Question on eye-dominance

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  • Pushrod

    Master Blaster
    Aug 8, 2007
    2,979
    WV High Country
    We were just analyzing how he holds the shotgun lefty. He tilts his head in an awkward manner to try to align his right eye with the barrel. It looks like he's gonna need to shoot righty.

    He's going to be shooting my Browning Broadway, so no issue with ejection.

    My six your old son is the opposite. He is right-handed but left eye dominant.
    He was having trouble shooting right handed, once we switched him to shooting left-handed he improved dramatically.
     

    WSM

    Rugeritis
    Oct 8, 2009
    6,364
    Lancaster, PA
    FWIW I am right handed and left eye dominant and shoot right handed. I do not have a problem shooting rifles or shotguns but I cant seem to shoot a handgun very well. I think shooting left handed would be the way to go unless there are shells ejecting into his face (if using right handed pump or semi auto).
    I have this exact same issue. My eyesight isn't great, about 20/200 and 20/120. The problem is that my best vision is better in my left eye and I'm right handed. It makes shooting handguns shaky at best. My long gun game is on point though.

    Unless his shooting is severely affected, they shouldn't change anything.



    Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    The kids had their intro for their school clay shooting team. My son is a lefty, but Right eye dominant. The coach wants him to shoot Right handed. He isn't happy about it at all. I understand the theory, but is it that important? Should I just get him to practice handling the shotgun Right handed?

    Yes, it is VERY important.

    He is actually better off. He will have his dominant hand on the forestock, so better and more powerful control of the swing.

    When I was instructing sporting clays, I had several people who were cross dominant. In EVERY case, the first round they shot using the dominant eye (switching from dominant hand), they shot a better round than they had previously. In every case also, they had a heck of time getting shells into the gun. :)

    Formerly NRA Shotgun and NSCA Level 1 Sport Clays instructor.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    Like Teratos' son and Inkd, I'm left-handed but right eye dominant. The difference for me is that my right eye is usually dominant, but it's more a case of mixed dominance. With both eyes open, periodically my left eye tries to take over and I end up seeing the left side of the barrel. To deal with that problem, I use a small spiece of translucent tape on my shooting glasses over the center of my left eye. That keeps my right eye in a dominant position.

    This is very common in women.

    I learned this when we were diagnosing issues with my wife's shooting sporting clays.

    High incoming birds make this VERY obvious. You can see the barrel jump to the other eye, about a 1 inch lateral motion.
     

    STeveZ

    Thank you, Abelard
    Sep 22, 2011
    779
    Aberdeen, MD
    I'm a big fan of the Magic Dot. I saw my shooting improve remarkably when I started using it many years ago. It doesn't significantly limit peripheral vision and you quickly don't even notice it. That said, for a young, new shooter you can make a good case for learning to shoot off-handed. As mentioned, the ability to use right-handed long guns would be an additional advantage. Whether its the dot or switching hands, he needs to do something because shooting cross dominant doesn't work very well. Good luck!
     

    Sealion

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    May 19, 2016
    2,710
    Balto Co
    I'm a big fan of the Magic Dot. I saw my shooting improve remarkably when I started using it many years ago. It doesn't significantly limit peripheral vision and you quickly don't even notice it. That said, for a young, new shooter you can make a good case for learning to shoot off-handed. As mentioned, the ability to use right-handed long guns would be an additional advantage. Whether its the dot or switching hands, he needs to do something because shooting cross dominant doesn't work very well. Good luck!

    I'm curious since you have been using this for years, has your eye dominance been re-trained? Or are you still reliant on the dot? Thanks.
     

    sxs

    Senior Member
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 20, 2009
    3,377
    Anne Arundel County, MD
    Yes, it is VERY important.

    He is actually better off. He will have his dominant hand on the forestock, so better and more powerful control of the swing.

    When I was instructing sporting clays, I had several people who were cross dominant. In EVERY case, the first round they shot using the dominant eye (switching from dominant hand), they shot a better round than they had previously. In every case also, they had a heck of time getting shells into the gun. :)

    Formerly NRA Shotgun and NSCA Level 1 Sport Clays instructor.

    Oh, gosh, yeah! That is mostly true...although most adjust to that over a fairly brief time as well.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    I'm a big fan of the Magic Dot. I saw my shooting improve remarkably when I started using it many years ago. It doesn't significantly limit peripheral vision and you quickly don't even notice it. That said, for a young, new shooter you can make a good case for learning to shoot off-handed. As mentioned, the ability to use right-handed long guns would be an additional advantage. Whether its the dot or switching hands, he needs to do something because shooting cross dominant doesn't work very well. Good luck!

    My wife used the Magic Dot. But frosted tape works well and is cheaper. :)

    Also, most guns are canted (stock offset) for a right handed shooter. So it you wanted to shoot left handed, to get good fit, you need to have the stock bent a bit.
     

    STeveZ

    Thank you, Abelard
    Sep 22, 2011
    779
    Aberdeen, MD
    I'm curious since you have been using this for years, has your eye dominance been re-trained? Or are you still reliant on the dot? Thanks.

    I wish. No, a while back I decided to try shooting w/o the dot (since I have become so much better at concentrating on the target, I reasoned). No way, there were targets and barrels jumping around everywhere (visually). I lasted two stations.

    Regarding scotch tape, I like the Magic Dot because I can match the dot's color to my lenses. For whatever reason scotch tape is more distracting to me, though it works OK for a lot of people. I use this Fiskars hole punch to downsize my MD's, it should work on scotch tape too.

    415946_p_1
     

    JoeRinMD

    Rifleman
    Jul 18, 2008
    2,014
    AA County
    I have this exact same issue. My eyesight isn't great, about 20/200 and 20/120. The problem is that my best vision is better in my left eye and I'm right handed. It makes shooting handguns shaky at best. My long gun game is on point though.

    I've wondered similarly....although I'm left handed, I've wondered if my cross dominance may be a result of much worse vision in my left eye. A few years ago when presbyopia started to affect me, I worked with my optometrist to start setting up my contacts for monovision. He confirmed my cross dominance and developed a prescription for distance vision in my right lens and close vision in my left lens.

    JoeR
     

    Tracker

    Active Member
    Aug 21, 2011
    587
    Anne Arundel County
    Yes, it is VERY important.

    He is actually better off. He will have his dominant hand on the forestock, so better and more powerful control of the swing.

    When I was instructing sporting clays, I had several people who were cross dominant. In EVERY case, the first round they shot using the dominant eye (switching from dominant hand), they shot a better round than they had previously. In every case also, they had a heck of time getting shells into the gun. :)

    Just load with the left hand. With an auto loader an extended mag release button will also make it much easier too. Once I started using the one on my M3K I immediately ordered one for my A300
     

    sxs

    Senior Member
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 20, 2009
    3,377
    Anne Arundel County, MD
    I believe the Browning is stock neutral.

    If you're referencing the BPS....yes to a degree because it's bottom feed. I think part of the issue with loading is that many have done at least some from their dominant hand previously and loading from that orientation comes quickly. However, turn things around.....

    And then there's the (usually) right hand loading port.

    Oppps! Must'a been tired. Misunderstood 'stock neutral' as easy to use from either side.
     
    Last edited:

    Devil Dog

    Active Member
    Sep 20, 2013
    587
    My son is righty but left-eye dominant. For him shooting lefty is much, much better than shooting righty. It takes a little getting used to using the non-dominant hand but he got used to it. He would NEVER get used to using his right eye. Your son may find it the same, especially when using a scope.
    Also, it is a right-handed world and most long guns are made for righties. So in the long run I think he'll be glad he learned to shoot rightie.

    Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    These were O/U and it was a which hand does what issue. As they were both used to shooting right handed, opening the gun, holding left handed, right hand to drop in shells. It only lasted a round or two.

    About how important the eye issue can be, at one point I was unable to hit left to right, eye level crossers. Looking over my shoulder, my wife saw the muzzle jump to the left at one point on the flight path.

    So I went to my eye doctor and told him my right eye had changed 1/8th of a diopter. He told me I could not know that. But he put me on the automated box, and said, nope, you are fine. But when he showed me the print out, it showed 3x same, and 3x 1/4 diopter difference. So I pointed out, that it meant a 1.8th change, as the machine did not report in 1/8ths. So he took me in and did the old fashioned way. He fiddled around, and then asked, "How did you know?" I was 1/8th diopter different.

    What was happening, was when the bird got to s certain point in my visual field, my degraded vision in my right eye, ceded to my left eye. And the muzzle moved to put the bead at the right place for my left eye, but that mean behind the target.

    I called Morgan Optical, got a single right lenses with the change, and could then hit those crossers fine.

    In shotgun, eye dominance RULES.
     

    photoracer

    Competition Shooter
    Oct 22, 2010
    3,318
    West Virginia
    I am the poster boy for this. And just to be clear statistics are that 80% of lefties are right eye dominant while only 20% of righties are left eye dominant. While I shot pistols left-handed from my youth until 2011 (69 YO), my dad, same as I, shot long guns right handed and pistols left-handed. As some arthritis started setting in, especially to my left hand, I looked up the history of people switching to their dominant side and found that several Olympic champions switched BEFORE they won their first gold medal. Shotgunners and pistol and rifle shooters. While it was funny learning to draw right handed to start with it took me about 6 months of heavier than usual practice after going cold turkey to the right for me to be shooting better than before. Now it seems funny trying to draw left-handed. I still shoot bullseye left-handed because that hand is stronger, but when competition requires both strong and weak hand shooting my times are now the same with either hand.
    Tell him to go ahead and work thru changing to the right. the more he does it the faster he will be able to make the change.
     

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