Eye dominance and rifles

OhioGuy · July 16, 2018, 06:17 AM

I'm teaching my son to shoot a .22lr Ruger bolt action. He's right handed but left eye dominant. Initially I tried to get him to shoot with his left eye, but he has to torque his face so much to align the sights that it was far easier for him to close his left eye and shoot with his right.

Handguns aren't a problem because it's just a slight head tilt, but rifles seem to present a greater challenge.

What do you recommend here?

taylorce1 · July 16, 2018, 07:10 AM

Teach him to shoot left handed. After a while it will feel natural to him.

joe45c · July 16, 2018, 08:17 AM

Yes teach him to shoot left handed. I'm right eye dominate, but left handed, so early on i started shooting right handed. i do practice left handed i just have to struggle to keep my left eye open and my right eye closed.

Brian Pfleuger · July 16, 2018, 09:02 AM

Many opinions on the matter in this recent thread.

Wag · July 16, 2018, 09:07 AM

It's actually okay to close the dominant eye. It requires the least mechanical alteration of all of the other body parts involved.

He'll be able to shoot just fine that way. Really.

--Wag--

m&p45acp10+1 · July 16, 2018, 10:56 AM

Teach him to shoot lefty. My grampa did the same with me. If he had not I would not be shooting long guns.

T. O'Heir · July 16, 2018, 11:38 AM

"...a slight head tilt..." Quit doing that. Head up, both eyes open, focused on the front sight.
"...easier for him to..." That's your answer. It's what he's comfortable doing, not what you(or anybody else) think he should do. He hitting the target?

Pahoo · July 16, 2018, 11:41 AM

Quote:

It's actually okay to close the dominant eye. It requires the least mechanical alteration of all of the other body parts involved.

Either way, it's a new learning curve and not one to master very quickly. When we encounter folks with this situation, we teach both methods. One important point is, what is his strong hand? We work with that. Again, when we run into this, we have two pair of shooting glasses and we cloud or tape over the dominant eye. need to add that we don't block the vision from the dominant eye, we obscure it. You will still be able to see from that eye but not as well and the mind starts to compensate.They get to shoot more than the other students and then they can go home and work on it. ……

Be Safe !!!

Brian Pfleuger · July 16, 2018, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T. O'Heir

"...a slight head tilt..." Quit doing that. Head up, both eyes open, focused on the front sight.

As I mentioned in the other thread, this may be ideal, may be "learnable" for most folks but it is an unattainable ideal for some. It is literally impossible for me to do this. I tried, on more than one occasion with guns and in situations entirely unrelated to shooting. I was even made to wear an eye patch over my dominant eye for a while when I was young, the Dr thinking this would eventually "force" my brain to acknowledge the less dominant eye.

Honestly, I think the best solution might be to shoot left-handed so both eyes can remain open. On the other hand, while I've heard many claims that keeping both eyes open is "correct", I've seen very little reason to believe there is any such universal, intrinsic "correct", except that it has become dogma. There are few situations where it actually makes any difference at all if one eye is closed. Sure, I can imagine some self-defense situations, some highly unlikely hunting scenario... but they're few and far between.

Never once, in all my life of shooting rifles, handguns, crossbows, compounds... have I ever encountered a situation that I thought shooting with both eyes open would have improved the outcome. Maybe I'm wrong, but I've also won more than one competition (though I hardly qualify as a true "competitor") where, so far as I saw, every one else shot with both eyes open.

jmr40 · July 16, 2018, 01:34 PM

Short term he can learn to shoot by closing the left eye. Long term he will be better off learning to shoot lefty. And the longer you wait the harder it will be to convert him to shoot lefty.

I've been through this with others in the past and it is frustrating at first. Never dealt with anyone who wasn't glad they changed and started shooting from the other side after they mastered it.

Mobuck · July 16, 2018, 03:07 PM

Simply cover the left lens of his shooting glasses. Even if he can't close the left eye, he can't see with it either and will revert to the image available. My Daughter had this problem and we solved it quite easily.
I hear all this fudge about both eyes open shooting but guess what, I've shot pretty darned well for over 50 years closing the non-aiming eye (when shooting rifles/handguns).

k4swb · July 16, 2018, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioGuy

I'm teaching my son to shoot a .22lr Ruger bolt action. He's right handed but left eye dominant. Initially I tried to get him to shoot with his left eye, but he has to torque his face so much to align the sights that it was far easier for him to close his left eye and shoot with his right.

Handguns aren't a problem because it's just a slight head tilt, but rifles seem to present a greater challenge.

What do you recommend here?

My wife is the same way. She also cannot close one eye to just use the other.
She now shoots rifles left handed.

Wendyj · July 16, 2018, 04:26 PM

My son is left eye dominant. He is right handed also. Noticed it at age 7 trying to lean over a 22 and look down scope with his left eye. Eye doctor recommended the above as stated. We put tape over left eye so he didn't have to close it. A year later with 223 and 22-250 he was shooting with both eyes open. I shoot scoped and sighted with both eyes open. He's 29 and is a crack shot with anything he picks up. If you ever watch videos of Hickock 45 he's a righty that's left eye dominant.

OhioGuy · July 16, 2018, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T. O'Heir

"...a slight head tilt..." Quit doing that. Head up, both eyes open, focused on the front sight.
"...easier for him to..." That's your answer. It's what he's comfortable doing, not what you(or anybody else) think he should do. He hitting the target?

Yes, just yesterday he got 23/25 shots into an 8" circle at 25 yards. He's surprised me. He shoots from bench rest.

craddleshooter · July 16, 2018, 07:14 PM

Eye patches do work, my son went through the same thing. But the truth is let him use what ever hand or eyes that comes natural to him. The result is the goal not the method. If he is comfortable shooting with right hand and left eyes and he hits the bullseye �� then thumbs up �� to him.

thibaultfelix40 · July 19, 2018, 01:50 AM

My marksmanship just went to heck. After fooling around a lot I discovered that I was focusing on the front sight with my left eye and the rear with my right. My eye doctor said this sounded like the thing eyes do. Went back to squenching one eye and hitting the target.

Rifletom · July 19, 2018, 08:17 AM

What taylorce1 said. It works for me just fine.

craddleshooter · July 19, 2018, 10:07 AM

I'm left handed. And left eye dominant. I do most stuff right handed though. Shoot, play guitar, etc. Golfers say left eye/ right hand is killer for putting. I don't play but can out putt most so maybe it's just bull to they tell me to help their egos. I have all right handed rifles.
Have a bolt action. Remi 700. No issue. I have heard from some instructors that hand gun stances should take into account eye dominance. I shoot what feels comfortable.

Pahoo · July 19, 2018, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Eye patches do work, my son went through the same thing.

As others have pointed out, it's better to "obscure" the vision, to the dominant eye rather than completely block it. The goal is to train the non-dominant eye to work with the dominant hand and eventually shoot with both eye open I worked with a man who noticed and later confirmed with his that his young son had a severe cross-eyed dominance. Had to wear special glasses until his non-dominant eye, got stronger. …

Fellas, don't quote me on this but was told that 80-90% of females have cross-eyed dominance where their left eye, is the dominant eye. Most the females in my family have a left dominant eye. …..

Be Safe !!!

Red Devil · July 19, 2018, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioGuy

I'm teaching my son to shoot a .22lr Ruger bolt action. He's right handed but left eye dominant. Initially I tried to get him to shoot with his left eye, but he has to torque his face so much to align the sights that it was far easier for him to close his left eye and shoot with his right.

Handguns aren't a problem because it's just a slight head tilt, but rifles seem to present a greater challenge.

What do you recommend here?

Cross eye dominant shooting:

Train your right eye to pick up the front sight.

Using dry-fire drills:

1. Mount the rifle both eyes open.
2. Close the left eye and pick up the front sight with the right eye.
3. Open the left eye while maintaining the right eye sight picture.
4. When the focus begins to shift to the left eye, wink the left eye to reacquire/maintain the front sight picture with the right eye.
5. Lower the rifle and then mount it again.

Practice this 10-20 minutes a day. (detestable personalities on television make great random sighting targets)

Very soon, like a week or two, your right eye/brain will learn the trick.

I am right handed and left eye dominate, but my right eye will find a front sight with both eyes open like a magnet, rifle or pistol.

One trick pony, sure. But then, that is all that is required.

Red

GeauxTide · July 20, 2018, 09:31 PM

A State Trooper friend of mine taught me to shoot pistols with either. I'm a Lefty, LE dominant. There were some calibers I wanted that had no LH action, so I got Righty and started practicing. I can now shoot better groups RH.

44caliberkid · July 20, 2018, 10:23 PM

I am left eye dominant, write left handed, shoot a shotgun left handed. I do everything else right handed, throw a baseball, shoot rifle, and shoot pistols with either hand, but mostly right. I used to love weak hand stages in competition because I didn't have one. Then the people who bitched about weak hand stages won out and they quit doing them.

July 16, 2018, 06:17 AM	#1
OhioGuy Senior Member Join Date: August 11, 2016 Posts: 1,089	Eye dominance and rifles I'm teaching my son to shoot a .22lr Ruger bolt action. He's right handed but left eye dominant. Initially I tried to get him to shoot with his left eye, but he has to torque his face so much to align the sights that it was far easier for him to close his left eye and shoot with his right. Handguns aren't a problem because it's just a slight head tilt, but rifles seem to present a greater challenge. What do you recommend here?

July 16, 2018, 07:10 AM	#2
taylorce1 Senior Member Join Date: November 18, 2005 Location: On the Santa Fe Trail Posts: 8,248	Teach him to shoot left handed. After a while it will feel natural to him. __________________ NRA Life Member

July 16, 2018, 09:02 AM	#4
Brian Pfleuger Moderator Emeritus Join Date: June 25, 2008 Location: Austin, CO Posts: 19,578	Many opinions on the matter in this recent thread. __________________ Nobody plans to screw up their lives... ...they just don't plan not to. -Andy Stanley

July 16, 2018, 09:07 AM	#5
Wag Senior Member Join Date: October 22, 2010 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 988	It's actually okay to close the dominant eye. It requires the least mechanical alteration of all of the other body parts involved. He'll be able to shoot just fine that way. Really. --Wag-- __________________ "Great genius will always encounter fierce opposition from mediocre minds." --Albert Einstein.

July 16, 2018, 10:56 AM	#6
m&p45acp10+1 Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2009 Location: Central Texas Posts: 3,930	Teach him to shoot lefty. My grampa did the same with me. If he had not I would not be shooting long guns. __________________ No matter how many times you do it and nothing happens it only takes something going wrong one time to kill you.

July 16, 2018, 08:17 AM	#3
joe45c Senior Member Join Date: January 22, 2012 Location: peru ny Posts: 218	Yes teach him to shoot left handed. I'm right eye dominate, but left handed, so early on i started shooting right handed. i do practice left handed i just have to struggle to keep my left eye open and my right eye closed.

July 16, 2018, 11:38 AM	#7
T. O'Heir Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 12,453	"...a slight head tilt..." Quit doing that. Head up, both eyes open, focused on the front sight. "...easier for him to..." That's your answer. It's what he's comfortable doing, not what you(or anybody else) think he should do. He hitting the target? __________________ Spelling and grammar count!

July 16, 2018, 01:34 PM	#10
jmr40 Senior Member Join Date: June 15, 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 10,808	Short term he can learn to shoot by closing the left eye. Long term he will be better off learning to shoot lefty. And the longer you wait the harder it will be to convert him to shoot lefty. I've been through this with others in the past and it is frustrating at first. Never dealt with anyone who wasn't glad they changed and started shooting from the other side after they mastered it. __________________ "If you're still doing things the same way you were doing them 10 years ago, you're doing it wrong" Winston Churchill

July 16, 2018, 03:07 PM	#11
Mobuck Junior member Join Date: February 2, 2010 Posts: 6,846	Simply cover the left lens of his shooting glasses. Even if he can't close the left eye, he can't see with it either and will revert to the image available. My Daughter had this problem and we solved it quite easily. I hear all this fudge about both eyes open shooting but guess what, I've shot pretty darned well for over 50 years closing the non-aiming eye (when shooting rifles/handguns).

July 16, 2018, 04:26 PM	#13
Wendyj Senior Member Join Date: April 3, 2015 Location: North Georgia Posts: 1,372	My son is left eye dominant. He is right handed also. Noticed it at age 7 trying to lean over a 22 and look down scope with his left eye. Eye doctor recommended the above as stated. We put tape over left eye so he didn't have to close it. A year later with 223 and 22-250 he was shooting with both eyes open. I shoot scoped and sighted with both eyes open. He's 29 and is a crack shot with anything he picks up. If you ever watch videos of Hickock 45 he's a righty that's left eye dominant. __________________ God is NOT dead!!!!

July 16, 2018, 07:14 PM	#15
craddleshooter Junior member Join Date: March 9, 2018 Location: NY Posts: 90	Eye patches do work, my son went through the same thing. But the truth is let him use what ever hand or eyes that comes natural to him. The result is the goal not the method. If he is comfortable shooting with right hand and left eyes and he hits the bullseye �� then thumbs up �� to him.

July 19, 2018, 01:50 AM	#16
thibaultfelix40 Senior Member Join Date: April 25, 2011 Posts: 154	My marksmanship just went to heck. After fooling around a lot I discovered that I was focusing on the front sight with my left eye and the rear with my right. My eye doctor said this sounded like the thing eyes do. Went back to squenching one eye and hitting the target. __________________ olafhardt

July 19, 2018, 08:17 AM	#17
Rifletom Senior Member Join Date: February 11, 2011 Location: So-Cal Posts: 789	What taylorce1 said. It works for me just fine.

July 19, 2018, 10:07 AM	#18
craddleshooter Junior member Join Date: March 9, 2018 Location: NY Posts: 90	I'm left handed. And left eye dominant. I do most stuff right handed though. Shoot, play guitar, etc. Golfers say left eye/ right hand is killer for putting. I don't play but can out putt most so maybe it's just bull to they tell me to help their egos. I have all right handed rifles. Have a bolt action. Remi 700. No issue. I have heard from some instructors that hand gun stances should take into account eye dominance. I shoot what feels comfortable.

July 20, 2018, 09:31 PM	#21
GeauxTide Senior Member Join Date: April 20, 2009 Location: Helena, AL Posts: 4,424	Teach him both A State Trooper friend of mine taught me to shoot pistols with either. I'm a Lefty, LE dominant. There were some calibers I wanted that had no LH action, so I got Righty and started practicing. I can now shoot better groups RH.

July 20, 2018, 10:23 PM	#22
44caliberkid Senior Member Join Date: May 15, 2017 Location: Iowa Posts: 1,104	I am left eye dominant, write left handed, shoot a shotgun left handed. I do everything else right handed, throw a baseball, shoot rifle, and shoot pistols with either hand, but mostly right. I used to love weak hand stages in competition because I didn't have one. Then the people who bitched about weak hand stages won out and they quit doing them.