Cross Eye Dominance

Thu Sep 22, 2011 11:51 am by taxpimp

Here is something that I haven't seen on our forum before but thought that it would be useful for new shooters. For a number of years, I was practicing with pistols and noticed that no matter how much I trained I could not shoot a pistol or iron sight gun straight to save my life. I later found out from my brother that I was cross eye dominate which means that though I am right handed my left eye is the dominate eye, so I adjusted my stance and lined up to shoot pistols with my left eye open instead of my right (easy to do) while still holding the pistol in my right hand. Now I am a great pistol shooter. With the rifle, you basically have to shoot left handed, unless you scope out all of your rifles (which I did).

Test for Cross eye dominance... Point at a distant object with your index finger with both eyes open. Then close one eye (left or right) if the index finger is still on the object then that is the dominate eye...if the index finger appears to jump right or left then the closed eye is dominate.

Appears to be somewhat rare...around 10% (more common for lefties)

Maybe this will help someone out there.

Thu Sep 22, 2011 4:10 pm by hutoftung

Yeah, I'm technically left eye dominant though I'm right-handed. Learned to shoot rifle left-handed because of it. When I got into handguns more recently, I found myself turning my head so I could sight with the left eye while shooting right handed. Someone else suggested that I could tilt the gun slightly so I could use the sights with my left eye.

Years of sighting along boards with my right eye trained me to actually be, what do you call it, ambioptical? So when I decided to stop turning my head like that, I chose to re-train myself to use my right eye. Don't know if everyone can do it, but it's worthwhile if you can.

Thu Sep 22, 2011 5:45 pm by roccman

taxpimp wrote:Test for Cross eye dominance... Point at a distant object with your index finger with both eyes open. Then close one eye (left or right) if the index finger is still on the object then that is the dominate eye...if the index finger appears to jump right or left then the closed eye is dominate.

Appears to be somewhat rare...around 10% (more common for lefties)

Maybe this will help someone out there.

excellent tip!

i am not XED but didn't really know until i used your test

Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:36 pm by Mr. Goosebumps

I have the same issue. When it comes to rifles, can I still use my right eye (it just seems way to awkward to use my left)? Also, if the rifle is sighted in for me, would someone else who's not cross eye dominant have problems using it?

Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:46 pm by taxpimp

I had my Brother attempt to use my rifles after I sighted them in, and he was able to shoot them well. It was two inches off for him at 100 yards, but still solidly on the paper (really not a big deal if hitting a guy with a soft tip 30-06 round). I think if would be a bigger deal if we had to face zombies and required headshots

. I don't know the real reason but it could be the eye dominance issue.

Wed Oct 05, 2011 7:32 pm by hutoftung

I'd think that with a rifle at 100 yards, cross-eye dominance would either completely screw up your aim (meaning you're several feet off the target) or not affect it whatsoever. Meaning that if you're trying to sight through the eye that's not behind the rifle (right eye for right-handed use, left eye for left-handed use), you won't be using the sights at all even if you're focused on the front sight, and be way off. Or if you ARE using the non-dominant eye, you'll be using the sights and it'll be shooting where you're aiming (which is hopefully where you're trying to aim). If you were able to lock down the rifle and get a perfect sight picture, lining up the front and rear sights correctly, it wouldn't matter which eye you're using. Using the wrong eye would mean you're not lining up the sights and throw you way off, not just a few inches. And that would apply no matter who uses the rifle. Problem is that different people will hold the rifle different ways and tend to shoot "off" because, when they pull the trigger, the sights are not properly lined up on the target.

Cross Eye Dominance

Cross Eye Dominance

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