Cross eye dominate question

[KBs]

Hi all. So my kid is 4.5 years old and definitely left eye dominate. From what I can tell, he’s right handed. So for you cross eye dominate folks, should I teach him to shoot rifles and bows left handed?

At 4.5 yes old as long as you are certain he is cross eye dominant teach him how to shoot/draw left handed. He will be grateful over the long haul of life.

 

[TxxAgg]

This thread was a good excuse for me to buy a single shot 243 for my kiddos

 

[mwebs]

Not sure if this has been covered but you can change your dominant eye with training.. I was left dominant and right handed so I trained my right eye to be dominant.

 

[Speedgoat91]

Cross eye dominant here too, left eye, right handed… wish I would have shot lefty growing up and Im too old (stubborn) to change now

 

[jtvl21]

Hi all. So my kid is 4.5 years old and definitely left eye dominate. From what I can tell, he’s right handed. So for you cross eye dominate folks, should I teach him to shoot rifles and bows left handed?

I’m in the same boat… following this thread.

 

[Lowg08]

I’m very lucky that my dad was aware of these things or he is a lefty and got lucky lol. I shoot a rifle lefty. But prefer right hand bolt actions for operation purposes. I shoot a bow right handed because well righty archery stuff is more common and cheaper.

 

[jtvl21]

Not sure if this has been covered but you can change your dominant eye with training.. I was left dominant and right handed so I trained my right eye to be dominant.

How old were you when you switched/what training worked for you?

 

[Travis907]

At that age, absolutely teach him the dominant eye. My dad never checked eye dominance and I didn't figure it out until Jr high school during hunter education class but never changed it. You can definitely overcome it but it’s a lot easier to teach them young!

 

[BryanL]

Another interesting factor is archery. I know based on feedback here that left handed rifle, right handed handgun is probably the way to go. But archery….. he is way more dexterous with right handed archery, but then he aims with left eye still. Going to need to decide about the archery setup that’s for sure.

 

[bpurtz]

I'd let him shoot with what is comfortable.

My youngest son showed left dominance when he was very young but is now definitely right eye dominate - I'm guessing in his case it is because both eyes are near 20/20 vision.

I'm like 20/30 in my left and 20/50 in my right eye - I grew up shooting everything right handed but always had to squint or close my left eye to shoot anything with sights. About 10 years ago I tested shooting a compound bow (with sights) left handed - within 3 days I was shooting better than I'd ever shot right handed.

I can shoot a rifle either way, but am more confident right hand, right eye.
I can shoot archery with sights either way but am more confident left hand, left eye.
I shoot shotgun and instinctive archery right hand only...

 

[mwebs]

How old were you when you switched/what training worked for you?

12 or so, I would spend about an hour each day doing tasks with my left eye closed. Always closed my left eye to shoot, no specific training. Don’t remember it taking long to change.

 

[Darryle]

I was retrained in my early 50s by Dan Carlisle. Little chapstick in the center of the dominant eye lens over a period of about a month made my right eye become the dominant eye.

 

[jtvl21]

12 or so, I would spend about an hour each day doing tasks with my left eye closed. Always closed my left eye to shoot, no specific training. Don’t remember it taking long to change.

Good info, thank you.

 

[Z Barebow]

Follow eye dominance. For years, I taught kids archery. I would test them for eye dominance. Unfortunately many times parents had already bought equipment for dominant hand. I would watch the kids struggle and be frustrated. 3 or 4 good arrows, and then one "flyer". (But it was never the same physical arrow) And impact was always in same general area. (IE Eye dominance kicking in)

Nut up and buy the right equipment if you want to give them the best opportunity for long term enjoyment.

 

[Holocene]

I'm cross dominant (right handed, left eye dominant) and shoot left handed for rifle, shotgun, and bows (compound o recurve). This is 100% the way to go. All the little tricks to switch or fool your natural eye dominance are a psychic drain and rob from mental energy needed to execute shots. Some will disagree.

I've done a lot of coaching for shotgun and archery at work and seen people at these classes (and buddies in the hunting woods) either succeed or struggle based on this choice. When a shooter is addled in the brain while trying to crush a moving target, you can tell and they miss a lot.

The actual gun doesn't matter as much. Shoot what you can afford/have. Gun fit is important, and a lot of newer guns allow for adjustments to cast, drop, etc. using plastic shims.

I shot right-handed rifles for years, but eventually switched to a LH Tikka this year and am liking it. I shoot right-handed auto loaders with the stock shims in place to help my left eye line up with the barrel. I shoot left-hand over unders.

I don't tolerate ill-fitting guns and want to flow with my shots without thinking. This is what's worked the best.

 

[RaggedHunter]

Chalk me up to the list of cross eye dominant shooters. Right handed, left eye dominant.

If my kid has the same issue.. I would likely try to teach him to shoot lefty from an early age. It might save him a lot of the headache I went through when I was stating out hunting, and he might be better off in the long run.

I really struggled when I was young, I missed a lot. My biggest trouble was I was unable to close my left eye until I was like 16, so I would sometimes wear an eye patch when shooting to cover my left eye. I probably still have that camo eye patch my grandma sewed for me in a box somewhere.. kind of comical to think back on. In hind sight it may have been easier to learn to shoot left handed. Then again I'm really uncoordinated with my left hand, so it's hard saying how much better off I would have been.

I've learned to shoot both rifles and compound bow pretty well now, with either both eyes open, or with my left eye slightly squinted. Picking up a recurve is pretty much out of the question for me, unless I want to learn to shoot lefty.. or dust off the old eye patch.

 

[archp625]

Hi all. So my kid is 4.5 years old and definitely left eye dominate. From what I can tell, he’s right handed. So for you cross eye dominate folks, should I teach him to shoot rifles and bows left handed?

Yes. I'm left eye dominate and right handed.

 

[M-Wig]

My son is 7 and right handed, left eye dominant. He's loved toy guns since he was old enough to hold them. Old west rifles and revolvers, nerf guns, military guns, etc. I notice early on he would try to lean his head way over and aim using his left eye with the gun shouldered on the right. Since he's been old enough to teach I've had him shoulder on the left side. He tried to fight me on it, but was like a lightbulb going off when he looked down the barrel with his left eye.

 

[Steve from GA]

Honestly - even as an adult, the switch is easy. For a kid, a non issue. I am right handed and left eye dominant. My right eye is complete shit. This was my first year shooting rifle, and I was comfortable shooting lefty within a few weeks. I have rung steel out to 800, dropped my first elk at 650, without ever feeling odd about it. Hell, I can’t even properly shoulder on my right side anymore.

Go with the strong eye and don’t look back.

 

[isocyanate]

I’m left hand/right eye. I learned left handed as a kid and swapped to right hand in high school when I started on the 10m air rifle team. Now, at 33, I can shoot either side very well with a rifle or pistol but I’m a hopeless wing shooter. Have a right hand bow.

I don’t know if it’s all the time spent shooting lefty, but sometimes I have to blink the off eye to make the shooting eye take over. Right or left side. So I tend to agree that a person can train either way, and being basically ambi is really handy.


All that said, I’d start a left eye kid left hand.