X-Dominant pistol shooters?

[scottw]

I am doing some research and want to know how many Pistol shooters are X-dominant. (right handed but have a left dominant eye) Problem I am having is that the isosceles stance does not work well with me and am coming up with a new stance that seems to really improve shooting. I need to make it clear that I don't use sights. New ballgame. With sights you can shift to the dominant eye. Instinctive shooting requires lining up under dominant eye every time without looking at gun.

[hso]

scottw

My wife and a buddy of ours are wired that way.

We all point shoot and none of us line up under the dominant eye because we're threat focused instead of sight focused.

[EddieCoyle]

I'm right-eye dominant but shoot left-handed. Isosceles works poorly for me as well; so I too use my own stance. It's sort of a modified, modified Weaver with my elbows bent more and the gun much closer to my face than normal. I shoot with both eyes open buy turn my head slightly to the left so that the bridge of my nose partially obscures my left eye's view of the sights. I use the sights.

[scottw]

eddiecoyle you are on the right track. After I get through with my testing I will let you know the modification I had to make.

HSO how accurate are the shot groups? I do not use sights, I took them off, I am talking about instinctive shooting. You don't use sights but your secondary vision always sees the gun.

[ewb45acp]

As a kid I was taught to shoot with both eyes open. There was no discussion of eye dominance. Just "align the sights and squeeze the trigger". I didn't even notice I was cross dominant until a few years ago.

[History Prof]

My daughter is cross dominant. We never even notice it on handguns or scoped rifles. In fact, since ALL of her shooting until last year had been with pistol or scopes, we didn't even *know* she was cross dominant, until she began shooting rifles with open sights. With pistols and scoped rifles, she just shoots and hits her targets. With open sight rifles, she now uses an eye patch on the dominant eye and shoots weak eye'd. That is only a problem for the first 20 rounds or so. Then the weak eye warms up and again, she hits her targets. BTW, the guy at the range who pointed out her cross dominance asked if she was a good batter. She's darn good. That was his final clue that she was. Cross dominant people can keep their dominant eye on the ball as it is pitched.

[scottw]

You might consider having your daughter switching to shooting with the dominant eye. It will be a little awkward at first but once it is done then she can shoot with both eyes open. I always start people out with an air soft pistol and a BB gun for rifle. It really does make a difference in shooting skills and the younger one is the faster they learn. She can make the switch in less than 30 days.

[shaggycat]

I am right handed, left eye dominant and just learned to shoot left-handed. It takes a little bit of patience but in the end, the ceiling for improvement is higher than it would have been had I stayed with my right.

[jmorris]

It's more common in women for some reason but effects male shooters as well. If your shooting from retension (point shooting) it should make no difference. For normal pistol shooting you have to alter stance enough so your not tilting your head to achieve a proper sight picture. If your shooting long guns things get a little more difficult. One "trick" I have seen used is to place a small pice of Scotch tape on the shooting glasses over the dominant eye (just enough to force weak eye focus).

[FlaXD]

I got turned off to shooting 25 years ago as my cross-dominance was not identified. You can imagine being a not too good a shot in the military can lead to some difficult moments with your qualifying instructors.

Anyway, after a long hiatus(and learning about x-dominance,) I'm back:neener:. Just started shooting again last week. The big difference is then I HAD to keep both eyes open - very confusing sight picture.

Now, shooting w/ one eye closed I've done ok and had fun. But I'm working on getting things working with both eyes open. I also want to get proficient with my shotgun but that is even more daunting than my pistol. And I thought shotties were supposed to be easier.

Any help would be appreciated. Biggest question is "do I concentrate on aiming w/ my dominant eye or the non?" I don't think I want to switch to shooting southpaw though.

[scottw]

I assume that you are right handed and your left eye is dominant. I have been at this for over 35 years and I can tell you that you are better to bite the bullet now and make the switch. You will only cause yourself endless frustration by trying to shoot under your right eye and the left will always try to overtake the sight picture. When you get tired matters will only get worse. Once you make the switch the dominant eye will automatically take over. You will always see two barrels but one will be more clear than the other and in shotgun you don't look at the barrel but the target. I will come to be natural in a few weeks. Get a BB gun and practice until it comes natural.

[History Prof]

You might consider having your daughter switching to shooting with the dominant eye. It will be a little awkward at first but once it is done then she can shoot with both eyes open. I always start people out with an air soft pistol and a BB gun for rifle. It really does make a difference in shooting skills and the younger one is the faster they learn. She can make the switch in less than 30 days.I am right handed, left eye dominant and just learned to shoot left-handed. It takes a little bit of patience but in the end, the ceiling for improvement is higher than it would have been had I stayed with my right. With advice like this, I may have to consider it. The only problem is that we discovered her cross dominance when she took up AR shooting. Don't wanna hit the poor kid in the face with hot brass shooting an AR left handed!:eek: :D

[scottw]

I assume that AR is automatic rifle. I have shot them for over 20 years with no problems. However Browning makes one that is a bottom eject and LH models are available. I can say that I have shot the left hand models and have gotten so used to shooting RH models that it is OK for me. Only one time did have a problem with a RH gun and that was when I was shooting trap and had a strong wind blowing in my face and the the exhaust from the Beretta hit me in the face and some unburned powder. I had shooting glasses on and finished the round.

[gp911]

Cross-dominant here...

It's aggravating sometimes. I'm hoping to get LASIK in the next year or so as I currently wear glasses. I'll still be cross dominant, but I'll at least be able to see downrange again...

I'm interested in hearing about this modified stance you're working on.

gp911

[symr00]

I am but shoot both eyes open. Pistol shooting is easy because you can adjust head to sights. Shooting longarms is a different story. Thank technology for Aimpoints and Eotechs for us freaks:)

[YammyMonkey]

I'm right handed/left eye dominant. Started off shooting right handed, but switched lefty on long guns after a few years and noticed an immediate improvement. Took longer to get switched over on handguns but once I got used to handling the guns with my left hand I again made large improvments in my shooting. I would say switch so you're using the hand of the dominant eye, but practice enough with the other hand to maintain a decent ability.

I've sent many thousands of rounds through my AR with not a single piece of brass hitting me. The case deflector on the upper receiver is a great thing, but I've also heard from people with the older style receivers who have had no problems shooting lefty.

Do it, do it now, practice lots of dryfiring & weapons handling & you'll be better off in the long run.

[EddieCoyle]

eddiecoyle you are on the right track. After I get through with my testing I will let you know the modification I had to make.

I'm glad to hear I'm on the right track. I was forced to shoot pistols lefty because an accident left me unable to shoot righty. In other words, I switched to become X-dominant. The stance I came up with was the only one I found that would let me hit anything.

[scottw]

As soon as the weather breaks here and I can get to the gun range and fire a brick or two to prove the stance I will post it here. At the present time I can shoot a glass across the room with an air soft. Unbelievable considering I am not using sights. Also will post at a latter time the research on X-Dominant and its effects on everyday life. I started out doing the research because of the mental problems that come with X-Dominant. Don't get carried away with that statement as it simply means that X-D people do some things different and are considered clumsy and they get really hard on themselves and and that leads to a lot of problems. X-D people have a problem adjusting to certain things and certain images which causes stress until they find out that they are OK.

[Correia]

I'm cross dominant. Right hand. Left eye.

I shoot Iso with pistol. Both eyes open. No problem.

I shoot both eyes open with rifle, either iron sighted or with an EoTech. When I shoot with peep sights, I automatically squint my left eye a bit. Don't even really think about it anymore as I take my sight picture.

I do okay.

[MillCreek]

I am right handed and left eye dominant. Using my right eye is not an option. That is because I was born with bilateral crossed eyes (strabismus). Back in the early 1960's, the state of the art was to not perform eye muscle surgery until the child was six years old or so. This led to the infant brain learning to suppress the vision in one eye, which is called amblyopia. This happened to me. Consequently, my right eye vision is so poor, I cannot see sufficiently well to drive, read or shoot out of that eye. If anything happened to my left eye, I would be essentially blind for all intents and purposes. Nowadays, children born with strabismus have the surgery at one or two weeks of age just to avoid amblyopia.

I shoot long guns left handed and with handguns use a Weaver stance at arm's length with my head canted over to use my left eye. If I am not paying attention, my groups will be low and to the left, which several instructors have told me is a function of my cross dominance.

[History Prof]

I assume that AR is automatic rifle. I have shot them for over 20 years with no problems. However Browning makes one that is a bottom eject and LH models are available. I can say that I have shot the left hand models and have gotten so used to shooting RH models that it is OK for me. Only one time did have a problem with a RH gun and that was when I was shooting trap and had a strong wind blowing in my face and the the exhaust from the Beretta hit me in the face and some unburned powder. I had shooting glasses on and finished the round. AR = AR-15A2. It even has the shell deflector for left handed shooters. That still doesn't prevent mishaps for lefties. A left handed friend of mine in the Army has burn scars on his cheeks and arms from shooting M16A2s and having the casings bounce off his cheek and go down his sleeves. Good thing he went to college and became an officer. Now he tells other guys where to point their rifles.:D

[scottw]

I guess if push comes to shove you and get a pump, lever, or bolt action. I did get a LH shotgun once and got rid of it because I had become so used to using RH guns that it was not worth the time to learn to use the LH model. All I can say is where there is a will there is a way. There may be an exception to the rule out there but I have never seen one yet and to excel, switch. I might add that you have a dominant eye and also a dominant foot, hand and ear. All of these effect your shooting but most important is the eye, the others you will adjust in time.

[VHinch]

Right handed and left eye dominant here as well. I grew up shooting long arms right handed, and have never had an issue using my right (non-dominant) eye in doing so. When I began shooting handguns, I instinctively shifted my hands slighty to the left, and my turned my head slightly to the right. The end result is that the weapon is more or less centered on my body and I use my left (dominant) eye.

I have toyed with other options over the years, but have realized that trying to alter the shooting stance that comes naturally to me and has worked well is just begging for trouble.

V

[Black Knight]

I have the same problem, righted handed - left eye dominant. My solution is a Modified Weaver. I bring the sight up just left of my nose and it is in the sight plain. I stand with my left foot forward with my right toes even with the arch or heal of the left foot. Police call it the field interogation stance, similar to a fighters stance. Give it a try.

[Josh Aston]

Problem? Whenever I'm left eye dominant I just sorta scoot the pistol a little to the left. Whenever I'm right eye dominant I scoot it back to the right. Either way I still use Iscosceles the majority of the time.

[loki.fish]

Whoever said something about Lasik, I'm gonna give you a heads up right now. It will only last 5 years, then your eyesight will be back to what it used to be. I had it done to improve my vision and after ~ 5 years my vision is back to what it used to be.

I'm right handed, left eye dominant myself. I shoot a right handed AR and never have brass hit me. I can't shoot a rifle open sighted, as I'm near sighted and can't see the targets well. Doubt I'll be a competition pistol shooter, but I'm accurate enough for self defense purposes. Don't have any problems with scoped shooting.

And for whoever said cross dominant shooters were usually good batters, I'd be an exception to that rule.

[scottw]

I thought at this point I would give anyone that is interested a way to check for eye dominance. As far as I know this is the best for several reasons. The most common is that the finger test can be misleading because people believing that that they are RH will unknowing move the finger over to the right eye.
Take a piece of paper that is at least 81/2 X 11 and cut a 3/4" hole in the center. Next tell the person, or if it is for you, not to move until they are told and then do not move one thing once on target. People will try and guess what you are going to do next and will outrun you and ruin the test.
Pick a target across a room, hold your arms fully extended below the waist and slowly raise the arms holding the paper in your hands with the hole facing you. Keep your eyes on the target and bring the paper up until you can see the target through the hole in the paper, keep the arms extended. Now without moving close one eye at a time and see which one is on. This test will work first time every time. All shooters should take this test to be sure. You will be amazed how many people have been shooting for years and do not know which eye is dominant and they wonder why they have problems shooting. Next post I will go into some problems that XD people have.

[scottw]

I went to the range today and tried a new way to shoot XD. I am Left eye dominant and shoot RH. It did just what I had expected. In the beginning all went well but as soon as I got tired the groups started to fall apart lake a $2.00 suitcase. I ended up switching to LH. Might as well practice what I preach. By the time I got to the end of a brick my groups were getting better and not worse. I am not using sights, pistol in left hand, my left arm is straight, my right elbow is tucked into my rib cage, right foot forward, body almost 90 deg to target. You are almost sighting down the entire arm and does it ever work good. Again do not look at the gun at all, you will be aware that it is there but only concentrate on the target, as the bullets it the target you will automatically compensate your sight picture. 2 bricks should have you doing well. Constantly hitting a 1" circle at 10-12 feet. Next time at range I am going to try another modification and will let you know how it works.

[Reyn]

Im right handed left eye dominant but shoot longguns lefthanded. I shoot pistols right handed most of the time. If im shooting up close 15yds or less i use both eyes open. If im shooting for groups 25-50yds with a pistol i use my right eye because i have slightly better vision with it despite it not being my dominant eye. Ive never had an issue with accuracy this way either. If the sights are aligned when the gun fires it hits where i want too despit which eye i use. Ive shot this way for years and ive not shot less than a 100 with my dept. in 6 years. The only problem i have is if im shooting for groups for a while and im closing my left eye and i try to use both eyes the left eye is blurry. Most the time i just put some tape over the left eye of my shooting glasses.

[Skywarp]

Im left eye dominant but right handed.

I shoot scoped rifles as a righty

lever guns and AR's as a lefty

and I switch hit on shotguns and pistols . I was orignally forced to shoot as a lefty then due to availibility of guns i went back to being right handed. With my benelli and beretta I can easily shoot as a lefty so I often shoot left handed or I alternate.

As a lefty i shoot both eyes open and as a righty I shoot with my right eye.

[scottw]

Just came from the range trying a new way to shoot with XD and it works really well. I will try and attach shots of targets. The test was done with a half of a brick and the results were above what I expected. The hold works just as well with either hand and the final testing was done with my right hand Left eye D. Left elbow is tucked into my side and the right arm is bent with elbow no quite touching side. The rear end of the pistol is about 12" from the end of my nose, this is where I started and ended up about 18" from the end of my nose. Look at the target and down the top of the gun at the same time, never look at the gun, your secondary vision will pick it up automatically. Shot the target as fast as you can pull the trigger and in a few rounds you will start forming a gap and the group will start coming toward the center. The best thing is as I got tired my groups still improved. If you have any questions, ask. (tried to enter pictures but am told there are too many KB, don"t know how to reduce them) Pictures showed 4 groups of 6 shots each and were just over 1" groups at 10' rapid fire no sights.

[scottw]

Two things that need to added. Since I use a P22 and the grip is small I sit the pistol in the palm of my LH and squeeze my RH with the left while I am shooting. This position helps the recovery from recoil. Next my body position is about 45 deg. to target.

[sjack003]

I am Cross Dominant as well. I stick with the good eye and modify my stance. I give a lot of attention to shooting with each hand separately. I think it actually makes it easier to shoot left handed.