I'm right-handed but left-eye dominant. What should I be doing?

I really don't know what to do about this or what the recommended way to deal with this is. I've only really used hunting rifles (some with scopes) and hunting shotguns. I've always simply closed my left eye and shouldered guns on my right. Now that I'm interested in and acquiring firearms that are best/easy to use with both eyes I can't figure out what I should do. Would i be just fine to shoulder my gun to my right shoulder and keep both eyes open? I imagine the "simple" solution in theory would be to just shoot as if I were left handed... the only problem is my left hand is certified retarded. I can throw a football 40 yards with a tight spiral and some zip but if I try with my left hand it feels so unnatural, I imagine it looks like a school girl throwing, and I'm lucky to "shot put" it 15 yards. Is shooting as a lefty the thing to do and just hope it gets better with time? Should I just continue with closing my left eye and lose all the advantage of two eyes open shooting? Is there a way to some how train my right eye to be my dominant eye (aside from something ridiculous like wearing an eye patch for 3 months )?

I am also cross-dominant. I'm right handed but left eye dominant. Like you, I grew up shooting rifles right handed by closing my left eye. However, based on recommendations from instructors and experienced shooters, I started shooting rifles left handed when I built my first AR six years ago.

It did not take nearly as long to get used to shooting long guns left handed as I thought it would, and I am MUCH better off now. I have been competing in 3-gun and other shooting competitions the last few years, and I am not handicapped at all shooting left handed. In fact, most rifles and shotguns are secretly designed for left handed shooters. Also, I get to use my dominant hand to perform most weapons manipulations and reloads.

I am cross eyed dominate as well. I shoot long guns left handed, and handguns right handed..for now. I just move the handgun over to use my left eye. I would suggest trying to shoot left handed a few times. You can retrain yourself to shoot left handed with practice. Due to an injury, I need to start shooting handguns left handed..I have just been putting it off.

I was also in the same boat,start shooting Left handed.
My simple explanation on this is that your brain is used to
interpreting objects through your left eye,when you force
yourself to shoot using your right eye your brain gets a different picture
than what it is used to seeing.

Yeah my oldest is like that. Shoots rifle lefty and pistol righty...

Start shooting left handed. It won't be a simple change though. It will take some getting used to. Lots of dry fire & familiarization (just handling the gun)time will get you up & running sooner.

The guys at Rogers Shooting School found that cross-dominant shooters who made the switch to their non-dominant hand were consistently faster than shooters who shot cross.

Brian Enos is one of the all time great pistol shooters

He's cross dominant with a handgun

In the 1980's, Brian Enos and Rob Leatham took practical pistol to a whole new level.

Shoot left handed. Shooting with your dominant eye helps with accuracy and with maintaining a consistent spot weld on the stock. You'll be glad for it later!

I am in the same boat. I can shoot ok left handed but am much better right handed. I simply started training my eye to what I wanted. I close my left eye, see the sight picture with my right eye, then open my left and concentrate on maintaining what my right eye saw. It was frustrating at first, and takes constant practice, but I am confident in my ability to shoot with both eyes open right handed now.

Like you and most of the guys on this page I am also cross dominant. I learned this early on and have shot lefty for most of my life, this dose have many advantages.

1) Learn to shoot your long guns(rifles) lefty first.
2 ) Next learn the shot gun lefty with one eye open.
3) Then move to hand guns lefty with ONE eye open
4) The above may take up to 6mo to fully accomplish please do not get frustrated! Stay the course...
5) Once you have masterd These standards you will be one of the lucky ones of us who can shoot both ways any time any where. I am able now to shoot sub MOA 5rd groups right or left handed @ a 200yd zero.
P.S. ,,, I have never owned a left handed gun in my life, every one i own is right handed.

I have a friend like you and it is weird to watch him shoot sometimes. He is not a bad shot, but he'll never be a Magpul poster boy. He just can't look normal to save his life.

Just a guess but I would shoot with your leading hand. Your eye will catch up. But if you shot dominant eye, you will might not be able to hit crap with off hand shooting like this. Bottom line is you are going to have to train twice as hard as everyone else. Good luck.

It is not that hard to swap sides & shoot with your dominant eye. Dry work will help get you up to speed with the manipulations & feel of the gun.

Getting up to speed will take some extra effort, but it isn't that hard. Hit the dryfire 20 minutes every few days & you'll pick it up pretty quickly.

I'm in the same boat. I shoot pistols right handed, and rifles left handed. That's what was natural for me, so that's what I went with. I think as long you are shooting with your left eye, you will be ok. Probably why I shoot long guns left handed.

im cross dominant (left eye, right hand), near sighted in my left and farsighted in my right. i only wear on contact, was born crosseyed and have had 4 corrective surgeries. i cannot combine pictures like everyone else (no 3D movies for me) so youre not as bad off as you thought!

ive learned to be able to switch eyes when i need to. i shoot everything right handed and keep both eyes open, i just choose to use my right eye when i index. it takes practice but its possible

most like above shoot left handed rifle and right handed pistol. it makes you very fast on a transition

I am left handed for most things. However, I am right eye dominent. When I first started shooting, I shot left handed. When I found out that I was right eye dominent, I switched to my right hand for shooting. Took some practice but it feels very natural now.

I can still shoot fine with my left hand so switching hands worked well for me.

My grandfather had beautiful handwriting. He had a stroke on his right side. He then taugh himself to write with his left hand. His penmanship ended up just as good with his left hand as it was with his right hand. So, it can be done.

Practice and you'll do it.

I'd switch sides for shooting.

Left eye, right hand here also.

I've been working on training my right eye to take over when shooting. After a while it got much easier to do.

too bad whoever taught you to shoot didn't bother to find out. Definitely switch. A large portion of your training should be ambidextrous anyway.

since most of your rifle shooting would be done from your strong side/strong eye w/ both eyes open you should learn to do it that way otherwise you will end up having to shooot w/ one eye closed all the time which is not good.

I am L eye dominate. WHen I shoot pistol right handed in most postures I aim w/ my left eye. When I shoot rifle left shouldered I typically close the right eye.

I am Left Handed but Right Eye dominant. I have been shooting rifles for 23 years. My rifles were all levers, auto and single shot due to not liking the selection of LH bolts. Well, I got some feedback last summer as to the same dilemma, cross dominance. The feedback from the experienced said to switch to the dominant eye side...especially for rifle shooting.

So...last September I went out and bought a RH bolt gun and in October took a Practical Rifle (w/ bolt action) class from Randy Cain. It was my first class ever. After about 1 hour into the first day of shooting RH, I was completely comfortable shooting right handed. By the end of the 400 round, 3 day class...I was officially a right handed shooter. Now, I'm not looking back. Feels better, I shoot better, etc. Of course, most of that had to do with Randy and his class.

Good Luck!

This is a tag. I'm in the same boat... Right handed, left eye dominant.

I too am left eye dominated, but right handed. I think you should look in to shooting a rifle left handed, but keep shooting a pistol right handed. The reason behind this is the pistol sights are farther out from your eyes so all it takes is a slight turn of your head to line up your left eye with the sights. A rifle even with a RDS is a lot closer to your eyes, thus it will be harder to line up with your left eye unless you shoot left handed.

I has always felt natural for me to shoot a bow, long gun or a game of pool with my left hand and left eye, but for some reason a pistol feels weird as shit, and I also throw like a girl with my left hand

Here's something I haven't seen mentioned yet. For handguns, try shooting with your right hand, but just give it a slight tilt towards your left eye, think 30-45 degrees. Yes, kind of like a gangster grip, but not. The usual 'gangsta grip' is turned 90 degrees, so that the pistol is laying flat and the sides are unusable. But, if you'll turn the gun about 45 degrees, you'll find it helps with a couple of things. First, it brings the sights over towards your dominant eye. Second, it helps reduce felt recoil, as it moves your wrist more naturally.

When you throw a punch, do you do so with your fist straight up-and-down? No, you turn your wrist. Why? Well, Bruce Lee would have you believe it's for power. That's partially true. But, it's also because your wrist is a lever, and turning it helps absorb the impact. Think of Newton's Laws of Motion. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Well, when you punch something, the equal and opposite reaction is the force your body absorbs at the wrist. If it is straight up-and-down, that force causes your wrist to flex upward, which is unnatural. But, if your wrist is turned, and the force flexes wrist upward, it feels more natural and causes less damage to your wrist. It works the same when shooting a pistol. If your wrist is turned, the recoil causes your wrist to roll more naturally, and it actually can help bring the gun back on target a little bit faster. It's also part of the reason motorcycle throttles and handlebars are shaped the way they are shaped - it's more ergonomic. As someone with carpal tunnel, I've found this technique does help. Try it, you might find it helps, as well.

Yep. Me too. Works for me.

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