Right handed, left eye dominant help

[Cuzzin]

I am right handed and I have become very aware of my left eye dominance lately (getting older) - and I am drifting shots with my mini-glocks (26 and 27) to the left. It requires some forced eye closing that really wouldn't be the best thing to do in a situation gone bad. Point shooting is still Ok out to three yards but falls apart after that. I don't have as much or any trouble with my revolvers or longer semi-autos (possibly because the barrel is longer?). I really like the small glock and it is a great weapon for defensive carry in my opinion, so I am hesitant to give it up. The only discussions I can find on the topic just says learn to adjust - but doesn't give any pointers or suggestions. Could someone in this forum point (no pun intended) me in the right direction (website, article, just good ol know-how...)

[308scout]

I am left eyed dominant, and right handed in everything except shooting rifles. When I was younger I joined on as a reserve at a local PD, and the chief (also our Range Officer)forced me to shoot left handed. I carried left handed for years, and up unitl several years ago I switched to my right hand. My main reason was the availability of CCW holsters. I was not in the position to just go and buy any holster. I still practice left handed, but still carry on my right hand side. One thing I do when shooting left handed is lean my head over to where my left eye is doing the sighting. I have not practiced shooting with both eyes open. They say that is the best method. I hope this helps you out.

[Glock4Life]

Cuzzin
Two things you might try:

1.) Practice shooting with both eyes open. Your dominant eye will take over. I've had a problem with changing from one eye to both eyes open but recently, with some practice, I've been making some real strides. Perhaps you could too.

2.) If you try #1 and give it a fair shake only to strike out, perhaps try digging your chin smack dab into your right shoulder muscle. Your head will not be quite square with the target BUT you'll be lined up for a left eye/right hand shot AND you'll also create somewhat of a repeatable 'anchor' point to shoot from which may help your consistency.

Good luck to you.

[HAMMERHEAD]

I have the same cross dominance.
Things that have helped since my eyes started getting bad:
-Shooting with both eyes WIDE OPEN. Actually exagerating it so I looked like I had seen a ghost. This also helps with flinching for some reason.
-Heinie Slantpro sights. They have a deeper, wider rear notch which helps. Mabey even CGR race cut Heinies for a sub-compact.
-A long billed baseball cap with the brim pulled down more on the left side to degrade the left eyes vision.
-Tape over my left lens. Like closing one eye but with less strain.
http://www.gunracing.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=000033
http://www.gunracing.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=000004

[Cuzzin]

Thanks y'all - I will work on your suggestions an 'see' what happens.

[FP2000H]

I was told to shoot with both eyes open because peripherals are very important especially if you find yourself in a FOF situation. I am also left eye dominant. If you wear glasses or contacts you may want to speak to someone about "corrective" lenses (if that's possible) that will help. Other than that, it's train, train, train. I've heard always focus on the front sight but during quick acquisition, your dominant eye will naturally want to take the lead. I find if I look past the front sight towards the target I can see both images and basically take my pick. You have to learn to trick yourself (so to speak) or at least that's the path I'm taking right now. It has helped. The sights you have on the gun play a big role too. I can't shoot for shinola with the Sig sites but the combat style sites (I have Mepros on my G37) work very well for me.

[Leibster]

I am right handed, left eye dominant as well. Early on in my shooting, when I was living in Israel, I was taught the Israeli system when training with the lead firearms instructor for the Israeli National Police counter-terrorism/hostage rescue team (the "YAMAM"). It has worked very well, and I teach this technique to my students in classes, as well.

For starters, if you are shooting to train for a self defense situation, you will always want to practice with both eyes open. Under combat stress, most people tend to involuntarily open both eyes widely, and many people are physiologically impaired from keeping one eye closed. Even if you are able to close one eye under stress, you cut off 50% of your peripheral vision. Just learn to keep both eyes open while sighting. Dry fire is invaluable for this.

With that in mind, here is the technique: Instead of bringing your eyes to the gun, bring the gun to your eyes. For those of us with cross dominanced eyes, that means modifying our grip, by bending the wrist slightly. Bend your wrist in such a way that your sights are aligned with your left eye. That is the entire technique, and it works. The learning curve is fairly short, and it is a very proven method.

You can start practicing this by closing your right eye while sighting. Then, once you've got a sight picture with your left eye, open your other eye. Repeat until you are comfortable with the sight picture with both eyes open. (Only do that if you are unable to get a sight picture with both eyes open right off the bat.) Once you have become comfortable with how the sights look with both eyes open, start practicing while keeping both eyes open the whole time. You'll get good at this pretty quickly.

Hope that helps,

--Leibster

[steeltoe]

I am left handed and right eye dominant. I've spent a great deal of time trying to "train" my left eye to line up. After reading this thread it makes sense to modify my grip rather than fight natural focus. Thanks for the info.