Advice For Cross Dominant Shooter

[CTGunner]

I am right handed but left eye dominant. I have tried a number of things to shoot more effectively using my right hand, such as bring the gun over and under my left eye and/or tilting my head to get my left eye over the sites. Despite my efforts my accuracy is still 'off'. If I intentionally hold my sites to the right edge of my target, I can get hits, though I don't feel like this is the best approach to compensating for my issue.

So, my question is this - is it advisable and/or realistic to switch to shooting and carrying exclusively left handed when my dominant hand is my right? Even with a lot of practice will this ever feel 'right'? Is there an accepted best practice for cross dominant shooters?

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I am right handed and right eye dominant, but as I grew older I became farsighted in my right eye and nearsighted in my left eye. I had to re-train myself to shoot a handgun.

It's a simple trick -- just bring the gun up and tilt your head to the right. Keep both eyes open. With a little practice, your left eye will pick up the sights, your right eye will pick up the target, and the brain will merge the two images.

Don't think about it or concentrate on it. Just do it, and it will happen automatically.

 

[Sunray]

Keep your head up and shoot with both eyes open. S'why you have two.

 

[ky8]

As everyone else has said in above posts.
Also modify your stance.
Bring you right foot back a little until you
find the right spot and it will be easier to
us your left eye.

That is what helps me.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

You'll get lots of advice from many on this...most of it will contradict others statements.

I'm a left eye dominant right hander. I was left handed at birth according to my grandmother and my parents admit "coercing me" to be a right hander. I am ambidextrous to some degree but have never been able to break the left eye dominance.

I shoot and carry a pistol as a right hander and I carry and shoot a rifle as a left hander as I cannot shift a rifle to get my left eye behind the rear sight. I am quite good with both and fast as well from the draw. My advice is to use what works best for you - try some stuff that will be suggested but remember that at least one other left eye dominant right hander does fine with this configuration.

VooDoo

 

[Sam1911]

If you can, teach yourself to shoot handguns with your strong hand, and your strong eye. This will mean turning the gun slightly but will work seamlessly.

The harder one may be to learn to shoot long guns optimally. You need to use your strong EYE and that will mean shooting off your weak shoulder. You'll be glad you learned though the learning may take a bit of time.

 

[Rat Robb]

I am right-handed and left-eye dominant as well and my advice to you is learn to shoot left-handed. It took me a little bit but my body seem to take over after awhile and now its as natural as ever. In fact, shooting a gun right-handed proves a challenge for the first few shots.

There are a few advantages to shooting left-handed as a righty. One, my dominant, stronger hand is free, therefore in a self-defense situation I can hit, push, grab my knife or deflect an attacker while maintaining excellent pistol control in the other. Two, on my bolt action rifle, my finger never leaves the trigger to cycle a round. My free, right hand does that and I can maintain my sight picture and grip which is great for shooting multiple targets quick and accurate.

Just learn to shoot left-handed, you'll be happy you did.

-Robb

 

[1KPerDay]

Two, on my bolt action rifle, my finger never leaves the trigger to cycle a round. My free, right hand does that and I can maintain my sight picture and grip which is great for shooting multiple targets quick and accurate.

You don't get a bolt in your face? I do...

 

[Rat Robb]

You don't get a bolt in your face? I do...

I sit pretty far back on my rifle, I got monkey arms, lol. It comes right to my nose, at most I just roll my check back a bit and that gives me the clearance. This isn't to say I haven't

The most important part to me is that my grip doesn't change, the latter is a bonus.

-Robb

 

[Noah]

I am right handed, and very strongly left eye dominant, to the point that the doctor had me wear a patch over my left eye for a set time every day to try and strengthen my right eye when I was very young. I have it easier than most- from the very first time I picked up a toy gun or used a stick to play WWII, I have held pistols right handed and rifles left handed. For pistol shooting I just tilt my head and modify my grip/stance just a little bit. I've actually come to see this as an advantage, as both my trigger fingers can get a good trigger pull, and "off-hand" shooting with a pistol comes rather easily to me.

Because using my right hand on a pistol is so much more natural and confident to me, and so many pistols and holsters are set for right handers, and holding a rifle left handed just feels natural an confident, and gives a very good reload with an AK, as I get to use my dominant hand and the charging handle is very easy to reach, I don't have any plans on "fixing" anything.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

There is a small percentage who are cross dominate and do have a real problem. How goo, bad are your groups? To be honest, I think all of us should shoot 50% with each hand anyway for all firearms as that skill is probably more important.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Both my wife and my youngest son are right handed and left eye dominate...my wife didn't even realize it until she started shooting pistols....but she was taught from childhood to shoot a rifle right handed and somehow, without any special coaching she ended using her right eye for that too.

She struggled with handguns for a while but finally figured out a way that works for her.


My son...he is left eye dominate, but from the first time he ever looked through a scope I told him to use his right eye...that was just last year...now he uses his right eye comfortably and without a thought when aiming a rifle, with or without a scope.

Thats no help for an adult...but shows that if you catch it early you can make it easy for a kid to work through left eye dominance.

 

[Sam1911]

but shows that if you catch it early you can make it easy for a kid to work through left eye dominance.

One problem with that is that you really can't coach away eye-dominance. Their left eyes are still dominant. However, they're now trained to cut their GOOD eye of their shooting skills. Shooting is all about seeing. One eye is stronger than the the other, so thus will see clearer, resolve faster, and control eye-hand coordination that much more adroitly. The other plays catch-up. So now your son and wife are learning to shoot with their worse eye just so their hands (so much less a factor in these things) don't have to re-train.

One of the key skills we teach is to shoot with both eyes open in many situations -- especially anything dynamic. That's an avenue that is closed to them now, as their truly dominant eye will grab control again as soon as they try and, at the very least, cause them to fight their view while trying to get on a bird/clay, or transition to another target.

You can fight that by making them wear a pirate eye patch (or taping over their glasses lens) when they shoot so you blind them in their GOOD eye so that their weak eye can run things but I think if you stop and consider it in that light, you'll see that it is a really bad idea.

Remember how for many decades the nuns at parochial school would whack their rulers down on the hands of children who tried to write left-handed? So they made all the kids be good little right-handed people? Same thing basically. You're born like this, it isn't a choice and shouldn't be beaten out of you.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

They both hit what they aim at...Daniel is only 7 and he shoots a Parker Challenger crossbow (with scope) as good as I can shoot anything scoped, doesn't appear to be struggling with it at all.

And my wife, dropped a deer last year 345 yards with 1 quick shot from her 270...

Humans are remarkably adaptable creatures...I'm right handed, but because of the way I learned as a small child (standing next to my Grandmother, most likely more in her way than anything)...I grade tobacco left handed, and I can do it as fast as any...faster than most.

If you don't know...grading tobacco is stripping the leaves off the cured (dried) tobacco, and sorting them by grade...its done by hand, one leaf at a time...and requires a good bit of coordination to do quickly and correctly.

I didn't beat it out of anybody, all I did was tell him to use his right eye, one time, thats all it took...I just encouraged a way that I believe will make it easier for him going forward...using right handed rifles.

 

[RussellC]

Everyone's eyes are different. Different solutions work for some, not others. I am right handed left eye dominant. I have been told this can be changed, and some shooters do this and need to refresh from time to time.

I was shooting pistol right hand with left eye, tilted head. I sort of like both eyes open, but sometimes it creates problems. For me, it worsens the "either sights are clear or target, but not both" deal. Also, if I use both eyes open it tends to give double vision of the target. I shoot a rifle right handed with my right eye...this "works" for me.

I was told that I could change this, (eye dominance) and that many competitive shooters do. I further asked and was told this: Remember, I am right handed but left eye dominant. I was told that it would take a few weeks of regular shooting to cause the change. I was told to take a small square of scotch tape on my shooting glasses over my left (dominant) eye. This still allows peripheral vision in that eye, and to shoot both eyes open like this. Then, obviously, shoot with right eye, but again with both open.

Well, I've been at it a week now, and am still left eye dominant. These guys tell me to keep at it, that "it will work." We will see, but so far I can say this about the method in my case: The sights are very clear, and there is no double vision of the target. Most importantly, I am Shooting better because of this! I will post something if my eye dominance changes....

I have always shot a rifle right handed with right eye. This is no problem for me and totally natural. I would also shoot a bow right handed...totally natural for me.

The only thing I can say on this topic for sure, is that everyone is different, some will be able to do some of the solutions here, others not. I would try them all and experiment. No matter how hard I try, and I do shoot with both left and right hands at the range, is that right handed is natural for me, and left handed feels well, left handed, if you get what I mean!

Russellc

 

[19GMC63]

I was in the same boat OP... left-eye dominant with strong right hand (though I write left-handed). I've always shot rifles left-handed, but pistols right-handed (with inconsistent results). I switched to shooting pistols left-handed and noticed immediate gains in accuracy and consistency.

It did take me several weeks to re-train myself to the point of comfort and pure muscle memory. Even just picking up a pistol and operating (especially racking/releasing the slide on semis) took some major getting used to. If you do decide to switch hands, you just have to be diligent about using the left hand and just dedicate time to practicing the basics in handling, operating and drawing. With time it became second nature for me.

But like RussellC said, it all comes to the individual. It seems like there are different reasons (genetic, environmental, physical, etc.) for why the cross dominance exists and there are different levels of ambidextrous ability (if it exists at all) in cross dominant people so there isn't a fix-all solution.

 

[sakata8242]

I am right eye-left hand cross dominant and I shoot right handed. I bring the pistol slightly left of my midline, and TURN my head to the right slightly. I shoot well this way and it has worked for me. Don't tilt your head or your sight picture will be off. It is doable, but may be difficult just on how everyone's brain processes visual input differently.

If you can retrain yourself to shoot left handed, that is certainly an option. Another option is to mount an RMR on your pistol, in which the only thing you need to focus on is the target and the red dot superimposed on it.

 

[bainter1212]

I am right handed and left eye dominant. I shoot everything right handed because the disparity between hands is huge while my right eye is just ever-so-slightly worse than my left.
I have taught myself to tilt my head slightly to the right to shoot handgun.
I have shot rifle right handed since I was a wee tyke, and anything else feels off. I squint my left eye slightly and my right eye takes over.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

This will sound odd or stupid to some folks but I'm gonna let this out...ocular dominance is suggestive (in some ways) of how your brain works and in how you interpret information visually and how your brain processes it. Can you change eye dominance? Yes...my brother has done that successfully and I attempted to use the same "covering the dominant eye" routine with some success. However...

I am also a professional musician and have worked successfully as an "ad lib" solo artist on various instruments (mostly woodwinds) for decades. I am also one of those people who can read something a number of times and "learn" it to the point of mastery in some cases. My reading retention is off the scale. When I began to lose my left eye dominance my ability to interpret abstract chord changes in real time and apply a musical theme instantaneously was hampered to the point of being destroyed. My ability to read and catalog/interpret was diminished to the point of being "normal" in reading comprehension for the first time in my life. And a host of other artistic abilities that were inherent for me began to become tedious or abstract in nature. So I reversed the process and left myself as a left eye dominant right hander. I'm also left ear dominant so this might be an additional factor.

No doubt some of these issues were because of insufficient time becoming accomplished with my "new" eye dominance but I'm convinced that eye dominance, in some individuals, is much more an indicator of brain processing and how we see the world and assimilate information than it is in other folks.

Change yer eye dominance at your own risk. I'm leaving mine alone...there is collateral damage to changing my eye dominance (perhaps only in the short term?) that I cannot accept. Gifts that I may not be able to use properly anymore by doing so. It may be the same for others so I give this heads up. If it works for folks then use it but be on the lookout for other things about yourself that might not be so responsive to changing eye dominance.

VooDoo

 

[marv]

I shoot cross-eyed out of necessity. The right lens in my glasses is covered due to diplopia. I can't shoot lefthanded because I no longer have a wrist in my left arm. Shooting handguns is no problem. I simply shift the gun a bit to align it with my left eye. My rifles have been retired.

 

[coloradokevin]

I'm also a left-eye, right-hand shooter. My advice:

Try a few different things and find what works for you!

Everyone is a little different on this subject, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. All of the ideas mentioned above are tried and true, as are a few others.

For me, I started shooting when I was 5 years old (I'm 35 now). I didn't know the first thing about eye dominance at a young age, and I've always had good vision (it's just better in my left eye). I learned to shoot most comfortably as a right-handed shooter, with rifles, pistols, and shotguns. We live in a world where most of these things are set up for right-handed folks.

As such, since I'm a right handed person living in a right-handed world, I decided to continue shooting right-handed, even after discovering eye dominance issues when shooting pistol. For me, the problem is most obvious when I'm shooting in low light environments, and while shooting pistol. For rifle it's easy enough to shoot with the non-sighting eye closed or squinted, and you can still shoot very well this way (despite what some might tell you on this subject).

At times I've found myself needing to blink or squint my dominant eye when taking longer range pistol shots using a right-hand, right-eye stance. It probably creates a small handicap in my shooting, but it's not a huge one at all (I'm in LE, and shoot pistol better than most of my coworkers — maybe I won't make GM in USPSA, but I shoot well enough this way that I don't see a lot of value in trying to switch to lefty at this point).

As for rifles, how I shoot them depends on how the rifle is set up:

1) Under high magnification scopes: close the left eye, use the right eye. I've never seen any advantage in having both eyes open while shooting through high magnification optics, since each eye's image is essentially on a different plane of focus. Keeping both eyes open can reduce some eye fatigue, but it's not been an issue for me (and I shoot a lot of precision rifle).

2) Under no magnification (open sights) I just close my left eye and shoot with my right eye.

3) At work, where I want to maintain a high level of situational awareness while shooting my rifle, I run an Eotech holographic sight on my patrol rifle. Even with eye dominance issues you should be able to shoot through these optics with both eyes open… at the very least I can, and most other cross-dominant shooters I know can as well.


Anyway, that's how I do things. As with anything, there's the "right way", the "wrong way", and "may way". Your milage may vary. My spouse has this same eye dominance issue, but she's a newer shooter who learned of eye dominance the first time she shot. I don't think she's entirely settled on a method of shooting yet, but she's currently using a right-handed pistol stance, with her head tilted to allow her left eye to sight the pistol. She's learning rifle as a left handed shooter so far.

So, each person may choose a different path, and I'd simply suggest finding what works for YOU!


EDITED TO ADD:

Even as an LEO I've always run factory sights on my pistols. I just switched my primary duty weapon to using TruGlo fiber-optic/tritium sights, with yellow rear sights (dimmer) and a green front sight (brighter). I haven't used these sights extensively yet, but so far they seem easier for me to "find" quickly with my non-dominant right eye, while keeping my left eye open.

 

[jon_in_wv]

I don't know about "tilting" your head. I don't find that advice helpful. The fact is you sight naturally aligns to your dominant eye. TURN your head about 10 degrees to the right so you left eye is aligning directly behind your sights with your head in a natural upright position. This way you can shoot with both eyes open and it will quickly become habit. I am a far better than average shot and the cross eye dominance doesn't slow me down a bit with a pistol. Get a good, clear sight picture and go practice. Shoot slowly and all with work out without a problem.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The tilt is a training method. It places the dominant eye below the plane of the sight, and forces you to use the non-dominant eye. After a while, use of the non-dominant eye becomes automatic and you can eliminate the tilt.

 

[Ankeny]

...maybe I won't make GM in USPSA...

Why not? Dave Sevigny is cross dominante and all he does is bring the gun over in front if his dominant eye. FWIW, he isn't the only cross dominate GM.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Cross-dominant, also

Vern's got it. For me pistols are easy, as are rifles. Shotgunning games still suck for me though. Haven't had time to get those right. I cheat at HD shotgun, as mine has ghost ring sights.