# Left eye dominant



## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

So, yesterday I had my annual eye examination. After doing some tests, the eye doctor tells me I am left eye dominate. (I am right-handed). I never knew this before and was quire surprized.

Should this new revelation have any effect on the way I aim and shoot? In othe rwords, should I change anything? :shrug: Right now I'm thinking, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."


----------



## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

It's interesting how the brain sorts things out most of the time. Sounds like you will be doing some target shooting anyway.


----------



## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

My 10 year old has the same situation...discovered it at Scout camp. We're still experimenting with options; patch the left and focus on the right, work lefthanded or as you said, ain't broke...he's a tack driver as is. I only see an issue as he moves up to higher calibers and recoil, as his stance, to me' is awkward.

Matt


----------



## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

well if you were 12 we might try and change you but your not so if what you have been doing has been working keep on 

my dad is left eye dominant and been shooting right handed all his life 

I am going to guess that you probably started closing your left eye when aiming a long time a go 
or at least squinting it a bit to make it not want to focus as well as the right would.

that's what he always did he comes up to aim and the left eye closes 

as long as you have an eye you should be fine , Bob our 80+year old one eyed friend got a deer this year with an old jc higgns bolt 20ga , it had been a while since he even took a shot but he dropped him just fine with one shot. we were doing a drive and heard a shot , but couldn't remember who we had on that side , got out there and Bob was standing over his deer , but us kids(under 50) gutted it out and drug it to the truck


----------



## unregistered41671 (Dec 29, 2009)

Do what you know how to do.


----------



## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

if you patch the eye while shooting it's best to use something that lets light thru , a peice of scotch tape on the let lense of your shooting glass is all it normally takes to make the right focus.

my oldest daughter needs a patch / tape on her shooting glasses 

i was watching top shots a while back and was surprised to see the kid that was a long range Olympic competitor had tape on his shooting glasses


----------



## Harvey_Birdman (Jul 5, 2012)

I am right handed, and left eye dominant. I just shoot left handed, but I found out at an early age, so it just seems natural to me now. The only issue I have found is in a tree stand. Me and my dad have 3 stands that we both use. When we put them up we have to make sure we can both shoot from them.

If you have been shooting right handed all your life (and your a good shot) I wouldn't change a thing. If your not so good of a shot this may be why.


----------



## crispin (Jun 30, 2010)

Harvey_Birdman said:


> I am right handed, and left eye dominant. I just shoot left handed, but I found out at an early age, so it just seems natural to me now.


This is the same for me.

It is so weird that I do everything right handed except for shoot a rifle.

It feels akward to shoot left handed but I have been doing it so long that there is no changing it now. :spinsmiley:


----------



## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

on the other hand , you should learn to shoot both handed , often once you get your other trigger finger trained shooting with your non dominate hand on the trigger means your dominate often stronger arm is holding the gun up making it more stable 

it feels awkward at first but if you concentrate on what your doing and not just follow your muscle memory you will train yourself quickly , i bet in less than a brick of 22 you can be shooting as well with the left as you do with the right and it may never feel totally natural but it becomes much more natural to switch hands 

it makes it so there isn't anywhere you can't shoot in a tree stand if you have a second to think about making the switch 

everyone should try it opposite handed it will make you a better shooter, just start with something low recoil and work up

learn to squint the dominant eye a bit and you can see the sights with the non dominant.


----------



## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

shoot with the eye you are dominate with...teach the hands to adapt. with steel sights anyway...

.
do not patch the dominate eye. this causes eye strain. do not squint, same reason, + squinting will change the optics of both eyes. has to do with the moisture at the edge of the lids.

people can COMPRIMISE by using a small piece of frosted tape on glasses over the eye GOD gave you as dominate to make the brain do the best it can with whats left.

on a shot gun, the dominate eye IS the rear sight, it should be the eye over the barrel.

the best shots (i'm talking the REALLY good, as in the records good) use the dominate eye.

Eye dominance is about the first thing verified by a shooting trainer.


----------



## Dale Alan (Sep 26, 2012)

Sounds like you have been doing fine all this time,I would not change a thing . My Son is left eye dominant/right handed and shoots left,and one heck of a marksman . That is the only thing in life he does left handed. We found He was left eye dominant at about age 6 when he pulled up a BB gun left handed,We had no clue until then . My older Son is a lefty/right eye dominant,and the only thing he does righty is shoot . We knew from a young age just to let them do what felt natural.


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

If YOU hadn't noticed by now, then I see no reason to make changes based on what a Dr says

Eye dominance makes NO DIFFERENCE when shooting a handgun.
It's only problematic with long guns


----------



## JawjaBoy (Jan 21, 2013)

+1 on the "if it ain't broke" thought.

If you're just now finding this out, then your brain is already trained and un-training it will most likely result in more problems than solutions.


----------



## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

Im right handed and left eye dominant. I started shooting when I was 7 and just closed my left eye when I shot. By the time I became aware of eye dominance I was an adult and had been shooting for many years. My attitude is with the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" line of thought. I shoot trap in several leagues and do very well. I've won my share of money when we get an Annie Oakley or Scotch doubles going. If you shoot well, don't worry about it. If you want to get better just shoot more often.


----------



## Limon (Aug 25, 2010)

I'm left-eye dominant, too, but I'm a beginner shooter so nothing to unlearn. With a handgun, I just turn my head a bit to aim with the left eye. With the shotgun, I'm shooting both left- and right-handed, but I'm a bit ambidextrous, so that might be a bit easier for me than others. I'll be taking the NRA rifle course soon and I'll see what works with a rifle then.

It wouldn't hurt to try a few rounds aiming with your left-eye just to see if there's any improvement, but if you've been shooting all these years with your right, I'd say you've already learned what works for you.


----------



## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Thanks everyone with all the insights, suggests, and sharing of your own experiences. I never knew I was left eye dominant. Heck, I never knew there was even such a thing as eye dominance until a few years ago. I am going to try some aiming/shooting with the left eye and see what happens. Thanks!


----------



## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

I've known about my left eye dominance for some time.
Learned about it while attending an archery class many years back.

But I do well enough with my deer rifle using my right eye, so I find no need to try to "teach an old dog a new trick".


----------



## HuskyBoris (Feb 14, 2013)

tallpines said:


> I've known about my left eye dominance for some time.
> Learned about it while attending an archery class many years back.
> 
> But I do well enough with my deer rifle using my right eye, so I find no need to try to "teach an old dog a new trick".


I hear ya there,I am left handed and left eye dominant but I shoot right handed,I guess because when I was learning to shoot everyone that taught me was a righty and none of us knew any better,I don't miss much so thats good and with a handgun it doesn't really matter,my rifles all have the scopes mounted high though to compensate having to bring my left over the stock

Cabin Fever,you should do as you always have but it is fun to expierement, would like to use both eyes equally,my M1 Garand and M1917 rifles have peep sights on them and its difficult for me to shoot them,not impossible but difficult


----------



## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

HuskyBoris said:


> I hear ya there,I am left handed and left eye dominant but I shoot right handed,I guess because when I was learning to shoot everyone that taught me was a righty and none of us knew any better,I don't miss much so thats good and with a handgun it doesn't really matter,my rifles all have the scopes mounted high though to compensate having to bring my left over the stock
> 
> Cabin Fever,you should do as you always have but it is fun to expierement, would like to use both eyes equally,my M1 Garand and M1917 rifles have peep sights on them and its difficult for me to shoot them,not impossible but difficult


I don't have too much of problem with my M1 or my M1917 unless I'm shooting at a black bullseye. The military rifle I do have a problem with is my M1903 with it's sight located forward of the breech. I do not have this problem with the '03A3, of course.


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Do you shoot any *scoped *rifles?

That's where it would probably show up the worst, because you'd be putting your face OVER the stock to get the correct eye relief, and causing it to hit you hard on recoil


----------



## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Do you shoot any *scoped *rifles?
> 
> That's where it would probably show up the worst, because you'd be putting your face OVER the stock to get the correct eye relief, and causing it to hit you hard on recoil


 Already did that once when I heard a deer coming up behind me. I twisted to the left and brought the scope up....to my left eye! I got the buck....and a black eye.


----------



## retiredpara (May 17, 2011)

I am the same way. Can definitely affect your accuracy if you use your non-dominant eye. In service I combat carried right handed, but shot left handed when more precision was required. Most combat shooting situations require one to keep both eyes open, so one can maintain peripheral vision of other possible targets. If you are using a red dot at close range, it wouldnt matter much. I shoot scoped rifles right handed, and have simply learned to adopt an improvised cheek weld that allows me to use my left eye, though shooting right handed. No problems with relief either. Sounds like you have things figured out though!
My best,


----------



## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

I used to teach firearms safety for the DNR. Eye dominance was one of the first things we checked the kids for. The reccomendation was to learn to shoot using your dominant eye to aim but if you were already set in your ways, like us old farts, just keep on doing what you have been doing.

Seems to me you now have a built in excuse for missin dat turty point buck.


----------

