Cross-eye dominance

BC_Guy

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I'm going to be taking out a new shooter who says she's cross eye dominant (determined during a previous time shooting). She says she's right handed and left eye dominant. I'm curious what the prevailing line of thought is on this, ie: shoot left handed (what I'd be inclined to think), or shoot right handed, or shoot (scoped rifle) either hand, but both eyes open? This will be all scoped rifle shooting.
Also, has anyone ever achieved a high level of success being cross eye dominant?
 
I fall exactly into this situation myself, left eye domimant, right handed. (I shoot left handed)
This in my case, is not corrective with eyeglasses, nor has it been for decades.

If this is also her dilemma, best to shoot left-handed. There would be too much stock modification and un-natural line up to the open or telescopic sights. Not to forget especially shooter fatigue & even headaches, from trying too hard on the opposite side of the stock/cheekpiece.(RH)
 
As Brutus has discovered, it is best (according to current coaching and target shooting methodology) to shoot to the side of eye dominance.
The rate of learning is much faster as you are not fighting the naturally stronger neural pathways which characterize eye dominance.
 
Me too. Shooting is not a problem - I do well shooting left at clays. Problem is carrying the firearm at the ready, say, while still hunting. I would never get a shot off hunting something like grouse left handed.

I'd say if she isn't hunting, shoot left.
 
I too am cross eyed dominant. Right hand dominant left eye dominant. I shoot left handed with my M&P and right handed with guns (999s rifles) that are set up for right handed. I was so bad when I first started shooting I did what felt the most natural. It is a problem that Slavex helps me with and frustrates me. I sometimes wear a patch over my right eye, sometimes just close it. I was shooting speed steel a few weekends ago with a right handed handgun and it was just as bad. :D.

Just make day one fun. DOn't worry too much about the rest.

VV
 
It would depend on how strongly left-eye dominant she is. If it is mild, it might be better for her to learn how to shoot right-handed - there's a much better selection of right-handed rifles out there. But if she is strongly left-eyed, strong enough that it's difficult for her to shoot right-eyed, then perhaps learning how to shoot left-handed is the right way to go.

At the range, it's pretty easy to use a blinder on the non-shooting eye, so that a shooter can comfortably shoot with both eyes open. Oftentimes something as simple as some semi-translucent scotch tape on the shooting glasses' lens on the non-shooting side, is all that it takes.
 
I too am cross dominant, but I still shoot right handed. I have a stigmatism in my right eye which even adds to the frustration. As I am getting on in years I am finding each year is getting harder to focus correctly with my eye at the shooting bench. It is so unnatural to attempt to shoot left handed for me that I don't do it. I think I may have to force myself to start doing it though as each year is getting harder. Getting old sucks!
 
I am right handed and left eye dominant. When I first joined the army I shot and trained left handed but, it always felt kinda wrong. Not too long in, a Sgt suggested going back to right hand and keeping both eyes open. The keeping both eyes open took some practice but, in the end works great! I have been shooting both eyes open using both irons and scopes, no problem. I would suggest staying right handed and using both eyes open. Although it will take some getting used to.

Still primarily use the left eye for pistol though..
 
I am right handed and left eye dominant. When I first joined the army I shot and trained left handed but, it always felt kinda wrong. Not too long in, a Sgt suggested going back to right hand and keeping both eyes open. The keeping both eyes open took some practice but, in the end works great! I have been shooting both eyes open using both irons and scopes, no problem. I would suggest staying right handed and using both eyes open. Although it will take some getting used to.

Still primarily use the left eye for pistol though..

:agree: I've been doing this now for years!
 
I am right handed and left eye dominant. When I first joined the army I shot and trained left handed but, it always felt kinda wrong. Not too long in, a Sgt suggested going back to right hand and keeping both eyes open

So is this you? (oops, I guess you said Army, not Air Force...!)
usaf-sniper-both-eyes-open.gif


(since I'm being gratuitous, might as well paste in the text that accompanied it..)


A story with a happy ending!

This nineteen-year-old ex-cheerleader (now an Air Force Security Forces Sniper) was watching a road that led to a NATO military base when she observed a man digging by the road. She engaged the target (I.e., she shot him). Turned out he was a bomb maker for the Taliban and he was burying an IED that was to be detonated when a US patrol walked by 30 minutes later. It would have certainly killed and wounded several soldiers.

The interesting fact of this story is the shot was measured at 725 yards. She shot him as he was bent over burying the bomb. The shot went through his butt and into the bomb which detonated; he was blown to pieces. The Air Force made a motivational poster of her:

No idea if it's true or not, but it's a nice story, and I think she's doing a good job showing a comfortable both-eyes-open shooting position.
 
:eek:
No one has ever pointed out to me or I even noticed that I am a left eye dominant right hand shooter till I saw this post.

I feel kinda retarded now....
 
I'm right handed and left eye dominant too, there's lots of us around...I got used to shooting lefty. It feels much better than trying to focus with both eyes or leaning over the rifle.

I've also been working on keeping my left eye closed and focusing with my right eye (left eye is very dominant). By just closing my right eye and trying to look at random objects at different angles from my eye has helped as I can now shoot both ways, only shooting righty feels a little awkward as I'm so used to shooting lefty. But it might come in handy hunting, as deer never seem to pass the direction you'd like them to.
 
im neither eye dominant, it's not really any harder to shoot, i just have trouble with both eyes open as neither eye wants to take over. wikipedia has a nice article about eye dominance and the tests you can do to figure it out.

h ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocular_dominance
 
This debate has been raging for quite some time now regarding way to live with or solve opposite-eye dominance problems with shooters. As I, too, fall into this category, there are several options that have worked for me.

For handguns, I simply draw the pistol across my body with my right hand and align the sights with my left eye. In doing so, the right arm is pulled as far as the torso will allow, thereby acting as a rifle stock to stabilize the shooting platform. Unfortunately, this angle does tire the shoulder quite quickly, so when not shooting one simply lowers the pistol. Upon raising the pistol once more in this position, the sights generally return to the previous aligned position with a minimum of adjustment or movement.

With long guns, however, the situation is somewhat more complex. If the opposite-eye dominance is not overpowering, the shooter may be able to train themselves to shoot with the off-hand or weaker eye. If the dominance is more pronounced, there are several assistant devices such as stick-on blockers that can be placed over the strong eye, thereby forcing the weak eye to take on the effort of focusing. One may also wear an eye patch to accomplish this method. Otherwise, one may consider shooting from the opposite shoulder, though it should be noted that most people do find it difficult to shoot from the opposite side once they have trained themselves for a lifetime to be dominant with a certain hand.

As always, there are many ways to deal with this situation or solve this problem. No one solution will work for everyone. Feel free to post your suggestions and consider any alternative that might work for you.
 
I am left eye dominant as well, but when shooting a rifle I just close it & use the right to aim...
It feels way too awkward to shoulder a rifle to the left
S.
 
This thread reminds me of when Horatio Nelson was asked if he was intimidated by the massed number of ships in the French/Spanish - he raised the telescope to his blind eye and said "I see nothing".
 
Being left eye dominant never bothered me shooting right handed. Personally I think its all a load of crap and just another excuse for why you don't shoot so well. ;)
 
I'm left handed and right eye dominant- so I learned to shoot rifle ( scoped), pistol and SG right side, generally both eyes open. no choice since due to a botched childhood operation I can't close my left eye only. Doing IPSC& PPC learned to shoot left handed using left eye. Now I shoot rifle, pistol and shotgun either side but I still favor right side when I have a choice- too much muscle memory I guess. The stange part now is that with handgun I'm more accurate shooting left side (both eyes open). go figure...
 
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