Right Handed, Left Eye Dominant Child

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Jan 28, 2017
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All my bows and rifles are right handed. I got my daughter shooting rifles and bows the last couple of years and she is R/R like me. When my son has shown interest, I've notice in the past he struggled more with my equipment. Last night I set him up shooting a compound bow for the first time and this is when it became very apparent he was left eye dominant. I used a few tricks to test, and yes, currently he is left eye dominant. But he's right handed and has very fine motor skills developed with his right hand (hand writing, art, teeth brushing, etc).

Does Rokslide think I should start looking into left handed rifles and bows? I'd be a little sad because of all the hand downs I had planned. But he's just now learning to shoot so maybe this is the best plan.

Or since he's right handed, should we work on developing the right eye?
 
I'm in the same boat. I've gone left-handed for rifles, which I think is critical. (I actually went ambidextrous--single-shots at first and now a sig cross.) Bows are tougher, haven't figured that one out yet. In theory, you can't fight the biology of the dominant eye but you can learn the new skill left-handed. If you go right-handed, he might gain some degree of competence through practice but the ceiling is set pretty low by the biology. So, in theory, the way to go is a left-handed bow.

In practice, my son's been frustrated trying to learn a left-handed bow. It's probably a matter of starting early. I haven't figured it out yet.

Good luck and report back!
 
All my bows and rifles are right handed. I got my daughter shooting rifles and bows the last couple of years and she is R/R like me. When my son has shown interest, I've notice in the past he struggled more with my equipment. Last night I set him up shooting a compound bow for the first time and this is when it became very apparent he was left eye dominant. I used a few tricks to test, and yes, currently he is left eye dominant. But he's right handed and has very fine motor skills developed with his right hand (hand writing, art, teeth brushing, etc).

Does Rokslide think I should start looking into left handed rifles and bows? I'd be a little sad because of all the hand downs I had planned. But he's just now learning to shoot so maybe this is the best plan.

Or since he's right handed, should we work on developing the right eye?
Been there, done that myself. With practice, he can reach a point where he can use his right eye. Give it some time. I tried switching to being a lefty, but that was more frustrating than beneficial. I would focus on a scoped rifle (even a BB/air rifle) and move to other platforms once you have seen some success with transitioning to the right eye.
 
If he is very young, go with his dominant eye.

I am left eye/right hand but only found out when I was in my 20s. Something I have experienced as I have grown older is that my dominant eye has retained clarity while my weak eye has lagged. They are not weakening as I age at the same rate. Given the choice again I would appreciate having the extra clarity in my “aiming” eye versus my non-dominant eye.

Of course that phenomenon is not set in stone, but might be a consideration
 
You just missed the LH 223 group buy at UM....but there's time.

Bergara makes a good trainer in LH for 22lr but its heavy as shite in the steel version and the carbon version doesn't have good reviews unfortunately. t1x would be a good choice.

When you get into shotguns its critical that he shoot a left handed gun. The stocks are cast the other way and the iris *must* be on the barrel to shoot effectively.

I don't agree with any advice here saying to "work it out" or get over it, etc on the side that's more convenient.

You can "screw around" on a non dominant eye such as shooting a beer can every once in a while but if he wants to refine the craft and make hits get him started on the dominant eye.
 
I’m left eye dominant and right handed. 90% of my rifles are right handed and I have no issue using them.. for the most part it’s all I’ve ever known. I’d say just let him shoot the right handed guns , left handed… The only issue I’ve ran in to shooting right handed guns , left handed, has been with semi auto shotguns. The gas is bad about getting blown back in your face so I do have a left handed semi that I shoot
 
He just needs to learn to use his less dominant eye. Its just much easier for kids to use their primary eye and with a little work they should be able to adjust. The amount of dominance in one eye or the other at a young age is going to narrow as he gets older.
 

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I'm the complete opposite. Left handed,right eye dominant. I shoot firearms and a bow right handed. I've tried to do things that require using my left eye and it is quite comical .
 
Scoped bb gun made the biggest difference for me as a kid, and a positive side effect was the ability to find the target in the scope quickly through repetition and practice at a young age. Many people struggle throughout their lives with finding the target quickly and I've seen people have a bunch of missed killing opportunities due to it.
 
If he has good motor skills right handed, do not invest in left handed rifles. I shoot a right handed rifle left hand just fine and have for the past 45 years or so.

For archery, I switched from right hand to left to keep consistency with shooting rifles.
 
2 choices(or 3) He either trains to shoot with dominate eye and non dominant hand. Or he shoots with dominant hand and trains his eye. Going with Dominate eye is probably easier. Training the eye requires wearing an eye patch a lot. I would let him try shooting left handed. Ideally, ask around/try bow shops and find someone with left handed rifle or Bow he can try. Shooting a right handed rifle left handed can be done but it wont feel right. Stock is curved the wrong way, the comb is wrong, etc. If he wants to try shooting right handed, just tape up the dominant eye of his shooting glasses

The 3rd option is to keep leaning over and using left eye. Not a good plan for success but some folks have made it work for their purposes. Some kids get away with it shooting scoped rifles but shooting a bow usually won't go well. I would find a solution while he is young

I am a rifle and pistol instructor and can tell you that in a class of ten people there is usually at least one person or kid that is cross eye dominant. A lot have shot before and really struggled getting on target. It is good to identify early before they become frustrated
 
If he is very young, go with his dominant eye.

I am left eye/right hand but only found out when I was in my 20s. Something I have experienced as I have grown older is that my dominant eye has retained clarity while my weak eye has lagged. They are not weakening as I age at the same rate. Given the choice again I would appreciate having the extra clarity in my “aiming” eye versus my non-dominant eye.

Of course that phenomenon is not set in stone, but might be a consideration

I'm thankful for my R/R and historically great sight, however at 38 my weak eye is already loosing clarity while my dominant eye is crisp. Definitely a factor to consider!
 
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This was me as well, right handed, left eye dominant. My dad had me use right handed guns and bows, over time I changed my eye-dominance and I don't think there were any negative effects.

It's nice to not have to buy left handed stuff, but that probably isn't a very big issue these days. A scoped bb gun is a good idea if you want him to shoot right handed.
 
I am in the same boat as your son. Right handed and left eye dominant. I tried for a long time to shoot right handed guns left handed. They just aren't built for us and it shows. Things as simple as a traditional safety on the trigger guard. It is second nature to you but try holding a gun "backwards" and see how awkward it is to work. Now imagine you are a 12 year old kid toting an 870 12-guage and a pheasant flushes. Work that backward safety, get on target and shoot the bird. Too many variables and you miss, which becomes contagious. I was a terrible shot for the first 10 years of my hunting career. It got to the point where it almost wasn't even fun for me.

My conversion started with an O/U shotgun that I could shoot with the thumb safety and no gas or powder blowback. My shooting improved dramatically. I now have a gun safe full of O/U & lefthanded guns that I can shoot fairly consistently. I wish I'd started down the path of shooting the "right" gun for my biology a decade sooner.
 
All my bows and rifles are right handed. I got my daughter shooting rifles and bows the last couple of years and she is R/R like me. When my son has shown interest, I've notice in the past he struggled more with my equipment. Last night I set him up shooting a compound bow for the first time and this is when it became very apparent he was left eye dominant. I used a few tricks to test, and yes, currently he is left eye dominant. But he's right handed and has very fine motor skills developed with his right hand (hand writing, art, teeth brushing, etc).

Does Rokslide think I should start looking into left handed rifles and bows? I'd be a little sad because of all the hand downs I had planned. But he's just now learning to shoot so maybe this is the best plan.

Or since he's right handed, should we work on developing the right eye?
My son was the same. I had him shooting left handed for years but by the time he was 9 or so, he was able to transition to right handed/right eye fine… it’s kind of cool, as he is now fluent with both sides.
 
Our son is clearly left eye dominant and VERY right hand dominant. I recognized this when he was pretty young (like six or seven years old) and we talked about it as he aged and got into shooting (rifle, shotgun and bow) and hunting. He fought even trying shooting left handed because he was so right hand dominant - that is until one morning on a magical chuckar hunt after he'd missed about ten shots in a row on pointed birds when he was about 15. I wasn't carrying a shotgun. I could see from standing behind him that he was shooting feet away from birds that were flushing directly away from him. To say the least, he (and our poor shorthair) were pretty frustrated. I suggested (for about the 50th time in his life, but the first time that day) that he try shooting left handed. The look on his face when he turned around after killing a double (O/U Ithaca SKB) was something I'll remember until the day I die. He then proceeded to go on and kill six more birds (limit at the time was eight) before we called it a day. This was his first kill on a flying target, but not his last. Needless to say, that was the end of the discussion as to this subject. His success shooting left handed has served him well (although its been a bit more expensive to buy stack-barreled and side-by-side shotguns, wrong-handed rifles and left hand bows over the years). You can likely get your son to shoot right handed and be successful, but why force a square peg into a round hole? Embrace his natural talents. Just my 2 cents.
 
All this input is great. I'm definitely hearing both sides.

I'll have to get a scoped air rifle for some tests and practice. I may have him try to shoot his old recurve left handed to see how that feels (from a draw standpoint). Archery definitely seems the bigger challenge right now. Last night he was trying to move his head all the way across the bowstring, which is never going to work.
 
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