TnBama Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 I ran across an old thread that listed left handed shooters who shoot right handed and it included Leathem, Francisco, Doug Koenig, Joe Kessler, etc. That's a pretty impressive list! My question is- does anyone knows if these guys are also left -eye dominant? If they are- did they train themselves to shoot with their right eye, or are they moving the pistol over to their left eye? When I see pictures and video, none of them seem to be holding their head over cockeyed like I do! I just thought it would be interesting to know, since I have the same problem, but very little of the same ability! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 I am not at that level, but I have shot for years left eye right hand. I do not see it as a handycap. I think if you keep your head square to the targets you will give up very little. IF i am going to make an sub one sec first shot = like on smoke & hope I will set my head just a bit to the right to pick up the dot. I don't think it is a good thing... but it is allso not a bad thing. But I may not know nothing , and I am not in master class..... Yet Jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38supPat Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Joe Kessler shot left handed I believe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJPoLo Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 (edited) ...I have shot for years left eye right hand. I do not see it as a handicap. I think if you keep your head square to the targets you will give up very little. Jamie, How do you shoot long guns being left eye dominant? Do you mount the shotgun or rifle on your left shoulder? Beth is also left eye dominant and I'm wondering how to introduce her to shooting long guns. -Chet Edited December 23, 2006 by DJPoLo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Joe Kessler shot left handed I believe Yeah, somewhere I have a picture of him shooting lefty.. one of my inspirations way back when. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSeevers Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Yea Joe was probably the best lefty that I have seen shoot IPSC Well besides you Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 ...I have shot for years left eye right hand. I do not see it as a handicap. I think if you keep your head square to the targets you will give up very little. Jamie, How do you shoot long guns being left eye dominant? Do you mount the shotgun or rifle on your left shoulder? Beth is also left eye dominant and I'm wondering how to introduce her to shooting long guns. -Chet chet I can shoot shotgun left if I want to , but I am right handed Rifle is a diferent animal as you use the front and rear sight and or scope. so it is not a big deal, I can still see with my right eye, its just not as clear. The introduction to the long gun is ( find somthing you want to shoot and ask her to point at it) = what hand did she use to point? = that is the hand that goes on the front of the gun and problem solved. Eye dominance is not black and white. if you put the gun up in front of the -dominat eye - somtimes the other eye will take over. It can be very dificult when you are teaching wing shotgun to identify the problem. as the gun can cause the eyes to shift dominance I gave up 2% to lost birds over cross dominace on a 100 bird set. shooting right hand right eye. The main thing is I had more fun shooting with my left hand doing the pointing and m right hand on the trigger. = my good eye the left one was able to find new targets with out the gun being in the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRNinTX Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Ron Francisco shoots left handed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38superman Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Why would anyone who is lefthanded and left eye dominant put themselves through the anguish of trying to turn the weak hand into the strong hand? If you're left handed, shoot with your left hand. What's the problem? Tls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtypool40 Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Yea Joe was probably the best lefty that I have seen shoot IPSCWell besides you Roy Joe stomped us down here in FL. He left the sport about a year after I got started. As a "B" shooter, it was like watching a jedi-master float through stages on fast forward. We had some of the top rated Open Masters in the nation (by classifier %) and Joe would regularly win HOA shooting Limited. He was another one of those guys who in a year without ROBTODDJERRY woulda coulda... He has a 4rth on his trophy wall, and back then that was as close as anyone ever got to the national champ. One personal observation though, he seemed to shoot from a horse stance like squat, both arms bent. Anyone else notice this? I had heard he was a martial arts guy, I wonder if that had any influence or if it was just what worked for him. And for those that think GM's like that are born, there are old timers around here that talk about Joe's first match where he came out and shot Limited with a S&W 9mm. Come back Smokin' Joe!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric nielsen Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Joe always shot left-handed & as DP says, with sharply bent elbows. I asked him once if he had tried an arched MSH to let him shoot with straighter arms & he said that he liked having the gun in that close. Worked for him but not my advice for new shooters - that stance gives you so much leverage that if your timing is a little rushed or a little too strong you'll throw bullets clear off the bottom of the target. Seen that more than once. Rob Leatham and Doug Koenig both are left-handed for writing and some things like basketball or baseball. Don't know their eye dominance but i'm guessing right-eye or no-dominance. Some great guitarists like Steve Morse are left-handed but play righty. At some point they took something that was "backwards" and turned it into an unfair advantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwoods Posted December 29, 2006 Share Posted December 29, 2006 I am a lefty and don't like having to use right handed equipment, but sometimes do since it is more readily available. I learned guitar right handed, learned to golf right handed, but shoot lefty. I learned those things because I got free clubs and cheap guitars. I shoot long guns right handed since I am right eye dominant. I shoot my pistol with my left hand but use my right eye. I would love to shoot right handed since the controls on my 2011 and 1911 are for a righty. How hard would it be for me to change my shooting? Redwoods Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1911whore Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 I too shoot rifles right handed and pistols left handed. I too am right eye dominant. I actually find being a lefty as an advantage. Heres why. As long as you have an ambi safety all else is cake. I manipulate the slide release with my trigger finger(no need to alter my grip im just moving one finger) I manipulate the mag release with the middle finger, middle knuckle of my shooting hand(again no need to overly alter grip) when the gun is turned to do a reload(even slightly) to facilitate reloads no shift in grip is needed just apply pressure with the knuckle to the mag release and out she comes. slap in a new mag turn the gun level and shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 Well, I'm still not a 'top' shooter, but I can tell y'all that being left-handed won't keep you out of the top 20's at Nationals... <aside>I really wanted to stand on the left fault line, grab the top of the wall and strong-hand the targets around the left side of the wall on the prone-port stage in Missoula.. it would work</aside> Interestingly I find my arms bend a lot when I shoot too.. though I'm not up to Joe K levels yet.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfwmiket Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 Shred is THE best lefty I know.......... I'm a southpaw, too, but not in the 'good' category...YET. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameron Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 Don't count out Flyin40, John Fadorson!!! Great shooter, and a great competitor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38superman Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 (edited) I don't know much about the "Top Shooters" that are lefties but shooting in Area 6, I have seen some pretty good ones. As a left hand / left eye dominant shooter I can't imagine trying to shoot right handed as some of the pros do. Shooting left-handed isn't that much different other than the stage setups can be a little awkward sometimes. The biggest advantage is that you can hit the mag release with your trigger finger on reloads. That always felt more natural to me and you're sure to have your finger out of the trigger guard that way. The toughest thing is trying to do the walk throughs. It's kind of like driving backwards down the interstate and gets about the same reaction. Tls Edited June 29, 2007 by 38superman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyin40 Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 The biggest advantage is that you can hit the mag release with your trigger finger on reloads.That always felt more natural to me and you're sure to have your finger out of the trigger guard that way. The toughest thing is trying to do the walk throughs. It's kind of like driving backwards down the interstate and gets about the same reaction. Tls +1 on trigger finger and +100000000 on walk throughs. Its a constant battle during walk throughs. Another plus is stage breakdown. We lefties get so used to right handed stages that we can think like right handers or left handers. I have seen some creative stage breakdown by lefties. Flyin40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 Lefty huh??? Sounds like fun, maybe I should try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38superman Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 (edited) When I am king, my first decree will be that all major matches have a squad for "Southpaws Only." Then we can add the right handed stage designer to the squad and trample him to death. T Edited June 30, 2007 by 38superman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baa Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Amen to the stage walkthrough situation! It's like swimming upstream. Thankfully we have a group from Tampa FL that tends to travel and shoot major matches together so they are at least used to my backwards stage planning and the raft of crap I get every stage is good natured (Right Jim?!?!) Thing is, so many stages have only one good way to shoot them (due to the stage start etc) that we lefty types have to shoot them the same as everyone else more often than not. Every once in a while it is nice to shoot something the "Lefty Way" and it end up being the most effective approach to the stage The only time being a lefty really annoys me is when a prop is so biased for right handed use that we lose time due to the hand issue. The typical scenario is do something with your dominate hand prior to drawing etc with a really awkward door or activator to the right of our body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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