Off eye shooting.

[Frost49]

Over the past year or so I have had some complications in the right eye that still are getting worked out. Which leaves that eye a bit blurry even with contacts or glasses. What can anyone tell me about shooting right handed, but left eye? Going to the FOP this weekend to put some lead on targets and this will be the first time I am giving this a try. Right eye I can still see rings on the targets, but not clearly. Any compensation needed?

 

[gglass]

I've found that the center is still the center even if it's blurry. The part of the sight picture that I CANNOT do without are the sights themselves. As long as I can clearly make out my sights and align them, I find it pretty easy to center up on whatever target I please, no matter how blurry.

I recently went back to contacts, and after a couple of trial runs, I had the optometrist change the prescription for my dominant eye down a power or two. This means that I do not have great vision out to infinity like I do with my weak eye, but I now see my sights with perfect clarity. With this new setup, I just came in 7th in a local pistol competition and found that my only limitation was my speed, not my accuracy. Like you, my weak eye is the better of the two, and as long as I shoot with both eyes open, I can still see where my hits are landing.

 

[gregkl]

I have been cross dominant all my life. I am right handed, left eye dominant.

With pistol I adjust my stance slightly so my left eye lines up with the sights.
With shotgun, I put a piece of opaque cellophane tape over my left lens which forces my right eye to become "dominant".
With rifle, I close my left eye.

This may sound like an excuse and people will site instances of cross dominant champions but I believe that cross dominance is a handicap in any activity that requires eye/hand coordination.

But, hey you have to work with what you have!

 

[Frost49]

Thanks for the input. I am lucky my left is still correctable to 20/20 ish. right is another story.. started seeing faint doubles of letters on signs and went to the doc. It's a deformation in the lense.. So it's live with it, or replace, which the old wallet isn't up for right now.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

It's a deformation in the lense.. So it's live with it, or replace, which the old wallet isn't up for right now.

I had deformation in the left cornea because of a car accident (I caught a bunch of side window glass after being T-bonded by a Ford250). Dr. Price did the surgery and just like new with someone else's eye sewn in.

Use an eye patch at first for your damaged eye when shooting. I found it helpful to cant the pistol slightly as if I were shooting one handed, ymmv.

 

[Drail]

An old IPSC technique from the 80s was to place frosted Scotch tape over the lens for your non dominant eye. That way light still hits the blocked eye even though it cannot resolve a focus. But having both eyes open really reduces the muscle strain on your dominant eye. You may have to lean your head a little to get on the sight but it can be done with practice. One of the guys I shot with for years had to shoot right handed but with his left eye. Once he figured it out he was hard to beat. Brian Enos' book Practical Shooting Beyond Fundamentals talks about it.

 

[AngryRooster]

I have been cross dominant all my life. I am right handed, left eye dominant.

With pistol I adjust my stance slightly so my left eye lines up with the sights.
With shotgun, I put a piece of opaque cellophane tape over my left lens which forces my right eye to become "dominant".
With rifle, I close my left eye.

This may sound like an excuse and people will site instances of cross dominant champions but I believe that cross dominance is a handicap in any activity that requires eye/hand coordination.

But, hey you have to work with what you have!

I've been in the same boat for all my life as well with one exception, I can't close my left eye like you do. For some reason my muscle won't work like that. I can close my right eye alone but the left is SOL. Over the years I've leaned to shoot a bow and long guns left handed but still shoot handguns right.

 

[gregkl]

I've been in the same boat for all my life as well with one exception, I can't close my left eye like you do. For some reason my muscle won't work like that. I can close my right eye alone but the left is SOL. Over the years I've leaned to shoot a bow and long guns left handed but still shoot handguns right.

Cool. I have been thinking of trying my shotgun glasses(the ones with the tape over the lens) the next time I shoot rifle. Then I may be able to keep both eyes open.

 

[MrSmitty]

I have been cross-dominant my whole life. I was into photography, and photographed left-eyed, I have always shot pool left handed, kicked left footed, and shot long guns left handed, but held handguns right handed, using left eye, and I write right handed...never thought it a problem, just the way it is......

 

[cop car]

I had deformation in the left cornea because of a car accident (I caught a bunch of side window glass after being T-bonded by a Ford250). Dr. Price did the surgery and just like new with someone else's eye sewn in.

Use an eye patch at first for your damaged eye when shooting. I found it helpful to cant the pistol slightly as if I were shooting one handed, ymmv.

Holy cow dude. Is it like literally 100% someone else's eye.. Or did they just use some parts to fix what they couldn't with your eye..?