Cross Dominant - Sights

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BlueRaider

Inactive
Hi,

I'm cross dominant (right handed, left eye dominant). I shoot right handed and tilt my head towards the right and the weapon canted slightly to the left to get my eye in line with the sight.

Is there a sight that cross dominant people do better with when they cant their weapon? Ie) 3 dot, snowman, etc?
 
Welcome! For me personally, same boat as you, I find straight-eight (or snowman as you call it) seems to work the best. But I can use three-dot as well. Ameriglo i Dots are pretty cheap entries into that sight type.
 
No there isn't. There may be sights that you find easier to see at speed or to shoot with and there are tools for bullseye shooters to help in those sports (the Merit Optical attachment, or a blinder, for example). But there is nothing particularly made for "cross eye dominant" shooters for handguns. For the same reason that there are no special hammers made for cross eye dominant roofers or scalpels for cross eye dominant surgeons.

The solution is to learn to shoot with your eyes as they are. Alter your stance a bit, turn the head a bit, etc. It's not an affliction and not a "problem". About 1/3 of the population is cross eye dominant.

Sometimes it's a problem because an instructor will try to correct or fix it. That's more of an issue than being cross eye dominant.

tipoc
 
But there is nothing particularly made for "cross eye dominant" shooters for handguns. For the same reason that there are no special hammers made for cross eye dominant roofers or scalpels for cross eye dominant surgeons.

The solution is to learn to shoot with your eyes as they are. Alter your stance a bit, turn the head a bit, etc. It's not an affliction and not a "problem".
Click to expand...

This seems a bit heavy handed for what struck me as just a question as to whether or not cross-eye shooters had sight systems they prefer...:confused:
 
Come to think, we all should practice as if we're cross eyed dominant whether we are or not.
Never know when an eye can get damaged.
I once went nearly a month without decent sight of one eye, due to a scratched cornea.
Didn't think of it at the time, but it would have been a good time to practice as if it were going to be a permanent condition.
That is similar to how I learned to shoot left handed (and throw a ball and write) - due to a right arm that was temporarily on the mend.
Just a thought.
 
One of the instructors I teach with is cross dominant. He keeps his head erect but turns it a bit to the right. That lines up his dominant left eye with the sights (he's right handed). I now use that technique when I shoot with my non-dominant hand.

There's an advantage to keeping the head erect and simply turning it a bit over titling the head. Titling the head puts more strain on the neck muscles.
 
BlueRaider, I have the same issue. I have tried all sorts of things to adjust over the years. I have found that slightly closing my left eye works best for me. I practice to make absolutely certain my alignment and grip is the same every time. My weaker right eye has adjusted to the point I don't think about it or notice anymore. This may not be the best solution, but it works well for me.
 
Instructors find that it is easier to train a hand than an eye. So shoot to the dominant eye and train your hand to follow ! If you'vebeen doing the opposite
the transition will not be easy !
 
I'm cross dominant (left eye, right hand) but trained myself to shoot with my right eye, and both eyes open. Didn't take long for it to become natural.
 
This seems a bit heavy handed...
Click to expand...

Wasn't meant to be, just meant it to be clear and to the point.

...just a question as to whether or not cross-eye shooters had sight systems they prefer
Click to expand...

And like I said there is not one or more sight systems that cross eye dominant (CED) shooters prefer...unless we say "Good Ones". Cuz most shooters prefer sights that work for them personally and so are "good ones". Sights that can be seen at speed and for accurate shooting as well. They will be the same sights as non CED shooters use.

To shoot well as a CED shooter takes the same practice that other shooters go through. Just a slight difference in how the head is turned and possibly where the pistol is held in relation to the centerline of the body in any particular stance.

You don't need to shoot a pistol with the off hand to "fix" CED, well unless you want to shoot with the off hand, which is never a bad thing.

You don't have to cant the pistol inward, towards the strong eye, unless for some other reason ya want to.

Jeff Cooper was right handed and left eye dominant. When he shot he turned his head a bit to the right to bring the dominant eye more into play. He used a Weaver stance which also helps some. He shot pretty well.

If a person will be shooting competitive bullseye with a duelist stance some adaptations will definitely help. But I don't think the op meant that. I think he was asking about general plinking and self defense shooting.

One fella trains himself to shoot with the off eye...OK but that wasn't really needed.

Another trains himself to shoot with the weak hand...A good skill to develop but not needed as a "fix" in this case.

Another following the advice of a trainer,etc., etc.

Not handgun shooters not much of a problem at all, unless someone makes it one. Now for an archer...close one eye.

tipoc
 
Thanks for the replies.

I definitely consider myself a beginner so I appreciate the advice.

My thought process was that canting the weapon may effect the physics of certain types of sights more than others and thought other cross dominant folks that cant their weapon may have some thoughts.
 
Also right handed, left eye dominant. I haven't noticed any particular sight working best, mainly as my aging eyes don't get a focused front sight picture with any of them. And I can't keep both eyes open. I've tried but can't clear the double vision. So I close my right eye, line up the fuzzy dot with the target and shoot. Also I haven't noticed any particular cant to the head or weapon. I guess I can't really explain what I'm doing, but I still do all right inside of 10yards.
 
Also right handed, left eye dominant - try and keep your head up and neck straight. Bring gun to your eye and not eye to the gun. By cocking your head over/ bending your neck you will end up squinting your eye.
 
I've always trained to shoot pistols ambidextrously both in terms of eyes and hands. I am also left-eye dominant and right-handed. I learned to shoot with a shotgun, left handed.
 
I shoot right-handed. Always used my right eye to aim, until a few years ago I started having trouble with that eye. Switched the the left eye. No cant, no tilting the head, just squared my shoulders to the target more. Never thought about changing sights.
Easy transition.
 
"...tilt my head...the weapon canted slightly to the left..." Quit doing that and move your rear foot to bring the sights over. No canting the pistol or not having your head straight up. There is no sight made to be used with a canted firearm.
Mind you, shooting with both eye opens works better.
"...my aging eyes..." The eye betray us all.
 
"There is no sight made to be used with a canted firearm."

https://goo.gl/images/oA9eTw

Seriously, though, I grew up shooting Weaver as a devotee of Col. Cooper. When middle age forced me into bifocals, I opted for a "monovision" contact lens system. The right (dominant) eye sees distance, while the left is focused for closer tasks, (reading, etc.). After a couple of days, the brain focuses the correct eye without conscious thought ( or squinting). The problem arises when the distance eye cannot focus on the sights, creating an artificial cross dominance. Like Cooper, I just tilted my head slightly to sight with my left eye. Now it seems that most instructors are teaching modified isoceles. I find that if I shoot with both eyes open, the monovision system works as intended and the brain automatically shifts to the left eye to see the sights.
 
I am also cross eye dominant (right hand/left eye). One of the better shooters on You Tube, Hickok45, is also. If you watch him shoot, his head is turned to the right to help align over the sights. He also squints the right eye.

I know this because we used to communicate back in 2008 when he only had about 25-30,000 subscribers instead of the 2 million plus he has today. We discussed this issue among other topics. Alas, he's so popular today that he's almost impossible to get a response from.
 
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