TargetTalk

Let me begin by saying that I am looking at getting my 8 year old son into 3PAR and these forums are a gold mine of great info.

Here is the situation...

My son has no central vision in his right eye. One reason why we are looking at shooting is that he has a passion for it and has a real competitive fire. With only one good eye, traditional stick and ball sports are not something he is ever going to be on an even playing field.

Part of the history of 3PAR is to provide kids an option to compete who have physical limitations.

As I look at the rule book, it seems to indicate that kneeling must be shot right handed. If there is a medical reason why a shooter cannot shot in the position indicated, the only option seems to be to shoot standing (which is a pretty big disadvantage and doesn't help on the even playing field piece).

Do I understand all of this correctly? If I do, does anyone have any suggestions?

All three positions can be shot either right handed or left handed.

I haven't heard of the kneeling position being required to be shot right-handed. I would assume that would never be accepted by any sanctioning body, as it would exclude quite a lot of shooters.

What the rulebook does is describe each position from the right-hand perspective, and somewhere in there will be one sentence where it says to reverse it all for left-handed shooters.

If by chance your child was right-handed but needed to shoot with his left eye (or reversed), there is a part that attaches to the rear sight to allow shooting with the opposite eye. You would need to check that this part is allowed under whichever rulebook you used...I've only seen pictures of the thing, never in real life.

Abi wrote:What the rulebook does is describe each position from the right-hand perspective, and somewhere in there will be one sentence where it says to reverse it all for left-handed shooters.

If by chance your child was right-handed but needed to shoot with his left eye (or reversed), there is a part that attaches to the rear sight to allow shooting with the opposite eye. You would need to check that this part is allowed under whichever rulebook you used...I've only seen pictures of the thing, never in real life.

This is all great feedback and I am very happy to hear that (and the fact that I am getting helpful information instead of flamed for being a newbie idiot just shows what a great resource this board is -- and how shooters tend to help each other out in general).

Now, the part I can't find in section 5.1 (Shooting Positions) of the CMP rules (http://www.odcmp.com/3P/Rules.pdf)-- the part that says it is reversed for left handed shooters.

It is in small print on page 15 of the rule book -- specially designed to be hard to read for adult eyes. ;-)

"References to “right” or “left” in these rules are given for right-handed shooters. “Right” and “left” must be reversed for lefthanded shooters."

I'm assuming you are looking at having him shoot all 3 positions with his left eye?

If so, treat him as a cross-dominant shooter (R Handed, but L Eye dominant).

All of us coaches have cross-dominant shooters of one sort or another and these kids can indeed do very well. It may feel awkward at first, but as mentioned above, just reverse all of the (RH) position descriptions as described.

Feed his passion, he'll do well

jhmartin wrote:I'm assuming you are looking at having him shoot all 3 positions with his left eye?

If so, treat him as a cross-dominant shooter (R Handed, but L Eye dominant).

All of us coaches have cross-dominant shooters of one sort or another and these kids can indeed do very well. It may feel awkward at first, but as mentioned above, just reverse all of the (RH) position descriptions as described.

Feed his passion, he'll do well

Yes, that is the plan. All the shooting he has done has been left. Even though he is right handed, anything involving fine motor skills he does with the left (writing, eating, putting Legos together, etc.). While figuring out what is going to work is often confusing to him at first, he is great at being patient, trying different things and just adapting to whatever works best for him.

SUPER!! He should do just fine.
Sounds like you have a great kid.