New shooter Left vs Right handed?

[ebb]

The eye can change the hand not so much. When my daughter started she was right handed and left eye dominant. We talked to several archery coach's and they all said, " if eye and hand are the same shot that way, if eye and hand are different learn to shoot with the same eye as the hand. Hannah shoot with an eye patch for about a month to 6 weeks she made best progress when Ricky Stinson folded a dollar in half and told here when she hit it it was hers. She showed him the arrow through it and he folded another dollar twice. After about 4 dollars she was hard to beat.

 

[Siko12]

I come across this questions a lot. I have seen all kinda shooters in my life, Shooters that could use either hand or eye. left handed, right handed. And thy all say the same thing. They simply mastered what comes to them naturally.

 

[ebb]

Well that all sounds well and good but shoulder a rifle with your right hand and look down the sights with your left eye. You obviously have thought this through. i helped an archer learn to to shoot left eye/Left handed after he lost vision in his right eye and he hunted for several years till he got so old he quit hunting. We tried to set up a bow to shot right handed and sight with his left eye and it would never work, ive seen rifles set up that way and the line of fire and point of aim are offset so much it works only for one distance and then not well.

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

R hand, left eye dominant. I shoot B+ as is (not BR) but my right eye is steadily detoriating and I need stronger and stronger lenses. I think using a scope with left correction and less corrective eye glass would be better sight picture. May be hard to get equal to right hand rifle shooting.

 

[HTSmith]

Let them shoot under their dominant eye. One day shotguns will be in the mix and it makes even more difference.

 

[Emmett Dibble]

A little different take and I have some personal experience and vicarious experience...

Equipment, it's a right handed world. It's better then it used to be but still 99% of everything made is made for right handed.

Left eye dominant, right handed. That is me, I didn't even know it was a thing till way too late to try and start over. Like others I have to close my left eye shooting long guns. (I shoot a lot of silhouette). Pistols it comes up and if i pay attention I am using my left eye.

The current way of thinking (shooting coaches) teach the kid to shoot dominant eye even if they are a righty.

I have several "wrong handed" friends who shoot very well. I don't know if they are left eye dominant also but both can shoot right handed if needed because again, most equipment is right handed.

Let the kid do what feels right and be prepaired to have more expensive or limited equipment choices if he is wrong handed...

Glad to see you spending quality time with him and something the 2 of you can do together for the rest of your life.

 

[bsekf]

You are handicapped in shotgun sports if you don't shoot your dominate side. Left eye dominate, shoot left handed.

 

[dellet]

Not a technical reason to let your son choose, but something to at least think about.

My father in law who is left handed, taught his right handed younger brother to shoot. By the time the younger brother worked out “he was doing it wrong”, he didn’t want to change.
Some 75 years later, it’s still a sticky subject, and any missed shot during hunting season the subject resurfaces. Generally in a good natured way, but not always.

 

[Dgd6mm]

You are handicapped in shotgun sports if you don't shoot your dominate side. Left eye dominate, shoot left handed.

Archery also. You'll do ok at the shorter range but as distance increases your shots will start going wider until you miss the target butt.

 

[kzin]

Yet another vote for shooting left handed from a very right handed but left eyed shooter.
Agree that shotguns/action shooting is the clincher.

I wonder about having him also shoot right handed occluded from the start, though.

I would definitely encourage him to shoot both left and right handed guns from the start.

 

[Doug Casner]

Learn to shoot left side. Been that way since I was a kid. 20-20 in left terrible in right. Cant swing on stuff flying shoot a .250 with my benchrest rifle once in a great while. It can be done. I couldnt shoot trap or sporting clays without strong glasses. Dont matter now anyway. Handicapped from car wreck. Still shoot off bench though. Ive got a Stag AR-15 thats left handed. Doug

 

[D-4297]

My identical Twin was Left-handed , and Left-Eye dominant . My Father ; A very highly ranked Bulls-eye shooter never tried to change him . I am Right-handed , and Right-eye Dominant . I shoot a Kelby . 308 , Left Bolt / Left Port , Right-handed Rifle . My Left-handed Twin became a Sniper with the 101st Airborne and served in Vietnam , till he was KIA on Hamburger Hill , 5 - 21 - 69 ! My Brother was a typical outstanding Marksman and won many Civilian Matches and trophies before entering the military . My Dad was smart enough to let him shoot the way he chose to . So did the Army .

 

[stork]

Dominant eye should be the one behind the scope.
Had to switch to LH for pistol after 60+ years of RH (due to tremors in the right hand). Scores took a horrible nose dive due to having no trigger control with the port side. Getting slightly better, but still way below my RH scores from 5 years ago.
Still beats working tho.
Al

 

[RCE1]

I'm left handed and left eye dominant. I was taught to shoot rifles right handed and did quite well until I started having some issues with my right eye. The advantages of shooting right handed is equipment availability. You have a lot more to choose from if right handed.

My vision was great when I was young and both eyes were fine. I won a few matches shooting that way, in fact. I will say that left handed people tend to be a little more ambidextrous than the right handed. Maybe it's a forced adaptability when living in a world largely designed for those who are right handed.

 

[mikecockcroft]

I am left eye dominate. That said, I play all sports right handed except shooting. I shoot a pistol left handed and a nail gun right handed or left handed. Use a Skil saw right handed, hammer left handed. Write left handed. I say all that to make a point that you must let him figure out for himself how his brain operates. I have discovered left bolt right eject actions and that’s all I will buy to build my rifles, including repeaters

 

[bozo699]

I normally don’t respond to posts this old however I think this is an important issue.
I am right handed at everything I do to the point my left hand is almost useless!… however I am left eye dominant.
The best thing that ever happened to me was at 3 or 4 years old I hurt my arm, told my dad I couldn’t shoot my BB gun , he told me to switch and shoot left handed, I told him I can’t,…. Can’t wasn’t in my dad’s vocabulary so he made me shoot left handed and I wasn’t allowed to switch back until he told me, he must have forgot to tell me as I shot left handed until I started shooting benchrest some 30 years later. I can shoot equally well either hand, comes in handy hunting because it doesn’t matter to me which shoulder I bring the rifle too . Pistol is another struggle as I am left I dominate but have always shot right handed pistol, I have to concentrate hard not to use my left eye and if I’m in a hurry will use left eye.
Shotgun is no problem I just shoot left handed.
Point is I think it’s important to learn to shoot with either hand.
Wayne