A little question on eye dominance and accuracy in shooting....

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Chris Miller

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Hi again :)

My wife and I have been shooting a good bit lately and we're seeing major issues with her hitting the mark when shooting most autos with regular fixed, white dot sights. Her form is good, and she's comfortable with the weapons she is shooting but she is consistently high and right for the most part. The only exception is one of the 1911's which has night sights on it - she does really well with that one.

I guess I have taken some things for granted myself because I keep both eyes open when shooting, and I feel my eyes come into focus naturally. I can do this with a scope too and I shoot really well this way. After chatting with a friend though, I am wondering if she's having issues with this. I have always told her to keep both eyes open like I do, thinking that would be natural for her like it is for me, but I think this might be the issue.

We know she is right eye dominant, but that's just "barely". A buddy of mine is suggesting that she might be right eye dominant, but her left eye might be taking over when she keeps both eyes open, causing her to shoot to the right like she does.

What do you all think? Would love to heard your experience with this kind of thing.

Thanks a ton
 
Sounds more like she is anticipating recoil or maybe doesnt have enough of her finger on the trigger if she's shooting right handed.
 
Chris Miller said:
.... she might be right eye dominant, but her left eye might be taking over when she keeps both eyes open, causing her to shoot to the right like she does.
Click to expand...

How does she shoot when she closes her left eye?

:)
 
LOL! Good question. This is all a recent discovery and after nearly 3000 rounds at the range (most with the Kimber that she does REALLY well with) we've discovered this little issue. So we have not had her try it yet - never even considered it until a friend mentioned it tonight.

Hopefully next week when we go back, we'll see if that makes a difference. :)
 
Chris Miller said:
Hopefully next week when we go back, we'll see if that makes a difference.
Click to expand...

You could try some dry fire practice in your home. Have her dry fire at a small target of some sort. Have her try with both eyes open and then with her left eye closed. If you stand behind her you'll be able to get a good idea if she's staying on the target.

:)
 
Shooting high either right or left on a properly zeroed pistol is anticipation.

If the 1911 has a "crisp" trigger, a trigger type that the 1911 is known for, this may explain why she has less anticipation. You didn't say what the other firearms were but the 1911 may very well have the best trigger of them all, and in this case, a crisp trigger, with only a little hammer hook/sear engagement.

If she can feel the creep, and if the trigger pulls on the others are considerably longer it might just be anticipation.

Regarding sights: when I am shooting I usually use an opaque occluder (white flip-down eye patch). This lets me keep both eyes open but only one is doing the looking at the front sight. Perhaps the glowing sight of the 1911 helps her keep focus on the front sight better?

Regarding the eye dominance theory. I am not sure I follow. If you hold your thumb out and have just your right eye open and have the thumb "on target", if you then open the left eye (to simulate the taking over argument), a second thumb will appear, to the right. If she was trying to bring that second thumb on to target, she would be bringing her hand leftwards, no?

In any case I think it is anticipation and she does best with the 1911 probably due to its crisp trigger pull.
 
What selection of sights do your guns all have.

She may like the 1911 for its wider rear sight narrow front maybe? Different types of sights make huge differences in my shooting.

I like the Heinie sights common on 1911's, or Warrens Dave Sevigny Comp rear sights and Dawson fibre optic fronts. If your 1911 has Heinies and the others don't......
 
Hey cavman - When I do what you say, a second thumb does appear but for less than a 1/2 second in my case. My eyes immediately refocus, and I can feel my right eye almost take over. I have always been this way and I guess I incorrectly assumed that everyone was this way.

Zero: We've had her shoot a number of pistols with normal adjustable sights. I don't know the politically correct term, but i'm talking about the standard square sights where you line the front square up in between the 2 rear squares. She does terribly on all of them. Even if the sights have a white dot for alignment, she still doesn't do well.

The only sights she does well on is the Compact Kimber 1911 in .45 with Night Sights. The weird thing is, this gun "kicks" more than any of them and she knows it. More than a full sized 1911 in 45, more than a 10mm, etc. But she still does best on this gun. That's why I dont fully understand the "anticipation" theory.

Thanks for all of the replies.
 
A good trigger will spoil you so bad. Believe me, I had to practically relearn shooting when I picked my 92D up.
From what I've been hearing, the problem really is anticipation.
 
High/right? Too easy, man.

I'll bet ya she's looking for the hole before the shot breaks. It's not anticipation, those tend to go low. It's not her trigger, those tend to go weak side. She's literally looking over the gun at the target before it goes off. Your hands tend to follow your eyes, so 90% of people who look up raise the gun too. I see it all the time!

Tell her to keep her eyes on the sights and not worry about the target until she recovers from recoil. Should solve her issue immediately.
 
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