Help! Trouble shooting with my kiddos 🥴

[Nostradumbass]

I honestly didn’t know where to put this thread, but here goes....

I have a young daughter and son who are of age to really start shooting and hunting.
Unfortunately, I have found that both of my children are right handed and left eye dominant.

I’m finding that teaching them the fundamentals of proper shooting is pretty tough, and both myself and my kids are getting frustrated.

I’d like to know if anyone here has the same issue with eye dominance, or has recommendations on which side of the body I should instruct my kids to use. They seem so awkward using either side! Lol

Thanks in advance!

 

[Supersubes]

Just throw some black tape over the left lense of their shooting glasses. March on for a bit and let them get things down. Then take the tape off down the road. I’m a left eye dominant righty. No issues whatsoever.

 

[pyrotechnic]

If they're left eye dominant just get them started shooting long guns from their left. Learning curve is a little steeper, but will be better in the long run. Starting off it will all feel awkward anyways. Shoot handguns right handed while left eye dominant is no issue.

 

[LongRangeJunky]

As kids my dad got us into shotgun sports. Both my mom and sister were right handed, left eye dominant. We found an awesome shooting instructor who insisted they switch to shooting left handed. Their scores doubled in a week, and we discovered that the learning curve to left hand was much easier than learning to put the other eye in the lead!

 

[drwood96]

Eye dominants is not that important in scoped rifle shooting but big in pistol, shotgun, and open sights. So would lean keeping them shoot left hand so it translates to other shooting sports.

Your kids are still young thus have an easier time building newer nero pathways and will adapt faster that you think. You’ll be surprised with how well a couple weeks of dry fire train a young brain.

 

[diggler1833]

Make sure that you and the kids are having fun first and foremost. You can ease some fundamentals or left handed experimentation in there after you have a big smile on their faces.

If you take the fun out of it, they'll learn slower and want to be out there less with you...bad on both accounts.

As a former PMI/CMT, I had a few rough range outings with the family myself until I learned to chill out and just take baby steps. Now we have a blast shooting together, my wife can basically shoot as well as I can at this point, and the girls always want to be with dad when I drag a gun out of the safe.

If you have the ability to...keep the range sessions shorter too. Kids fizzle out faster than we do. I understand that for some people it is quite a long trip to the range however, and this isn't always possible.

 

[LuvDog]

I’m right handed and left eye. Have them shoot long guns lefty. Your picture shows them shooting all crossed up. Shoulder it lefty and use their left hand for the trigger.

 

[BikePilot]

I'm left handed and right eye dominant. I shoot right handed without issue.

 

[Joelives]

as its been said ,its all about fun ! they don't want to disappoint you , your a good shot and they want to be like you . I took my daughter out at 5 with a 22 cricket ,terrible ! single shot peep sights she was almost in tears , put her on my spikes ar 22 with a eotek she hit just about everything , totally lit up . that gun became hers ,I had to buy another one .
I might suggest an Aimpoint red dot ,a steel target that reacts and not go for tiny groups. Build there confidence first and let them transition to a scope left hand . look up BAC (bindion aiming concept) maybe get a trijicon 1x6 . enjoy

 

[nexusfire]

Im the same and my boys are the same, eye patch or tape over glasses. I had to retrain my brain to shoot. The brain will make the adjustment. This goes for other sports as well such as baseball.

 

[Farmerbrown32]

My son was same way. I put an eye patch on his left eye for a long time and he got used to it pretty dang quick. Now hes a deadeye

 

[hlee]

My son is right handed and left eye dominant. I’m right/right. He started shooting this past year and is shooting left handed, even archery. your Kids look awkward because they are holding the firearm in a way it was not intended. Get them shooting left handed, they will reap instant rewards when they get their right hand off the grip and start using the correct hand.

 

[3-0-hate]

You can switch eye dominance but it requires wearing an eye patch on the dominant eye for about a week...

 

[houndog]

Another right handed left eye dominant person. Learned to shoot when I was about 10 at camp. The counselor in charge knew what he was doing and tested everyone for eye dominance. When it was clear that I was left eye dominant he decreed, "you will shoot left handed". Been doing so ever since (off and on for 50 years). I've literally never shot right handed and doing so would feel completely strange to me now.

Also shoot trap left handed, and, when I tried shooting a bow also shot it left handed. Do everything else right handed, including tennis, throwing a ball, writing, etc.

If you start them off this way after a couple of months it will be second nature. Honestly, I don't know why everyone doesn't shoot rifles left handed, since your supporting the weight of the rifle, aiming, etc. with your dominant hand.

It is a little weird shooting pistol right handed and rifle left handed, since you need to become proficient at trigger control, resetting trigger, etc. with both hands.

 

[wpeach1912]

Probably teach them to shoot left handed. For shotgun sports your eye dominance determines the hand you shoot from since seeing the target is so important. Don’t see why that shouldn’t carry over to rifles

 

[Jakeweb09]

Whichever way you teach them should be fine as long as consistent. But in the pic they’re shouldered left and triggered right. shoulder left trigger left or shoulder right trigger right. Being twisted like that must be difficult. Good luck and let us know how it goes! My step son is the only left I’ve ever had to deal with personally. So I may pick him up a left hand 22 to see how it goes.

 

[Nostradumbass]

I too want my children’s experiences with firearms to be positive and enjoyable.

Switching from paper to reactive targets really helped. I have since worked with my son shooting left handed. He seems to have taken to it well. I plan to take my daughter shooting tomorrow, and we’ll see how she does, and which shoulder she prefers. If she insists on the right shoulder, I may try to cover her left eye and see if that helps her.

 

[Jakeweb09]

I think the reactive targets is the best thing you can do for new shooters. Hell even I enjoy them more

 

[craigos]

Just throw some black tape over the left lense of their shooting glasses. March on for a bit and let them get things down. Then take the tape off down the road. I’m a left eye dominant righty. No issues whatsoever.

I shoot competitive shotguns and i coach and shotgunning is more impacted by wrong eye dominance than rifle shooting as we must judge distance and speed and as such need both eyes. Typically eye dominance isnt a big issue for rifle as you use "one eye" through a scope, in shotgun however its a big issue as you use both eyes and you want your dominant eye over the rib.

What we do is put tape (not black tape, but the tape you use that is frosty/semi transparent on the glasses). What you want to do is not completely make the left eye see nothing, but rather "blurred" so the brain takes a more dependency on the right eye.

 

[Nostradumbass]

I shoot competitive shotguns and i coach and shotgunning is more impacted by wrong eye dominance than rifle shooting as we must judge distance and speed and as such need both eyes. Typically eye dominance isnt a big issue for rifle as you use "one eye" through a scope, in shotgun however its a big issue as you use both eyes and you want your dominant eye over the rib.

What we do is put tape (not black tape, but the tape you use that is frosty/semi transparent on the glasses). What you want to do is not completely make the left eye see nothing, but rather "blurred" so the brain takes a more dependency on the right eye.

Thanks,

That’s similar to what another competitive shotgunner told me. He said to put a smudge of chapstick in the center of the lens over the dominant eye. The blurry spot would help train the brain to use the opposite eye.

 

[Supersubes]

I shoot competitive shotguns and i coach and shotgunning is more impacted by wrong eye dominance than rifle shooting as we must judge distance and speed and as such need both eyes. Typically eye dominance isnt a big issue for rifle as you use "one eye" through a scope, in shotgun however its a big issue as you use both eyes and you want your dominant eye over the rib.

What we do is put tape (not black tape, but the tape you use that is frosty/semi transparent on the glasses). What you want to do is not completely make the left eye see nothing, but rather "blurred" so the brain takes a more dependency on the right eye.

Makes sense!

 

[Anb618]

I’m left handed, right eye dominant.
Something I’m glad my old man did was check my eye dominance before teaching me to shoot and forced me to shoot right handed. It’s much easier for a kid to learn to shoot “wrong handed” than it is to switch their eye dominance. It’s your body’s natural state, so I don’t see why anyone would want to alter that.
I also credit that decision with the added benefit of making me functionally ambidextrous (at least in the shooting sports). I can shoot a handgun nearly as well with my weak/left hand as I can my strong/right hand.

 

[deersniper]

I’m left handed and starred shooting that way. Then I figured everything was made for right hands and forced myself to change. Had no issues after that. Was pretty ambidextrous with rifles for a long time after that but now haven’t shot “weak” (left) handed in quite a while.


I vote tape on glass and shoot right handed

 

[GrumpyOleFart]

Is it possible to trade in these kids.
Seriously, the sooner they get on the rifle and work out what works for them, the better.
I know two guys and a girl that were taught with the glass on tape technique at an early age
The girl was later offered to train for Olympics..... how cool is that!

Nothing is unachievable if they have the passion.

 

[Supersubes]

I’m left handed and starred shooting that way. Then I figured everything was made for right hands and forced myself to change. Had no issues after that. Was pretty ambidextrous with rifles for a long time after that but now haven’t shot “weak” (left) handed in quite a while.


I vote tape on glass and shoot right handed

This is my thought as well. The path of least resistance early is to shoot them lefty, but then they’re cursed as lefties forever. Lol For the OP’s kids the eye dominance thing is sticking out, but all of the mechanics are foreign as well.

Craigos’ opaque tape idea is a good one. I never had anything like that, it was either black or some other color. Black seemed to draw the eye least.

 

[Precision Underground]

I’m left eye/right hand and have trained my right eye pretty well. Something that helps a lot is keeping both eyes open. The hard part is getting the right eye to a point where you can do that. I think tape on the shooting glasses will help. Imo it will be a lot easier to train their right eye than to train their left side.

 

[BBVDD]

I don’t have a dominant eye, at least if I do, it switches. I have to close a eye. I am ambidextrous with shotguns and can shoot well from either.
With pistols and rifles I have to close my left eye.

 

[isaaccarlson]

I am left eye but right handed. I used to be right eye, but the eye doc says I have keratoconus, which is worse in my right eye, so my brain switched eyes. I shoot right handed, but my vision ends up blurred after shooting until my brain switches back over the course of about 15 minutes.

I have thought about eye surgery, but not comfortable with it.

 

[Skg_Mre_Lght]

If they're left eye dominant just get them started shooting long guns from their left. Learning curve is a little steeper, but will be better in the long run. Starting off it will all feel awkward anyways. Shoot handguns right handed while left eye dominant is no issue.

My middle son is right handed and left eye dominant. I taught him to shoot left handed on long guns.

He adapted quickly.

 

[McCrazy]

My son is also right hand, left eye dominant so I'll be going through this soon.

I already got a good taste of it when we did some archery.

If you think dealing with cross-dominant shooting is awkward, give that a whirl...

 

[JaoeyP]

I'm left handed, shoot right because I was taught that way and was told I had to because of my eye dominance.

I think as long as the eye dominance isn't debilitating, you should shoot with your dominant side. Aiming is the easy part of being a proficient marksman.

 

[Montana1000]

I’m right handed and left eye dominant. I started shooting left-handed from a young age. I’ve only shot right hand rifles but wish I would have got comfortable with a left hand rifle early on.

 

[D2junky]

Right handed left eye dominant. Cover the left eye.
Tried shooting lefty. May as well have been wiping my ass with my foot. Sporting clays instructor, and well respected one at that, suggested the tape. As he said, sometimez zeet works shooting weeth zee left händ, sometimez itz zee tape method. Makes no difference.

 

[TRPrecision]

Also a righthanded left eye dominant. For PRS I shoot righty with my left eye closed. On a short time stage I don't get eye fatigue. For Fclass I wear glasses with the left lens blurred, it works very well to keep your brain focusing on the right eye. A long day at the range, I switch between left and right handed shooting. I highly recommend getting them comfy shooting both strong and weak handed, strong and weak eye. It is a very good skill to learn and master.

 

[Wildfire1550]

I shoot competitive shotguns and i coach and shotgunning is more impacted by wrong eye dominance than rifle shooting as we must judge distance and speed and as such need both eyes. Typically eye dominance isnt a big issue for rifle as you use "one eye" through a scope, in shotgun however its a big issue as you use both eyes and you want your dominant eye over the rib.

What we do is put tape (not black tape, but the tape you use that is frosty/semi transparent on the glasses). What you want to do is not completely make the left eye see nothing, but rather "blurred" so the brain takes a more dependency on the right eye.
^^^^^^^^^^^
Also coach youth shot gunners and this is what we do. Keep in mind it is now uncommon for eyes dominance to change with kids

 

[jbuck88]

What worked for me was a football helmet to the back of the head back in high school. Vision in the left eye went to 20/200 instantly while the right eye stayed pretty good at 20/20.

 

[Superjet]

I’m right handed and left eye dominant. Always shot everything left handed. Felt natural to me even at a young age, and I always felt that it gave me an advantage due to holding the heavy portion of the weapon with my stronger, dominant hand. I say make them shoot lefty.

 

[M145O]

As an instructor, we teach cross eyed dominance three ways, depending on the students abilities, comfort and equipment.

1. Utilize a red dot sight, with both eyes open (important). This allows the dominant eye to pick up the target and the non dominant eye to pick up the reticle. This method works well. I use it when shooting non dominant side, around barricades etc., but, I personally don't like this method for primary shooting, as you would need a red dot on any gun you shoot.

2. Train the non dominant eye to become the dominant eye. Using tape on the shooting glasses, eye patch, etc on the dominant eye will train the non dominant eye to take over. Works great, especially with young children who don't have a long time experience with non dominant eyes, but, it takes a significant amount of time blocking the dominant eye on and off the range. Also, there is no guarantee that the eyes won't revert back to the other side.

3. The best method in my opinion, is to teach them to shoot left handed. This is my favorite with most children, as they learn quickly, but, if you plan on teaching them to shoot non dominant side, you will want them to practice all aspects of weapon usage. Carrying, shouldering, aiming, reloading, shooting, and clearing failures which will take practice to learn with your non-dominant hand.

Everyone should be able to shoot from either side and train to do so.....

The main thing is to not be afraid to try different techniques to see what works best for them.... If it's working, and safe, let them develop what works for them.

Just my $.02