Home Forums Hunting & Shooting The Lefty Forum Eye dominance

I posted this on a different forum but I'd like to hear what y'all have to say

Like me, my 4yr old daughter is cross dominate (right handed/left eyed). I'm doing do my best to teach her to shoot left eyed/left handed, something I never really learned to do well. Although I'm left eye dominate I shoot right handed/right eyed

On the other hand, my son, who's 2, has not shown a preference to eye dominance no matter how I try to bait him into it. Is he too young to determine? He's 100% right handed. Is he going to be able to shoot right handed too or should I stop trying to figure it out til he's older?

Might get a hint by having him use some items like a spotting scope or camera view finder. Those typically go to the dominant eye.

I commend you for thinking of this. Lots of kids are started with no thought given to the issue.

Once they are old enough to figure out eye dominance, follow it and teach them to shoot that way. It'll work great when you start them young.

that is not a hard and fast rule

Eye dominance can change, even at 7-8yrs old

When my son was quite young he would shoulder a rifle (scoped 22) right handed but would lean across to look through his left eye which turned out to be his dominant side. Learned to shoot lefty very well.

Maybe your son would react similarly.

For a little while, until she decided on a dominate eye, I smeared a little cooking oil on the left
lens of my daughters shooting glasses. It forces the other eye to dominate. That is similar to
how they used to treat lazy eye,

I am left handed, right eye dominant. When shouldering the rifle, it just felt natural on the left side. Right side just didn't feel right. Started shooting with the right eye closed to force the left eye to get stronger. No problems now. Wish someone would have noticed way be when while shooting bb guns...

For us, my family of four is all righthanded and left eye dominant. What are the odds? I switched to shooting lefthanded after 30 plus years of shooting righthanded. Its been rough at times. My wife, son and daughter all just learned to shoot lefthanded after learning eye dominance. Their now quite capable with shotgun and rifle on the left side.

In the end its all whatever works for each individual. I do wish my dad had gotten me started on the left side for shooting though.

Rangefinders and paper towel tubes or the like are the best ways I've found to figure out eye dominance in kids. Have them look at you through them using each hand separately, then both hands. If it goes to the same eye you have your answer.

These pics were taken in the ground blind last weekend during the youth hunt. He does everything right handed, but is left eyed dominant (like his brother).
DSCN2173 by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr
DSCN2171 by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr

As such, I'm teaching him to shoot lefthanded. He does okay...
Groundhog at 90yds with a red dot scope on a 357 Mag single shot.
Untitled by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr

Little later, his first deer at 40yds. His brother shot his, also lefthanded, at 85yds with a LH RAR in 243.
DSCN2203 by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr

I've always had my kids sit at the kitchen bar and place their chins on the counter. I put a roll of paper towels on a book, about 12-18" in front of their face and asked them to move the roll to "sight in" on a fridge magnet across the kitchen (both eyes open). Then, holding that position with the target in the center of the roll, I'd put a spoon over each eye, revealing which eye was responsible for the view. I'd let them rest a few minutes and try again. Pretty simple really. My 12 year old is left-handed and right eyed, so she shoots as a righty. My wife is left/left. My 8 year old is still in question, although she's left handed. Her eye dominance has changed several times in the last few years.

I've tried the toilet paper roll trick in each hand and he usually just sticks it right in the middle between his eyes lol

Jpro I'll try that spoon trick and see how he does, thanks!

I like the idea of smearing cooking oil on one lense of the shooting glasses too!

I strongly suggest that one have both eyes functioning even if they are simply at the range. Better range estimation, 3D vision, and an expanded view. I most certainly would not do any hunting or self defense schooling with greased up lenses.

Did some research a couple years back for an article on this in IHEIA's rag. There are methods for forcing a switch in eye dominance, but in nearly every case ones system eventually reverts to it's originally wired pattern. Do ones kid a favor and start them properly. For those started wrong, muscle memory can be switched much more easily than eye dominance. It is indeed extremely rare for parents to ever give this issue consideration. They just plop the kid down the way dad does it and keep going.

I started archery with no supervision shooting left but am right eyed. When I was about 30, an astute instructor noticed and suggested I switch. Talk about awkward! Within a week though the strength and coordination came around, and my scores stepped up markedly. Could not go back now if I tried.

Once had a young lady that was shooting right but crawling over the stock to pull it off in our HunterEd class. Great way to eat a scope or get slammed in the mouth by an action when one goes to big guns. Her reason for that approach: "My cheap bastard dad won't buy me a left handed rifle."

No reason to make it tough for a kid that really wants to get out there with you. Plenty of arms out there that can go both ways. Single shots, pumps, levers, and semi autos, and muzzle loaders. For big bucks one can even get stocks made that shoulder on one side but align with the other eye. Puts stress on ones wrist too if he has to cant that joint to line up sights with heavy kicking hand guns. I'd like to think we are well past the days of nuns slapping kids with rulers for going to the left side.

Given that we have over 300+ million people in this country, there are many that do crossover shooting with patches, a closed eye, or stock crawling. My wife is one (closed eye), and pyramids can decay or animals die of old age in the time it takes her to light off a round on big game. One will rarely find them winning in competition circles though. Cross over stuff really throws one a curve in rapid fire shot gunning.

Have a good one,

there are various degrees of hand dominance and eye dominance, and at some point strong hand dominance trumps weak eye dominance.

i am cross dominant, right handed and left eyed. I have what I consider normal hand dominance and weak eye dominance. I can shoot well from either shoulder, but I shoot with my dominant hand and weak eye by default. if I could shoot better with my master eye, I'd be shooting lefty.

I would add not everyone shooting correctly, aiming with their dominant eye can shoot with both open.

He is 2 years old and a developmental milestone for that age is pulling their pants up. Most at 2 are not potty trained yet. His fine motor skills are rudimentary at best, which is why you have been unsuccessful in your baiting. I bet he still misses his mouth sometimes when eating and you're worried about his eye dominance. Give him some time for his eye dominance to come around.

This could have been written by my father about me fifty-some years ago. Decades later I found that he was mistaken, I am right eyed dominant but taught to shoot long guns and archery left handed.

Tell me more.

You can't "force" an eye to get stronger. Eye dominance is going on all day. Did you walk around all day with the right eye closed?

I was pretty much ambidextrous until my eyes started going bad. My move to lefthandedness pretty much followed my change into being left eye dominant. Until I finally had to get glasses for third grade, I shot off both shoulders according to the shot.

As mentioned above, there's no point in trying to sort this out until kids are a little older. Which is a good case, among others, for keeping guns ambidextrous instead of handed.