Kid is cross eye dominant

[Benji]

My oldest son is 8 years old and cross eye dominant. Unfortunately for him I'm not and have no clue what to do about it. What do you guys and gals that are cross eye dominant recommend to help him out?

[Mcfoto]

Beatings until he gets it right... 

 

Okay, seriously. I'm cross eyed dominant. When learning to shoot, I found myself using a modified Weaver stance with my feet canted to the right. Worked great in most applications but really sucked around the left side of walls. Since, I've been using more of an Isosceles with my head turned. That seems to work in almost all applications.

[perttime]

To hit the target, you need to see it and aim. So, generally - whatever else you do - you should aim with the better eye.

If that turns out to be impossible, some resort to using tape on the glasses to make the good eye see worse.

 

With handguns, shooting cross dominant is feasible (one side hand, other side eye). With long guns, you aim on the strong hand side anyway.

 

[s2000red]

My daughter is right handed and left eye dominant.  What I notice is that she simply holds the pistol normally but in front of her left eye.  Nothing more than that.  In fact that is how we figured out she was left eye dominant.  I was standing behind her and noticed she shot with the gun a little bit to the left.  It was nothing I taught her, she just did it on her own.

[Benji]

46 minutes ago, s2000red said:

My daughter is right handed and left eye dominant.  What I notice is that she simply holds the pistol normally but in front of her left eye.  Nothing more than that.  In fact that is how we figured out she was left eye dominant.  I was standing behind her and noticed she shot with the gun a little bit to the left.  It was nothing I taught her, she just did it on her own.

Ok that was my first thought, just shift the gun a little bit. My other thought was to have him turn his head so the pistol sights stayed relatively center line of his body but then he could just line up his left eye instead.....idk. 

[Nevadazielmeister]

The best thing to do is shoot on the side that your eye is most dominant. That means switching hands. I am left handed, but right eye dominant. I shoot right for everything. Works really well. My wife is right handed, but now shoots left handed and does really well. We had to switch her from one side to the other and the improvement was very dramatic. She has been shooting this way competitively for about 5 years now. 

 

I would recommend switching hands. 

[MemphisMechanic]

8 minutes ago, Nevadazielmeister said:

The best thing to do is shoot on the side that your eye is most dominant. That means switching hands. I am left handed, but right eye dominant. 

 

That’s crazy talk. There’s no reason to retrain yourself to do things with your less-coordinated hand.

 

Simply move the gun over 3/4” or rotate your head slightly, and it’s in front of the other eye.

 

It’s astonishing how often this topic comes up, and how complicated people make it.

[PatJones]

Don't make a big deal out of it for hand guns. You just aim with the other eye. Rear sight probably stays the same, the front sight moves over the width of the slide. Try it slow fire, no big deal.

Long guns, especially shotguns, shoot off the other shoulder.

[Nevadazielmeister]

2 hours ago, MemphisMechanic said:

 

That’s crazy talk. There’s no reason to retrain yourself to do things with your less-coordinated hand.

 

Simply move the gun over 3/4” or rotate your head slightly, and it’s in front of the other eye.

 

It’s astonishing how often this topic comes up, and how complicated people make it.

 

I guess experiences in the field differ from thoughts on the internet. That is fine, but not crazy talk. Lots of people switch hands because it is easier to naturally aim down the length of your arm that it is to close one eye or the other, tilt the handgun, tilt your head, etc. Switching hands is easy and is no less crazy. It's as simple as pointing. 

 

And here is some reference material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-dominance. My favorite part: "Overall, being mixed handed seems to result in better performance than being strongly handed for sports such as basketball, ice hockey, and field hockey. What these sports have in common is that they require active body movements and also an ability to respond to either side."

 

And another reference:  https://www.targetbarn.com/broad-side/shooting-vision-cross-dominance/  which states "There are some instructors who encourage shooters to use the hand that matches their eye, or to retrain the eyes so that the eye matches the preferred hand."

 

And another reference: https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/cross-dominant-shooter/ which states "Bill Rogers is probably the best-known proponent of this system. Bill believes it is easier to learn to shoot with your non-dominant hand than to change or overcome eye dominance. Rogers School students have reported excellent results with this method, but a lot of people are reluctant to carry their defensive sidearm on their non-dominant side. Performing all functions with the hand that has less strength and less dexterity than the dominant hand does come with some difficulties."

 

Not such crazy talk at all. It is easier to change hands than it is to change eye dominance. 

 

EDIT: And Memphis, maybe you have heard of Tom Givens, isn't he out of Memphis, TN. He seems to think that it is possible to change hands instead of changing eye dominance. Give him a call and call him crazy? 

Edited September 3, 2019 by Nevadazielmeister

[Hperea]

In my case, right handed/left handed dominant, I shoot PISTOL right  handed with no problem.  I move the pistol a little bit towards my dominant eye(left) until I find " the right spot."

Now LONG GUNS, I shoot left handed.  At the end you have to find what best works for you.  It is a combination of adapting your body and training, which  plays an important part.  For me is a natural thing after doing it for so long.  Time will tell which position is the best. 

[Benji]

35 minutes ago, Hperea said:

In my case, right handed/left handed dominant, I shoot PISTOL right  handed with no problem.  I move the pistol a little bit towards my dominant eye(left) until I find " the right spot."

Now LONG GUNS, I shoot left handed.  At the end you have to find what best works for you.  It is a combination of adapting your body and training, which  plays an important part.  For me is a natural thing after doing it for so long.  Time will tell which position is the best. 

Thanks!

[B585]

Assuming your kid has fully functional vision (20/20 or better in each eye, normal depth perception, normal contrast sensitivity, no eye turn) count your blessings.  Without knowing the strength of the dominance in hand and eye, a definitive answer can’t be given.  Let your kid try different methods and see what works best for him.  Never occlude an eye with tape or any other method at this age unless his eye doctor states it would ok.  Although the visual system is mostly fully has developed by age 8, there is still some risk of creating problems by occlusion, incorrect glasses, etc....the last thing you want to do is mess that up.

Edited September 4, 2019 by B585

[Stumpnav]

Larry Vickers is cross eye dominant and he's done pretty well for himself. He shoots pistols right handed and just lines the pistol up with his left eye. He shoots rifles off his left shoulder just like he was left eye dominant and left handed. 

I always think you should shoot your pistol with whichever hand has the most dexterity. 

[Dad]

We have had this issue over the years in our winter shooters education class.

Since safety glasses are always used we have had great success with patching/taping the dominate eye.

It is a training tool we use that woks.

We have a youth class with 40-50 8-16 y/o kids some with experience some brand new to the sport.

We use Daisy BB guns and teach 4 position shooting from 11-1 to 3-1 every winter.

 

 

 

[AWLAZS]

7 hours ago, Nevadazielmeister said:

 

I guess experiences in the field differ from thoughts on the internet. That is fine, but not crazy talk. Lots of people switch hands because it is easier to naturally aim down the length of your arm that it is to close one eye or the other, tilt the handgun, tilt your head, etc. Switching hands is easy and is no less crazy. It's as simple as pointing. 

 

And here is some reference material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-dominance. My favorite part: "Overall, being mixed handed seems to result in better performance than being strongly handed for sports such as basketball, ice hockey, and field hockey. What these sports have in common is that they require active body movements and also an ability to respond to either side."

 

And another reference:  https://www.targetbarn.com/broad-side/shooting-vision-cross-dominance/  which states "There are some instructors who encourage shooters to use the hand that matches their eye, or to retrain the eyes so that the eye matches the preferred hand."

 

And another reference: https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/cross-dominant-shooter/ which states "Bill Rogers is probably the best-known proponent of this system. Bill believes it is easier to learn to shoot with your non-dominant hand than to change or overcome eye dominance. Rogers School students have reported excellent results with this method, but a lot of people are reluctant to carry their defensive sidearm on their non-dominant side. Performing all functions with the hand that has less strength and less dexterity than the dominant hand does come with some difficulties."

 

Not such crazy talk at all. It is easier to change hands than it is to change eye dominance. 

 

EDIT: And Memphis, maybe you have heard of Tom Givens, isn't he out of Memphis, TN. He seems to think that it is possible to change hands instead of changing eye dominance. Give him a call and call him crazy? 

 

Do you know what the difference is between holding a handgun in a two handed left hand grip or a two handed right hand grip?  Not much other then which finger is on the trigger so just move the gun in front of the correct eye. 

[stick]

I'm left handed and right eye dominant.  I struggled with pistols for years.  The best and easiest thing to do is use a small piece of scotch tape (or something opaque) over the non dominant eye.  It still allows for peripheral vision, just eliminates the non dominant eye from seeing the sights.

 

Other options are the shooter's magic eye dots and the flip up occluder.  Scotch tape is the cheapest method.  Luckily both of my kids are right handed, right eye dominant.  I'm the only Odd ball.

[facelessman]

Switching hands

21 hours ago, Benji said:

My oldest son is 8 years old and cross eye dominant. Unfortunately for him I'm not and have no clue what to do about it. What do you guys and gals that are cross eye dominant recommend to help him out?

Handgun. Non-issue. Dominant hand, dominant eye. Line up the sights, start shooting.

 

My old instructors did me a huge disservice by making me think that it mattered anything more than that.

 

Switching hands, eyes, crazy talk.

[MemphisMechanic]

20 hours ago, Nevadazielmeister said:

Switching hands is easy and is no less crazy. It's as simple as pointing. 

 

Not true. Firearm manipulation requires a good deal of coordination and starting with your more coordianted hand is a huge advantage. You need look no further than the hit factors for everyone shooting a stronghand vs a weakhand string to prove that.

 

(I’m a right eye dominant lefthanded shooter who runs both rifles and handguns lefthanded despite the “handicap. This topic is relevant to my direct experience)

 

Rob Leatham and Dave Sevigny are among the dominant handgun shooters in the sport who are cross-dominant and switched eyes instead of hands.

 

 

Quote

It is easier to change hands than it is to change eye dominance. 

 

I’m not advocating a dominance change. You are: training your body into a state it doesn’t inherently prefer by learning a task with the weak hand.

 

I have a dominant hand, and a dominant eye. I’m simply lining the two up by moving the gun over 3/4 inch. This is the obvious and logical solution, and it’s extremely commin.

 

Quote

 

EDIT: And Memphis, maybe you have heard of Tom Givens, isn't he out of Memphis, TN. He seems to think that it is possible to change hands instead of changing eye dominance. Give him a call and call him crazy? 

 

I’ve met Tom. I don’t care for his perspective on many outdated things, while absolutely he’s brilliant on others. And if cross dominance had ever come up I’d say so openly.

[LuvDog]

I’m cross eye dominant.  Left eye and right hand. 

 

I shoot long guns lefty. There are multiple ways to shoot a pistol with cross dominance 

 

quick question though.  Which eye for your son?if it’s right.  Then train him to shoot everything right handed. More gun options and cheaper to be righty 

[ATLDave]

There's also the approach of putting some scotch tape or a smidge of grease over the left lens of the shooting glasses where the sights appear in a normal shooting position.  You can force a temporary dominance switch that way.  Everyone is right eye dominant if something is occluding the view of the left eye (and vice versa).  

[benos]

On 9/3/2019 at 11:04 AM, MemphisMechanic said:

Simply move the gun over 3/4” or rotate your head slightly, and it’s in front of the other eye.

 

This. Simple and works.

[B585]

I was going to send this is as a PM, but decided that since we are talking about children’s health, this response should be public.  Do NOT occlude one of your kid’s eyes at this age without getting approval from an eye doctor first!! There are too many variables for me to type, but there are risks of creating visual problems at this age from occlusion.  I admit the risks are relatively low, but they are present and being able to shoot a pistol better at the age of 8 is certainly not worth it.  You are welcome to PM me about this if you have any questions.  For the record, I have no problems with using occlusion in ADULTS and have used that method myself.

[jcc7x7]

22 hours ago, benos said:

This. Simple and works.

 

On ‎9‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 2:04 PM, MemphisMechanic said:

 

That’s crazy talk. There’s no reason to retrain yourself to do things with your less-coordinated hand.

 

Simply move the gun over 3/4” or rotate your head slightly, and it’s in front of the other eye.

 

It’s astonishing how often this topic comes up, and how complicated people make it.

I personally know two GM's that made it to GM in less than 2 years that are cross eye dominate!

Move the gun not your head, your brain will adapt.

HE's young so it will be even easier.  He may need to squint or tape over his non dom eye to get started but like anyone else it often takes a little bit of training to shoot with both eyes open.

He'll get it 

Probably if you leave him alone he'll sort it out himself.  Just watch he doesn't drop his head over on his shoulder or any weird.

Long guns that's another subject!  

[obsessiveshooter]

This again. Don't change anything, just let the kid shoot lining up to whichever eye is preferred. This is a non issue, seriously, it makes ZERO difference with pistols. If you can see the sights, that's all you need to see. Either eye will work for that regardless of which hand manipulates the trigger.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[deerslayer]

On 9/3/2019 at 3:07 PM, Nevadazielmeister said:

"Bill Rogers is probably the best-known proponent of this system. Bill believes it is easier to learn to shoot with your non-dominant hand than to change or overcome eye dominance. 

 

Not such crazy talk at all. It is easier to change hands than it is to change eye dominance. 

 

 

I shoot handguns left-handed and am right-eye dominant.  I just pivot my head slightly.  The above is possibly true, but I think MemphisMechanic's point was that neither one is necessary.