Help with Right handed / left eye dominant teen shooter

[Zymurgist]

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 .

I have a lazy eye. The optic nerves on my right eye didn't fully develop. I can see out of the eye but not very well. The brain just turns it off and uses the left eye. I shoot rifles left-handed and own mostly auto-loaders or pumps as they are easier for me to shoot. A few years ago I bought my first LH rifle, a Browning BAR in 300WSM and it is a joy to shoot. I'll probably never buy another RH rifle.

When it comes to pistols I shoot mainly for self defense. I practice both left, right and with both hands. Sometimes I'll even try to shoot right handed with my bad right eye. I can't see well enough to see the sights with it but my 1911 points well and I can often get the shot on the paper. One of these days I may put some Hi-Viz sights on it and see if that helps. I'd have her different things, try both LH & RH using either eye with the other closed or not. Most of all have fun with her. They grow up way too fast.

 

[Treeslug]

I carried a .45 ACP in Vietnam and a Car-15 too. I never had much in training with the .45 Auto. I learned on my own, and got very good with it over there. When sitting around waiting for convoys were going by. I sat on a ACP for hours dry firing that .45 at targets driving by. If I wanted a stock to fit me, I had to build one. I was shown how to let the action into the stock, and bed it too. They do build left handed bolt action, but never got one. I wouldn't know how to use it. I have an 1911 .45 and it's my go to pistol. I have 10 or so rifles and they are all right handed actions. My shotguns are most 870's pumps, I do have some Browning BPS too. Never bother me to shot any of them. I start out with a Mossberg .410 gauge bolt action for hunting dove. Got very quick in getting a 2nd and even 3rd shot off at age 11. I presently having a high dollar rifle built for me in a 6mm-06 with top of the line items. Guess what it will be right handed.

Mike, You are a one in a million guy. Well, maybe not a one in a million guy, but you are defiantly a talented man. I was never in the military. I spent 30 years in law enforcement. BTW Thank you for your service, and happy Veterans Day.

I had no idea that there was any such thing as a dominant eye until I was in my late teens. By then I had been shooting BB guns, pellet guns, and shotguns since I was about five or six years old. I was a confirmed lefty, or as some have said; they put my arms on backward.

It is heartening to hear about someone that took what life dealt them and then capitalized on it. I can't say I laugh about being left-handed. (I have no LH heirs to leave my LH guns to when I die) I can understand the financial issues of making LH items in a RH world, but I still wish they had put my arms on the proper way for this world.

 

[Johnslam]

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 .

shoot left handed

 

[30dirty]

I probably take this a little too personally, but since every other Tom, Dick, and Harry get special attention for their shortcomings, I just wish I had been born right-handed. The firearms industry is what bothers me the most because I love hunting and shooting very much. I know I should be thankful that I have two arms and two eyes. I do not wish to take away from those less fortunate in this world. I know that being left-handed is not a true "handicap."

I too can shoot a 1911 .45 ACP with only a right-hand safety, but it must not be too difficult to make an ambidextrous safety because some manufactures make their guns set up that way. If a gun manufacture can build a left-hand 30-06, why can't they build a left-hand .300 Win, Mag? I still feel discriminated against. It seems that the manufactures of golf clubs figured this out a long time ago.

Ya , I also have struggled my whole life with cross eyed dominance ! It's tough I've had professionals across the country work with me , there are thing's you can do to help !

Ya , I also have struggled my whole life with cross eyed dominance ! It's tough I've had professionals across the country work with me , there are thing's you can do to help !

Bob Wrights Post Is A Great Exercise to do . and do it even when your not hunting or at the range . You can Actually change the dominance to the outher eye , u can fell the lazy eye get tired from doing something different

 

[Roughwater]

I'm late to the party here but I am right handed but left eye dominant also. I'm 70 and been that way all my life. I shoot a bow left handed and shoot a rifle left handed and it feels natural. I had thought at times to buy a left handed rifle but after all these years it probably wouldn't feel natural.

As to a handgun I still hold it right handed but line it up with my left eye. I used to shoot with my right eye closed but have learned that I shoot just as well with both eyes open since my left eye is totally dominant and I see better over all with both eyes open. Been wearing glasses for a while but decided to give contacts a try. Hoping it will solve problems with glasses like fogging, raindrops and animals spotting the suns reflection off of glasses among a few issues.

 

[Ninering62]

I am RH but I can shoot with both eyes open or one or the other closed, so no eye dominance. Anyways I broke my right arm on junior high and learned to shoot a handgun and rifle left handed in a couple of weeks. Practiced daily with airguns and it was no big deal.

I have a left eye dominant friend and a family member that learned to shoot LH and it wasn't hard at all.

Like @P7M13 mentioned use an Airsoft gun for practice and go from there.

Hope this helps and stay safe.

Same here, i'm RH left eye dom that struggled for yrs when I was young with this. I had no one to teach me anything about it bc no one knew anything about cross eye dom shooting issues. When I came across the Binden Aiming Concept it was a huge help. I too broke/shattered my rt wrist, radius & ulna & elbow along with nearly everything else on my right side. I had nearly a yr recovery & I actually adapted to shooting rifle & pistol left handed far easier than I did having to brush my **** teeth left handed without coverin most of my face with tooth paste in the process. I had to learn to write ( somewhat ) lefthanded- still freakin easier than brushin my teeth left handed. Weird.

 

[lhedrick1]

Differant animal but related. I shoot quite a bit of trap competitively. I am RH and right eye dominant. Ive struggled with consistency over the years and have experienced known crossfiring issues. This happens when the non-dominant eye and the dominant eye for one reason or another, have a power struggle over who is going to do the "seeing". It happens so fast there is usually no indicator other than scratching your head wondering why you missed two targets in a row. Hunting situations this isn't a really a problem but when you are shooting 200-300 rounds of trap in a day, you're bound to miss targets due to crossfiring. Ive since blocked my left eye and have gone to shooting with 1 eye. Ive dabbled with shooting left handed and its not really as difficult as I would have thought. But I then need to block my right eye so its really no different.

2 interesting things. I do everything RH. But I shoot a basketball left handed. Don't ask me why. And just this year realized that when I look through the spotting scope, I look through with my left eye.

 

[haftime]

Learned my daughter was left eye dominate while shooting her bow. Switched to lefty set ups and she really improved and loved the results. Gave her a big confidence boost.

 

[LVJ76]

Same here, i'm RH left eye dom that struggled for yrs when I was young with this. I had no one to teach me anything about it bc no one knew anything about cross eye dom shooting issues. When I came across the Binden Aiming Concept it was a huge help. I too broke/shattered my rt wrist, radius & ulna & elbow along with nearly everything else on my right side. I had nearly a yr recovery & I actually adapted to shooting rifle & pistol left handed far easier than I did having to brush my **** teeth left handed without coverin most of my face with tooth paste in the process. I had to learn to write ( somewhat ) lefthanded- still freakin easier than brushin my teeth left handed. Weird.

LOL teeth brushing really? You are right, it was a pain LOL.

Some thing came easier than others and thankfully eating left handed was easy.

Stay safe

 

[Mike Matteson]

Mike, You are a one in a million guy. Well, maybe not a one in a million guy, but you are defiantly a talented man. I was never in the military. I spent 30 years in law enforcement. BTW Thank you for your service, and happy Veterans Day.

I had no idea that there was any such thing as a dominant eye until I was in my late teens. By then I had been shooting BB guns, pellet guns, and shotguns since I was about five or six years old. I was a confirmed lefty, or as some have said; they put my arms on backward.

It is heartening to hear about someone that took what life dealt them and then capitalized on it. I can't say I laugh about being left-handed. (I have no LH heirs to leave my LH guns to when I die) I can understand the financial issues of making LH items in a RH world, but I still wish they had put my arms on the proper way for this world.

We are the only ones being in our right mines.

 

[VTbluegrass]

I am cross dominant and didn't even know it until until a few years after I learned to shoot pistols. Bullseye style shooting I still close an eye but IDPA to just plinking cans I learned shoot well with both eyes open and still with proper form.
Rifle shooting I can shoot either side in most hunting situations which is handy but punching paper or long range I shoot right handed with a patch or tape on shooting glasses over the left eye.

 

[emp1953]

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 .

Left handed rifles and shotguns are not common but can be had. I had a friend shoot a model 1911 left handed and said he was not bothered by the empty as it was ejected.

 

[emp1953]

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 .

Ever try using a pair of shooting glasses with the left eye covered, to force using the right eye?

 

[mnoland30]

My dad tested my eye dominance at an early age. I played with toy guns left handed to get used to it. I was never a good shot with a rifle. When I was around 20, I bought a .22 pistol. I could shoot it better than the rifle. Maybe it was the hair trigger, but I'm convinced that my right hand has much better trigger control than my left. It took me years to become a decent shot with a rifle. I believe it doesn't make much difference with a scope. I didn't have a left hand rifle unil my 40's, and I couldn't get used to it.