Can somebody briefly explain why eye dominance is important? I'm cross dominant

[ghostofmadison]

So I have known for a while I am cross dominant. Left eye dominant, but I shoot right handed (just as I do EVERYTHING right handed).

Is this an issue if I'm shooting with my left eye closed when I line up my sights on my rifle or handgun? As far as the optics/physics of it, I cannot see why this would matter....any help is appreciated.

 

[stickhauler]

Why close your left eye?

If your left eye is your dominate eye, why aren't you using it to aim? Shooting a handgun right handed, left eye dominate, simply move the handgun slightly to the left and use your left eye to aim. As for long guns, using your left eye you will have to shoot the firearm left handed.

I'm the same way, my left eye is my dominate eye, but I'm a righty. To shoot a long gun, I have to shoot left handed, but shoot a handgun right handed.

 

[nwilliams]

If you point your finger at something across the room with both eyes open and then close one eye or the other and your finger moves off target that will tell you which is your dominant eye.

Why is this important? Because if you shoot with both eyes open then your bullet is going to do exactly what your finger did when you closed your non-dominant eye, it's going to be off target.

Cross dominance was an issue for me for a long time when I started shooting but over time you can overcome it. There was a time when I had to close my right eye in order to keep my shots consistent but now I can shoot both eyes open and maintain a good level of consistency. However there are times when I'm on the range that I still have to squint my right eye to keep my shots from straying to the left. Being cross dominant is a pain in the rump

 

[Sunray]

Has to do with focus and depth perception. The dominant eye focuses better. It's the stronger eye.
"...Left eye dominant, but I shoot right handed..." Just like real men shoot handguns. Mind you, I shoot a long gun left, a hand gun right handed with a left master eye. Cavalry officer in another life. Saber was the primary weaopn and used right. Pistol didn't matter. snicker.
It's not as big a deal as it sounds. It's a stance thing. For one handed bullseye shooting, move your back leg, not your arm or the handgun, to bring the sights over and shoot with both eyes open. Concentrate on the front sight.
Shooting a handgun with both eyes open takes a bit of getting used to, but it makes the eye dominance thing go away.
Can't help much with a rifle. You could put a bit of masking tape(or whatever) on the left lens of your shooting glasses though.

 

[XavierBreath]

Eye dominance is important because you want the sights aligned in front of your dominant eye. This gives you a clearer sight picture and the hits will land where you percieve the bullseye to be.

I, too, am a cross dominant shooter. Many instructors treat cross dominance as though it is a problem. They blame their own ineptness as instructors on the shooter's cross dominance.

In pistol shooting, it is not a problem in the usual Isoceles stance. Simply move the pistol over about an inch so it is in front of your dominant eye. Shoot with both eyes open. In a Weaver or Chapman stance cross dominance can also be overcome by simply moving the pistol over a bit. I also cant the pistol at about 15 degrees or so. There is no need to lean the head over or close one eye. Closing one eye destroys your depth perception and closes off your peripheral vison on that side.

Cross dominance can be a bit of a problem when shooting a handgun from cover or concealment because you are more exposed. In those instances, I try to shoot from the left side of cover, but if I must shoot from the right, I will have to make a judgement call on whether to expose myself more or whether to close my dominant eye and shoot with the non-dominant one.

Cross dominance also becomes a bit of an issue when shooting a long gun. Some very good instructors recommend shooting with your non-dominant hand. I learned to get my left eye behind the sights, so I lean over a bit more than most folks and shoot long guns right handed. There may be other techniques that work well, but that works for me.

Here is an excellent article on cross dominance.

edited to add: The majority of accomplished rifle/shotgun instructors advise to shoot weak shoulder, strong eye when cross dominance is an issue. However, I learned to shoot long guns without good instruction and old habits are very difficult to change. If I invested the time making the change, with good instruction now, I would probably end up shooting long guns better. Long guns aren't my thing though, and I shoot sufficiently well with them to accomplish my goals as is, so I haven't focused there. This is one reason to ask questions early in your shooting life, and get competent instruction early on so that you can reach your full potential.

 

[Oro]

I have some long-term experience with this and agree with Xavier, but with long-guns I believe you should learn to shoot cross-handed - put your dominant eye over the sights and shoot on that side. This is what many long-gun gurus recommend and I have found with students to work the best.

With handguns, it's just such a simple matter to move it over like he described. Either way, you use your dominant eye for all shooting. With handguns, you use your dominant hand; with long guns you "shoot lefty" given your situation.

A very good discussion of this is contained in this classic book by Bob Brister - "Shotgunning; the Art and the Science." I highly recommend the book for anyone shooting long guns OR handguns as a primer on how to practice and drill. Here's a link to the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Shotgunning-Art-Science-Bob-Brister/dp/0832918407

 

[Billy Shears]

I have some long-term experience with this and agree with Xavier, but with long-guns I believe you should learn to shoot cross-handed - put your dominant eye over the sights and shoot on that side. This is what many long-gun gurus recommend and I have found with students to work the best.

With handguns, it's just such a simple matter to move it over like he described. Either way, you use your dominant eye for all shooting. With handguns, you use your dominant hand; with long guns you "shoot lefty" given your situation.

I'm not sure I agree with this. I am right handed, but left eye dominant. And I shoot right handed, with my right eye, and qualify at master level on my department every year.

In my case, it's probably because I grew up shooting right handed, and long before I ever figured out which eye was dominant, I simply shot right handed because that's what felt more natural. I started shooting rifles. My dad gave me a Browning T bolt .22 when I was 7, and I started shooting it -- right handed of course. When I graduated to pistols several years later, I shot using my right eye because that's what I'd always done with my rifle. When I was in my late teens, I discovered that I was actually left eye dominant. But I'd been shooting right eyed so long that's what I did most naturally, and what felt best. That's what I still do, and I am accounted one of the best shots on my department.

I would not advocate shooting ONLY with either one eye or the other; I would advocate shooting with whatever eye feels more natural and allows you to shoot best. In my case, I unconsciously trained myself over many years to shoot primarily with my non-dominant eye, until that it what feels most natural for me, and allows me to shoot my best. If you are right handed and left eye dominant (or vice versa), and have been shooting one particular way for a long time, you may be in the same boat. Shoot in whatever way allows you are most comfortable, then practice, practice, practice. If you force yourself to shoot in a way that feels unnatural, you will probably take longer to reach a high level of proficiency, because you will be coming from farther behind the power curve. I'm not at all convinced you can learn to shoot with your non-dominant hand any quicker or better than can with your non-dominant eye. Which one you favor will depend on you.

 

[philobeddoe]

Right handed and left eye dominant here.

I practice shooting with both hands, and with both eyes.

Want to be facile with all the tools in the toolbox.

Never know when a particular hand or specific eye may become suddenly and expectedly unavailable in a crisis.

Be prepared.

 

[natman]

Cross dominance is easy to compensate for when shooting a handgun and only a little harder with rifles, which are commonly shot with one eye closed.

The real problem comes with shotguns, which should be shot with both eyes open for depth perception reasons. Probably the best solution is to shoot left handed, although it is possible to overcome it. My best friend has a left dominant eye and shoots quite well right handed. Unfortunately, he can't explain how he does it. I suspect that the left eye dominance is mild enough that he can force his brain to give priority to the signal from the right eye.

I have seen shotguns with custom bent stocks that put the left eye in the center while shooting right handed, but that seems like a lot of $ and trouble. Whatever you do don't try to crane your neck over the stock to put the left eye in the center. That won't work out well.

Best of luck.

 

[Straight Shooter]

Cross dominance doesn't really matter if you close your dominant eye. However, you are better off if you can shoot with both eyes open. You have a larger field of view, better peripheral vision and depth perception. Also it makes tracking a moving target easier.

I posted the following in another thread about this toppic...

I am also right handed left eye dominant. I didn't realize this for the longest time because I used to close my left eye (dominant eye) when I aimed. It wasn't until I started to shoot with both eyes open that I realized I was cross dominant.

The old school of thought is teach the person to shoot left handed. Although this is an option and has worked for many people I didn't like this thought.

You can teach yourself to shoot with your weak eye. It just takes a little practice. Eventually it becomes dominant (or at least when aiming). Here is what I did. I did this this dry firing.

At first I continued to close my left eye to initially aim, then I opened both eyes and just stared at the front sight. This gets you used to looking at the sight picture with both eyes open while aiming with your right eye. Do this over and over again.

Then I would aim with both eyes open, line up the sights, then close my left eye. If I had aimed with my left eye the sight alignment would be off when I closed my left eye. I would correct the sight alignment and stare at the sight picture. Do this over and over.

Eventually I found myself aligning the sights with my right eye while having both eyes open. It didn't take long, just a few sessions.

 

[Ryder]

Strangest thing... If I point my finger (like a front sight) my right eye dies doing the viewing. This is the one I have always shot with.

But if I make a circle with my thumb and index finger then view an object at a distance my left eye does the viewing. Every time.

 

[distra]

Lots of good information here, but eye dominance is a complex issue especially for shotgun sports. Have a look at http://www.bendershima.com there is a whole section on eye dominance. One very important over looked point is eye dominance changes with time, stress, length of focus, distance, and a whole host of other things. I'm right handed and right eye "dominant". I put that in quotes because I shoot a lot of skeet and pistol. Handgun I typically have no problem, but skeet is a different beast entirely. I shoot right handed, but have had serious cross eye dominant issue with slow in-coming targets. My left eye would take over and I'd miss some relatively easy shots. I put an occluder on my left eye positioned to block out the barrel when the shotgun is mounted and what do you know I don't miss those targets anymore. I know two shotgun shooters that shoot weak shoulder due to eye dominance issues, but it's not an easy thing to do. My wife is left eye dominant and shoots shotgun with an occluder (used to just close her left eye) and does very well. Again eye dominance is a complex issue, but can be dealt with very effectively.

 

[d2wing]

Some have touched on this. The reason to shoot dominate eye, is that in a normal person your dominate eyes sees the target and your weak hand points at it. This is natural and automatic. This makes it much easier to see aim and point. But your system, eyes, brain and reflexes can be trained to
shoot either way. But it takes more practice to be automatic just as it takes more practice to shoot a gun that doesn't fit you.
Some students I had had learned to shoot incorrectly but they couldn't easily learn to shoot on thier dominate side because they learned the other way and it screwed them up to try to relearn. The more we practice the better our brain can compute the shot faster and with less confusion.
It was much easier to teach beginners to shoot well, than people with bad habits. Informed instruction would be good to start with, but with everyone
who has ever fired a gun being an expert it's hard to find someone not full of bull poop.

 

[Bovice]

Don't close either eye while you're shooting. I know it seems weird, but just practice looking down the sights with both eyes open. your focus should be on the front sight. Also, another good thing to get in the habit of is trying not to blink when the shot breaks. The easiest way to determine by yourself if you're blinking or not is the shell casing. Did you see it eject? If you did, congratulations, you didn't blink. Of course, that only works if you're shooting an autoloader.

Shooting both eyes open and teaching yourself not to blink WILL make you a better shooter. When you blink, you flinch, whether you want to or not, and flinching will throw your shots off target. Accept and understand that when you pull the trigger, there will be a BANG and maybe a flash and some smoke. Learn what to expect, and it won't surprise you.

Try to learn both of those things and you'll see yourself become more accurate. I guarantee it.

 

[oneounceload]

You SHOULD be shooting with safety glasses on - it is easy to place a fuzzy tape patch, dollop of vaseline, etc. on the dominant lens to force your right eye to do more of the work. Shotgunners do it all the time

 

[Dorian]

I am cross eye dominant and an expert marksman and marksmanship instructor.

I shoot pistols left eyed and right handed.

I shoot all long guns right eyed and right handed. This has NEVER been an issue for me.

 

[DMF]

Can somebody briefly explain why eye dominance is important?

When it comes to handguns it's not important.

I'm left eye dominant, but shoot handguns right handed. I shoot long guns lefty so that I can still focus with both eyes open.

You will get a lot of comments about this from people that are NOT cross dominant. Ignore them.

Please bear with me while I tell you my story.

The first time I shot a BB-gun, I instinctively wanted to shoot lefty. Unfortunately the narrow minded folks I was shooting with insisted I shoot righty because I did most other things right handed. I struggled to shoot well.

When I joined the military and started shooting handguns they insisted I shoot right handed and use the Weaver stance. Again, I struggled to shoot well.

When I sought private instruction for shooting handguns, they made a huge deal out of cross dominance, and had me doing all sorts of wacky things. Again, I struggled to shoot well.

What did all those instructors have in common? None were cross dominant shooters themselves, and all made the issue of being cross dominant out to be a huge a handicap.

Guess what it's not a handicap - AT ALL.

Simply shoot long guns left handed if you're left eye dominant. You can't change eye dominance, unless there is some drastic change in the vision of one of your eyes, regardless of what some might tell you. My source on that is two eye surgeons.

However, training someone to handle the typical shotgun or rifle with their "weak hand" is relatively easy. By shooting the long guns on the dominant eye side the dominant eye lines up with the sights, and you can keep both eyes open.

With handguns just shoot with whichever hand you like. Unlike long guns the sight line of the handgun can easily be lined up with either eye. Shooting Weaver with an extremely bladed body will make it difficult, but Isosceles (or modified Isosceles with a slight blade to the body) makes it easy to line up the gun in front of the dominant eye with either hand. Isosceles/Modified Isosceles is what the top competitive shooters are using anyway.

Please note that a lot of instructors, who are not cross dominant shooters, will make a huge deal about teaching shooters who are cross dominant. It's BS. Notice that when instructors talk to shooters, who are NOT cross dominant about shooting "weak" handed, they will talk about all kinds of things a shooter will need to adjust for, but don't EVER mention cross dominance.

If it's not a factor for a non-cross dominant shooter shooting "weak" handed, why do they insist on making it into a big deal with shooters who are cross dominant? The answer is it's not a big deal. Just bring the pistol up in front of the dominant eye, and go.

When I was finally taught to shoot long guns lefty, and simply put the pistols in front of the dominant eye no matter which hand I was shooting with, I quickly went from struggling to be a decent shooter to being a very good shooter.