Find a coach? Something else?

[Aglifter]

Since I've been trying to shoot "properly", my shooting's fallen apart. On rare occasions, I "get" it - the gun drops right back into place, I get a surprise double, and they're both touching in the A zone - it's happened MAYBE once per match. For the rest... I don't even shoot "patterns" anymore. Somehow, the last match I started shooting VERY very far left (as in, had to aim off the right side of the target to clip the left side at... 5 yards, maybe?)

I'm cross-dominant - that bad stage I might have mixed up my eyes. I'm now considering switching to shooting left-handed.

Is there a coach near Myrtle Beach, SC? Should I give up, and just try to revert to my old "farmboy" shooting methods which at least let me hit targets?

[GrumpyOne]

First, whenever anyone says this is the "right" way to do it, think it over, but the "right" way is the way that works best for YOU! If you are doing what everyone tells you that you should be doing, and your groups have gone to hell, but you revert back to your "farmboy" shooting and you can consistently put them in the "A" zone quickly, then who cares what everyone else is doing? Do what works for you!

as afra s shooting "properly", what do you mean? Different grip? Both eyes open? Different stance? What exactly is different than how you used to shoot?

Edited May 21, 2010 by GrumpyOne

[Jman]

Should I give up, and just try to revert to my old "farmboy" shooting methods which at least let me hit targets?

1. Check your sights.

2. Scroll down about 3/4 of the page on this link http://www.brianenos.com/pages/words.html#tips

3. Read "Fundamentals & Technique" and "The Call to Followthrough" at least 3 times.

4. Then practice what you learned.

Even if this is all old hat to you it's important to make sure your technique is squared away.

[Aglifter]

Well, I've had to give up on both eye open, unless I cock my head - I know just tend to shut my right eye. By "proper" I mean trying to grip more w. my weak hand, straight thumbs, etc.

When it all goes right, for those brief instants, it does work better than my old methods, but it just seems like I'm getting really lost.

[SA Friday]

Find a teacher. It doesn't necessarily have to be a GM high-end USPSA shooter. Find someone who is solid in your area that teaches well, and solidify your basic shooting skills. Then practice those skills in live and dry fire.

[old506]

I am cross dominant too. I used cross dominance as an excuse for quite a few years and then decided to work through it. I am right handed and have a dominate left eye. I swing a bat/golf club left handed but do everything else right handed. Maybe you can use that as a reference?

1. I used dryfire to get my "foundation" down of using my right eye as my "aiming" eye without cocking my head or torquing my presentation. 2. I would get a Buckmark, Ruger .22, or an accurate conversion and shoot that exclusively for a good couple of thousand rounds (at least) without touching the centerfire. I found that when making my transition from one eye shooting to two eye shooting the .22 was the single best tool in the transition.

3. Until it comes naturally, I would warm up with a .22 prior to shooting the centerfire.

4. If I have a bad day shooting I will go right back to the .22 for a couple of hundred rounds and that seems to help a lot.

Last, if you are throwing rounds way off, as you mentioned, it may be that you are closing your eyes just prior to letting the shot go? Have someone step off to the side to see if you are closing your eyes. At 5 yards, like you mentioned, I don't remember seeing that much of a difference if my eyes were crossed up.

[MTBfarms]

A coach is a great Idea. Check out The Practical Shooting Academy. Ron is the best and can help immensely.

[Flyin40]

Find a teacher. It doesn't necessarily have to be a GM high-end USPSA shooter. Find someone who is solid in your area that teaches well, and solidify your basic shooting skills. Then practice those skills in live and dry fire.

First off, bench your gun. Sight it in and make sure nothing is wrong with it. Take the gun out of the equation.

I'm cross dominant also. I started out using tape on my glasses so only my dominant eye can see the dot. You still shoot with both eyes open but place a small piece of tape so that when your looking at the target you can't see it. It you have the right size your can see up, down, left and right but the target is blocked by the tape. This will help alot. It will also make your dominant eye stronger so eventually you can get rid of the tape, that is if you dryfire and regularly work your dominant eye out. Just putting tape on your glasses for matches only will work but it doesn't make your eye stronger. I found this out when I went to get more contacts and my precription dropped in half. Went from -1.50 to -.75 in my dominant eye in less than a yr. I did alot of dryfiring that yr.

Most importantly remember Dave Sevingy is cross dominant so it can be done.

About everything else. Just start over, literally. Go back to the very basics. Relearn the draw, reload, transitions etc. You might also want to think about taking a break if you feel your getting burned out.

Fundamentals, Fundamentals and most importantly Fundamentals.

Flyin

[bigcat]

I have a unusual situation. i am right handed but lost the sight in my right eye when i was 7 from a fish hook. i still shoot pistol right handed but use left eye with right eye shut. I am new to comp shooting and believe it or not am better with shotgun. very accurate when shoot slow but struggling with speed. just keep up the practice and work through it. good luck

[CocoBolo]

I'll put the facts on the table for you. Switching up to shooting with both eyes open when you are cross eye dominant takes a lot of practice and tenasity. Its harder than quiiting smoking and if your not up to the challenge then go with tape on the right lens.

The how is the easy part, bring the gun up in front of the left eye that is all there is to it. Being able to do this naturally took me about a year of dry fire and lots of matches and you catch yourself switching eyes from one to the other and back and forth and closing one. I don't know that it did that much for me but I'm sure not going to unlearn it now.

Remember to turrent the whole upper body when shooting if you change the hands relative to the eye that is going to screw up your shot big time, bend the knees lean forward.

Now the problem you describe don't seem to fit your eye problem, you need to work on trigger control or admit that the sights are not being watched and they are not on the target and you are just flogging the trigger. Shoot some groups, but do lots of dry fire and you will be putting snake eyes on all the targets. It don't fit because you can make one but not two. Slow down a tad.

[benos]

Don't shoot each shot any faster than you can call it.

be

[Haji]

Your sights may have drifted. If you know a good shooter, let him shoot the gun to test that. If he's drilling out the center, then it isn't the sights, it's you.

The advice to get some training is excellent. This is why I shoot with a few different people. They see things I don't, and tell me about it. "You're doing (something stupid) every time". I say "Really?" and address what they tell me. That's the value of instruction and training.

Most problems with bullets going where you aim them but not where you want them are due to trigger manipulation. Do it right, you get those sweet, fast doubles in the 0 down circle. Done wrong, they're going where you aim 'em but not where you want 'em.

There is a reason that the best shooters in the world shoot thumbs forward, both eyes open, and some form of iso stance. It works. If its not working for you, chances are that you're doing something wrong. Here's how I know this: I had lots of excuses for shooting stacked thumbs, weaver stance, left eye closed and right eyed, even though I'm left eye dominant. Once I accepted that there's a better way and tried it, my shooting improved drastically. The way I moved in that direction was that I got some instruction.