left eye dominate

[Taylor]

I'm sure there are other folks that have this situation,(my brother for one). I am right handed,but left eye dominate.This is OK for long guns,but a pain for hand gun shooting.A rifle feels fine left handed,but the hand guns are more natural in the right hand,which poses the problem.Now,I know that this causes me to shoot low and left,causes alot of misses too.If anyone has an idea,other than shooting as a leftie,I'm all ears. I have tried to cover the left eye,but that does't seem to be comfortable.Are there any drills or practices that I might be able to establish in my routine?I have tried one eye open and both eyes open,but it stills follows the left eye.Of course I am not a good pistol shot,I just kinda want to hit what I am shooting at.Thanks in advance.

[Lloyd Smale]

what i did with my girlfried who has the same trouble is cover her left eye and have her shoot every day for about a year like that. After I got her shooting with both eyes uncovered i made sure she kept both eyes open when shooting. She still stuggles a bit with it but does much better then before. Its a matter of muscle control and you have to build those muscles in your week eye by making them work. even going to work with a patch over your eye will help if its allowed.

[JudgeBAC]

I don't have this problem but why can't you hold the handgun right handed but in line with your left eye?

[pdawg_shooter]

I don't have this problem but why can't you hold the handgun right handed but in line with your left eye?

That is what I have been doing for 45 years now. Works fine for me.

[dubber123]

I don't have this problem but why can't you hold the handgun right handed but in line with your left eye?

Exactly. I am right handed, left eye dominant, and shoot the old Weaver stance, with my left eye in line with the sights. I have always shot this way, and according to the records of our pistol shoots for the last 5 years, I do OK..[smilie=1:

[Calamity Jake]

Black out the left lense of your shooting glasses and shoot with both eyes open

[Doc_Stihl]

Put a piece of masking tape over the left eye of your shooting glasses. I've seen people shoot like this for 20 minutes, take the tape off and be "cured".

[mike in co]

I don't have this problem but why can't you hold the handgun right handed but in line with your left eye?


sorry but what problem ??
i have always shot pistols right hand and shotgun/rifle left hand.

the low and left is trigger jerk...not an eye issue....practice...well perfect practice.( wellit is a typical right hand trigger jerk...not sure how you create it leftie)


mike in co

[BABore]

Ditto on that. I've been shooting that way for 30 years. I can shoot a rifle either hand. Shotgun only LH for wingshooting. On a pistol you do have to watch if you bring the gun to align with your left eye verses bringing the left eye to the gun by tilting your head some. When you bring the gun to your left eye, while keeping your head straight, it can cant the gun slightly. For me, this makes me put more side pressure on the frame with my trigger finger. The pull is not as straight back and it will throw shots. I agree that it is mostly likely trigger control. I did try to force the right eye as Lloyd explained. It works fine for casual shooting. I ran into problems in hunting situations where instinct would overrule training.

[targetshootr]

I'm right handed and since doctors removed my right eyeball it's not been a problem to shoot right-handed. Actually makes it easier. I've noticed Bob Munden lowers his head and stands the same way I do. The only difference is he shoots a little better. Ah-hem.

:Fire:

[Farmall 1066]

I too, have the same dominance problem. I have found that dropping my head over to the right seems to work best for me. Been shooting actively for years, and just figured out I was Left eye dominant. I had developed this technique subconciously, and was not at all aware that I was doing it. I was questioned about it by another shooter at a match last fall. Had an eye appointment the following week, so had my optometrist verify my dominance. He said I had the strongest eye dominance he had ever seen! I have always shot rifles right handed, my experiments with LH shooting were not pretty.
Andy

[MtGun44]

My wife is the same, lefty for rifle; right hand + left eye for pistol,
slight wrist shift to line up. Accy is great.

Bill

[Johnch]

I don't have this problem but why can't you hold the handgun right handed but in line with your left eye?


I DO

Found it works fine

John

[crabo]

Everytime I get a new glasses prescription, I always make sure my doc keeps my right eye dominate. I don't trust him to remember, I remind him.

You also might want to consider this if you ever get lasix surgery. My friend ended up left eye dominate and had to learn to shoot pistols differently.

[mike in co]

Everytime I get a new glasses prescription, I always make sure my doc keeps my right eye dominate. I don't trust him to remember, I remind him.

You also might want to consider this if you ever get lasix surgery. My friend ended up left eye dominate and had to learn to shoot pistols differently.


????...........

[Heavy lead]

I also shoot rifle right handed, right eyed even though my left eye is now dominate due to astigmatism I've developed. I have been shooting handgun right handed and left eye dominate, although both eyes are always left open even with a ler scope or red dot. I do practice week hand shooting, but only for an emergency, I suck shooting with my left hand, even with practice.

[lathesmith]

Geez, I'm a mirror image of you guys. I am a lefty that is right-eye dominant. My right eye is 20/20 and my left eye is something like 20/40 Maybe I could trade with someone and we could both end up like we need to be?

[mike in co]

I also shoot rifle right handed, right eyed even though my left eye is now dominate due to astigmatism I've developed. I have been shooting handgun right handed and left eye dominate, although both eyes are always left open even with a ler scope or red dot. I do practice week hand shooting, but only for an emergency, I suck shooting with my left hand, even with practice.

at my club we do a lot of data collecting on all of our pistol shooters.
draw time, first shot time, double tap time, score with weak.strong and two handed shooting.
with out a doubt two is better than one, and the difference between weak and strong hand is next to nothing......


mike in co

[Echo]

Regarding blocking the left eye to improve right-eye dominance - I suggest using Scotch Magic tape so light gets through, but no images. If the left eye is completely blocked off, or even MOSTLY blocked off, the brain gets confused. Bright from the right eye, dark from the left eye, How to adjust the iris? I tried an eye patch when I started shooting competitive pistol, but gave it up, and an eye doctor explained it to me, as I have said. I ended up just putting a small patch on the inner aspect of my left lens that blocked my view of the gun and target, but allowed ambient light in to equalize things. Did OK, too.

[HeavyMetal]

What Echo says about completely blocking off the light, and the confusion it creates, makes a lot of sense!

When my wife and I first met I figured out she was right handed and left eye dominant ( and you'd be surprised just how common that is!) Patch was a no go because of the light issue. I then got her a set of safety glass that had the left lenses darked. with the top and side still open she got plenty of "equalizing" light.

With some practice she was able to recognize which eye she needed to shoot with and got to the point where she shot with plain safety glass's, shot with both eyes open and with her 45 commander would keep all her shots inside the 8 ring on a standard bulleseye at 20 yards.

The trick with the glass's does work and you can train yourself. It does require practice and we kept the covered safty glass's in the shooting gear as some times she didn't get out with me for several months and a few shots with them on acted as a refresher course and she was back in "tune".

As for me? Born lucky I guess, left eye dominant and left handed.

[BoolitBill]

My son was right handed and left eye dominant, it was difficult to teach him to shoot as he couldn't control closing his left eye well. An old timer at the range told me to place Vaseline on the left eye of his shooting glasses and have him keep both eyes open. In about a month (shooting on the weekends only) he was shooting right eye dominant and shooting with both eyes open. Of course he was only eleven at the time and kids pick things up easier than adults but it is worth a try.