Cross Dominance and Pistol Shooting

[spinmove_]

I’m right handed and left eye dominant. I’ve been shooting for 6 years total now, but I’ve only really been serious about it for 3 or 4 years now. I’ve been to a couple of training classes, but unfortunately I won’t be to a proper marksmanship fundamentals class until next month (MDFI’s YSINTG). Wanting to shoot with both eyes open and being cross dominant has been something that I’ve struggled with on and off pretty much the entire time I’ve been trying to get better.

For reference I carry a G19.4 with a G17.3 trigger bar and lightly polished stock internals, Dawson Charger FO front/blacked out rear sights, and Striker Control Device.

The most natural feeling presentation for me is putting the pistol underneath my dominant eye and squaring myself to the target. My right arm/hand tends to bring the pistol over to that side of my body. So long as I can maintain proper counter-torque on the pistol with my support hand I’m fine. If not, shots go way left and accuracy goes to hell. This also happens to be pretty fatiguing. This also seems to be the most repeatable.

I’ve also tried presenting under my non-dominant eye and simply closing my dominant eye. This feels like it gives me a more stable two-handed grip that’s more comfortable if I add gripping pressure with both hands. Keeping an eye closed feels weird and distracting.

I’ve also tried presenting under my non-dominant eye and turning my head to bring my dominant eye behind the sights. Grip is more secure and comfortable, but duplicating the presentation with my eye in the same spot gets wonky at speed. Maybe I need more time practicing this slower?

I’m curious to know what generally works for others like me and what I should be going for. I’m just trying to find something that consistently works that doesn’t have me throwing shots way left if I’m not perfect. I absolutely cannot wait for YSINTG.


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[Fatboy]

I'm cross eye dominant as well. Except I shot rifles righty and pistols lefty, since my left hand was dominant. After realizing almost all shots from the pistol were about 4" off every time, I figured out my right eye was dominant.

The solution that eventually worked for me was learning to use a pistol right handed. It was surprisingly easy, did not take long to get comfy with it, and made gear set up a fuck ton easier.

Might be something worth looking into.

 

[spinmove_]

I'm cross eye dominant as well. Except I shot rifles righty and pistols lefty, since my left hand was dominant. After realizing almost all shots from the pistol were about 4" off every time, I figured out my right eye was dominant.

The solution that eventually worked for me was learning to use a pistol right handed. It was surprisingly easy, did not take long to get comfy with it, and made gear set up a fuck ton easier.

Might be something worth looking into.

That’s one thing I might have to toy with as I’ve not really given that a fair shake and I do shoot rifles left handed.

I might go back to trying the head turning thing too. Seems to work for Mike Pannone and Larry Vickers.


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[Sunshine_Shooter]

I'm right handed and left eye dominant. I shoot pistols right handed and rifles left handed. I've always used my weak eye for pistol work and my good eye for rifles & shotguns, just felt natural. I generally end up squinting my good (left) eye when shooting pistols, because I have a hard time using the front dot my right eye is seeing automatically, my brain wants to use the sight picture my good eye sees. I have caught myself using my left eye's sight picture while holding it right handed in the middle of a pistol stage, but it didn't slow me down any. I am hoping to get a red dot mounted on my carry gun in the next year and see if this will help me out so I can keep both eyes open.

 

[Tuukka]

I am left handed, right eye dominant.

I shoot both short and long weapons left handed as I felt I do not want to learn it all over again from the weak side.

I shot pistol IPSC at a National team level earlier and have mostly needed to focus on rifle IPSC competition now due to family needing time.

For me personally, it has not been complicated att all, I just present the pistol to my dominant eye pretty naturally. If checked by head might be just a few degrees to the left, but nothing that one would notice when actually shooting.

 

[Yondering]

If we consider that your true end goal should be proficiency with either hand (something most shooters never try to achieve), cross eye dominance shouldn't matter much. You can train yourself to shoot with either hand and either eye, with good practice.

Personally, most of the time I'll use the eye that is on the same side as my gun hand, regardless if that's right or left. The simplest way to learn that is to face the target (squared up, we're learning shooting fundamentals here not combat tactics) and point the gun at the target with one hand while focusing on the target. You'll see two images of the gun (one for each eye); the inboard image, or the one closer to your centerline, is the one to use for that hand. That takes a little practice with your non-dominant eye, but is not hard to learn with some dedicated repetitions.

I also think it's important to have at least reasonable shooting ability with the other eye from either hand though (maybe your hand gets injured and you've got dirt or blood in one eye) so it's worth practicing with all combinations. Start with lots of dry practice, but make sure to get plenty of live fire in as well - sometimes the results on target with live fire are not what you'd expect from the dry practice.