Advice needed: Eye Dominance

[SpiderJohn]

My 5 year old is obviously left eye dominant but insists on shooting like Dad, Mom and Sister. Hence the .22 LR Cricket sits in the pocket of the right shoulder with a conventional stance and grip. He is doing very well, other than rotating his head around so that his left eye is being used on the sights. This is fine for a .22, but I fear the day he works up to .30-06.

1. Is it possible at this age to "train" eye dominance? I thought about tying a bandana over his left eye, as he can not close only one eye yet. In trying this at the house, we get very mixed results. I have not tried it at the range yet, and frankly don't know if it will help.

2. If in fact he is left eyed dominant, how do you get the switch made to the left shoulder? He finds it very awkward, and will quickly change back.

3. Do I let him run with this, and not worry until we get into larger calibers? My thoughts here are mixed. I would rather get him to build good form at this age, than to try "retraining" him later.

Last question: Are any of you Left eye dominant, and shoot right handed? How do you do it? I have tried to shoot left handed/right eye, but can't. I am amazed he is hitting anything at all.

Don't know if it will help, but when working with revolvers he naturally chooses an isocoles stance with both eyes open. I have no idea in the world how he does that, but he does just fine.

 

[Christianninja]

I'm right handed but left eye dominant...I've been told I would be more accurate if I forced myself to shoot left handed, but it has always seemed too awkward for me, so I've always just shot right handed with my right eye. It hasn't seemed to cripple my accuracy in any way. (Unless switching to my left hand would give me super-human aim. Hmmmm.....)

 

[SpiderJohn]

You don't roll your head over to use your left eye?

 

[Christianninja]

Nope. I've seen people try to do it and it's always seemed more trouble than its worth to me. I don't really see how you could do too well with that method anyway...I'd think the left eye would be way too high to get a good sight picture...that's interesting that he does well with it.

 

[SpiderJohn]

It amazes me too. It is really something to see. when you learned to shoot, were you aware of your eye dominance? What led you to working with your weak eye?

Do you use scopes or iron sights? Does one work better than the other for you?

 

[SDC]

You can try to "train" an eye one way or the other by putting one or more clear pieces of tape over one side his pair of shooting glasses, so he'll automatically start to focus with the eye that still sees clearly; I've seen several shooters in this area try this, usually with good results.

 

[sansone]

my son has a cricket too, and I tell him if he shoots right handed then use his right eye. if he likes to shoot left-handed that's OK as long as he uses his left eye. he writes right handed so I kinda feel inclined to push him towards shootin that way

 

[glassman]

agree with SDC

Doctors who treat children with strabizmus (lazy eye) will patch the good eye and force the 'lazy' eye to accomodate. It's the same principle with dominance issues. It might be uncomfortable for a bit but eventually, his targets will get better. If your son is unwilling or unable to shoot left handed this may work. That being said, taking these steps might be so uncomfortable for him that he may decide he doesn't want to participate in shooting sports. Obviously, communication and encouragement are the keys.

 

[SpiderJohn]

I had a lazy eye (still crosses when I am tired), but I never thought about using that same technique. I was thinking of the time spent shooting only. Thanks for the idea. I think I will try a combination of the two techniques, the tape over the glasses, and the patch over the left eye other times.

Thanks.

 

[glassman]

SHOULD HAVE SAID IT BEFORE

Might not be a bad idea to talk to his doctor before taking any of these steps.

 

[SpiderJohn]

That could be interesting. Think I will.

 

[Christianninja]

SpiderJohn:

I was shooting right handed a long time before I found out I was left eye dominant. When my dad taught me to shoot he just showed me to shoot right-handed, assuming I was right-eye dominant. Up until then, I'd only used open iron sights/scopes, but of which I could use without trouble. Eventually when I went to a shooting event and used peep sights for the first time, I was having trouble and I was asked if I was left or right-eye dominant. After a brief moment of confusion, I went through the hand test and found out I was left eye dominant. He had me switch to left-handed shooting and I didn't have any more trouble with the peep sights.

It was uncomfortable though, so after I got back to open sights I went back to right, and have been doing it ever since.

 

[klover]

Right handed, left eyed here

Me left eye is better in any case than my right. Usually with a hand gun, I shoot left eyed, but have somehow managed some with the right eye as well.
With long guns, I really need optics unless the lower caliber allows a cross eye aim. Anyways, I can always hit the barn as long as someone guides my hands physically into the correct quadrant of the compass.

 

[sansone]

my old eyeballs are junk.. lately the left eye works better but I'm right handed. my buddy is peruading me to shoot lefty now but it feels weird

 

[CB900F]

SpiderJohn;

I'm left/left, however your son is the same as my daughter, left eye dominant & naturally right handed. At about age 14, several years ago now, my daughter decided to switch. She found it somewhat awkward to shoot from the left shoulder initially, but her accuracy improved a solid 10% I'd say.

part of the ease with which she did shift was the fact that she was using her own Ruger 10/22. No bolt issues to deal with that way. She's stated that the ejection doesn't bother her a bit. And for that matter, it doesn't bother me any whenever I shoot a 10/22 either.

In your case, you might not want to "fight city hall" at this stage of the game. Let him shoot & learn to enjoy it. If he starts having accuracy issues when shooting with you or friends down the road, I'd re-introduce the idea. Having a 10/22 in the wings wouldn't hurt either.

900F

 

[doncameron]

I am left handed and left eye dom.
I shoot mostly right handed, I used the tape over the left lens trick,
when i was younger (not to many lefty firearms around 30-35 years ago.
now I can shoot with either hand, sometimes I catch myself turning my head for the left eye.

 

[shotgunkevin]

I'm right handed but left eye dominant. I shoot handguns and long guns with my right hand, but I switch between using my left eye for pistols and using my right eye for long guns, whether it has iron sights or a scope. I find I just can't get my left eye into position on a long gun, but it's not a problem at all with a pistol.

I do need to use wraparound glasses, because when shooting pistols, I have my head turned sharply, and end up looking through the edge or nosepiece of regular 2 lens glasses.

I have found that my right eye is getting a little stronger, or so it seems.

 

[F4GIB]

I'm left-eye dominant but right-handed. I shoot handguns right handed by moving the gun to the left so it's in front of my left eye. Shoot well too.

For long guns, I shoot left handed. It took about a month to lose my ham-handedness as a lefty and now I'm completely comfortable shooting from the left. Shoot these well too.

 

[PrimaryB]

Question. What is the advantage of using your dominant eye over your weaker eye when using iron sights? I also play golf and realize consistency is vital in both sports. My point is that perhaps using your dominant eye and appropriate side of your body in all cases shooting handguns, long guns, scoped or not is a fundamental that should be learned? I'm right handed and left eye dominant. I shoot long guns scoped or not using right eye right shoulder. Handgun scoped or not using left eye and both hands. Recently I have been shooting at 25yrds trying with both eyes but not enough time yet to have an opinion on this. The only problem with this that I can truly SEE is if I'm ever in at situation where I have to 1 hand a big bore handgun. I say this because someone posted a link to a video on this site, I think John Linebaugh shooting one of his cannons one handed and naturally the gun passes beside his head. Nice smooth stroke. Oddly enough it was the left side of his head so I wonder if he is left dominant? Will have to find the video and watch it again.

PrimaryB

 

[SpiderJohn]

PB,
I guess my concern here is when he moves to larger calibers, he might have a problem getting a kiss from a scope, or the bolt of a rifle.

My boy is Left handed, left eyed (at least right now, sometimes it changes, depending on what he is doing). I would think that the rifle on the left side would feel better to him, but he says no. I think I am going to let it ride awhile until he can comprehend the situation fully. Right now he is solely focused on the four rules (makes a dad proud) and hitting the clays on the berm.

 

[geekWithA.45]

I'm not sure he's going to get a proper cheek weld if he's leaning his head over the stocks. It doesn't strike me as a sound practice.

I'd have him experiment with taping his shooting glasses, or shooting other handed, to see what he resists the least.

Personally, I think that folks should have passing familiarity with shooting other handed for tactical reasons. While one won't be at one's best in that circumstances, one should be adequate.

When I taught at the kid's club, there where maybe 6 out of 80 kids with taped shooting glasses.

 

[Pat McCoy]

Using the dominant eye and week hand is almost always preferrable in the long run for both speed and accuracy.

When getting new shooters who lay their head over the comb to see thru the sights I generally ask them to face the other way (while I hold the rifle), then get them in proper position and ask them if they can see better that way. Invariable the answer is yes, and the young ones just go with it. Older ones sometimes resisit, but I have them shoot groups over a rest both ways, and they see quickly the advantage of using the dominant eye.

Sometimes eyes can switch dominance (usually at older ages), and sometimes they are so close that when you put the sights in front of one eye the other becomes dominant (eye patches work well here).

We find about 15% of the general population is cross dominant, but that approaches 50% in women.

A useful tactic for the older crew 14 & up) is to have them put a broomstick or piece of broom handle somewhere they go past frequently. Every time past, pick it up, aim using dominant eye and say bang. Within thirty days the physical actions will build up the needed muscle memory to be comfortable.

Also, shooting with your weak hand (rifle or pistol) is good to practice once in awhile. Never know when your stong hand may be disabled, and rifle shooting weak handed has helped many folks cure problems they were having shooting in the regular way.

 

[VARifleman]

For shooting stationary targets, it actually doesn't matter which eye you use as long as the other one is occluded. What does that mean? It means translucent material is put infront of the non-shooting eye so that only the shooting eye gives an image while the other gives no image, but your eyes aren't out of sinc with the light like they will be if you put an opaque piece (like black foam) in front of the non-shooting eye.

Take an old milk carton and make one out of it:

 

[sb350hp]

I'm not alone I see

Sorry about the pun

RH shooter with LH dominant eye. Just really started noticing it more lately. Guess I am getting older . Only really noticable with iron sights (handgun) rifle with scope not an issue.

Just purchased a replica 1911 gas blowback airsoft with very similar sights to those on my handguns and using it as a training device. Early results: It seems to be working but really to early to tell. Without closing left eye it is very difficult for me to focus and get a good sight picture. I will post update to let you know how the training pays off.

 

[Hutch]

SpiderJohn, please have your child checked for Amblyopia (Lazy eye). I had an undiagnosed case, and it has ruined the vision in my right eye. I have no depth perception. Although I am right-handed, I MUST shoot a long gun from the left shoulder. I wind up using a hand-gun right-handed, but pull it over in front of my good eye.

Don't let this happen to your kid accidently. Have him checked.

I'm still a little bitter about it, at age 51.