TargetTalk

am left eye dominant but i can really only shoot with my right hand, can i just use an eye blind on my left eye, or is there a way to change my eye dominance

I am also cross dominant. It is not a problem. You have several choices.

You can put a blinder on your dominant eye and shoot with your strong hand and weak eye. This is what I currently do.

You can shoot with your strong hand and strong eye. You will have to adjust your grip and stance. I used to shoot this way, and may try it again if I hit a plateau.

You can shoot with your weak hand. It may take some time, but most people can learn to shoot just as well with there off hand. I think this is more common in shotguns, where vision is more important. In Pistol and Rifle shooting stability and trigger control are more improtant and you can correct all but the worst vision with glasses.

You will find world champions who use each option. Just try it one way and then try it another way. See what works for you.

Good Luck,
Steve T

Just use an ocluder on your left eye.

Several types commercially available, they either clip on a hat, your shooting glasses, or come with a headband.

You can use a piece of scotch tape on the left lens of your shooting glasses, or make one out of a piece of plastic milk bottle, it can then be clipped to your glasses or cut a hole in it and screw it on with your rear sight.

HI

Put the tape on the INSIDE of your shooting glasses so you don't see the glare. A mirror is made by placing a shiny object on the other side of a piece of class. Tape can be shiny, so putting the tape on the inside blocks the light and doesn't reflect the light.

I carry a roll of tape in both shooting bags. WHen hunting I shut my left eye. A shotgun instructor I know carrys the round stickers for this.

Mike
Wichita KS

but which would serve me better in the long run, i have a friend at west point with the same cross-dominance problem and he reccomends i get used to shooting left handed because it will serve me better in the long run

mark
phoenix az

and what are the advantages and dissadvantages of bot tecniques

From what I've been told for target shooting it doesn't matter which way you go.

For shooting moving targets that require both eyes open (such as trap, skeet, or hunting) it is supposed to be better to shoot off the side with the dominant eye.

I have 2 sons that are cross dominant. Since I hunt and shoot clay pigeons as well as target shoot I started them out shooting left handed. They seem to be doing fine.

I have since had a shotgun soach show me a method that works for shooting with the strong side and weak eye, you just have to hold up the thumb of your forward hand to block the vision of your dominant eye.

If you are left eye dominant and right handed, and do not want to or cannot shoot left handed, I'd say to use some method of blocking your dominant eye and shoot right handed.

The piece of tape method on the shootign glasses works very well. The tape doesn't have to be very large. Just big enough to block the target as you look through your glasses. If you place it in the right spot a small dot will work fine.

As for which will be better for you in the long run, We can't tell you that. Really it's a matter of what works for you.

kamikaze739 wrote:and what are the advantages and dissadvantages of bot tecniques

Well, if you're hunting you do need both eyes open to hunt. No tape there, but you CAN close an eye when you shoot.

I recommend that you learn to shoot left handed if you're left eye dominant. I attempted to learn to shoot shotgun left handed, and shot just as well as right handed. 18 of 25 left and 18 of 25 right within a half hour of each other. I now shoot right handed for two reasons: 1. I cannot stand to walk around with the shotgun (or any gun) left handed. Bugged the absolute crap out of me. I swear it made me itch..... 2. I'm only a "little" left eye dominant. When I put the shotgun up to the left shoulder, my left eye is back a little and it was enough that I was right eye dominant in that position.

Based on my being very right handed, I would still suggest shooting left handed. I started this back up again at 42. If you're friend is at USMA, then you're probably young enough to learn another hand. I think that if I spend about 4 days hunting by myself for say 3-4 hours, I would have been O.K. left handed. Didn't have the time though.

I can concentrate enough using a scope that I can shoot rifle right handed without the tape.

Hope this helps.

Mike

for rifle don't they make a little periscope thing that attaches to the iris and allows you to shoot right handed and still use your left eye? if i'm correct you could always try one of those.

I myself am cross dominant. I shoot off the weak hand(l)/strong eye(r). I coach juniors and have had varied luck with both methods. The degree of domination seems to play a part here. I have a 15 year old girl that I'm instructing that shot for two years outside of a formal program on her dominant hand/weak eye. To try to improve her scores we tried swapping sides to use her dominant eye. For 2 sessions it was awkward for her, then her scores started to markedly climb beyond anything she had shot before and shes continues to shoot increasingly well. I tried this also with a cross dominant 13 year old boy. After many attempts, we could not get a decent position or trigger control for him. We occluded his dominant eye and put him back to strong hand side. Oddly enough his scores also markedly climbed and climbed higher when he stopped wearing his prescription glasses (far-sighted) and used standard safety glasses. Sometimes you just have to try every combination, but stay with it long enough to see if the awkwardness clears.