Cross eye dominance

[Benjamin]

Hi all.

I have a friend who is starting to shoot pistols, and her problems have me
stumped.

Essentially, she's right handed and left eye dominant.

She started shooting hi-power rifle this time last year; her team mates
figured things out. She shoots from the right shoulder with an eye patch on
the left lens of her glasses, and does pretty well.

New Mexico, her state of residence, is about to legalize concealed carry;
qualification includes shooting at a B27 from various distances. It is
unlikely she'll be able to wear an eye patch.

As a pistol instructor, I took her shooting one afternoon to work on the
basics. The short version is that she can't shoot with both eyes open. She
shot pretty well with one eye shut, going slowly.


So -- how does a cross dominant person shoot a pistol properly??

 

[clubsoda22]

My dad does it somehow. Just shift your stance so the pistols sights line up with your left eye. My dad does have trouble shooting iron sight rifles though.

 

[4570Rick]

I'm right hand, left eye dom. Stop her. Get her used to shooting long gun left handed. Within a few min's her shooting will improve. As for pistol, it's very easy to shoot right handed with the left eye.

 

[coylh]

Try the isosceles. It doesn't matter so much which eye you use when you're symetrical, more or less.

 

[10-Ring]

I agree whole heartedly w/ 4570 Rick. Get her to shoot long guns left handed. Not only will she enjoy it more, but she'll become a better long gun shooter too. As for handguns, it's not as big a deal as some make it out to be.

 

[Bob Locke]

I want to echo what 4570Rick said, because I, too, am right-handed and left-eye dominant.

I shoot all long guns left-handed, and have since I was a youth. It just made more sense to "fight" my hands than my eyes, and it's worked very well for me for 30 years or so.

As to pistols, I shoot those right-handed. I just lay my right cheek on my right shoulder with my right arm fully extended and get my left eye behind the rear sight. Several of my buddies used to give me crap about it until the center of the target started disappearing!

Hope something offered on this thread provides a working solution for her.

 

[Bill Hook]

I guess I might give shooting left handed a try with my long guns, but it feels entirely awkward to do almost anything left-handed.

 

[Daniel T]

I am cross-eye dominant, and I can't for the life of me figure out why people think it's hard to fire a pistol this way. All you have to do is turn your head a little more to the right and use your left eye (or the opposite if you are right eye dom while being left-handed). It works one-handed, isoceles, Weaver, etc...

Rifles, though, are a little more difficult. I just use my right eye, as it feels too akward to fire left-handed.

 

[Jim March]

Yup. Another cross-dom here. Folks, the right-hand/left-eye combo works BETTER for handguns.

My preference is a Weaver-based stance. When going fast, I'll keep my right elbow bent some, cock the gun about 40degrees left and keep my head almost straight while lining up the left eye with the sights.

BUT, if accuracy and/or range is required, I shift things slightly: right arm goes straight, gun stays vertical, I do a strong "cheek weld" (just like a rifle) to my right biceps and again, left eye ends up right behind the sights. Peripheral vision goes down a bit but stability goes WAY up.

This "cheek weld Weaver" is only available to cross-eye-dominant shooters. It *rocks*.

 

[fix]

There are advantages to being cross dominant. Because I learned to shoot long guns left handed and pistols right handed, I have good trigger control with either hand. Now, I have learned to use my right eye without closing my left. It's difficult to learn, but the end result is that I am totally ambidextrous with any type of firearm. I can shoot long arms equally well from either shoulder and have no real preference. I can shoot handguns with either hand, although I do feel more comfortable with my right hand. Teach her to shoot long guns left handed.

 

[NRA Instructor]

About 10% of the students we have in Basic Pistol classes have this problem. The ability to use the "other" hand depends on the age, experience and hand strength of the student. But it's easy for most students to use the dominant hand and the dominant hand with hand guns.
One problem with trying to teach the student to switch hands to match the dominant eye is this can affect their ability to quickly reload. This is especially true if they have to switch to the left hand with an auto-loader when so many of the semi's are built for right handed people.
But as others have said with long guns the student must switch hands to match the dominant eye.
Patches can help and are even used in competition so shooters can keep both eyes open.

 

[Smoke]

Add me to the list of crossed up folks. Left eye/right handed.

agree with whats been said. Longguns shoot left handed. (I found I can actually shoot longguns either way with eqyual effectiveness.)

Pistols shoot right handed but use left eye...it's not a problem.

Smoke

 

[ctdonath]

I'm left-eyed/right-handed. Shoot pistols left-eyed, shoot rifles right-eyed. Just do it.

 

[Henry]

I too have this "problem". I'm right handed / left eye dominant. I shoot handguns and scoped rifles right handed. I shoot shotguns (trap and skeet) left handed. Once you get use to it, it's no big deal.

 

[Sunray]

Problem? Waddayamean problem? That's how shooting is meant to be. Left master eye, shooting a handgun right handed and a long gun left. Use both eyes with practice and both hands for everything. That's why you were issued two hands. Use 'em both. No problem.

 

[antsi]

< dd me to the list of crossed up folks. Left eye/right handed.

agree with whats been said. Longguns shoot left handed. (I found I can actually shoot longguns either way with eqyual effectiveness.)

Pistols shoot right handed but use left eye...it's not a problem.

Smoke >


....another vote for the above-described method

 

[Sean Smith]

I'm right hand, left eye dom. Stop her. Get her used to shooting long gun left handed. Within a few min's her shooting will improve. As for pistol, it's very easy to shoot right handed with the left eye.

Bingo. I'm cross-dominant to an extreme degree (1 eye is 20/20 or better, the other is 20/50 or worse), and shooting rifles left-handed is just the ticket if you are left-eye dominant.

For handguns... it never gave me any problems.

 

[Chuck Jennings]

I am right handed and left eye dominant. I had always shot with both eyes open. In the course of getting a proper sight picture (while using weaver stance) the gun would end up in front of my left eye. Without thinking about moving the gun to the left and/or cocking the head to the right, I ended up splitting the difference. It wasn’t until recently when taking a defensive pistol class that the instructor pointed out that I was cross dominant, but I had been adjusting for it all along. Perhaps it is best to not think TOO MUCH about it and concentrate on the idea of getting good sight picture with a comfortable stance.

Incidentally, once I found out about this cross dominance thing, I switched to shooting long guns left handed, and it has improved my consistency greatly!! Additionally, I really like supporting long arms with my stronger arm!

 

[Rhinodogg]

"Bingo. I'm cross-dominant to an extreme degree (1 eye is 20/20 or better, the other is 20/50 or worse), and shooting rifles left-handed is just the ticket if you are left-eye dominant."

Same for me exactly. Right handed. Left eye dominant. 20/10 left eye, 20/50 right eye. I shoot pool left handed also.

 

[Prof]

Left eye/right-handed. I have always shot rifles right-handed. I just close my left eye if shooting iron sights. However, nowadays I almost always shoot with a scope so I close the off eye anyway. I shoot pistols right-handed and do what the other posters say: I shoot isoscoles so I don't have to tilt my head so far. And I'm a crack shot with either rifle or pistol. My advice: let the lady do what feels most natural and don't worry about it.