

Solutions;
My wife & I went through many trials to find what worked best for HER.
An eye patch like mentioned above, the scotch tape, canting the handgun, turning the wrist, & teaching her to shoot left handed.

A dominant hand is dominant due to the skills it learns. However, you can teach a body to do certain things with a non dominant hand. It takes a LOT of practice, and then practice some more. Just like driving a car,, you learn "muscle memory" skills.
In our case, my wife chose to only handle firearms left handed & learned to shoot left handed. She trained her body to where it'a an automatic response to pick up & shoot with her left hand. But she had motivation. She used to be a real estate broker & worried about being out & away with strangers.

Now, what we've done may or may not work for you. But work at finding the best overall solution for her that makes HER comfortable.

[Minerat]

I shoot pistols right handed using the left eye and have found that I acquire the sights faster by extending my right arm at about 45 degrees angle across my chest, and bending the left arm and resting my left elbow on my side. I look out of my left eye, sighting across the right wrist and keep both eyes open. My right cheek rests on the point of my right shoulder and the right eye is blocked by my nose. This way you have bot eyes open for better depth perception. I take a stance where the left leg is pointing at the target. It sounds kinda awkward, but once you get the hang of it you get a fast sight picture and don't fight the dominant right eye. I would describe it as shooting cross body. I don't think it would work for a rifle though. If you need pictures to get the concept maybe I can get the boss to take a couple without it breaking the camera and will try to post them.

[GhostHawk]

My wife has a problem with her right eye, I think she got a defective lense replacement during her cataract surgery.

Like your GF she has a strong left eye, and pretty strongly right handed. What worked for me was a laser. Taught her to shoot head up, both eye's open, use the good eye to put the laser on target and bang. Don't worry about what eye is behind the gun, doesn't matter. Just line it up till it is on target and squeeze the trigger.

She goes in this morning for surgery so hopefully it gets fixed.

Good luck!

[41 mag fan]

Thanks for all the replies and tips. My suspicions on the reason for the low and left of poa were fairly well answered with the eye sight and wrist alignment. .. now is a matter of helping her with some of the suggestions that were given. Thanks everyone

[Gus Youmans]

Most successful high power rifle competitors who are cross dominant shoot on the side of the dominant eye. I do not know any who try to block their dominant eye and shoot with the dominant hand. Conversely, cross dominant pistol shooters that I know tend to shoot with the dominant hand and adjust their position to use the dominant eye.


Gus Youmans

[Fergie]

I'm right-handed, left-eye dominant. I write, swing a bat, and wipe right handed. I shoot archery as a lefty, and rifles as well. I hate bolt actions and ARs for this reason, and all my muzzle-loaders are left-hand locks.

When I shoot pistol, more for accuracy than real world scenarios, I use an isosceles stance with the pistol moved to the left a bit to line the sights up.

If I am doing more real world scenarios and drawing from concealment, I use a similar stance as that is what is trained in to me and the motions are repeatable.

I've tried all sort of stuff through the years, and this is what works for me. I've also trained myself to be somewhat ambidextrous, but I've never tried to block my dominant eye, or retrain my dominant hand.

Just my two cents.