Dominant eye?

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Can someone explain the concept of dominant eye in shooting and what is its purpose?
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Hope this comes out right but basically, it's the eye, that works with your dominant hand. preferably, if you are right handed, your right eye should also be the dominant eye .... ;)

During our classes, we define each students dominant eye. We also spot this Cross-Eye dominance struggle when they aim and shoot.

Be Safe !!!
 
Not necessarily true - the correlation isn't perfect. The strongest correlation is between hand and foot dominance. The other correlation is weaker but I'd have to look it up. There are whole books on such and a friend of mine is an expert.

People adjust shooting style to deal with such. I think you should be able to use either eye and either hand without tremendous deficit. Try it in practice.
 
It has been found that it's best to use the dominant eye and train the non-dominant to work on the dominant side.
 
...Unless the dominant eye is the weaker eye. Then use the dominant
crossed in pistol (e.g., right hand/left eye), and accommodate the matching
weak eye for rifle (e.g., right-handed/right eye).
 
mete,

Only for rifles, not for pistols. For pistols, dominant eye really doesn't matter much -- just make the appropriate, minor modification to your preferred stance and you're good to go.

Also, just as some people might be more strongly left-handed or more strongly right-handed than other people, it isn't unusual to meet people who have a more strongly dominant right eye or more strongly dominant left than others. Not only this, but just as you encounter ambidextrous people when discussing handedness, you also encounter "ambi-eyed" people, who do not have a strongly dominant eye on either side.

All of these factors come into play when people select their preferred, default shooting stance with a pistol.

pax
 
My brother is right handed, but left eye dominate. Learning to shoot with both eyes open helps, especially with handguns which he shoots right handed. With rifles and shotguns we found it easier to retrain to shoot left handed. We didn't pick up on this until he was in his late teens and he was having a horrible time shooting accurately.

Re learning to shoot lefty took a little time and he struggled at first. But after mastering it he became a much better shot than he would have trying to shoot from the other side. He is 49 now and shoots quite well.
 
I am what is called cross dominant. I am right handed, but my right eye does not work as well as my left eye, It has been that way all my life, so I am quite used to it.
I shoot a pistol right handed because getting a site picture with my left eye is not a problem. Rifles I shoot left handed, as it would be tough to get my left eye in place.
 
Another cross dominant freak

I either shoot left handed or have to close my dominant eye. Kind of a pain, but used to it.
 
Originally posted by Colt46:

I either shoot left handed or have to close my dominant eye. Kind of a pain, but used to it.
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Same here. This whole "dominate eye" stuff did not become common knowledge until I was in my thirties. For bow, handgun/rifles with open sights and using turkey guns, I close my dominate eye. When shooting sporting clays I use a small piece of tape over my left eyeglass lens. For upland birds, I shoot with both eyes open and still do as well as anyone else I hunt with. Whether I have made a unconscious adjustment after 50 years of shooting scattergun or because the wide sight picture of a SxS makes that adjustment for me, I dunno. With scoped rifles it don't matter. Folks tell me I need to relearn how to shoot my bows and firearms left-handed. For me, if it ain't broke, you don't fix it when your only 1/4 mile from home.
 
It happens

you also encounter "ambi-eyed" people, who do not have a strongly dominant eye on either side.
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As Stated earlier, we do an exercise, during our live-fire and when I first encountered this "ambi-eyed" situation, we rechecked and sure enough, it happens. I had always thought that eye dominance would first be defined, during a routine, eye exam. Not so as many students had never heard of this. .. :rolleyes:
I either shoot left handed or have to close my dominant eye. Kind of a pain, but used to it.
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One young female student came up to the line and shot 10X consistently. You can always tell when someone is not stranger to shooting. I asked her about it. Right off, she stated that she was cross-eyed dominant and the Army had trained her how to shoot. Sadly I did not ask her how. ... :confused:

Be Safe !!!
 
So the strongest correlation is hand/ foot? Guess I'm just weird lol I'm left eye left hand right foot. But I can use my right eye and hand also without much issue, when I switch hands my eye switches simultaneously without thinking about it. I can write legibly with my off hand but I can't kick a ball with my off foot :rolleyes:
 
Since my right eye has twice suffered a detached retina, my 'dominant' eye has become my left. So much so, that I have mounted all my rifle scopes on high rings so that I can lay my face across the stock and use my left eye for sighting.
 
The correlations aren't perfect. I'd have to grab a book of my office shelf to look up foot, hand, eye, ear. And I'm off till next week!
 
Glenn,

When I was a kid, there was a group of us who loved to play kickball. I still remember the complete shock I felt the day I realized that the other kids all knew which foot they'd be using to kick the ball, even before they ran toward it.

Had a very similar feeling the first time someone ran me through a variety of different eye dominance tests. "You mean, the results are supposed to come out the same way, every time?!! Huh..."

pax
 
how to tell

Hold up either hand, make a circle with your thumb and index finger. keep both eyes open and place the circle over some object. now close right eye. If the alignment shifts you are right eye dominant. If it doesn't shift you are left eye dominant. It doesn't really matter.

Practice shooting both hands and both eyes. You never know. Stance is over rated. The one who stands still is the target, unless you are behind cover. Just my opinion.
 
I used to be strongly cross eyed dominant, left eye right handed. I forced myself to shoot right eyed even with pistols, when I did this I just had to shoot with both eyes open to be comfortable. As a result I now favor my right eye but mostly have no eye dominance and I always shoot with both eyes open even when using a scope.
 
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