kmaultsby Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Hello everyone I think this is only my second post here. I have been shooting IDPA on off for the past year just made marksmen SSP with my M&P service but I will mostly be shooting my XD 9 tactical in ESP that is another story. Anyway I am right-handed left eye dominate. I was told by one of the instructors don't worry about just till your head and line up the sights to my left eye. Ok but i find myself closing my right eye to help line up the sights and I still shoot like crap. I when to the range to practice and just for fun I load up ten rounds move the target to about eight yards place my XD in my left hand and fire ten shots both eyes open to the head. Nine out of ten shots were in the range and the only one that was not in the ten just missed. The group was about the size of a CD. WOW I have tried this before I have some left-hand holsters but never really practice on regular. What do you guy's think? Should switch to left hand? Because this is the beginning of the year I would have start some doing drills on drawing and mag changes to get speed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmanktm Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Try placing a small piece of scotch tape over the left lens of your shooting glasses. This will block the vision from your left eye and your right eye will take over. In this way you can train your right eye to become like a dominate eye for shooting. I shot for years with tape on my left lens and you get used to it. This fairly common thing among shooters. I tried switching to left hand with little success and I’m very good with my left hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmaultsby Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 (edited) Thanks Zmanktm for the advice. The problem I found trying this with one eye and this maybe just me, is that when I am shooting a stage and close one eye in this case I would tape my left eye I have missed targets on a stage example behind bearicates. I would like to get in the habit of shooting with both eyes open. Edited January 19, 2013 by kmaultsby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Furrer Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 I am also cross dominant and real confusing to watch in a three gun match because I shoot long guns right handed and pistol left handed. My strong hand. If I had the dexterity with my right hand I would shoot everything right handed. It's really up to you what your solution will be. I switched to right handed on long guns when I found myself looking at the side of the gun with my dominant eye. I would do what I could to shoot with both eyes open all of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmaultsby Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 Joe you are left handed. Right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Furrer Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Yes. It took me about a year to learn to shoot right handed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 are you going to die next week? if not, then give it a try. shoot left-handed for a few months, and keep track of some specific drill times and watch your results and see what happens. Just for practice, I shot my .22 pistol left-handed in a few steel matches last year (i was shooting my centerfire gun right handed). The first match I was slow, but the second one my left hand results were pretty close to my right-hand results. if you think about it, yer left hand has to do all the hard stuff when you play guitar, no reason it can't learn to pull a trigger. It's probably easier to rewire a hand than your eyes. Anyway if it doesn't work, and it takes you 6-12 months to figure it out, you're probably still not dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got Juice? Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 I am a natural leftie. But I am also RIGHT EYE DOMINANT. It took me about 6 months to become comfortable, a year to shoot decent, and now in year 2, I can honestly say, I made the right choice to switch hands to my dominant eye. Want what becomes great fun now are the strong hand/weakhand stages. talk about cake..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Furrer Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Nice. I feel the same way with long guns. Maybe I should start working on right hand draws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris iliff Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 I shoot right hand left eye dominate. No tilt of the head required. Just move the gun over. Lots of people are this way, and its not an obstacle. I shoot both eyes open. Got a full length mirror? Stand in front of it and draw, aim at your left eye reflection, keep head straight and if you are truly left eye dominate you'll see it perfectly lined up on your left eye.. Now just work on keeping the head straight. Next get a small piece of translucent/opaque (not clear) tape and put this on the right side lense of your shooting glasses. It doesn't have to be big, it just has to be enough to force your dominate eye to takeover. Some shooters use just a smudge of Chapstick. I use a piece no bigger than the roundness of a regular pencil erasure. Takes some experimenting to get positioned correctly, but well worth the effort. Remember, you are just trying to force full on dominance of sight and target with your dominate left eye. I also get all kinds of funky sight pictures and ghosts without the fix, it's common. With just a little bit of interference over your non dominate eye you'll force the issue and your double/ghost images will disappear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CATMranger Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 There really is no reason at all to switch hands to dominant eye side with a pistol. I am left eye dominant and have shot pistol right handed my entire life. I am also a weapons instructor by trade in the military and have proven this technique. When you present the pistol and push it towards the target just shift the gun to your left eye. Your right bicep will come in contact with your right cheek. I find this actually very fast because as I present the pistol my bicep slams my cheek every single time. I could present the pistol with my eyes closed, as long as I feel my right bicep against my right cheek I know I have perfect sight alignment with my left eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarecrow Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 I have a couple buddies that are left eye dominant and right hand shooters. It is a challenge to get adjusted to a style that works. Some use the tape on the glasses technique and another just uses his left eye. I would try both methods and see what works for you. Of you could go back to the left had draw which would probably be harder. I can shoot ambidextrious but dont like to. One way should feel better than the other and you should be able thru repetition become comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmaultsby Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 are you going to die next week? if not, then give it a try. shoot left-handed for a few months, I going for it. I will just have to do extra dry fire training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmaultsby Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) I just found interesting video with Bill Rogers explaining why you should use the hand that is on the same side as your dominant eye. Panteo videos I am a member so I saw the complete DVD, Rogers school of shooting. The web address is just a short thirty second clip but in the video he goes into more detail. http://www.panteaopr....com/protips/31 Edited January 22, 2013 by kmaultsby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattYvip Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 I've been shooting uspsa for a long time right handed/left eye dominate and I've never had a problem. I just bring the gun in front of my left eye and everythign is good to go. I have to squint it a little shooting rifle and shotgun for 3 Gun but other than that I've never had an issue. easier to switch eyes than relearn everything left handed. Just my opinion (that and $4.50 will get you a cup of starbucks). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeHarrell202 Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 I'm right handed an left eye dominate and I've never had a problem with shooting until I started shooting more shotgun stuff. I noticed when I was leading targets I was using my left eye to pick up the front sight. I had to close my left eye for a second to lead the target. Now I just put a little chapstick on my glasses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert King Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 + 1 on the scotch tape. That has helped me a lot, but still takes a lot of practice and getting used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadeslade Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Some shooters shoot long guns left handed and pistols right handed if they are naturally right handed, and left eye dominant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkheard Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 My wife has always been left eye dominant. Microscope, camera, telescope, etc. She's always been right handed. Thirty years ago, she had an accident that had her right hand immobilized for 6 weeks. She was a PhD student working in a lab and attending classes, so she taught herself to write left-handed. When she took up shooting, she had trouble with the cross dominance/handedness and decided to try it left handed. Her experience was like yours Kmaultsby, nice tight group where she wanted it. It has spawned a lot of conversation in our house. At this point, we're pretty convinced that she should have been left-handed. She's also changed over to left-handed when fly fishing; it was an amazing change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeHarrell202 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I shot some 3 gun on sunday and had no problem with the shotgun like I use to have. I just had a little chap stick, scotch tape works the same but I was out, on my left eye. I don't even notice it when the buzzer goes off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaeOne3345 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I wouldn't recommend switching hands. I say you need more practice with the tape. I don't get how you can possibly miss a target around a barricade because of a piece of tape. That says that your tape is WAY too big and covering too much. You only need a small piece to blur the second image of the gun. You should still be able to use the left eye for peripheral duties. Stick with tape/chapstick. It will change your index and eventually you will be able to use the right eye with both eyes open. I know because I am a right handed, left eyed shooter. I use to draw and bring the gun to my left eye, but now my index has been programmed to bring it to my right eye. I still shoot long guns left handed and left eyed because holding a rifle in my right hand just feels awkward (a lifetime of shooting bb guns as a kid, not knowing I was left eye dominant). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankl03 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Left eye dominent, right handed. I have vision loss in my right eye. I shoot pistol right handed with no problem and will not switch. I shoot long guns and bow left handed. Took a little while to get used to shooting a bow left handed but it works great now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Displacedone Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I was in a similar situation being right handed and left eye dominant. I was able to overcome that problem with practice. First with tape over the left lens then just conscious effort. Every once in a while now I will get two floating images but a few quick blinks and I'm back to one picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardChrome Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 I am right-handed and left eye dominant as well. Hasn't given me any problems yet but i also shoot with both eyes open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimpartywagon Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 I also am right handed, left eye dominant, but I have been shooting left handed since I was 3 years old, so it has never affected me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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