Regular or Cross Dominance..

[NightCat]

Alright guys....here is the deal.

The pistol has always been a tertiary weapon system for me entire career, its been nothing more than a if the SHTF sort thing. By thus, I am not the best pistol marksman, and am a far better rifle marksman...

herein lay my issue, and reason for posting....

I know fundamentally, I should be shooting both eyes open, I haven't been doing so with pistols...let the flaming begin...however..

I shoot both eyed with rifles, so, I'm trying to get back into that habit as the rifle is no longer my primary weapon system as I have retired from duty and now its time to live a "normal" life.

regardless, here is my issue.

I wear Corrective lenses, and no, I dont know what my script is, but nonetheless I am near sighted..for those who dont know, dont care, or dont need glasses, it means I can see close up without any issues, and I have a problem seeing clearly at distances.

Well, I am barely near sighted, people with normal vision can wear my glasses without issues and think they're not even prescription, people with poor vision thing my glasses dont do shit either so..I dont REALLY have BAD eyes, they're just not what they used to be...

Driving on, While attempting to see which eye was dominant by forming a small orifice with my handles and focusing on an object roughly 12-15ft away and bringing that orifice to my eye to determine dominance, I'm finding that I am Right HANDED, and LEFT eye Dominant.

I have tried this with and without my corrective lenses and its extremely difficult to tell which is the case..

I'm trying to figure out if my RIGHT eye requires more correction to see clearly, and its not that Im left eye dominant, its just that my right eye cant see as far as clearly....or that I really am one poor mother fucker who is Right Handed, and Left eye Dominant....These poor bastards we call "Cross Dominant"

As far as application goes, I have found that regardless of corrective lenses, at the range I find my shots pull left, not high left, or low left...just left. My groups look great, but they're all left my point of aim.

I'm wondering if this is due to my cross eye dominance, or it's all in my head and Im just thinking too much into it...

So, if anyone can shed some light or give me an idea or anything, in regards to this subject and how to more effectively check my dominance, that would be great...

Tomorrow is range day, so instead of turning my head, or tilting/rolling my head to shoot left eyed and right handed...I'm just going to adjust my holstered draw to put the gun behind my left eye instead of right..

Draw from holster, bring to the compressed ready, Move over to the left side of my chest, and punch out as normal, but to my left side...see if the range will answer my question for me...

Until then,

Thanks a lot!!

- Dave

[NightCat]

....Just asked my Sister.....she qualified expert with an M9 (she's a USAF Officer)

Which hand and which eye.....my sister is Right Handed, Left eyed......

I wonder if its a family thing


Update:

Fuck me....after talking with my sister, which is very difficult to do considering she's on the other side of the world..., She reminded me that our mother was born left handed, and the boarding school my awful grandparents sent her to, forced her to become right handed...


Looks like Im just fucked and it may be genetic to be left eye dominant...Im going to call my Mom in the morning and see if she is left eyed too.....this shit sucks.. >_<

[Big Wall]

To check dominance, point at something with both eyes open. Then take turns closing each eye. With one eye open your dominate eye will still show your finger pointed at the object. Your support eye will make it look like your finger jumped off the object. I was cross dominate until after high school. Brian Enos is cross dominate, so it isn't a death sentence.

[Mazin]

More common that you think man, my wife is cross (Left eyed, right handed) dominate. She started shooting right until we noticed and she choses to shoot left because its more comfortable. When it comes down to defensive shooting a handgun both eyes open or learn to compensate squinting. Both eyes open is hard to get use too but if you can throw a ball at a mark then your fine. It does take a little bit of getting use to but make conscience effort Every time you shoot you'll pick it up quick. Try getting an airsoft gun and shooting it in the garage, both eyes open every night for a month, I have a g17 (actual size) airsoft gun and love it. GL Man

[Dalendenver]

I am also right handed, left eyed. I usually shoot right handed and do pretty well. However, when I took my CHP class they had me try shooting left handed. At 15 yards I was shooting 1 inch groups with my right hand, I put two through the same hole left handed with the third nearly touching. You might just try shooting left handed. It took me awhile to work out the grip but it soon became comfortable.

When shooting right handed I tend to shoot left of center but when I remember to put my trigger finger on the trigger properly it corrects that tendency.

Oh, I am shooting a SA XDm40.

[trlcavscout]

It is very common to be right handed, left eye dominant. I also shoot rifles with both eyes open. Pistols i cannot shoot with both eyes open, i have tried at the range and in competition and I end up switching eyes. For years i went with it and closed my right eye, but last year i started useing my right eye and changed my stance to bring the gun over in front of my right eye and so far its been an improvement.

[J]

You want to pick up the sights with your dominant eye when pistol shooting, regardless of which hand you use as primary. So as you draw, turn your head 30-40 degrees to the right, this will put your left eye closer to the pistol. It will make it so that your left eye lines up with the sights and after some practice you can shoot both eyes open while still sighting with your dominant eye.

[HoneyBadger]

There is nothing wrong with being cross-dominant! I've been working for a few months now, trying to form the habit of sighting pistols with my right eye while both eyes are open. I basically did what Trlcavscout said above, but it hasn't been an improvement. For me, I'm always going to shoot better with my left eye (dominant), but keeping both eyes open and such is good for awareness. Do what works best for you!

[cstone]

I'll toss my $.02 into the pile.

7 yards or less, think flash front sight. Both eyes open, your dominant eye will see the front sight clearly on the target as you start your trigger squeeze. While handling a safe, unloaded handgun (check it twice), burn the muscle memory into your brain, body, and hands, exactly how you should feel when you grasp, draw, and present to the target. Smooth move to the grip, smooth draw and rotation from the holster, and get the front sight onto the target. If you think about it, the front sight is naturally on the target well before the gun is up or you can see the front or rear sights.

Our quarterly requals, we start at the 1.5 yard line. Two rounds, one hand, bent elbow, from the hip. You may not always get the X on the first shot, but I've never seen anyone miss and no one can see their sights in this position. Just for personal work, I sometimes practice contact shooting, but that isn't about accuracy as much as familiarization with shooting from abnormal positions.

At 7 yards it is fine and will happen most of the time, very naturally, that your rear sights will roughly line up on target with your front sight. I've found that by the time my rear sights are nearly in line (think perfect sight picture) the first round has already gone, and I'm recovering and staging the trigger for my follow-up shot.

IMO, defensive handgun shooting is not about groups. I believe it is about speed and consistency. As you get past 7 yards, things get more dynamic. You should be moving and seeking supported/cover positions and there is a greater likelihood your targets will be moving. Targets moving toward you should be causing you to move laterally. Targets moving away from you give you more time to aim and analyze. Targets moving laterally take more time for you to calculate leading and present backstop challenges because your backstop is now dynamic.

If you are bullseye shooting, close your non dominant eye and take your time. Paper doesn't shoot back

[Great-Kazoo]

You want to pick up the sights with your dominant eye when pistol shooting, regardless of which hand you use as primary. So as you draw, turn your head 30-40 degrees to the right, this will put your left eye closer to the pistol. It will make it so that your left eye lines up with the sights and after some practice you can shoot both eyes open while still sighting with your dominant eye.

Since i was not on line J summed it up for me. Try shooting liek this and you will be surprised how much better your shooting becomes.