Dominant eye issues

Shanester66 · October 7th, 2009, 01:51 PM

OK guys...I have been involved with hand guns for about 1 year now. I would say I'm an ok shot on a good day. I believe my main issue is I'm right handed but left eye dominant which, I think causes some issues for me. I have been trying to train to shoot with both eyes opened but it's very challenging for me. I would like to hear of any techniques you guys might use for the same issue (right handed-left eye dom).

Thanks in advance.

JD · October 7th, 2009, 02:15 PM

Cross dominant shooting is a funny thing, I'm left eye dominant and right handed and I've noticed the following:

With pistols, I shoot more accurately using my left eye, but I've always been center when shooting with my right eye only, I just shoot tighter groups closing my left eye.

With pistols, I can get good two eyes open sight picture by indexing my chin on my right shoulder and score good quick hits and maintain more peripheral vision than shooting with one eye open and one eye closed. Some like to cant the gun to the left at around a 45 degree angle and have good results, but I didn't like the way the gun handled during recoil in that position.

With rifles I've always shot right eyed only and managed to qualify mid to high expert multiple times while in the Marines, that's shooting with iron sights out to 500 yards and scoring hits on man size targets, shooting at 300 yards and 200 yards. It's not that big a deal being cross dominant with rifles if you're using iron sights. Some issues start up when you being using 1X optics, I can NOT get a good sight picture (proper sight alignment applied to the target) with an Aimpoint or EOTECH unless I close my left eye. Again canting the firearm will probably help, but I haven't really tried it with an optic equipped rifle. So with rifles I will shoot right eye only.

As a cross dominant shooter, if you are going to shoot trap or skeet using your strong hand, you're screwed. You need to shoot the shotgun with whatever hand matches to your eye. You can probably learn to do it with the other hand, but it's going to be a pain in the rear.

Back to pistols...

There are many different schools of thought on cross dominance, I've been looking into this for a couple years and reading what others have to say on this matter and I've seen the following arguments.

1: You should shoot with both eyes open for the improved peripheral vision.

That only works if you can actually see your sights with both eyes open, unless your point shooting you need to see your sights to make hits. Not to mention that in times of mass adrenaline, we have the tenancy to go into tunnel vision and that improved vision of having two eyes open may not matter at all.

2: You should shoot with whatever hand corresponds to your dominant eye.

I don't know about everyone else, but my left hand is damn near useless. But here are two more points, one for and one against the above statement.

A: Using your off hand that corresponds to your dominant eye will leave your strong hand available for negotiating obstacles and your mag changes may be faster.

B: If you've been shooting with your hand that doesn't match your dominant eye, it's going to take a lot of practice getting used to drawing, aiming, and firing with the same precision* that you get with your dominant hand.

3: You should cant the gun closer to your dominant eye.

As noted above, guns are meant to recoil on a vertical plane, that's usually means that the gun is going to go with the front sight and travel at an arc. Canting the gun to get better sight picture is aligning the gun to hit you in the face and take your sights further off target while firing.

So here's the real deal from what I've tried and what I've learned from other instructors.

Use whatever method works for you and improve that method.

If you find that you get better hits and better performance using your right eye only, stick with it. If your left eye is dominant but you close it, your right eye is now dominant by lack of options.

If you want to shoot with two eyes open, adjust your head laterally until you find the right sight picture and practice alot with it until that position is where you naturally end up after drawing and presenting the gun on target. It's taken me almost two years but the practice is finally paying off and I'm getting that "instinctual muscle memory" sometimes I lapse and find myself closing my right eye but for the most part I'm doing OK.

If canting the gun works for you, use it.

You don't have to shoot the same for every ocassion. If I'm shooting a rimfire bulls eye competition where I'm not over working my left hand, I'll shoot left handed as that's where I get my most accuracy. If I'm shooting close up defensive stlye I use both eyes open, if the target is a little further out and smaller, I will close my right eye for the most accuracy while using my dominant hand as it gives my best overall performance under prolonged use.

There is no right or wrong way to shoot if the results you get with a given method work for you.

* Accuracy vs. Precision: Accuracy is doing somehting correctly, precision is doing something accurately a number of times in a row and acheiving the same result at the end of an action. I can shoot more accurately left handed, but as time goes on, my left arm wears out faster than my right and my accuracy is effected as a result of "the shakes". While shooting right handed, I acheive an acceptable level of accuracy and due to the greater strength of my right side, I get more precision, that is to say I can acheive the desired result (a good hit) more often while shooting right handed.

Shanester66 · October 7th, 2009, 02:58 PM

Thanks so much for your reply. Its been so frustrating for me. I just bought a shotgun and have no problem shooting it lefty so that seems to work ok for my eye issues. I will be purchasing an AR soon and think Im going to go with the left handed version 2TL from Stag Arms. I'm going to work on canting the gun to the left and see what kind of result that gives. Again thanks so much for your incite.

HITCH KING · October 7th, 2009, 04:18 PM

Take Brownies class and will not need sights at all.

greenLED · October 7th, 2009, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JD

3: You should cant the gun closer to your dominant eye.

You don't really need to cant the gun. Simply shift the pistol so the sights align with your dominant eye. Check yourself by closing your non-dominant eye, and then open it again. (works for me) Practice makes Master.

BaserRonin · October 7th, 2009, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenLED

You don't really need to cant the gun. Simply shift the pistol so the sights align with your dominant eye. Check yourself by closing your non-dominant eye, and then open it again. (works for me) Practice makes Master.

that is how my girlfriend coped with it. Worked well for her.

goawayfarm · October 7th, 2009, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenLED

You don't really need to cant the gun. Simply shift the pistol so the sights align with your dominant eye. Check yourself by closing your non-dominant eye, and then open it again. (works for me) Practice makes Master.

The biggest reason for canting the firearm is to block your weak eye from being able to see the sights.

I'm left-handed but right eye dominant & have been doing this for years.....it works!

look here for some other info:
http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulle...archid=2588164

Cross Dominance, How Do You Deal W/IT?

Quote:

I'm left-handed & right eyed.

My solution has been to tip the handgun toward my strong eye & turn my head slightly more to my strong side.

When it comes to handguns, I don't recommend shooting with one eye closed.

In this picture you can see the alignment of my strong eye & how far removed from the sight picture my weak eye is when performed this way.

http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulle...hts-eyedom.jpg

(yes...the firearm IS LOADED, but there in NO ONE behind the camera. The self timer was used for it & it's an old camera & I wouldn't care if it was destroyed.)

jwhite75 · October 8th, 2009, 10:21 AM

I am semi ambidextrous with my left hand, but my right hand is dominant. I eat, drink, throw a frisbee, shoot a bow, and all my long guns left handed. My sidearm is a right hand draw. I draw right handed...shoot with both eyes open and "turn" my left eye and head at the neck to the right, toward the front sight just slightly. No cant to the gunor my neck. Works for me. I did not figure out my cross eye dominance until my early twenties. If I had known it in my adolescence I would have been a much better athlete. LOL

Shanester66 · October 8th, 2009, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goawayfarm

The biggest reason for canting the firearm is to block your weak eye from being able to see the sights.

I'm left-handed but right eye dominant & have been doing this for years.....it works!

look here for some other info:
http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulle...archid=2588164

Cross Dominance, How Do You Deal W/IT?

I will have to give that a try.

Shanester66 · October 8th, 2009, 12:01 PM

Thanks everyone for all of your input. It is so beneficial to have a forum like this!

October 7th, 2009, 01:51 PM	#1
Shanester66 Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Coopersburg, PA Posts: 52	Dominant eye issues OK guys...I have been involved with hand guns for about 1 year now. I would say I'm an ok shot on a good day. I believe my main issue is I'm right handed but left eye dominant which, I think causes some issues for me. I have been trying to train to shoot with both eyes opened but it's very challenging for me. I would like to hear of any techniques you guys might use for the same issue (right handed-left eye dom). Thanks in advance. __________________ Regards, Shane Stagg Coopersburg, PA NRA Lifetime Member USCCA Member NAFC Lifetime Member

October 7th, 2009, 02:15 PM	#2
JD Senior Moderator Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Central Iowa Posts: 11,649	Cross dominant shooting is a funny thing, I'm left eye dominant and right handed and I've noticed the following: With pistols, I shoot more accurately using my left eye, but I've always been center when shooting with my right eye only, I just shoot tighter groups closing my left eye. With pistols, I can get good two eyes open sight picture by indexing my chin on my right shoulder and score good quick hits and maintain more peripheral vision than shooting with one eye open and one eye closed. Some like to cant the gun to the left at around a 45 degree angle and have good results, but I didn't like the way the gun handled during recoil in that position. With rifles I've always shot right eyed only and managed to qualify mid to high expert multiple times while in the Marines, that's shooting with iron sights out to 500 yards and scoring hits on man size targets, shooting at 300 yards and 200 yards. It's not that big a deal being cross dominant with rifles if you're using iron sights. Some issues start up when you being using 1X optics, I can NOT get a good sight picture (proper sight alignment applied to the target) with an Aimpoint or EOTECH unless I close my left eye. Again canting the firearm will probably help, but I haven't really tried it with an optic equipped rifle. So with rifles I will shoot right eye only. As a cross dominant shooter, if you are going to shoot trap or skeet using your strong hand, you're screwed. You need to shoot the shotgun with whatever hand matches to your eye. You can probably learn to do it with the other hand, but it's going to be a pain in the rear. Back to pistols... There are many different schools of thought on cross dominance, I've been looking into this for a couple years and reading what others have to say on this matter and I've seen the following arguments. 1: You should shoot with both eyes open for the improved peripheral vision. That only works if you can actually see your sights with both eyes open, unless your point shooting you need to see your sights to make hits. Not to mention that in times of mass adrenaline, we have the tenancy to go into tunnel vision and that improved vision of having two eyes open may not matter at all. 2: You should shoot with whatever hand corresponds to your dominant eye. I don't know about everyone else, but my left hand is damn near useless. But here are two more points, one for and one against the above statement. A: Using your off hand that corresponds to your dominant eye will leave your strong hand available for negotiating obstacles and your mag changes may be faster. B: If you've been shooting with your hand that doesn't match your dominant eye, it's going to take a lot of practice getting used to drawing, aiming, and firing with the same precision* that you get with your dominant hand. 3: You should cant the gun closer to your dominant eye. As noted above, guns are meant to recoil on a vertical plane, that's usually means that the gun is going to go with the front sight and travel at an arc. Canting the gun to get better sight picture is aligning the gun to hit you in the face and take your sights further off target while firing. So here's the real deal from what I've tried and what I've learned from other instructors. Use whatever method works for you and improve that method. If you find that you get better hits and better performance using your right eye only, stick with it. If your left eye is dominant but you close it, your right eye is now dominant by lack of options. If you want to shoot with two eyes open, adjust your head laterally until you find the right sight picture and practice alot with it until that position is where you naturally end up after drawing and presenting the gun on target. It's taken me almost two years but the practice is finally paying off and I'm getting that "instinctual muscle memory" sometimes I lapse and find myself closing my right eye but for the most part I'm doing OK. If canting the gun works for you, use it. You don't have to shoot the same for every ocassion. If I'm shooting a rimfire bulls eye competition where I'm not over working my left hand, I'll shoot left handed as that's where I get my most accuracy. If I'm shooting close up defensive stlye I use both eyes open, if the target is a little further out and smaller, I will close my right eye for the most accuracy while using my dominant hand as it gives my best overall performance under prolonged use. There is no right or wrong way to shoot if the results you get with a given method work for you. * Accuracy vs. Precision: Accuracy is doing somehting correctly, precision is doing something accurately a number of times in a row and acheiving the same result at the end of an action. I can shoot more accurately left handed, but as time goes on, my left arm wears out faster than my right and my accuracy is effected as a result of "the shakes". While shooting right handed, I acheive an acceptable level of accuracy and due to the greater strength of my right side, I get more precision, that is to say I can acheive the desired result (a good hit) more often while shooting right handed. __________________ Some Things Need to be Addressed... Iowa Carry.ORG: Promoting Weapons Carry Reform in Iowa Forum Customs & Courtesies

October 7th, 2009, 02:58 PM	#3
Shanester66 Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Coopersburg, PA Posts: 52	Thanks so much for your reply. Its been so frustrating for me. I just bought a shotgun and have no problem shooting it lefty so that seems to work ok for my eye issues. I will be purchasing an AR soon and think Im going to go with the left handed version 2TL from Stag Arms. I'm going to work on canting the gun to the left and see what kind of result that gives. Again thanks so much for your incite. __________________ Regards, Shane Stagg Coopersburg, PA NRA Lifetime Member USCCA Member NAFC Lifetime Member

October 8th, 2009, 10:21 AM	#8
jwhite75 VIP Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: West Virginia Posts: 2,306	I am semi ambidextrous with my left hand, but my right hand is dominant. I eat, drink, throw a frisbee, shoot a bow, and all my long guns left handed. My sidearm is a right hand draw. I draw right handed...shoot with both eyes open and "turn" my left eye and head at the neck to the right, toward the front sight just slightly. No cant to the gunor my neck. Works for me. I did not figure out my cross eye dominance until my early twenties. If I had known it in my adolescence I would have been a much better athlete. LOL __________________ Friends don't let friends be MALL NINJAS. "May God have mercy on my enemies...because I won't." -Gen. George S. Patton.

October 8th, 2009, 12:01 PM	#10
Shanester66 Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Coopersburg, PA Posts: 52	Thanks everyone for all of your input. It is so beneficial to have a forum like this! __________________ Regards, Shane Stagg Coopersburg, PA NRA Lifetime Member USCCA Member NAFC Lifetime Member

October 7th, 2009, 04:18 PM	#4
HITCH KING Distinguished Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Nassau, NY(Long Island) Posts: 1,791	Take Brownies class and will not need sights at all.

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