Eyes Wide Open

[gregkl]

I'm left eye dominant and shoot right handed. I can not seem to get the hang of shooting both eyes open. I've tried aiming with one eye then opening both eyes right before I pull the trigger and it has not helped any. When I use both eyes, I go cross eyed and see two front sights. I can shoot my shotgun with both eyes open just fine. I use my right eye for rifles.
What can I do to fix this problem? I really want to shoot both eyes open. It really strains my eyes. I have never used the blinder. would that help?
Thanks.

I am cross dominant the same way. I will give you one piece of advice in general first. Don't pay attention to people who tell you how you should shoot unless they are cross dominant themselves or are trained in working with cross dominant people. Figure out what will work for you.

I spend 3/4's of the Summer trying to learn how to shoot Trap because people kept saying to keep both eyes open, blinders are a crutch, etc. When I finally put a piece of cellophane tape over my left lens, I was finally able to see down the rib to the sight. I wish I would have tried that about 30 Trap rounds sooner. This year hopefully I will be able to learn how to hit them, now that I am seeing right.

Now for pistol. I use what I call a modified Weaver or maybe it's a modified Isosceles stance. Whatever it is, I make a slight shift to line up my left eye with the sights on the pistol. Because I am a strong left eye dominant person, the strength of that eye is enough for it to work.

For rifle, I just close one eye. With a scope, I can actually sight and pull the trigger with both eyes open but as soon as I do, I lose my sight picture through the scope. I think the recoil jars me back to that left eye.

And for cross dominance, you tape the dominant eye.

 

[lava dog 1/3]

Practice, practice, practice. Everyone has a method and some work for them. Range time is the old fashion way.

 

[natetheace]

I am cross dominant the same way. I will give you one piece of advice in general first. Don't pay attention to people who tell you how you should shoot unless they are cross dominant themselves or are trained in working with cross dominant people. Figure out what will work for you.

I spend 3/4's of the Summer trying to learn how to shoot Trap because people kept saying to keep both eyes open, blinders are a crutch, etc. When I finally put a piece of cellophane tape over my left lens, I was finally able to see down the rib to the sight. I wish I would have tried that about 30 Trap rounds sooner. This year hopefully I will be able to learn how to hit them, now that I am seeing right.

Now for pistol. I use what I call a modified Weaver or maybe it's a modified Isosceles stance. Whatever it is, I make a slight shift to line up my left eye with the sights on the pistol. Because I am a strong left eye dominant person, the strength of that eye is enough for it to work.

For rifle, I just close one eye. With a scope, I can actually sight and pull the trigger with both eyes open but as soon as I do, I lose my sight picture through the scope. I think the recoil jars me back to that left eye.

And for cross dominance, you tape the dominant eye.

I appreciate the advise. One question I have is about taping the dominant eye. Before I became aware that I am cross eye dominant, I would shoot with only my right eye. I was horrible shooting this way. It made me soooo mad that I couldn't hit anything and then my friend would shoot my gun and be very accurate. when I switched to my left eye, my accuracy improved dramatically.
Will taping my left eye help train my right eye? What if I lose my accuracy again? This has been very frustrating for me! With a pistol, my friends are much more accurate than me and can shoot both eyes open. Maybe I'm just jealous.

 

[BE Mike]

I appreciate the advise. One question I have is about taping the dominant eye. Before I became aware that I am cross eye dominant, I would shoot with only my right eye. I was horrible shooting this way. It made me soooo mad that I couldn't hit anything and then my friend would shoot my gun and be very accurate. when I switched to my left eye, my accuracy improved dramatically.
Will taping my left eye help train my right eye? What if I lose my accuracy again? This has been very frustrating for me! With a pistol, my friends are much more accurate than me and can shoot both eyes open. Maybe I'm just jealous.

There have been some very good competitive handgun shooters who shot with right hand and left eye or vice versa. Before you block your dominant left eye for right-handed pistol shooting, you probably should go see a good eye doctor, explain what you are trying to do (some will allow you to bring in your gun with prior notice) and get a thorough exam.

 

[gregkl]

I appreciate the advise. One question I have is about taping the dominant eye. Before I became aware that I am cross eye dominant, I would shoot with only my right eye. I was horrible shooting this way. It made me soooo mad that I couldn't hit anything and then my friend would shoot my gun and be very accurate. when I switched to my left eye, my accuracy improved dramatically.
Will taping my left eye help train my right eye? What if I lose my accuracy again? This has been very frustrating for me! With a pistol, my friends are much more accurate than me and can shoot both eyes open. Maybe I'm just jealous.

It won't really "train" your right eye to become dominant. You can't do that. We have to live with what God gave us. But by removing the focus from your left eye, your right will in effect become "dominant". I use opaque cellophane tape to let light in, but restrict my vision. Closing your left eye to shoot restricts total light coming to your eyes, plus it squinits your right eye reducing light to it. Add to that the fatigue factor by closing one eye and it becomes difficult. At least it did for me. When I am on the line shooting Trap I have so many things on my mind that I don't want to think about my eyes. Some say keep both open and close just before the shot and other tips. That just didn't work for me. I still need to focus on the fundamentals of shooting like; trigger control, stance, grip, sight picture, etc.

There have been some very good competitive handgun shooters who shot with right hand and left eye or vice versa. Before you block your dominant left eye for right-handed pistol shooting, you probably should go see a good eye doctor, explain what you are trying to do (some will allow you to bring in your gun with prior notice) and get a thorough exam.

This is what I did. My eye doc said she works with several shooters. She was the one that suggested I get shooting glasses with built in readers for pistol so I could see the front sight clearly.