This is great to hear. In the years I've been shooting I taught myself to do what this guy does, tilt my head. I was at the range the other day and one of the ROs tells me I'm better off putting the gun in front of my dominant eye, but try as I may I couldn't get it to work. I'll just go back to doing what felt right for me and not overthink it. Thanks!!
Are brains are lazy, and the head tilt is actually the brains way of compensating with little to know effort. Many cross eye dominate people go straight to the head tilt even those you never fired a gun. As it’s easier to tilt the head than moving both arms.
I'm also right master hand, left master eye. It can be confusing to some people who have seen me shoot my pistols, but it works for me. I close my left eye when shooting long guns, especially those with a scope. It still works.
I do the same and I'm seriously thinking of biting the bullet and switching hands for rifles. Jace Robertson did that. He said that it was hard at first but made him a better shooter in the long run. My cross-eye dominance makes me sad. Oh well. : )
William Matthews Problem for me is that I’m right handed and left eye dominant due to an injury in my right eye. If I have only my right eye open everything looks foggy and starts to fade to black
I just bought my first handgun and I noticed I am cross eye dominant, so this video helped me so much. Thank you. I wasn’t sure if I had to learn to shoot with my right eye, or what
I started shooting late, only a year or so ago I bought my first air gun (replica 10/22 in .177) I’m from the U.K. so don’t judge 😅. I realised straight away I was left eye dominant. I just shoulder the rifle the opposite side and learnt to shoot that way. As I didn’t have much experience shooting right handed it was pretty easy to get the hang of it and I can regularly shoot the bullseye out of a 5” square target at 15-20 yards with iron sights.
I'm right-handed and left-eye dominant and I always turned my head to shoot using my left eye. I went to a training academy and was told that turning my head gives up some of my field of vision on my left side. Since I'm more comfortable shooting with a weaver stance, I was told to slightly cant my weapon so that it lines up with my left eye. This has worked extremely well for me. Granted, some have joked because it doesn't look normal.
@@thugnasty5242 I do not, but I use a modified isosceles stance as I'd be shooting normal right-handed and just slightly cant the sights to the left to go in line with my left eye to shoot.
Thanks a million. I've been shooting for 20 years with both eyes opened although I'm cross eye dominant.Almost everybody has advised either closing one eye or changing sides.Changing sides is almost impossible and closing one eye eliminates peripheral vision.Thanks for the tip with the dots.
As someone who is cross-eye dominant, this doesn’t make sense. It’s way easier to close my right eye than my left. That seems as entirely part of being left eye dominant. If I close my right eye my vision stays the same on my left side. If I close my left eye my vision is a bit off on my right side. And it’s not as easy to close my left eye.
I am left eye Dominant and i shoot a pistol right handed and a rifle left handed . i write left handed and eat left handed but everything else is right handed . this video has been a big help.
I agree with his solution. I'm cross-eyed dominant (right handed, left eye dominant). I tried all the other solutions and all my scores dropped dramatically and I would get very bad headaches. But when I simply close my left eye, I shoot very well, usually top in my anual testing. Many say it puts you at a huge disadvantage, well I disagree because it's how you utilize it in situations. For close quarters, I'm constantly paying attention to my surroundings, with both eyes and when I need to engage I briefly close one eye and take shots, even then I open my left at times incase there is movement , but very quickly close it and it doesn't mess with my site alignment. I constantly do that and haven't had someone sneak up on me or missed a threat because of it. For very long range shots, I keep my left closed for longer periods of time, but usually I'm with a spotter and concentrate on my other senses.
Closing one eye still strikes me as disadvantageous as it hinders contextual non-dominant eye visuals, especially in situations where there might be multiple threats at varying distances. I think if you can manage to shoot off hand and practice it, you're going to be on a more level playing field with non-cross shooters.
rather than CLOSE my left eye, i squint. It allows me to still see movement out of my left eye, while having the effect of making my right right do the aiming
I do the same, only when I shoot with scopes/optics though. Cant make it work for irons to save my life. I just tilt my head like this guy and it works very well.
In combat you won't be worrying about closing an eye because you're either sighted in many yards away or using muscle memory if you really have to get that close.
A pistol is generally inaccurate over 50 feet, and even at 50 feet the average shooter only hits 50% of their shots. Pistols are your life line for self-defense, and most self-defense shootings actually happen
That's excellent if you prefer using this technique. But what I noticed is that if you tilt your head just a smidge, you loose a small fraction of peripheral view, which is the reason for which you shoot with both eyes closed. In very special situations, that small fraction can mean life and death. Now another thing that you could do is move the hand more to the left but it's uncomfortable and unnatural for me. And all this is wen we talk about handguns, but with a rifle everything changes - red dots, magnifiers, even mechanical sights... you ether shoot lefthanded or you close you right eye. My solution to this was training my right eye. I first read that it's impossible to change your dominant eye but I gave it a try. It took me from February till about July to fully change my dominant eye. Now I can't even use my left eye if I don't close the right. I exercised almost everyday and it was worth it. But of course, this was the best solution for me... it may not be for everyone.
The HUGE issue with this advice is that a lot of cross dominant shooters can’t close but one eye. That is the main reason they are cross dominant. So it’s not a myth. I am right handed. I cannot close just my left eye.
I'm right handed and left eye dominant. No problem! My eyes are 3 inches apart so the solution is to move the weapon 1.5 inches to the left from center of natural point. No need to close an eye unless shooting a non-scoped longarm.
Although I'm left eye dominant and right handed I naturally shoot right-handed when shooting a pistol using my left eye, but it's always felt awkward for me to shoot a long gun right handed. It's always been more comfortable to shoulder a long gun on my left shoulder. So it's worked out well for me.
Good video but not only shotguns affect cross eye dominance. Assault rifles too- depending on the scope. In the military I wore an eye patch on qualifying days for accuracy(unless using honeycomb laser sights or similar-allowing both eyes)
I have a unique problem. I'm right handed and left-eye dominant, but I have no ability (muscular / brain problem) to wink only my left eye (can't close it independent of my right). I've messed around with a few things. Short of an eye-patch which is ok for target shooting (or if I get a pirate gun- lol), I do some head shifting, or with smaller caliber rifles (up to 9mm carbines), I'll shoot left-handed. Larger .308s, etc., I mess around getting my eyes right. It's all training and muscle memory. The more I shoot, the more I learn to compensate. It's when you only go sporadically to the range, that it becomes difficult.
It does make a difference because I'm left eyed dominate and can only close right eye and left open. Can't close left eye and keep right open address that issue
Personally I think that the whole shooting left handed when left eye dominant but right handed is a weakness thing is foolhardy, sure it took some time to get used to but now my strongest hand supports my rifle and makes the bone to bone contact with my hip And my all my left does is squeeze that trigger. I personally look at it as an unsung advantage when we’re shooting standing with or without a jacket, I’m no matter what gonna be more stable than someone trying to stabilize a 10/11 pound full power rifle or 10 meter air rifle with their weak hand...
Im left eye dominant and when i shoot pistols i hold the pistol right handed and tilt my head and aim with my left eye. With rifles i hold the rifle left handed and i am very accurate!
I don't have a dominant eye and I'm right handed and slightly stronger on that side, but I have more stability and less shaking with my left hand. I perform about equally average to bad in any constellation of hands and eyes. :P
I shoot trap for fun, so basically I only shoot shotguns. Not a serious gun enthusiast or anything. But I'm cross eyed dominant. I fount it MUCH easier just to learn to shoot left handed, than to close my left eye. I am VERY left eyed dominant, I can barely close my left eye without closing my right eye too, I get all squinty and can't focus my right eye at all. But I can easily close my right eye and leave my left eye wide open. For years my dad tried to teach me to shoot right handed, my hands worked but nothing else did, the moment I switched, it all got easier. I this crosseye dominance is a case my case basis thing.
Ik this is old but for me a guy who plays airsoft i have to use both of my eyes and both of my shoulders so for me when im on my right shoulder I can’t open both eyes and though I can close my eyes I shouldn’t because you then lose half your vision and this can lead to important things going unnoticed such as a guy going cover to cover advancing towards you so it’s not going to help if I train my eyes to switch their dominance because then I won’t be able to use my left shoulder without closing my eyes so im trying to find a way to allow my right eye to work just as good as my left eye when both eyes are open
In shooting a shotgun, you shouldn't even be looking at the barrels. You should be focused on the target or clay. I had used a taped left lens on my shooting glasses for a couple seasons and then was told by a famous trap shooter at his clinic to try taking it off and just focus at the clay and ignore beads and barrel. Scores improved right away. Use the bead or beads to set the gun to your cheek and gun hold then call for the clay and follow the target with both your eyes and ignore every thing else. Taping lens and special sticky dots shouldn't be needed. No one I know goes out bird hunting with taped glasses but use them to shoot trap. Why? Isn't it the same?
While presented well, my own experience doesn't coincide with your conclusion. I am left-handed, and have always shot right-handed. That includes hand guns, long guns, and even archery. It wasn't until recently that I learned why: I'm right eye dominant. While I CAN shoot left-handed, I'm quite a bit more accurate shooting right-handed.
I'm the same, but I'm just slightly lefty. I've got my fork in the left and I play guitar non-lefty. The only thing I do left handed is writing. I shoot with my right as well. I wonder what an extreme lefty would do.
Can't really just say to close one eye and it doesn't matter lol. The whole downside of cross eye dominance is that even if I try to close my left (dominant eye), I'll never be pointing straight just using my right. The whole, "as soon as I close my right eye, I HAVE to be left eye dominant" is not how it works lol. Totally correct at the end though, tilting your head is the way to go.
I have no dominant eye. Im right handed. I have to close one eye to initially see the target because i see 2 targets. Once i know which one is the real target i can keep them open. It's hard to quickly aquire a good picture. I know its not good to close one eye but its quicker by alot. I gave myself a headache trying to keep both open. My eyes keep wanting to focus on either the target or the front sight. I did the eye dominance test with the penny on the floor and making a triangle with my hands and im able to easily put it in the middle with both eyes open but when i close right it shifts left and vice versa. I guess ill need to practice a lot. Its sucks closing one eye because my face hurts after a while. Thumbs up the comment if you have any suggestions or i wont get the replys. Any advice would be appreciated.
Same issue for me. It's tough for sure and I have not found a better way than starting my aim with one eye closed as well. Nothing fast about it for sure. I have a bad astigmatism.
Pretty much the same for me. I'll see two rear sights. Then one will be erased by my brain (it literally fades away), the it comes back and the other will fade away. In even slightly low light, the rear sight becomes completely invisible to me unless I close one eye or the other.
I'm right handed, left eye dominant. It's easier to shoot a shotgun left-handed if you practice shooting a bow left-handed first. Start with the bow, then everything else follows.
So how, exactly, am I supposed to get my left eye behind the scope? I've tried it, and it seems like I would have to mount the scope 6" off the bore and to the left....
Look up Trex Arms. Lucas Botkin (the owner) may look like a child. But he is one of the most technical and gifted instructors/shooters that I've seen in all my years. He has a couple videos on this exact subject. Look up "Trex Arms cross eyed dominance" and it'll pop up. He is a cross eyed dominant shooter as well. With long guns, we have to take the lesser of two evils unless we teach ourselves to shoot left handed.
I'm left eye dominant and I shoot right handed but I dont move the gun over or tilt my head I keep both eyes open and use the right eye but my left is what's dominant lol so idk bit it works fine the way I do it.
I was taught to shoot pistols left handed because I'm left eye dominant even though I'm right handed. Really annoying past a 9mm since my right hand is stronger than my left.
never been able to blink my left eye so I tilt my head with pistol & shoulder rifle with my left. Looks odd but over the years I out run most. Just work with what you got...
Instinctively you brain will compensate. Many cross eye dominate people will hold rifles on the side of the dominate eye with the non dominate hand. With pistols it’s usually with the dominate hand with the person tilting the head or moving the gun to the dominate eye.
Not me. RH, LED…I have to turn my head slightly and leave both eyes open, using my left eye to aim a pistol. Rifles, either irons or scope, I have no issues with accuracy using my right side/right eye.
I just close my Left eye. IT was never a problem for me shooting right-handed with non-dominant eye (evidenced by repeatedly qualifying expert with rifle and pistol on both Navy & Army courses of fire). I also shot well right-handed & left eye closed with shotgun when I was younger (I don't shoot shotgun now, still shoot rifle & pistol). Bottom line: people who say those who are cross-eye dominant must shoot favoring their non-dominant hand (i.e., shoot left-handed even though right-hand dominant) are just wrong. It might help some people _ I know folks who do it well, but it's certainly not axiomatic.
This method doesn't work for me for one simple reason: I'm not only cross eye dominant (right handed with left eye dominance) i'm also short sighted and my right eye is weaker than my left eye. I have no other option than aiming with left eye with a pistol and using scopes while shooting with a rifle. I cannot train my right eye to be right eye dominant
Right-handed with left eye dominance or left-handed with right eye dominance. The first is far more common than the latter because only about 10 percent of people are left-handed.
Oke testosteron American who is texasing the onther guy of his feet. Im left eye dominant, but im right handed. I taped of my my left eye.. and didn’t see good enough to shoot sharp with my right eye. Do i just keep shooting until in comfortable shooting left handed or are there other tricks? All the best from low testosterone holland. Lieuwe melcherts
I'm guessing if ur using a rifle/long gun with a scope ud would just adjust the scope to compensate for shooting with the right eye if ur left eye is dominate?
I am left eye right handed dominant, and able to close only my right eye. It is hard for me to aim shotgun/rifle using left hand, so basically I can only rely on a pirate-patch on my left eye and use right hand right eye?
This is nice to know, I'm cross eye dominant with a hand gun. I'm right handed, that's how I prefer to shoot a handgun, tho I've found left handed shooting isn't so hard either. With a rifle like my AK. I hold the gun like a lefty.. it's wierd but that's how I've always shot rifles. That's the ONLY way I can visually line up with my sights. My right eye is absolute shit. Without my 20/20 left ide prolly be legally blind. I'm pretty accurate if I do say myself 😊 despite my wierdness
I have a weird situation. I am right eye dominant. I wear glasses, and my left eye is a lot weaker than my right eye so the left lens is stronger than the right one. When shooting a pistol, if I shoot in the right eye dominant position, I see two front sights. The only way I can get one front sight is by turning my head to the right and looking left a little bit. Is that weird, or am I not alone?
I'm left eye dominant and right handed, but i am almost blind in my right eye and it becomes almost impossible to aim properly, should i just learn to use my left hand more?
Don't recall the exact video, but Hickok45 changed eyes several years ago as well, something made his dominate eye little less clear and he just changed. Kinda reinforces the point made in the video.
@@republican2153 iv actually started doing it...still have two images but when using right hand I go with the left image and the opposite with the left hand...bit of practice you can get used to it......
I really don’t think the advice given here is helpful. Fighting your natural stance/head position is something I’ve always heard you should avoid. I am right handed/left eyed. I did a few trips to the range and took an intro to pistol course. I was struggling with sight acquisition and picture(and trigger control but that wasn’t an eye problem, lol). Toward the end my instructor suggested I try his Glock 19 with a red dot. Made a world of difference for me. I know they can be expensive, but it’s worth trying one out at the range if you are having the same problems.
I was taught if you line up the rear sight with the front bead and then the target, you're going to hit the target. Three inline points make a straight line. Doesn't really matter which eye is dominant. Old school and very simple but it works. Now if you hit to high or low, to the left or right, then you may have a issue with bent sights in relation to the alignment of the muzzle.
"...if your cross eye dominant"? Are you serious? Dear Springfield Armory, I will happily come work for your company to edit your content so that it doesn't perpetuate negative stereotypes about gun owners. A reasonable salary, full benefits, and a top-of-the-line 1911 will suffice. Sincerely, M. Ross
Improper posture being taught in this video along with allowing someone to shoot like that. I'm sure one can train themselves to hit a target in this way, but they will always sacrifice their true potential and look like a tool doing it. The main problem is that in order to line up the sights even on that pistol you still have to turn your head slightly to achieve sight alignment, this means improper posture which means you are muscling the weapon even more so than you ever need to. In the Marines they taught me all the fundamentals of Marksmanship and on day one we all tested our eye dominance and if you were left eye dominant you shot left handed, period. You don't teach people poor techniques and then expect them to get proficient with it.
I just started shooting, I'm glad I read your post, I thought out of desperation, I would start switching to lefty. Been researching cross dominance, because I'm having such difficulty shooting right handed. It seems like common sense not to sacrifice proper posture.
You can change your eye dominance with work. Mainly you will need to start either wearing an eye patch or just really make an effort to start closing your dominant eye when you do Hand-Eye Coordination training. I do this by laying on the couch and throwing a tennis ball into the air. You only look at the ball not your hands and try to catch it. It is more difficult when the ball tries to land out of your peripheral. But if you practice this with your dom eye closed you can slowly over time change eyes. I was a Gunner on an LAV-25 and my first tour in Iraq I probably had my eyes in the sights for at least 6 hours a day and the problem was the viewer for the day sight was set for your left eye. So I would squint my right eye to see through the sight system and it actually messed up my Right Eye dom. Which also messed with my rifle score, slightly
Think I will listen to Rob (World Champion) on this. I've been shooting with a slight head tilt for years, and I qualified expert marksman while serving.
I honestly think the best pistol shooters don't have to aim at all. They in fact shoot thousands of rounds per day to hone that skill. What I am talking about is the fundamentals of Marksmanship. Much like golf or any other skill based event you will have people with natural talent that will outperform everyone else with far less practice, but it doesn't mean they couldn't improve or could have been better even if they had proper training all the way through. Like when I got to boot camp and they asked who had shot already and growing up in NW Montana I had shot a lot so I raised my hand and they told us we would shoot the WORST out of everyone. Well I took that to heart and really tried to absorb what I was being taught and I ended up taking second place in qual with a 237 of 250 possible score. Then when I got to the fleet my command saw that score and had me go to coaches course. Had I not paid close attention in boot camp I probably would have just passed the qual and never would have got that advanced training later. I would have been "just as good" as any other Marine rifleman, but I could have been better. I might have been able to achieve Rifle Expert but it wouldn't have been in boot camp, it would have been 3rd or 4th year.
Another way to label "eye dominance" is "unconscious lazy bad habit." PRACTICE using the other eye and it will work just as well. Same goes for handedness.
Right handed - Left eye Dominate. At basic training we had a long discussion that came down to a simple point. Drill Sargent response to some one telling me to shoot right handed or with one eye closed. "He's hitting shit better then you are, shut the fuck up private."
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I love how this guy speaks with such confidence and enthusiasm! Great teacher!
It is a privilege to be complimented by Rob Leatham 💪
This is great to hear. In the years I've been shooting I taught myself to do what this guy does, tilt my head. I was at the range the other day and one of the ROs tells me I'm better off putting the gun in front of my dominant eye, but try as I may I couldn't get it to work. I'll just go back to doing what felt right for me and not overthink it. Thanks!!
Are brains are lazy, and the head tilt is actually the brains way of compensating with little to know effort. Many cross eye dominate people go straight to the head tilt even those you never fired a gun. As it’s easier to tilt the head than moving both arms.
I'm also right master hand, left master eye. It can be confusing to some people who have seen me shoot my pistols, but it works for me. I close my left eye when shooting long guns, especially those with a scope. It still works.
+William Matthews Myself also. Cool to know I am not alone.
I do the same and I'm seriously thinking of biting the bullet and switching hands for rifles. Jace Robertson did that. He said that it was hard at first but made him a better shooter in the long run.
My cross-eye dominance makes me sad. Oh well. : )
William Matthews Problem for me is that I’m right handed and left eye dominant due to an injury in my right eye. If I have only my right eye open everything looks foggy and starts to fade to black
I just bought my first handgun and I noticed I am cross eye dominant, so this video helped me so much. Thank you. I wasn’t sure if I had to learn to shoot with my right eye, or what
Oh my God, finally someone who actually understands eye dominance. I was skeptical clicking on this video but this guy was right on.
I started shooting late, only a year or so ago I bought my first air gun (replica 10/22 in .177) I’m from the U.K. so don’t judge 😅. I realised straight away I was left eye dominant. I just shoulder the rifle the opposite side and learnt to shoot that way. As I didn’t have much experience shooting right handed it was pretty easy to get the hang of it and I can regularly shoot the bullseye out of a 5” square target at 15-20 yards with iron sights.
I'm right-handed and left-eye dominant and I always turned my head to shoot using my left eye. I went to a training academy and was told that turning my head gives up some of my field of vision on my left side. Since I'm more comfortable shooting with a weaver stance, I was told to slightly cant my weapon so that it lines up with my left eye. This has worked extremely well for me. Granted, some have joked because it doesn't look normal.
Do you have a video you can reference on how to do this? Having the same issue
@@thugnasty5242 I do not, but I use a modified isosceles stance as I'd be shooting normal right-handed and just slightly cant the sights to the left to go in line with my left eye to shoot.
When my dad was teaching me to shoot Pistol, and Bow, I just opted for shooting Left Handed
Thanks a million. I've been shooting for 20 years with both eyes opened although I'm cross eye dominant.Almost everybody has advised either closing one eye or changing sides.Changing sides is almost impossible and closing one eye eliminates peripheral vision.Thanks for the tip with the dots.
@J Thorsson Thank you for your time and your response.Much appreciated!
So how do you shoot well without the two most popular solutions, turning your head?
@@autocompletellc9906 brain can figure it out
I am a left eye dominent right handed person. I have mastered it pretty well.
Gun Guy Do you tilt your head like this guy or move your arms to the left? Iv heard the exact opposite advice before and neither feels right to me
YAY!!! cookies for gun guy
lol I'm the opposite. XD
Ive moved the gun to align with my left eye, i think im alrite, but will try to tilt my head next time. See if that improves
very coincidentally, I tried to shot my p320 with my left hand one day, and it feels perfect-from grip to aiming.
As someone who is cross-eye dominant, this doesn’t make sense. It’s way easier to close my right eye than my left. That seems as entirely part of being left eye dominant. If I close my right eye my vision stays the same on my left side. If I close my left eye my vision is a bit off on my right side. And it’s not as easy to close my left eye.
Good shooting Ed. Your ear to ear grin after hearing Rob's comments make this video great.
Love Rob Leatham, he Allways gives Great instruction & insight! When he speaks about shooting I give him undivided attention!!
I am left eye Dominant and i shoot a pistol right handed and a rifle left handed . i write left handed and eat left handed but everything else is right handed . this video has been a big help.
Man, He did great! I laughed when he said "I'm awesome" lol
I agree with his solution. I'm cross-eyed dominant (right handed, left eye dominant). I tried all the other solutions and all my scores dropped dramatically and I would get very bad headaches. But when I simply close my left eye, I shoot very well, usually top in my anual testing. Many say it puts you at a huge disadvantage, well I disagree because it's how you utilize it in situations. For close quarters, I'm constantly paying attention to my surroundings, with both eyes and when I need to engage I briefly close one eye and take shots, even then I open my left at times incase there is movement , but very quickly close it and it doesn't mess with my site alignment. I constantly do that and haven't had someone sneak up on me or missed a threat because of it. For very long range shots, I keep my left closed for longer periods of time, but usually I'm with a spotter and concentrate on my other senses.
Thanks Rob, your “great encouragement “.
I love Leatham's style of instruction. He's succinct and not dogmatic.
Closing one eye still strikes me as disadvantageous as it hinders contextual non-dominant eye visuals, especially in situations where there might be multiple threats at varying distances.
I think if you can manage to shoot off hand and practice it, you're going to be on a more level playing field with non-cross shooters.
Glad to know I'm not doing it wrong.
rather than CLOSE my left eye, i squint. It allows me to still see movement out of my left eye, while having the effect of making my right right do the aiming
I do the same, only when I shoot with scopes/optics though. Cant make it work for irons to save my life. I just tilt my head like this guy and it works very well.
The real question is... Why the hell would you close an eye while shooting.
In combat you won't be worrying about closing an eye because you're either sighted in many yards away or using muscle memory if you really have to get that close.
A pistol is generally inaccurate over 50 feet, and even at 50 feet the average shooter only hits 50% of their shots.
Pistols are your life line for self-defense, and most self-defense shootings actually happen
I'm cross eye dominant. I have to squint my right eye after 17 yards in low light. It's crazy how you can tech yourself how to overcome
That's excellent if you prefer using this technique. But what I noticed is that if you tilt your head just a smidge, you loose a small fraction of peripheral view, which is the reason for which you shoot with both eyes closed. In very special situations, that small fraction can mean life and death. Now another thing that you could do is move the hand more to the left but it's uncomfortable and unnatural for me. And all this is wen we talk about handguns, but with a rifle everything changes - red dots, magnifiers, even mechanical sights... you ether shoot lefthanded or you close you right eye. My solution to this was training my right eye. I first read that it's impossible to change your dominant eye but I gave it a try. It took me from February till about July to fully change my dominant eye. Now I can't even use my left eye if I don't close the right. I exercised almost everyday and it was worth it. But of course, this was the best solution for me... it may not be for everyone.
Shifting the weapon to the left instead of tilting your head is a significantly more effective practice unless you are standing on a range
What a great teacher!
The HUGE issue with this advice is that a lot of cross dominant shooters can’t close but one eye. That is the main reason they are cross dominant. So it’s not a myth. I am right handed. I cannot close just my left eye.
@Fred Wills Can’t use an eye patch in a self defense situation lol
I shoot right handed and with my left eye
im right eyed but left handed i shoot right handed when shooting my long rifle and now started training my self to shoot ambi with my hand gun
Turn your head a little to the right so now your left eye sees the sights. Its not good to close one eye while training.
Outstanding energy
Problem is too many TILT their head is stead of turning it. That subtle turn is such an improvement!
I'm right handed and left eye dominant. No problem! My eyes are 3 inches apart so the solution is to move the weapon 1.5 inches to the left from center of natural point. No need to close an eye unless shooting a non-scoped longarm.
Although I'm left eye dominant and right handed I naturally shoot right-handed when shooting a pistol using my left eye, but it's always felt awkward for me to shoot a long gun right handed. It's always been more comfortable to shoulder a long gun on my left shoulder. So it's worked out well for me.
Duncan Paisley yeayyy....finally i am not alone! Cheers!!
Good video but not only shotguns affect cross eye dominance. Assault rifles too- depending on the scope. In the military I wore an eye patch on qualifying days for accuracy(unless using honeycomb laser sights or similar-allowing both eyes)
I'm right-handed, left eye dominant and shoot handgun exactly as above, and close my left eye when shooting rifle, shotgun, and scoped rifle.
I have a unique problem. I'm right handed and left-eye dominant, but I have no ability (muscular / brain problem) to wink only my left eye (can't close it independent of my right). I've messed around with a few things. Short of an eye-patch which is ok for target shooting (or if I get a pirate gun- lol), I do some head shifting, or with smaller caliber rifles (up to 9mm carbines), I'll shoot left-handed. Larger .308s, etc., I mess around getting my eyes right. It's all training and muscle memory. The more I shoot, the more I learn to compensate. It's when you only go sporadically to the range, that it becomes difficult.
This guy is good.
I am RhLe dominant...I just close my left eye...I used to turn my head. But I just don't anymore...lol
It does make a difference because I'm left eyed dominate and can only close right eye and left open. Can't close left eye and keep right open address that issue
I’m right handed and left eye dominant. My body has naturally picked up a gun and held it as if I were left handed.
Personally I think that the whole shooting left handed when left eye dominant but right handed is a weakness thing is foolhardy, sure it took some time to get used to but now my strongest hand supports my rifle and makes the bone to bone contact with my hip And my all my left does is squeeze that trigger. I personally look at it as an unsung advantage when we’re shooting standing with or without a jacket, I’m no matter what gonna be more stable than someone trying to stabilize a 10/11 pound full power rifle or 10 meter air rifle with their weak hand...
Im left eye dominant and when i shoot pistols i hold the pistol right handed and tilt my head and aim with my left eye. With rifles i hold the rifle left handed and i am very accurate!
I don't have a dominant eye and I'm right handed and slightly stronger on that side, but I have more stability and less shaking with my left hand. I perform about equally average to bad in any constellation of hands and eyes. :P
I shoot trap for fun, so basically I only shoot shotguns. Not a serious gun enthusiast or anything. But I'm cross eyed dominant. I fount it MUCH easier just to learn to shoot left handed, than to close my left eye. I am VERY left eyed dominant, I can barely close my left eye without closing my right eye too, I get all squinty and can't focus my right eye at all. But I can easily close my right eye and leave my left eye wide open. For years my dad tried to teach me to shoot right handed, my hands worked but nothing else did, the moment I switched, it all got easier. I this crosseye dominance is a case my case basis thing.
Use a fighting stance, it turns your head a little which uses your right eye which is your left
Ik this is old but for me a guy who plays airsoft i have to use both of my eyes and both of my shoulders so for me when im on my right shoulder I can’t open both eyes and though I can close my eyes I shouldn’t because you then lose half your vision and this can lead to important things going unnoticed such as a guy going cover to cover advancing towards you so it’s not going to help if I train my eyes to switch their dominance because then I won’t be able to use my left shoulder without closing my eyes so im trying to find a way to allow my right eye to work just as good as my left eye when both eyes are open
Confused. Jerry Miculek says to never tilt your head.
John Doe Jerry Miculek isn’t cross dominant either
In shooting a shotgun, you shouldn't even be looking at the barrels. You should be focused on the target or clay. I had used a taped left lens on my shooting glasses for a couple seasons and then was told by a famous trap shooter at his clinic to try taking it off and just focus at the clay and ignore beads and barrel. Scores improved right away. Use the bead or beads to set the gun to your cheek and gun hold then call for the clay and follow the target with both your eyes and ignore every thing else. Taping lens and special sticky dots shouldn't be needed. No one I know goes out bird hunting with taped glasses but use them to shoot trap. Why? Isn't it the same?
popoaggie its worth trying!
While presented well, my own experience doesn't coincide with your conclusion. I am left-handed, and have always shot right-handed. That includes hand guns, long guns, and even archery. It wasn't until recently that I learned why: I'm right eye dominant. While I CAN shoot left-handed, I'm quite a bit more accurate shooting right-handed.
I'm the same, but I'm just slightly lefty. I've got my fork in the left and I play guitar non-lefty. The only thing I do left handed is writing. I shoot with my right as well. I wonder what an extreme lefty would do.
Can't really just say to close one eye and it doesn't matter lol. The whole downside of cross eye dominance is that even if I try to close my left (dominant eye), I'll never be pointing straight just using my right. The whole, "as soon as I close my right eye, I HAVE to be left eye dominant" is not how it works lol. Totally correct at the end though, tilting your head is the way to go.
I have no dominant eye. Im right handed. I have to close one eye to initially see the target because i see 2 targets. Once i know which one is the real target i can keep them open. It's hard to quickly aquire a good picture. I know its not good to close one eye but its quicker by alot. I gave myself a headache trying to keep both open. My eyes keep wanting to focus on either the target or the front sight. I did the eye dominance test with the penny on the floor and making a triangle with my hands and im able to easily put it in the middle with both eyes open but when i close right it shifts left and vice versa. I guess ill need to practice a lot. Its sucks closing one eye because my face hurts after a while. Thumbs up the comment if you have any suggestions or i wont get the replys. Any advice would be appreciated.
Same issue for me. It's tough for sure and I have not found a better way than starting my aim with one eye closed as well. Nothing fast about it for sure. I have a bad astigmatism.
Pretty much the same for me. I'll see two rear sights. Then one will be erased by my brain (it literally fades away), the it comes back and the other will fade away. In even slightly low light, the rear sight becomes completely invisible to me unless I close one eye or the other.
I'm right handed, left eye dominant. It's easier to shoot a shotgun left-handed if you practice shooting a bow left-handed first. Start with the bow, then everything else follows.
So how, exactly, am I supposed to get my left eye behind the scope? I've tried it, and it seems like I would have to mount the scope 6" off the bore and to the left....
Look up Trex Arms. Lucas Botkin (the owner) may look like a child. But he is one of the most technical and gifted instructors/shooters that I've seen in all my years.
He has a couple videos on this exact subject. Look up "Trex Arms cross eyed dominance" and it'll pop up. He is a cross eyed dominant shooter as well. With long guns, we have to take the lesser of two evils unless we teach ourselves to shoot left handed.
Theyre talking handguns here
Not scoped rifles
I'm left eye dominant and I shoot right handed but I dont move the gun over or tilt my head I keep both eyes open and use the right eye but my left is what's dominant lol so idk bit it works fine the way I do it.
What if you can only wink/close your right eye and your right eye dominant?
I was taught to shoot pistols left handed because I'm left eye dominant even though I'm right handed. Really annoying past a 9mm since my right hand is stronger than my left.
Pistols are a bit more flexable. Just move the pistol over. Its really not that hard.
Great job!
never been able to blink my left eye so I tilt my head with pistol & shoulder rifle with my left. Looks odd but over the years I out run most. Just work with what you got...
Instinctively you brain will compensate. Many cross eye dominate people will hold rifles on the side of the dominate eye with the non dominate hand. With pistols it’s usually with the dominate hand with the person tilting the head or moving the gun to the dominate eye.
Not me. RH, LED…I have to turn my head slightly and leave both eyes open, using my left eye to aim a pistol. Rifles, either irons or scope, I have no issues with accuracy using my right side/right eye.
I just close my Left eye. IT was never a problem for me shooting right-handed with non-dominant eye (evidenced by repeatedly qualifying expert with rifle and pistol on both Navy & Army courses of fire). I also shot well right-handed & left eye closed with shotgun when I was younger (I don't shoot shotgun now, still shoot rifle & pistol). Bottom line: people who say those who are cross-eye dominant must shoot favoring their non-dominant hand (i.e., shoot left-handed even though right-hand dominant) are just wrong. It might help some people _ I know folks who do it well, but it's certainly not axiomatic.
Shooting clays requires both eyes open to judge speed and distance
This method doesn't work for me for one simple reason: I'm not only cross eye dominant (right handed with left eye dominance) i'm also short sighted and my right eye is weaker than my left eye. I have no other option than aiming with left eye with a pistol and using scopes while shooting with a rifle. I cannot train my right eye to be right eye dominant
lol how many variation can there be
Right-handed with left eye dominance or left-handed with right eye dominance. The first is far more common than the latter because only about 10 percent of people are left-handed.
Oke testosteron American who is texasing the onther guy of his feet. Im left eye dominant, but im right handed. I taped of my my left eye.. and didn’t see good enough to shoot sharp with my right eye. Do i just keep shooting until in comfortable shooting left handed or are there other tricks? All the best from low testosterone holland. Lieuwe melcherts
i m left eye dominant m also a right handed person but cannot close my left eye independent of my right eye
Writi Deb I cover it with a patch or pull my beanie down over it so I can’t see out of it with it still open
No offense you can't? Like if you get close with your fingers to touch your left eye, it won't close?
I'm guessing if ur using a rifle/long gun with a scope ud would just adjust the scope to compensate for shooting with the right eye if ur left eye is dominate?
I am left eye right handed dominant, and able to close only my right eye. It is hard for me to aim shotgun/rifle using left hand, so basically I can only rely on a pirate-patch on my left eye and use right hand right eye?
Awesome training tips in your videos. I just need to know what kind of ear pro you use. Thanks.
This is nice to know, I'm cross eye dominant with a hand gun. I'm right handed, that's how I prefer to shoot a handgun, tho I've found left handed shooting isn't so hard either. With a rifle like my AK. I hold the gun like a lefty.. it's wierd but that's how I've always shot rifles. That's the ONLY way I can visually line up with my sights. My right eye is absolute shit. Without my 20/20 left ide prolly be legally blind. I'm pretty accurate if I do say myself 😊 despite my wierdness
I have a weird situation. I am right eye dominant. I wear glasses, and my left eye is a lot weaker than my right eye so the left lens is stronger than the right one. When shooting a pistol, if I shoot in the right eye dominant position, I see two front sights. The only way I can get one front sight is by turning my head to the right and looking left a little bit. Is that weird, or am I not alone?
I'm left eye dominant and right handed, but i am almost blind in my right eye and it becomes almost impossible to aim properly, should i just learn to use my left hand more?
Hickok45 is left eyed and right handed too.
Don't recall the exact video, but Hickok45 changed eyes several years ago as well, something made his dominate eye little less clear and he just changed. Kinda reinforces the point made in the video.
He seemed to tilt his head when shooting with his left eye..?
Like he said, hes left eye dominant.
Not for me none of the tests work...I cant aim at distant object with both eyes open because I then have two sets of sights ,I have to close one eye
Me too bro I have tried and tried. My eyes just cross up
@@republican2153 iv actually started doing it...still have two images but when using right hand I go with the left image and the opposite with the left hand...bit of practice you can get used to it......
Does this method work with long guns to?
Im cross dominant but i cant close my left eye!!!
Okay so Im left hand dominant and right eye dominant
Im still so clueless
tilt your head to the left
So am I. You're over thinking it. Just tilt your head and use your right eye.
What is your recommendation for shooting the M1A socom 16 cqb if your right handed and left eye dominant
never mind, I thought it said, cross eyed dominance 😂
other coaches teach you exactly the opposite. cuz u dont wanna tilt your head sideways u gonna compromise your peripheral vision
That's what I been doing for years.
Does moving the gun 1.5" to the left really compromise your shooting stance?
NICKydex01 yes
"Left dexterity" - dexter is your right side
Problem is rifles with iron sights
Doesnt it matter if you wanna keep both eyes open
how is it possible that my mom, my brother and I, are cross eye dominant ? 😂
Sureiya 1/3 the population
Exactly!!
Your best shooting is done by what works for you naturally.
But you stll need trigger/gun control.
See Rob's video.."Aiming is Useless".
I really don’t think the advice given here is helpful. Fighting your natural stance/head position is something I’ve always heard you should avoid.
I am right handed/left eyed. I did a few trips to the range and took an intro to pistol course. I was struggling with sight acquisition and picture(and trigger control but that wasn’t an eye problem, lol). Toward the end my instructor suggested I try his Glock 19 with a red dot. Made a world of difference for me. I know they can be expensive, but it’s worth trying one out at the range if you are having the same problems.
I keep both eyes open and I’m more accurate that way.
I was taught if you line up the rear sight with the front bead and then the target, you're going to hit the target. Three inline points make a straight line. Doesn't really matter which eye is dominant. Old school and very simple but it works. Now if you hit to high or low, to the left or right, then you may have a issue with bent sights in relation to the alignment of the muzzle.
"...if your cross eye dominant"? Are you serious?
Dear Springfield Armory,
I will happily come work for your company to edit your content so that it doesn't perpetuate negative stereotypes about gun owners. A reasonable salary, full benefits, and a top-of-the-line 1911 will suffice.
Sincerely,
M. Ross
just dont shoot a shotgun with both eyes open like they say you should.
Super random, but does anyone here thats righty cross dominant shoot pool left handed?
What if you can't close your left eye?
for me its not that easy. everyone is different
Improper posture being taught in this video along with allowing someone to shoot like that. I'm sure one can train themselves to hit a target in this way, but they will always sacrifice their true potential and look like a tool doing it. The main problem is that in order to line up the sights even on that pistol you still have to turn your head slightly to achieve sight alignment, this means improper posture which means you are muscling the weapon even more so than you ever need to. In the Marines they taught me all the fundamentals of Marksmanship and on day one we all tested our eye dominance and if you were left eye dominant you shot left handed, period. You don't teach people poor techniques and then expect them to get proficient with it.
I just started shooting, I'm glad I read your post, I thought out of desperation, I would start switching to lefty. Been researching cross dominance, because I'm having such difficulty shooting right handed. It seems like common sense not to sacrifice proper posture.
You can change your eye dominance with work. Mainly you will need to start either wearing an eye patch or just really make an effort to start closing your dominant eye when you do Hand-Eye Coordination training. I do this by laying on the couch and throwing a tennis ball into the air. You only look at the ball not your hands and try to catch it. It is more difficult when the ball tries to land out of your peripheral. But if you practice this with your dom eye closed you can slowly over time change eyes. I was a Gunner on an LAV-25 and my first tour in Iraq I probably had my eyes in the sights for at least 6 hours a day and the problem was the viewer for the day sight was set for your left eye. So I would squint my right eye to see through the sight system and it actually messed up my Right Eye dom. Which also messed with my rifle score, slightly
Think I will listen to Rob (World Champion) on this. I've been shooting with a slight head tilt for years, and I qualified expert marksman while serving.
I honestly think the best pistol shooters don't have to aim at all. They in fact shoot thousands of rounds per day to hone that skill. What I am talking about is the fundamentals of Marksmanship. Much like golf or any other skill based event you will have people with natural talent that will outperform everyone else with far less practice, but it doesn't mean they couldn't improve or could have been better even if they had proper training all the way through. Like when I got to boot camp and they asked who had shot already and growing up in NW Montana I had shot a lot so I raised my hand and they told us we would shoot the WORST out of everyone. Well I took that to heart and really tried to absorb what I was being taught and I ended up taking second place in qual with a 237 of 250 possible score. Then when I got to the fleet my command saw that score and had me go to coaches course. Had I not paid close attention in boot camp I probably would have just passed the qual and never would have got that advanced training later. I would have been "just as good" as any other Marine rifleman, but I could have been better. I might have been able to achieve Rifle Expert but it wouldn't have been in boot camp, it would have been 3rd or 4th year.
Not with a rifle
Oh, so left eye dominant rh can shoot? Bet
Go into rifles with the same guy lol
Another way to label "eye dominance" is "unconscious lazy bad habit." PRACTICE using the other eye and it will work just as well. Same goes for handedness.
Right handed - Left eye Dominate.
At basic training we had a long discussion that came down to a simple point.
Drill Sargent response to some one telling me to shoot right handed or with one eye closed. "He's hitting shit better then you are, shut the fuck up private."
Rob Leatham cuts through lots of BS.