Which Is Your Dominant Hand?

[WrongHanded]

This is a handgun specific query. Although someone can be cross dominant between eyes and hands - which may effect which side they shoulder a rifle - handguns can be shot cross dominantly far more easily.

So here's what I'm wondering, what is out ratio of left vs right hand dominance on THR? True Ambidexterity (where a person can do tasks with either hand, and perform them equally well) is very rare. But I've included it as an option. Using myself as an example, I can shoot a handgun reasonably well with either hand, or weld reasonable well with either hand, or brush my teeth, etc etc. But I still consider myself left handed, because if the stakes are high, I will always choose my left over my right.

So, are you left or right hand dominant.

 

[reddog81]

I try to practice with my left hand on a semi-regular basis but definitely right hand dominant.

 

[TarDevil]

Right handed. More important, in my opinion, is your dominant eye the same as your hand.

 

[dh1633pm]

I am left handed. Right eye dominate. I shoot rifles right handed because that's how my dad taught me. I shoot pistols with either hand with the caveat that left feels more natural, but many pistols have grips and controls that make left handed shooting a little harder.

 

[12Bravo20]

I'm right handed and left eye dominant. I shoot all hand guns with my right hand using my left eye. It has never caused me any issues. In fact it is a benefit since I shoot long guns left handed. I can transition from rifle to pistol faster since I can use both hands at the same time.

 

[unclenunzie]

Southpaw here. I may be right eye dominant as when I pick up a 1911 with both eyes open the sights line up with my right eye.

 

[.38 Special]

Right eye dominant, strongly right handed. My left hand, at times, seems nearly useless, and I always have struggled with "weak hand" stages in competition despite training pretty hard. Now that my competition days are over, I rarely shoot with my left hand, as it is so frustrating that it is no fun - and I know from long experience that there's very little room for improvement.

 

[beag_nut]

As a little kid my parents did not realize that my left eye was dominant (70 years ago pediatricians were not all that common). A recent eye doctor declared that it could have been prevented 'way back then. Regardless, I was taught to shoot with either hand, as a matter of course. So today it matters not which hand has the handgun (it does matter with long guns), I shoot both equally, which I consider a good advantage.

 

[kidneyboy]

I am right hand dominant but at a very early age my brothers and I were taught to be able to work equally well with both hands. This included writing. We never thought anything of it. My Dad was a contractor and being somewhat ambidextrous made us more versatile in a work setting. Most of the kids we grew up with had parents in the trades and many did the same thing.

 

[MutinousDoug]

I'm left handed but right eye dominant so I have always shot right handed. Ball sports, writing, wrestling, boxing I'm left handed.

 

[Pat Riot]

Right hand dominant. Right eye dominant.

I was religiously practicing left handed shooting and actually doing really well. I sometimes shot better left handed than right…then I broke my wrist in February 2021 had surgery and now I am back to relearning how to coordinate left hand shooting again.

 

[WrongHanded]

Who's the one ambidextrous vote? I'm interested as to how far that extends into your life.

 

[Demi-human]

After injuring my hand this early spring, weirdly the tissue all grew back and tingles like electricity, I am not truly ambidextrous to a sufficient to be counted on degree. Obviously the writing thing, both look terrible, but left handed is worse. And of course smudged.

I practice left handed more often now, not just to wow range partners, but to actually see if I can get equal to my right. Not just adequate for use.

But then which pocket does my blade go in?

More important, in my opinion, is your dominant eye the same as your hand.

Maybe this is why it works well but not great for me? Years of fighting one then the other?

I use both eyes. I think. I don’t really think I use the sights when I practice for carry. But I use my left eye when shooting bullseye style, trying to get the fine motor movements calmed down. Evening my self out.

But my left shakes. Still. Perhaps this is the “your actually right handed, for real.”
Or it could be from when I was hit by that van as a kid.
The way I seem to live, I’m glad I still have two arms!

 

[rabid wombat]

I am left eyed dominant, left handed (sort of…write, shoot, etc. left handed - golf, throw, bat, bowl, etc. right handed - none of it any good - archery from either side…). Just call me fouled up. With age (OK, laziness), my right side is stronger than my left (right handed world, right?). Likewise, with age related eye problems (cataracts), and successful surgery…my eyes are much more balanced. Having practiced, as well as having taken classes with ‘weak hand’ dominant…I am probably better with a pistol right handed. If I can get braced in some fashion, I am sound with a rifle right handed. I would like to take an Appleseed right handed! If it was not so dangerous, I am a comedy act with a shotgun right handed….

 

[9mmepiphany]

It will be interesting to see how the responding forum members differ from the generally accepted ration of 1:6 being left handed...according to the writings of Jeff Cooper

 

[WrongHanded]

It will be interesting to see how the responding forum members differ from the generally accepted ration of 1:6 being left handed

That is a ratio I had never heard before. I'd always heard 10% being about the percentage who were left handed. But looking into it further, it appears the US might now be a just over 13% and growing. By country that's one of the highest in the world.

https://leftyfretz.com/how-many-people-are-left-handed/

 

[GBExpat]

Right hand/Left eye dominant, here ... a few decades ago, after reading about a quick test in a gunrag (IIRC), I was surprised to learn of my left eye dominance.

I have always shot both longguns and handguns righthanded, using my right eye for sighting with the former and left, the latter, when shooting with both eyes open.

After discovering that I was left eye dominant, I recalled a time from when Dad was first teaching me to shoot the little single-shot .22 BA rifle that he bought for the purpose. He noticed that I was leaning my head over the comb to sight with my left eye. He corrected me and I have shot longguns using my right eye ever since.

Funny. Apparently, I was simply responding instinctively to what "felt" right at age 7(?).

BTW, prior to presbyopia degrading my eyesight, I was accounted to be an excellent casual longgun shooter, shooting over irons being my strong preference.

 

[GBExpat]

... I'd always heard 10% being about the percentage who were left handed. But looking into it further, it appears the US might now be a just over 13% and growing. By country that's one of the highest in the world.

Ayup, the US is definitely trending Left.

Sorry, I just couldn't ignore it when you lobbed that ball over the plate.

Apologies!

 

[bannockburn]

I'm Right-Hand Dominant/Right-Eye Dominant, despite the fact that my left eye is slightly stronger than my right one.

 

[HollowDawg]

Right handed/left eye dominant. I shoot pistols/revolvers right handed. Rifles, shotguns, and bows left handed. Also guitar left handed. What left eye dominant has to do with guitar I can't figure???

 

[brmiller]

I'm a mutt... Growing up, everything that used one hand I was left-handed. Everything that used both hands I was right handed. Then about 35 years ago I started shooting USPSA and trained myself to shoot a pistol right handed because left-handed rigs were rare, and my right eye was my master eye.

A few years back I noticed that my close in sight in my right eye was degrading faster than my left, so I started training my left eye to be my master eye. Today, I don't even pay attention to what side of a rifle I shoot from and will just as likely shoot it left-handed as right handed. I shoot pistols with either hand, and either eye, as the situation warrants.

I still can't write right-handed very well, but then as I seldom write anything other than my sig nowadays, it's not much worse than my writing with my left hand.

 

[9mmepiphany]

That is a ratio I had never heard before. I'd always heard 10% being about the percentage who were left handed. But looking into it further, it appears the US might now be a just over 13% and growing. By country that's one of the highest in the world.

https://leftyfretz.com/how-many-people-are-left-handed/

Your data is much more current than mine...likely by a few decades. FWIW: 1:6 is 16%, 1:7 is 14%, 1:8 is 12.5%

 

[WisBorn]

I'm left eye dominant and shoot left handed. I like to practice right handed and actually shot POA fairly well. I have a high and right tendency when shooting left handed.

 

[citizenconn]

I'm left handed but right eye dominant so I have always shot right handed. Ball sports, writing, wrestling, boxing I'm left handed.

In giving my ex-wife some home defense shooting lessons recently, we discovered that even though she is strongly right handed, she is left eye dominant. It was like a lightbulb going off for her as to difficulties she had growing up shooting and playing sports (particularly batting).
Now that she knows, it has given her a lot more confidence not only in shooting but also with a lot of other activities. Only took 50 years (25 of which we were married) to discover.

 

[WrongHanded]

As the poll stands currently, we have more lefties than I was expecting. We also have 7.5% who are ambidextrous, even though only 1% of the whole population is. Interesting.