jbc98c Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 First off, I am right handed, left eyed. I was told after the last match I shot (uspsa Limited) that I was tilting my pistol when shooting freestyle. I had never realized I did this. I've been shooting USPSA for 3 years. After being told this I realized not only was I tilting the pistol, I was dropping my left elbow lower and shooting across my body. I'm not really sure how to correct this. Any input on this would help tremendously. Thanks, Brandon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Try shooting left handed. I'm left handed, right eye dominant so I taught myself to shoot right handed. When you tilt the gun, sight tracking and shot calling are much more difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
56hawk Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 How dominant is your left eye? I was slightly left eye dominant when I first started shooting. Shot for a lot of years with my left eye shut. By the time I started shooting with both eyes open I was no longer left eye dominant. You can change your eye dominance if you are willing to practice enough. Do some internet searches for "changing eye dominance" and you can find a lot of suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Warrior Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Try shooting left handed. I'm left handed, right eye dominant so I taught myself to shoot right handed. When you tilt the gun, sight tracking and shot calling are much more difficult. Thats what I did (although I hadn't been shooting that long when I switched). Right handed, left eye dominant, shooting lefty. One good thing is that your reloads will (or should) be sweet with your dominant hand doing the mag change!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuildSF4 Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 TGO is left handed and right eye dominate. He shoots right handed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbc98c Posted March 14, 2013 Author Share Posted March 14, 2013 Well, I think I've got too much equipment to shoot left handed now. I guess I just really need to work on form or try to switch eye dominance. this explains why I shoot so much better when I dont use my sights though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dover0020 Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 You only need the gun to move a few inches from one eye to the next. You a mirror to give you instant feed back. I have few few buddies that are cross eye dominant and you would never know it to look at them shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonovanM Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 I'm cross dominant (right hand/left eye) and I actually significantly tilt my gun away from my dominant eye, towards the right... just ends up that way with my grip and the amount of pressure I put into the gun. Sight tracking and shot calling work just fine. Honestly I think switching eyes or even hands is a terrible waste of training time. Just put your sights in front of your dominant eye and go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RippSpeed Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I'm on the same boat ... right handed left eye dominant ... I'm forcing it by putting tape on the left side of my glasses to force my right eye to take over sight... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornetx40 Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I am not cross eye dominant yet had a tilting problem towards my dominant eye. I changed my left hand grip to a more forward grip so that I now get even pressure to both sides and the tilt went away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Honestly I think switching eyes or even hands is a terrible waste of training time. Just put your sights in front of your dominant eye and go. This. If you're accurate with the gun tilted and it tracks well, why care that it's tilted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t0066jh Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 First off, I am right handed, left eyed. I was told after the last match I shot (uspsa Limited) that I was tilting my pistol when shooting freestyle. I had never realized I did this. I've been shooting USPSA for 3 years. After being told this I realized not only was I tilting the pistol, I was dropping my left elbow lower and shooting across my body. I'm not really sure how to correct this. Any input on this would help tremendously. Thanks, Brandon Dry fire practice fixed it for me. I practiced drawing the gun to a consistent sight picture in front of the left eye.. Without trying to do anything, i looked for what was natural. The answer, I unconsciouly turned my head slightly to the right, then drew the gun naturally to the left eye...no tilting of the gun. Then I did the "Natural Point of Aim" exercise. Finally, my Eye Doc....a GM shooter suggested a prescription with the left eye focused on the front sight and the right eye focused on infinity........It all works great!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornetx40 Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Did those glasses take much to get used to? When I used to shoot rifle slih. I would get glasses made with the focal center moved toward the nose piece so I was looking through the focal center. Shooting a scoped rifle you learn to shoot with the dominant eye and ignore the other until you wanted to look past the scope. I know this is different but it is using the eyes for different focal points and I would think would require some time to get used to.....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernshooter Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 I'm in the same boat - right handed and left eye dominant. I started out shooting with one eye closed and that was just too dang slow to me so I wanted to learn to shoot with both eyes open. Thats when I learned that I was cross dominant. What I do is draw the gun and just present it in front of my left eye. Its awkward at first but to me, it was well worth it. As far as dropping your left elbow, if its actually a problem, you can always consciously work on your stance and form in dry fire and build that muscle memory. I'm pretty sure Benos said that a good technique will evolve over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbc98c Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 Well, I'll try playing with it. The reason I want to not tilt the gun is I get the muzzle rising up and left when I shoot, which makes second shots and sight tracking really hard. I think I just need to do a whole bunch of dry fire drills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzghan Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 So as a long time cross dominant shooter I have gone through multiple phases. Shooting with my dominant (left eye closed) during the actual firing cycle and opening it as soon as firing was complete, turning my head to the right and looking down the sights with my left eye and finally moving the gun over in front of my left eye. By the time I figured out i needed to be shooting a pistol with two eyes open it was WAY to late in the game to try and re-learn left handed shooting. I was very excited this last year to be shooting on the squad next to Dave Sevigny at the Georgia state match as I knew he was a cross dominant shooter and was eager to seek his advice. He simply said he puts the gun in front of his left eye and it always just felt natural. He said he never really thought about it much and only after reviewing tapes did he realize he turned his head ever so slightly. After that I just started practicing using my left eye with "what felt natural" with out trying to inject to much conscious thought. What did I end up doing? .....moving the gun toward my left eye and turning my head ever so slightly right and even more slightly down...go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sauza45 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Right handed and left eye dominate. I just move the gun a little bit to the left to line up with my eye. You can also turn your head to the right a little bit to line the sight up. I also think are host here Brian is right handed and left eye dominate, that has not hurt him any. A little practice and you wont even notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Honestly I think switching eyes or even hands is a terrible waste of training time. Just put your sights in front of your dominant eye and go. This. If you're accurate with the gun tilted and it tracks well, why care that it's tilted? All that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3gunwoody Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 Who said that you need two eyes anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeHarrell202 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 Honestly I think switching eyes or even hands is a terrible waste of training time. Just put your sights in front of your dominant eye and go. This is ok if you only ever shoot handgun or single optic rifle. I have the same hand/eye dominance as you. I never had a problem with it until I started shooting shotgun or co-witness optic on a rifle. When using a long gun and trying to follow a clay or transition from target to target quickly my dominate left eye would take over and line up with the front sight/front bead with the target causing me to miss way left. It took me a little while to figure out what the problem was. Once I started closing my left eye briefly to acquire the target my sights would stay lined up with my right eye until I had to transition again. Now I just place a small piece of scotch tape (not the clear) or a smudge of chap stick on my shooting glasses. The only time I notice it is when trying to tape targets. For me it has been pretty natural to switch from left to right eye, once you start shooting your body almost naturally makes the change since it is so minimal anyways. Start by doing some dry-fire drills with the tape on your glasses before going to a range. If you have a timer use it the beep seems to switch most peoples brains off anyways so it should help you forget the tape. I hope this helps, sorry this is so long. I know I’m not an expert but I know it has helped me, I almost don’t need the tape anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonovanM Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Honestly I think switching eyes or even hands is a terrible waste of training time. Just put your sights in front of your dominant eye and go. This is ok if you only ever shoot handgun or single optic rifle. I have the same hand/eye dominance as you. I never had a problem with it until I started shooting shotgun or co-witness optic on a rifle. When using a long gun and trying to follow a clay or transition from target to target quickly my dominate left eye would take over and line up with the front sight/front bead with the target causing me to miss way left. It took me a little while to figure out what the problem was. Once I started closing my left eye briefly to acquire the target my sights would stay lined up with my right eye until I had to transition again. Now I just place a small piece of scotch tape (not the clear) or a smudge of chap stick on my shooting glasses. The only time I notice it is when trying to tape targets. For me it has been pretty natural to switch from left to right eye, once you start shooting your body almost naturally makes the change since it is so minimal anyways. Start by doing some dry-fire drills with the tape on your glasses before going to a range. If you have a timer use it the beep seems to switch most peoples brains off anyways so it should help you forget the tape. I hope this helps, sorry this is so long. I know I’m not an expert but I know it has helped me, I almost don’t need the tape anymore I was just talking about pistol, but yeah, you're right. I'm dealing with the same thing - I recently started practicing with rifle (irons) and shotgun. It's definitely a challenge using two different eye dominances and having to squint my left eye sucks, but I'm dealing with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeHarrell202 Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Practice enough with the tape and before long you won't even need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardChrome Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 I've seen it done a lot but im not sure if it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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