Help with Right handed / left eye dominant teen shooter

[7mmTikkaShooter]

Hi all.
My eldest daughter is old enough to get her minors permit and shoot handgun at the range. All good till the point where she starts to shoot and only manages a few hits .
Its her first visit to the range and i'm standing behind her , so I cant see that she has both eyes open, trying to shoot right eye.
Later at home we were talking and I just asked her to close her left eye, as it turns out she cant but she can close here right .
back to the range and would you know it , Right eye closed and she has improved remarkably.

So is this OK.

I have no experience with this and would appreciate some guidance .

As a kid I learned about eye dominance and discovered I was cross dominant. It was never a thought at the time to learn left handed so I just adapted. I will recommend she shoot a lot of shotgun. What this helped me with was more front sight acquisition and becoming a more instinctive shooter. Not sure if this is an option for you but it sure did help me, and of course it goes without saying whatever method used practice, practice, practice. Just takes a little more with the cross dominance.

 

[BigPrince]

I am very right handed but left eye dominant. I am no world class shooter but I hold my own and shoot everything right handed. Red dots, lpvos, RMRr help alot on pistols and carbines. If it's long range hunting, non defensive situation.I see no problem just squinting a bit where you can still see but it switches the dominance or even closing the wrong eye to make the right one dominant. Overall, I do not believe you "must" do any specific thing like some want to say - find what works for you, and practice practice practice as the last poster said.

 

[Shootn4fun]

Do you have the option on a pistol to use a red dot sight? and both eyes open?? Vortex Venom works well on a handgun and is very small. May help.

 

[SavageHunter11]

Hi all.
My eldest daughter is old enough to get her minors permit and shoot handgun at the range. All good till the point where she starts to shoot and only manages a few hits .
Its her first visit to the range and i'm standing behind her , so I cant see that she has both eyes open, trying to shoot right eye.
Later at home we were talking and I just asked her to close her left eye, as it turns out she cant but she can close here right .
back to the range and would you know it , Right eye closed and she has improved remarkably.

So is this OK.

I have no experience with this and would appreciate some guidance .

dealt with the same thing when I was 12 and my dad got me into shooting. Don't do what he did and force her to shoot right handed. She'll get frustrated and end up hating it. I'm lucky I had a friend in college who was left handed and put left handed rifles and shotguns in my hands. Everything was so much easier and more fun. If she's left eye dominate get her a proper left handed gun.

 

[StumpGrinder]

Hi all.
My eldest daughter is old enough to get her minors permit and shoot handgun at the range. All good till the point where she starts to shoot and only manages a few hits .
Its her first visit to the range and i'm standing behind her , so I cant see that she has both eyes open, trying to shoot right eye.
Later at home we were talking and I just asked her to close her left eye, as it turns out she cant but she can close here right .
back to the range and would you know it , Right eye closed and she has improved remarkably.

So is this OK.

I have no experience with this and would appreciate some guidance .

Put a laser on it and leave both eyes open. As she gains confidence in her ability she will develop a style that suets her. Trying to force something will only develop bad habits. Weather shooting, playing a sport or working in a career the goal is to find the "Sweet Spot." When you do, everything feels right, the stars align and all is right in the universe! Sounds kind of zin and it is. All these things are like art forms and they are expressions of yourself. They can't be forced or they become mechanical and dry and loose the fun factor. There are basics to follow of course, a painter can learn techniques and a golfer can study the swings of the masters but in the end each will develop their own sometimes unique style. Coax her, guide her but don't try to bend her into how you or others think she should be. Keep it fun and watch the magic happen.

 

[unleashed]

I really wish this question didn't come up every month so we don't have to repeatedly suffer all of the ignorant advice given here. First off, if anyone has general weapons handling questions, especially with weapons that aren't for long range hunting, head over to the Brian Enos forums and ask people that focus more on multiple weapons systems and a few thousand rounds a month.

I grew up cross-eye dominant and I was fortunate to build a foundation shooting long guns left handed. The only time a pistol is in my left hand is when the situation or stage description requires it. Using the dominant eye is important and a long gun should be on that side when able. It doesn't matter with a handgun. In 23 years of competition shooting nobody has ever noticed that I use my left eye for pistol. Bottom line: there is never a reason to primarily shoot handguns in your non-dominant hand for the sake of eye dominance.

I've competed in USPSA, 3-Gun and PRS as well as taught 3 levels of pistol/carbine for my last 5 years in the military. I'm not claiming to be an expert but if anyone has specific questions about cross-eye dominance, support-side shooting, or the nuances of each weapon platform for a cross-dominant shooter, feel free to hit me up. I'll give any information I have and if it's something I'm not familiar with, I know plenty of people that have seen far more.

 

[oneeyejohn]

I believe it is best to let your daughter shoot both ways and she will start to shoot the way that is most comfortable for her. Shooting is a comfort sport. Any awkward position is a poor shooting form that will result in poor results at the most un-opportune time. It may take her several trips to the range to get her comfortable. and choose her best shooting position.

 

[JASmith]

Take it from one who suffered from the illusion that shooting from the side one uses to to write with is the correct path -- she needs to immediately start using her dominant eye side to shoot with!

My experience was decades of having to really concentrate just to be able to see the sight and frequently had to close my dominant eye. Switching allowed both eyes to be open, fewer blinks as the trigger was pulled and vastly improved accuracy.

 

[Frank Kalisz]

I learned late in life that I became cross-dominant - probably due to minor eye injury. So I am very right handed but I did manage to feel natural shooting long guns left handed. It just takes practice

 

[jlw1974]

So my experience with a buddy of mine with the similar issue.

He put a parallax free RDS on one of his pistols and started getting lots more hits...Got him conditioned to hold and look down the barrel in a way that helped him shoot much better. After that, he switched over to irons and it was a HUGE improvement from before using the RDS.

For his rifle, he keeps an RDS on it so that he can shoot from either side (left or right). Works for him.

For competition shootings, he just shoots open class and does pretty well.

 

[R2rr]

I, too, am RH, left eye dominant. Old photos show me wrapping my head over the stock of BB guns to use my left eye. BAD shooting form. My Dad "fixed" me by patching my left eye and providing me cartons of BBs over a summer in the mountains.
I think it's more about best vision WITHOUT creating awkward form on the rifle.
My Dad was left handed, but forced in school (1930's) to write right-handed.
He would shoot with which ever hand the long gun came up off his lap in. Lucky outcome when snap shooting fast flying attack-doves.

 

[Im4u2nvrc]

I have identical twin daughters that are mirror twins. One is right handed the other left handed. The right handed daughter is left eye dominate and can't close her left eye. They both shoot right handed. I used to be a small arms weapons instructor for the Marines. Dealing with my left eye dominate daughter, threw me for loop. Someone suggested an eye patch, and we haven't looked back since. She is a deadly shot with her patch on. Right now I'm working on shooting with a scope with both eyes open. She's adapting well.

 

[huntintoo]

Several of my students have chosen to wear a patch over the left eye to learn right eye use. But by far the most popular is switching hands if they can manage the aggravating feeling of awkwardness.

 

[sam houston]

I am very right handed but left eye dominant. I am no world class shooter but I hold my own and shoot everything right handed. Red dots, lpvos, RMRr help alot on pistols and carbines. If it's long range hunting, non defensive situation.I see no problem just squinting a bit where you can still see but it switches the dominance or even closing the wrong eye to make the right one dominant.

The squint strategy has worked for me for 30 yrs. I also mentally try to think that my eye has to follow the line of my arm out through the pistol to the target.

Shotguns have been the hardest for me...have to maintain the slight squint through the shot.