Need Help for my Son

[werewolf45auto]

My Son has been shooting my 10/22 off bags for the last year or two. I finally made it down today and orderd him a 22LR he can hold, and will fit him. I have never had to teach anyone to shoot. My problem is, He is right handed and left eye dominant.

I have talked to alot of people around me but I get two different answers 50/50.

A. Have him shoot as a lefty, at his age he should adapt over time.

B. Black out the left eye on his safty glasses, at his age he should adapt over time.

Please would love any input, but especially any input from a Right hand/Left eye or a left hand/Right eye person.

Thanks,

Dave

[HSMITH]

Put the gun under his dominant eye.

[SA Friday]

I've seen both used effectively, especially for rifle shooting. I would think putting it under his dominant eye may be easier for him at a younger age. My wife had the same problem, but at her age there was never any way she was going to get around the uncomfortable left hand shooting, so we patched her eye.

[hitman]

Check with an optometrist.

[Hoofy]

Shouldering a weapon to the weak side is an awkward feel to most. But it is also the easiest to over come for the young shooter. I know several right handed - left hand shooters, I only wish that I could master the switch.

Shotguns especially need to be shot with the dominant eye, just makes sense to me to do both rifle and shotgun the same.

[DonT]

I am right handed/left eye dominant. From the beginning it was very awkward for me to shoot anything left handed so I didn't. Trying to think back, I really never had an issue with it. Through most of my life I have shot rifles that were scoped so non-issue. Only when I started USPSA did I really notice a problem but the problem was not that I wanted to look through my left eye (I was over that), it was that my right eye was so bad I would just aim for the center of the blur

Corrective lenses (contacts) fixed that. My right eye is so bad I have different contacts for different guns. Open gun focuses on infifnity and limited gun focuses @ 24" (front sight). Possible laser surgery in the future.

My suggestion would be to start him out with a scoped .22 until it becomes natural to him to shoulder it right handed. Corrective lenses also.

It's not a bad thing to be rh/led as it was easy for me to learn that I'm suppose to keep both eyes open (pistol). And now when I have to shoot weak hand or around the left of a barricade I sight through my left eye with no problems.

Hope this helps

[Jake Di Vita]

Put the gun under his dominant eye.

Yep.

[Blueridge]

I shoot long guns shouldered on my right and using my right eye to aim (I am left eye dominant). I shoot handguns right handed and using my left (dominant) eye. Maybe I am just fortunate, but I can change to using my right eye shooting handguns when I need to (shooting around barriers, etc...).

I suggest having him try shooting both ways and see what is best for him. I think that shooting long guns shouldered and using my right eye, then being able to shoot handguns right handed and using my left eye is quite beneficial.

[JKSNIPER]

Right handed and left eye dom. also.

I shoot sniper and handguns righty.

No problem.

Sometimes when shooting both eyes open I can have the eyes kind of battle between them to see which one is going to run the gun but for the most part its not real important IMHO.

JK

[1911jerry]

I am right handed, but left eye dominant.

I shoot rifles and shot guns left handed, but my open gun right handed.

If I had to do it over again, I would try to learn to shoot all left handed.

JS

[Bubber]

What ever is easiest on him. I am right handed left eye dominant. I shoot rifles and shot guns left handed and pistols and revolvers right handed. From what I remember it was natural for me to shoot left handed with the rifle. It will show up a lot with a scope and he can see which is easiest for him. When shooting a scope I have both eyes open but have to train my right eye to keep from seeing two images with iron sight on a rifle. good luck and have FUN>>>>

[Duane Thomas]

Shotguns especially need to be shot with the dominant eye, just makes sense to me to do both rifle and shotgun the same.

Honestly, I have never found that to be true. I'm right handed but strongly left eye dominant. I just shoot long guns from the right shoulder and squint the left eye. Complicated, huh?

[mikey357]

My suggestion would be to have him shoot the LONG GUNS from his left shoulder...shouldn't be that hard to "Adapt To" at an early age...

I'd also suggest that he at least TRY to shoot handguns left-handed--when the time comes--but there ARE some pretty good shooters--Dave Sevigny comes to mind--who are left-eye-dominant, and shoot right-handed...with the HANDGUN, let the "Feel" guide him...

FWIW, altho' I am right-handed and right-eye-dominant, my MOTHER--who was a pretty fair Pistol shot in her day--was right-handed but left-eye-dominant...and she got pretty good results "Cocking" her head to the side so that she was sighting with her left eye, with the Handgun held in her right hand...

I have a VERY GOOD, long-time friend who was an All-American Skeet Shooter a number of years ago who is also right-handed but left-eye-dominant...in her teens, she made the commitment to learn--actually, RE-LEARN--how to shoot from her LEFT shoulder...her results shooting "One-Eyed" from her right shoulder did not seem to be ALL that she was capable of, so she made the switch...and it worked VERY WELL for her...Her comment AFTER going thru the "Re-Learning" process was that she WISHED that she had STARTED OUT shooting the Shotgun from her left shoulder, as the results were better and more consistent, at least for her...

I have only shot Shotguns with BOTH eyes open for about three years...while I am right-handed AND right-eye-dominant, my LEFT EYE has MUCH BETTER "Visual Accuity" than my right eye, and I found that I had problems "Cross Firing" about 10-15% of the time when I fired the Shotgun with both eyes open...HARD to EXPLAIN why you missed a high six--which only requires about two feet of lead--by FOUR FEET, and you had "Picture-Perfect" Follow-thru on the shot!

I began experimenting with an "Occluder"--in my case, a 3/4 inch paper "Dot"--on the left lens of my shooting glasses, with the occluder positioned in such a way that it "Blocked Out" the end of the barrels/front bead from my left eye's vision...all of a sudden, those High Two's and Three's that had been "Getting the Jump" on me were seen earlier and broken easier...I just REALLY BELIEVE that, if AT ALL POSSIBLE, shooters benefit GREATLY from shooting shotguns with both eyes OPEN--binocular vision, depth of field, width of the field of vision are ALL enhanced, and the "Sighting Eye" doesn't experience the FATIGUE it can--and probably WILL--from "One-Eyed" shooting...HTH, and, as always, YMMV....mikey357

Edited August 23, 2008 by mikey357

[AlamoShooter]

I am right handed left eye.... I do OK at the shoots. I shoot hand gun right hand left eye . I compete with shotgun and rifle right hand right eye.

eye Dominance is not that big a deal with a rifle I keep my left eye open and it helps me pick up targets.

JF

[werewolf45auto]

Well,

After all the great input I took him of my scoped 10/22 and put him back on his BB gun. I had him try on his right side and he was smashing his face trying hard to use his left eye. I had him put the gun on his left side and he fought it for a seconed, I told him it's good to shoot with both hands and told him I shoot left and right handed in USPSA so the early practice will be good for him. Ten mins later you would think he was a lefty hit evrything he pointed at.

He still shoots my handguns with his right hand but is a great shot. So all in all I think putting the long gun under his strong eye is the right thing to do. I thought it would be harder on him because he has been shooting for two years.

Thanks again for all the great input.

Dave

[kgunz11]

If he closes or squints the dominant eye the other one will take over. At his age it should be simple to go either way, but it can get real expensive for lefties.

Maybe even over time the right eye will take over completely. If he writes and instinctively catches and stuff right handed he will be a more proficient shooter in a right handed stance. The eye thing can be a moot thing in some cases, just ask my wife. She is as ambi as anyone I have ever seen. She can shoot with both hands and both eyes. It perplexes the spit outta me!

[Mark K]

I have known numerous Olympic level rifle shooters that were cross dominant. It basically came down to one thing. If they had already been shooting a while when they learned about the cross dominance, they tended to stay with whatever side they started with - easy to block the dominant eye while in the aiming position while not loosing binocular vision.

If on the other hand they were just beginning, and their coach/parent knew about eye dominance, they would then start them with the gun under the dominant eye.

I had already been shooting rifle for years before I learned about eye dominance, so I did not contemplate changer over - changing out virtually all my equipment (rifle, shooting pants, shooting glove, shooting jacket, etc), nor truing to relearn all the fine muscular memory.

However, when I started shooting pistol seriously, I also had some experience shooting pistols in the Army, so I shot right handed, but left eyed. My eyes are very nearly equal in dominance, but the left slightly more so, so I just put a paster on my shooting glasses where my eye looks through the lense when I am aiming. This leaves both eyes functional for movement and target acquisition.

Just my take on the situation.

Mark k

[Matt Griffin]

Get him a heavy bull-barrel .22 that he can barely lift. He'll naturally shoulder it left and pick up the forestock with his right, putting it under his left eye.

At least, that's how I learned, but in reverse. It doesn't matter for pistol, let him shoot strong hand there.

H.

[r38a357]

Get him a heavy bull-barrel .22 that he can barely lift. He'll naturally shoulder it left and pick up the forestock with his right, putting it under his left eye.

At least, that's how I learned, but in reverse. It doesn't matter for pistol, let him shoot strong hand there.

H.

I totally agree. I am Right Handed/Left Eyed.

I learned when I was about 8 years old to shoot rifles. I started with a right handed .22.

I shoot rifles, shotguns, anything long barreled with my Left Shoulder and Left Eye

I shoot All handguns with my Right Hand and Left eye.

He WILL get used to it. When I started, it was no issue whatsoever. It felt natural from the get go. Hope this helps.

[chbrow10]

My 9 year old son is also left eyed and right handed. He shoots pistols righty and rifles lefty. He shoots pistols righty because he can easily move the sights under his left eye no problem. He shoots rifles lefty so he can get the sights under his dominate eye with putting his head way over the stock. His only complaint is when shooting a semi-auto he might get hit with brass... Not sure if your 10/22 will have the same problem.

[Stuck in C]

I'm starting to have the same issue with my 12 year old son, who is very left handed but strongly right eye dominant. He's been shooting BB guns/ .22 rifles at Scouts left handed (I don't know what eye he uses, I haven't been there). He says he wants to shoot pistols right handed and use his dominant eye to sight with, but I'm not sure that that's the way to go. We've been shooting Airsoft indoors but when the weather gets good we'll start on the real guns outside. I want to do it the best way from the beginning so he doesn't have to go through the pain and suffering of retraining.

[grapeape]

I was taught to shoot right handed with my right eye doing the work even though at a young age i wanted to use the left eye.

I use my left eye(I can use the right if i want) when shooting a pistol but again shoot right handed.

I use both eyes shooting a shotgun.

As long as your kids right eye has decent vision I would teach him to use it shooting a rifle. It makes shooting a rifle much easier, you dont get nailed by the stock and scope trying to get your left eye in line with a right handed gun and you get to use right handed guns.

If he still wanted to shoot a pistol with the left eye though i wouldnt worry about that either. There are alot of us confused individuals doing that as well.

The trigger pull is the most important part of a shot and i wouldnt even consider shooting a rifle left handed just because of that mechanic. There is no difficulty at all shooting a pistol right handed with your left eye.

At some point your kid may even want to shoot a bow. If he is right handed he will have to use his right eye to shoot that bow. It doesnt work any other way. It is not difficult at all to use your non-dominant eye to shoot a rifle which is really the only place a change would help. Shooting right handed with a rifle gives you alot more options when choosing a rifle to shoot especially when you are looking for a used weapon. My daugher is left handed and it is a pain for her to right handed rifles and not all even have an option for a purchase of a left handed model. I have enough guns to outfit a dozen right handed deer hunters but my daughter wouldnt be able to hunt without a special purchase of a left handed bolt action rifle. It isnt pleasent to get nailed by the end of the bolt shooting a right handed gun lefty.

Edited March 18, 2009 by grapeape

[Blueridge]

At some point your kid may even want to shoot a bow. If he is right handed he will have to use his right eye to shoot that bow. It doesnt work any other way.

Actually I have to disagree with you on that. I am right handed and left eye dominant and shoot a bow lefty. I have had no problems shooting this way, and I can shoot a bow right handed also. It feels natural to me either way, but I prefer shooting lefty. The gentleman that taught me the basics of archery started me shooting lefty and I have stayed with that. Basically people are adaptable, some more than others. The best thing is to try as many options as you can and decide from that.

As I posted above, I shoot long guns shouldered on my right using my right eye. Handguns I shoot with my right hand using my left eye normally. I can shoot handguns using my right eye and have naturally switched from one eye to the other during courses of fire (due to barricades and such). My left eye is the strongly dominant one, but I am able to switch to my right when necessary. I had trouble with my left contact lens at a match and without thinking about it switched over to my right eye in the middle of a stage. I did not realize I had done so until I had finished the stage.

I am an adequate shooter with both handguns and long guns (I have a bit of practice to improve my archery consistentcy). I have been fortunate that I can use either eye to shoot handguns (being left eye dominant), shoot long guns on my right side using my right eye, and shoot bows either lefty or righty.

I apologize for any thread drift, as this started as a discussion about firearms.

Edited March 18, 2009 by Blueridge

[CJDOUBLETAP]

I'm right handed and left eyed too. I use my right eye for shotgun and rifle, its a lot more comfortable for me.

[k_day64]

I have only been in the service for nearly six years (never gone through the navy's rifle course) and I have been shootign right handed, left eyed the entire time. It wasn't untill I purchased my first rifle that I realized I was left eyed.

I shoot left handed for rifles. Lever action rifles kick my butt though. Else matters none... to me!

~k_day64