Left handed son, right eye dominant & shoots right handed

[Fryerpower]

Like the title says, my son is left handed in everything he does, except shooting long guns! He writes, throws, and bats left handed. When you put a rifle in his hands he closes his left eye and shoots right handed. No instruction, nothing!

No real question here. I was just expecting to have to go over how to work the gun with the "wrong" hand. I was going to have him watch the scene in Saving Private Ryan where the lefty sniper was shooting from the bell tower so that he could see how it is done.

I cannot remember how he shot the pistol, I'll have to pay better attention next time. Now I'm dying to see how he shoots the pistol.

Jim

 

[Sam1911]

That's fantastic! He'll be a MUCH better shot if he runs his long-guns off his dominant EYE side.

 

[WoodchuckAssassin]

I love it! I'm left-eye dominant, but do everything right handed (except hockey...but no one here cares about that )

When I first started shooting, around the age of 5, I couldn't even blink my left eye, much less squint long enough to find the crosshairs. The solution? My dad had me wear an eye patch over my dominant, left eye, for a month or so. Now THAT'S parenting!

Oh, and I'd guess the reason your son shoots that way is because he saw dear-old-dad doing it that way. The apple never falls far from the tree!

 

[Sam1911]

Ugh! The thing we have to forgive our parents for!

 

[Abel]

If he has to close his left eye to shoot righty, then he is left eye dominant. Your title says that he's right eye dominant. Which is it?

 

[Fryerpower]

If he has to close his left eye to shoot righty, then he is left eye dominant. Your title says that he's right eye dominant. Which is it?

I'm right handed and I close my left I when I shoot. Does that mean I am left eye dominant? I can't shoot with both eyes open.

Jim

 

[Sam1911]

It doesn't mean you're cross-dominant. It just means you aren't able to (haven't trained to) shoot with both eyes open.

The eye-dominance test (make a triangle with your hands, look through the triangle at a distant object, pull your hands in close to your face as you hold focus on that object...hands will frame your dominant eye when they touch your face) will tell you which side is dominant.

You can also be only slightly dominant or nearly equal in both eyes, which can cause more visual confusion for you when you try to shoot with both eyes open than other people experience.

 

[Skribs]

Yeah I am severely left-eye dominant, and I can't shoot with both eyes open through irons...only through optics. I am in the opposite boat of your son.

 

[Big Boy]

I'm left eye dominate but right handed. I shoot hand guns both eyes open, and the irons just happen to end up in front of my left eye.

I can shoot optics both eyes open.

But Irons on a rifle, I have to close my left eye.

 

[TIMC]

I am just like your son, left handed but right eye domimant. I shoot a rifle right handed but most everything else left handed. Growing up in the 60's when lefty was bad I was constantly corrected and told to use my right hand. This was a good thing for handguns because I shoot almost eqaully well with either hand and feel comfortable at it but with rifles it is only right handed for me.

 

[Abel]

I'm right handed and I close my left I when I shoot. Does that mean I am left eye dominant? I can't shoot with both eyes open.

Yep.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

The first time I shot a .22 single shot rifle I was missing while everyone else was hitting. I am left handed, but shoot right and I was closing my right eye. The man that took us shooting noticed my right eye was closed and he told me to close my left eye. I haven't missed since. I write and eat with my left hand and can bat either way.

I remember in 2nd grade my teacher taking my pencil from my left hand and making me put in my right. Once she turned her head I switched back and when she caught me she whacked my hand with her wooden ruler. I started writing really small and my Mom had to buy her a magnifying glass to read my writing. There are somethings that you cannot change. Thank God I shoot right handed. I have a good friend that shoots left handed and it's been a problem for him.

 

[d-dogg]

Left eye dominant (slightly)
Baseball - Throw and catch like a righty, bat like a lefty.
Golf - Lefty
Writing - righty
Rifle - lefty (but can do righty)
Revolver - ambidextrous

I think it's an early childhood training thing - in our country we tend to force one way of doing things. I took a martial arts class from an older Korean gentleman who would not hear of "dominant side" or "strong side". He forced his students to develop both sides of the body.

 

[11c2v]

I don't see the problem, I just close both eyes. 8 )
Actually I am right/right, but trained myself to shoot long guns lefty 20 years ago because I my right eye vision is REAL bad. Later I finally started wearing glasses and feel comfortable right or left. But rest assured, I only vote right!

 

[littlelefty]

Good deal, Fryerpower!
Similar situation here with one of my daughters. She is lefty everything (like me), but right eye dominant (not like me).

First outing with a rifle I noticed her laying her head way down on the rifle. Had her do the eye dominance test, which showed right eye. Then had her switch to shooting right handed and, since she was pretty young and had no previous shooting experience, she adapted quickly. Now it is second nature for her.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

We should all probably spend half of our time from one shoulder shooting and half from the other shoulder shooting. If anything working on this is likely more important than which eye you use.

 

[Grmlin]

I'm left handed, left eye dominant, I grew up shooting right handed because my dad had a hell of a time trying to teach me left-handed. In boot camp I had to shoot left handed (they made me shoot lefty). I now shoot equally with both hands rifle, pistol, bow, sling shot, et... I still close the opposite eye when I shoot. I was a rifle expert and pistol sharp-shooter during my 20 years.


Edit- I can't throw a ball left handed for nothing.

 

[Waldog]

My son started shooting at age 7. He is left handed. I found out he is cross dominant and started him shooting rifle and shotguns right handed. He shoots pistols left handed. He is now 25 and is a very accomplished competitive shooter.

I am cross dominant as well. Although my Dad taught me to close my left eye. I shoot everything right handed.

 

[chuckpro]

One of the most important thing when starting out a youngster or any new shooter is to determine eye dominance.

I am cross dominate and always closed my left eye to shoot growing up. My father was a LEO and a instructor and couldn't understand why i couldn't hit the target with both eyes open. He had never herd of eye dominance but after i got older and he retired i read an article in a magazine about cross dominate.

Anyways i have learned to shoot a pistol right handed using my left eye. Have optics on all of my riffles. The hardest thing for me is wing shooting because you loose your depth of field with one eye closed. Any way i wish i would have learned to shoot left handed from the beginning.

 

[heavydluxe]

My son is in the same boat... Left-handed, right-eye dominant. Thankfully, some gentlemen who took us under their wings when we were brand new were smart enough to have him start shooting target .22lrs right-handed.

Interestingly, my daughter is right-handed, left-eye dominant, and therefore shoots left handed. It's a weird world sometimes.

 

[baz]

Left eye dominant here, right handed. Both eyes open when shooting. When shooting pistols, no problem. For rifles, I've taken to LER scout mount type optics, which makes it easy to sight with the left eye while shooting from the right shoulder. All this came about when I was much older. I should have been schooled when younger to shoot left handed. I didn't even realize my vision problems until I was in my 20's.

 

[Sam1911]

...which makes it easy to sight with the left eye while shooting from the right shoulder.

Wait, is that what you meant to say??? You put the butt of the stock into your right shoulder pocket but roll your head over and look through the scope with your LEFT eye?

That must be quite something...

I once saw a kid TRY to do that, but the results were ugly.

 

[VVelox]

Left eye dominant, but ambidextrous tending to right, I've found it really varies on what I am shooting.

I can handle aperture sights easily on both sides, but v-notch I find awkward to line up using my right eye.

 

[baz]

Wait, is that what you meant to say??? You put the butt of the stock into your right shoulder pocket but roll your head over and look through the scope with your LEFT eye?

That's exactly what I'm saying. It isn't really possible with a normal scope mount. I started doing this years ago with a scope mounted on a BLR with Weaver "see through" rings that mounted it extra high so the iron sights could be seen. But with the rise of popularity of the scout mount and LER scopes, I've gone to that format. If it looks odd to an observer, no one has ever said so. But I doubt that does, for with the scope mounted that far ahead, the head has only to be tilted just a bit more than usual in the cheek weld to see through it with the left eye.

 

[Fryerpower]

The eye-dominance test (make a triangle with your hands, look through the triangle at a distant object, pull your hands in close to your face as you hold focus on that object...hands will frame your dominant eye when they touch your face) will tell you which side is dominant.

Holy crap! I'm left eye dominant and right handed. I never checked it before. I just grew up thinking that you shot with your right hand and closed your left eye!

I guess if I want to shoot with both eyes open I will need to learn to shoot left handed...

Jim