Eye/Hand Cross dominance

[psijac]

I am left eye dominant but right handed. I shoot with a rifle left handed, should I start shooting with my pistol left handed too? In a self defense scenario is it better to just use my strong hand regardless of training or cross dominance?

[seamusTX]

Because of the way that you sight a long gun—looking down the length of the barrel or into a scope—you must hold the weapon with the same hand and on the same shoulder as your dominant eye.

That is not necessary with handguns. You can hold a pistol in your right hand and sight with your left eye.

The controls of most handguns are set up for right-handed shooters, which tends to make shooting with your left hand more difficult.

That said, everyone should practice shooting with both hands and a variety of grip techniques (much more than I do ).

- Jim

[canvasbck]

I am also cross dominant (opposite side as you are). I shoot both long guns and handguns with my dominant hand, but I have never been able to shoot with both eyes open. Being a one eyed shooter eliminates the dominant eye problem for me. I started shooting early in life before I knew anything about dominant eyes and what not, so I just developed the one eyed shooting style. Later in life, I took up bow hunting and knew that I was right eye dominant, so I just started shooting right handed from the beginning........still one eyed though.

[philip964]

Well glad to see I am not the only person who has this issue. I am left handed and left eyed but my strong side is my right as I only write left handed.

I plan to start practicing with my left hand now. It will be interesting to see if I am more accurate that way.

[KC5AV]

Well glad to see I am not the only person who has this issue. I am left handed and left eyed but my strong side is my right as I only write left handed.

I plan to start practicing with my left hand now. It will be interesting to see if I am more accurate that way.

That's a good practice to get into. You never know how things will play out in a defensive situation. If your strong hand is injured, you don't want that to be the first time you've given any thought to shooting with your weak hand. I try to put a few rounds down range with my weak hand every time I go to the range to practice.

[74novaman]

I'm cross dominant as well. Write, eat and fence with my right hand. Golf and swing a bat with my left. I'm left eye dominant, so I shoot rifles on the left, but I've found I'm plenty accurate using left eye and right hand. And as others said, most guns are set up for right handed users anyway.

[atxtj]

One of my shooting buddies is right handed but left eye dominant. He (pistol) shoots with his right hand, but uses his left eye to aim. Kind of weird to watch, but it works great for him.

[81aggie]

My 13 year old son is left eye dominant and right handed. I tried teaching him to shoot left handed but he is more comfortable with his right even though he sights with his left eye. Guess he's gotten used to it because he hits what he aims at with handguns and long guns so I'll let him do what's comfortable for him. I have told him that he might want to learn to at least shoot handguns with both hands in the future.

[webb3201]

Right hand , left eye here as well. I originally shot with my head turned a bit more to the right, but have spent a great deal of time learning to shoot with both eyes open. Toyed with moving to left handed shooting but decided against the change.

[fickman]

Another right-hand left-eyed shooter here.

I was about to give in to the pressure to learn to shoot left handed when a salesman at a gun store gave me a great solution. . . a natural position that allows me to keep both eyes open and naturally aim with my left eye.

I'll attempt to describe the stance.

Stand with both arms extended and elbows locked directly in front of you (90 degrees from having your arms spread eagle). Now pull your left elbow backward so that your right elbow is still straight and now extended across your chest, so that you are aiming about 45 degrees to the left. Keep the firearm positioned high and you might need to tuck your chin towards your right shoulder a little.

It's not as convoluted as it sounds. Try it! I now go directly to this position when I stand. If you're familiar with baseball jargon, you are essentially closing your stance off by having your left shoulder closer to the target. It's not a bad tactical position as it reduces your profile for a threat immediately in front of you.

[kjolly]

I am left handed (almost ambidextrous) but right eyes dominat. Have been shooting right handed because this is the way I always shot rifles. Recently while shooting single handed both sides I realized I was getting better hits left handed. At the range last week I shot left handed and was amazed at the better performance.