Right Handed, Left Eye Dominant Child

[7mm-08]

Once your kid can hold a rifle in his shoulder one handed I I think a right handed rifle shot left handed has advantages.

This is true as can be. I have a left handed, left eye dominant acquaintance who can shoot a right handed bolt gun faster than any righty I have ever seen.

 

[coiloil37]

I’ve got a 10 year old that’s right handed and left eye dominant. I’ve known that for as long as I can remember so couldn’t say when we noticed.
Initially he shot right handed and screwed his head around so he could aim with his left eye. This goes back to when he was about 3 or 4 years old starting with a 410 and .22. I have a pic of him shooting at 7 years old and he was still shooting that way. By 8 he was shooting left handed and it was easier for him. He continues to shoot a rifle left and I’ll probably end up buying him a left handed rifle one of these days.
When we bought him a compound he wanted to stay left but expressed some concern over the mechanics of drawing and shooting left. They were never a problem, he started low and built weight. He shoots 35lbs now and draws as smoothly with his left as anyone could.

Thats a sample of 1 but for my kid it wasn’t hard to choose. For the most part he knew what he wanted after he tried both ways.

 

[Balderdash]

I'm RH, but LED. So is my oldest daughter

I've owned and tried shooting RH rifles for years; they're fine off a bench or with a rest, but if you ever hunt with rifle in hand, such as still hunt or track in the snow, follow up shots are slow. Get LH equipment for your son and set him up for success.

 

[bow puller]

My youngest (16) is right hand left eye. Learned that when he was 5 and tried leaning over extra to look through 22 scope with left eye.

He shot everything lh from then on. Would never know he's a righty watching him shoot. Good with bow, shotgun and rifle. Awesome thing about kids they pick things up fast.

 

[7RemMag]

Left Eye dominant and right handed here. It was pretty obvious I was going to be going hunting with Dad from a young age. He "trained" me to shoot with my right eye, knowing that it'd make finding firearms to hunt with easier. (Thanks Dad!) I remember first starting out using an eye patch over my left eye when shooting. In time, I didn't need the patch. I just naturally closed my left eye. Now, I shoot just about everything with both eyes open. All of my rifles (and shotguns) are right handed.

 

[idig4au]

I am left handed and right eyed dominate. Shooting pistols and long guns right handed has become second nature as my dad started me down this route from the beginning 45 years ago. Its all that I have ever known and practiced.

I had to give up archery as couldn't make the transition from left hand to right hand. It was an utter disaster.

Can't fight nature on this and need to let the dominate eye take the lead

 

[willtim]

Please do your son a life long favor and teach him to shoot left handed.

 

[akcabin]

I'm R hand Left eye dominant. I never knew the difference growing up. Just shot right hand. My right eye was not 20/20, left was. I just taught myself to shot left hand with right hand rifles. I consider myself right hand shooter. I used my ol man's model 1917 for deer season. Weights 10 pounds I think. Had to learn a stable stance. And don't shoot right hand semis left handed. Unless you think the scars will get you some hot chick's!
Pistol, I taught myself to turn my head to the right with both eyes open. And line up my vision. Lining my vision up while sighting down pistol sights. I've not noticed an issue shooting a bow right hand. Probably because I shot them like I do the pistols.
Been a while since I last shot my ol Fred Bear Kodiak recurve at a deer. Fell out of a tree into a raspberry patch while releasing a shot. Right under the deer, oofda

 

[dreamingWest]

Again. Thanks for the feedback and anecdotes. Right now he can't squint/wink his left eye (dominant eye). That's making a right handed bow very difficult. As I mentioned earlier, I'll have him play around with various setups to see how he does from each side. He thought the eye patch would look cool.

Of course I'm already shopping left handed bows and rifles...

 

[grfox92]

I asked Formidilosus this exact question in a PM.

My son is the exact same. Left eye dominant, right handed.

I was told he needs a lefty rifle.

I bought him a lefty bow and its working out great.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[LostArra]

I would first make sure that shooting for a 10 year old is fun and not a chore just because a bunch of adults think he needs to switch hands to shoot better.
Eye dominance varies in it's degree and may not be a factor in archery if the shooter is consistent in form.
Eye dominance can change with time especially in cases of those who are nearsighted, wear glasses or contacts or have lasix surgery. Lasix surgery 30 years ago definitely affected my eye dominance.

Some kids are just naturals at shooting sports. I took a friend's son elk hunting one year and beforehand we practiced at a 3D course. The kid (18yrs old) is left handed, shoots a left handed compound and is extremely accurate. I was shooting a right handed longbow. Half way thru the course he asked if he could try my longbow. On a standing deer target at 23 yards he put three arrows in the vitals like he had been shooting right handed his entire life.

The other option is to buy your son some golf clubs. Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus are both right handed golfers and left eye dominant.

 

[grfox92]

I would first make sure that shooting for a 10 year old is fun and not a chore just because a bunch of adults think he needs to switch hands to shoot better.
Eye dominance varies in it's degree and may not be a factor in archery if the shooter is consistent in form.
Eye dominance can change with time especially in cases of those who are nearsighted, wear glasses or contacts or have lasix surgery. Lasix surgery 30 years ago definitely affected my eye dominance.

Some kids are just naturals at shooting sports. I took a friend's son elk hunting one year and beforehand we practiced at a 3D course. The kid (18yrs old) is left handed, shoots a left handed compound and is extremely accurate. I was shooting a right handed longbow. Half way thru the course he asked if he could try my longbow. On a standing deer target at 23 yards he put three arrows in the vitals like he had been shooting right handed his entire life.

The other option is to buy your son some golf clubs. Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus are both right handed golfers and left eye dominant.

It depends on how strong the eye dominance is. My son could benefit from glasses on his right eye and has perfect vision in his left eye.

So I would say in his case building and teaching him rifle fundamentals he should be shooting lefty.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[Billogna]

I and both my sons are right handed/ left eye dominant. I shoot bow and rifles lefty. My boys do as well. It's something all of us learned to do fairly quickly when we started hitting targets! A side benefit to this is the dominant/stronger arm is the one steadying and aiming the bow/rifle.