Help with shooting please

PSFD DONKEY

I'm a pretty good shot with a rifle, no marksman mind you. I can't shoot with both eyes open, for that matter I can't use a binoculars with both eyes. I can live with that. Problem is shooting pistols. Shoot way to right shooting right handed, if I shoot left handed with my left eye open I'm pretty accurate, it just feels so unnatural to me. Do I keep shooting left handed until it becomes natural or do I seek help from an instructor or any other ideas.

Thanks in advance.

clays

Sounds as if you are left eye dominant.

tocamoha

It sounds like you're a right-handed person with left eye dominance.Google "eye dominance and shooting "you should be able to find some help.

PSFD DONKEY

thanks for the help, I will do a google search and see what I can find out.

duckhunter

Get an eye patch for your left eye

hrf

I'm right-handed with dominant left eye, and shoot long guns left-handed, but have always shot a handgun right-handed using left eye. I have never found it to be the slightest handicap, and can't comprehend why it would tend to make one shoot to the right, unless you have better trigger control with left hand?

PSFD DONKEY

Tried the eye patch, helped greatly. Problem still with self defense I need to come up with a better way. will try right handed using left eye. I will come up with something and practice, practice ,practice. Thanks to all that replied.

M-14BULLETTS

same issue right handed left eye dominant. what ever glasses you would use in a shooting sittuation put a small dab of grease in the center of left glass. shoot right eye the grease forces your brain to use your right eye. does not mess up side vision. or if left eye is much better than right use left eye to shoot pistols with.(ignore all the other shooters making fun of you)practice often good luck

SCOUT5

If you are left eye dominant I suggest learning to shoot all your weapons left handed. My son is rt handed and left eye dominant. I caught this early and started him left handed, he is a very good shot. He shoots basketball and bats right handed, but shoots guns and bows left handed. I have helped not less than a dozen youngsters who were having problems shooting by switching them to left handed form because of the left eye dominant issue.

As you mentioned self defense, and that may require speed, I beleive training with the left hand left eye would eventually be your fastest most accurate form. Of course I do not know you and I also know many people who use a pistol rt handed but lay their head over to use their left eye. I wouldn't use the eys patch or grease on the glasses as you mention self defense as a concern. These techniques work fine on the range, but when your life is on the line in dim light and fast action......you be the judge.

Just MHO

Garth

i too was once left eye dominant and still right handed. the way i cured the problem was to consider and "adjust" the source. i attached a piece of cardboard into the left lense of my shooting glasses with a paper clip, thus making my left eye "blind". my right eye began "taking over" immedietely. from that point forward i became right eye dominant and drastically improved my shooting ability. best

beantownshootah

I am left eye dominant and have looked into this problem extensively, and these are my suggestions:

-As an adult you can't change eye dominance. Its hard wired into your brain. Too late for that. What you have to do is figure out the best way to get the "equipment" you have to do what you need it to do.

-You *can* learn to shoot left handed if you want to and that's a perfectly viable solution to this problem. Of course this does present problems of its own (not the least of which is that many find it unnatural) and you can still shoot well without doing this.

-For pistol, there are multiple ways to get around this problem.

The absolute easiest is just to use a conventional isoceles stance and grip. In that case you just look over the sights with your left eye (instead of your right), and shoot normally with both eyes open. You *might* benefit by turning your head ever so slightly to the right.

This is really the best bet for a combat type situation if you are left-eye dominant as it is instinctive, fast, leaves both eyes open (for maximum peripheral vision) and requires no special patches/lenses/glasses.

If you are using a gallery (one handed) grip, or a Weaver type grip, there are multiple possible solutions. I'll list them in my increasing order of preference:

1. Patch your left eye or entirely block out the left lens on your shooting glasses. No left eye open. . .no problem. Downside here is you lose all your depth perception and cut off half your field of view. OK for target work, not so good in the "real world".

2. Just close your left eye and shoot with your right. This is basically the same as 1, but its "field expedient" since you don't need to alter your glasses or use special ones. Personally, I have no problem doing this (and this is generally how I shoot rifle), but some people physically can't close either eye on demand, or find it highly fatiguing to keep one closed. So if you can't do it, you have to use one of the other methods.

3. Put a piece of translucent (not opaque) tape over the center of the left lens of your shooting glasses. This blurs only the center of your field of view on the left but still lets in nearly 100% of the light, thereby "tricking" your brain into focusing with your right eye.

The advantage of doing this as opposed to 1 or 2 is that you maintain depth perception AND field of view. This is a good solution on the range, but obviously, not so good if you are in an emergency situation and have to shoot without glasses handy.

4. When shooting, just rotate your head all the way to the right so that you are looking straight over the sights with your left eye. (IE turn your head so that your chin is over your right shoulder).

This looks a little weird to onlookers, but its my personal favorite solution for pistol as it gives a natural sight picture using the stronger eye. (The vision in my right eye isn't nearly as good as my left, which is probably why nature made me left-eye dominant). Downside is that it might be uncomfortable particularly if held for long periods of time. Also, you'll probably have to experiment with your shooting stance to find a good position that also lets you keep your head turned.

Incidentally, while its a PITA when shooting longarms, left eye dominance is actually considered an advantage in baseball batting, and golf as the lead eye is closer to the target. Tiger Woods, for example, is left eye dominant.