Right Handed and Left Eye Dominant??

[TDDude]

My son, who is 10, loves to go shooting with me. I noticed early on that he is left eye dominant but right handed. He would grab the pistol with his right hand and while shooting both eyes open, cranks it over in front of his left eye. He can shoot right eye if he closes his left but he says it doesn't feel natural.

Question for you bonifide "Expert Instructors":
Should I continue to have him shoot left handed, which he does very well but he says it doesn't feel natural, or should I have him shoot right handed with the extra strain and effort of holding the pistol across his body to be in front of his left eye??

He does it with rifles as well. He shoots right handed but cranes his neck across the rifle to sight with his left eye and has to make a concerted effort to change. I have him shoot left handed but then all the action of the rifle is on the wrong side.

I haven't had him to the optometrist yet. He may just have bad vision out of the right side but I kinda doubt that is the case.

Anyone else in the forum have this condition and what do you do?

[tarkus]

If he shoots two handed it not a big problem for pistols. With rifles you should try a scope and see if that helps. I don't know what to say for wingshooting.

[CJATE]

I am cross dominant, handle a pistol right handed, cock my head to the right and use left eye. It feels very natural to me, but I’ll admit a shoot a touch left.

Rifle and shotguns are all off the left shoulder. And I am dead on.

Also, if it’s unverified, it’s an easy test. Hand him your wedding ring, have him hold it out a full arms length, tell him to look through it at something across the room “both eyes open�. Tell him to bring it all the way back to his face never loosing sight of the object. He will naturally bring it to his strong eye. No need for an eye doc

[LarryH]

I am right-handed and my left eye has significantly better vision. It's been that way since high school (graduated in 1964).

Doesn't seem to make much difference. The human brain can compensate for a lot.

[nedmoore]

I am right handed and left eye dominant as well. When I was your sons age I can remember going on my first deer hunts with my father and learning how to shoot a rifle with a scope. I would shoot right handed but "lean" my head over the stock so I could see through the scope with my left eye. Worked fine for me until my first week of college....

First week of college I was rushing for the fraternity stuff and one of the frat's took us out to play paintball. To make a long story short I was shot my right eye at close range with a paintball and ended up losing the sight in my right eye. Not even light perception. After that I began to shoot left handed. And yes I was wearing goggles, until a tree limb knocked them off, I stood up, and the rest is history.

[G.C.Montgomery]

Well, I too am a "cross dominant" shooter. I'm left-handed but, right-eye dominant. Early on, when I started shooting in JROTC, the instructor noticed the issue and made me switch to shooting right handed. I've been shooting right-handed ever since. It's my opinion that we can teach a shooter to develop fine trigger control with either hand.

Having said that, I know an awfuly lot of great shooters who simply crank their handguns over to the dominant eye with which ever hand they feel most comfortable. Many, folks will shoot long-guns as lefties and then continue running handguns with their right-hand. Seems to work just fine. That's my $0.02

GM

[TxRVer]

I know you're looking for professional opinions, but I'll join in with personal experience. I'm one of those that is left-handed/left eye dominant. I shoot a handgun left handed, but a rifle right handed. It just seemed the natural thing to do when I first shot as a kid. Like others, I drop my head to sight with the left eye while shooting a rifle. I never thought about it until not long ago. Like others, I think that shooting with two hands would make sighting the handgun pretty easy.

[Skiprr]

Well, I too am a "cross dominant" shooter. I'm left-handed but, right-eye dominant. Early on, when I started shooting in JROTC, the instructor noticed the issue and made me switch to shooting right handed. I've been shooting right-handed ever since. It's my opinion that we can teach a shooter to develop fine trigger control with either hand.

Wow. News to me. I thought you were right-handed.

To elaborate, this is a guy who can exert that "fine trigger control" so well that a BATF agent once accused him of using a full-auto pistol.

He wasn't, of course. He can just shoot really, really fast.

[CompVest]

It has all been said. Pistol doesn't matter.

[tboesche]

By no means am i an expert but I am cross dominant. Right handed/left eye. I always rolled my head to the right so I could sight with my left eye. Recently, I switched my contacts RX and things have changed slightly. I am using what the doc calls "mono-vision" Basically one eye is rx'd for distance and the other for close in. In my case the left eye is distance and the right is close. This initially cased problems as my left eye could not focus on the front sight blade. I started shooting with my left eye closed. Pistol anyway. Not good. I have since gotten to the point that as I aquire sight picture, I blink my left eye, and then the right eye catches the front sight. I still struggle sometimes getting sight picture. As a result for close in shooting, ie. IDPA, I rarely aim and usually shoot instinctively aiming COM. If going for a head shot, I will usually snap my left eye closed and get a good sight picture.

I think next visit to the eye doc I will try and switch which eye is distance and which is close in. See what happens

[Purplehood]

Speaking strictly from my own experience (17 years USMC, 7 years USAR), I too am right-handed with left-eye dominant. Unfortunately I did not know this until a recent eye exam.
Anyway, I shot both Pistol and Rifle since childhood using the right-eye and shoulder. I have always shot Marksman to Sharpshooter with the Pistol (leaning more to marksman), and always shot Expert with the Rifle.
I have since tried shooting the Pistol with my left eye (two-handed) with fairly good results.

[pedalman]

I'm right-handed and left-eye dominant. Until I learned of this, I was always a crappy shot. Couldn't make the JROTC Rifle Team, and barely qualified with the M16 in the Air Force. Imagine my joy when I discovered my cross-dominance. My shooting improved by leaps and bounds.

[Liko81]

It's "cross-eye dominance" and it's relatively common. I myself shoot exactly the same way. I find it makes acquiring the target very easy, as the "off-picture" from my other eye is up out of the way.

You may have him try an Isoceles stance instead of Weaver/Chapman. That places the gun closer to the left eye so he won't have to crank his head as far over.

[Wildscar]

I too am cross-eye dominant. Never know it hade a name till I read this post. I am left eye dominate and shoot pistols with my right hand. However I shoot rifles left handed. I have always been that way and just thought I was weird. Even In highschool R.O.T.C. I shot that way and it made it hard since all the rifles where desined for right handed shohoters. But I was still a good shot and was the best shot from day one and made rifle team commander by my junior year. I think it helped some of the younger shooters that didnt they could do it with the equipment avaliable. Then they saw that I had to use Right handed equipment left handed since it was not in the budjet to buy more gear for a lefty. Made them think they could do everything better.

As you can see in the vid below in the 2nd stage they added a rifle. I shoot the pistol part right handed and then pick up the rifle and shoot left handed. Even had one guy ask me if he saw that right. He could belive I shot that way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzcz9AF5bWQ

So to make a short story long. Dont fret too much. He will find his niche and be a good a shot and anyone else out there. Just let him know its his way to choose and he an do what best works for him.

[G.C.Montgomery]

Well, I too am a "cross dominant" shooter. I'm left-handed but, right-eye dominant. Early on, when I started shooting in JROTC, the instructor noticed the issue and made me switch to shooting right handed. I've been shooting right-handed ever since. It's my opinion that we can teach a shooter to develop fine trigger control with either hand.

Wow. News to me. I thought you were right-handed.

To elaborate, this is a guy who can exert that "fine trigger control" so well that a BATF agent once accused him of using a full-auto pistol.

He wasn't, of course. He can just shoot really, really fast.

Yeah, it always used to trip up customers who had seen me on the range at Top Gun. I'd start writing up their tickets behind the counter with my left hand as usual and the reaction was always, "How the heck did you learn to shoot like that with your right hand?!?!" I've gotten into the habit of telling folks the process seems to work pretty much the same way with both hands...Align the sights, Press bang-switch with booger-hook while correcting the sight picture and the gun tends to work as designed.