How many here switch eyes when switching sides?

[KurtM]

So how many practice shooting with your "weak" eye? This is sorely overlooked in most practice and very few instructors even think of it. If your dominant eye is incapacitated either from debris or injury, can you still aim? Best to find out before you really need it. Most folks can do it to some level, but only after a bit of practice.
I was lucky in the fact I have no dominate eye. Nor does my brother, nor my son. When I switch hands/shoulders I have always used the eye the gun is in front of. Ie. Left shoulder/ hand, left eye. Right shoulder/ hand right eye. Jerry noticed that I did this and said I have Iguana vision . Anyway in most all the classes I do, I have always made folks shoot off eye occasionally, and most, at first couldn't shoot fast or accurately merely do to the fact they didn't "know" what they were seeing. After a bit of practice, most could at least provide life support accuracy and speed. The question is how many practice this? I do quite regularly, and it has paid off a few times especially with rifle off the support side!

 

[OkieJoe]

I’ll admit that I don’t practice with my weak eye, but I need to start doing it.

 

[Kwaynem]

I honestly can’t remember even trying

 

[Ndenway]

I shoot with both eyes open so guess been doing that so long it became natural eye selection when I switch firearm to different hands

 

[Trekrok]

If i lose my good eye best I can do is point in the general direction of my target. Yeah, my weak eye is weak as shit.

 

[jakeman]

If i lose my good eye best I can do is point in the general direction of my target. Yeah, my weak eye is weak as shit.

Also too.

People think I'm BS'ing when I tell them I can't close my right eye and keep my left open. That's how right eye dominate I am. If my left eye is open, so is my right. I can't even squint out of my left eye. When I squint, my left eye closes completely.

If I ever lose my right eye my shooting days are over. Only time I shoot with one eye closed it's a rifle. Handguns & shotguns are always both eyes open.

 

[Beautiful Mulberry]

I was taught to shoot with both eyes open.
Rifle I’m right hand right eyed dom
Pistol I’m left handed right eye dom but I shift between left and right eye. Hard to explain

 

[CS Boomis]

When I was a gung ho lad and thought I wanted to grow up an be a sojer, forced myself to learn to shoot rifle, pistol and shotty left and right though I’m right dominant. Since I had lense replacement and my right eye is distant and my left eye is close I can mainly do it with optics so I can work the diopter. I’m pretty sure I’m still good for minute of meat 150 to 200 and in where they’re big weak side. Volume of fire is a valid compensating method.

 

[AER244]

@KurtM are you saying you teach non-dominant hand paired with non-dominant eye shooting? Or dominant hand paired with non-dominant eye shooting? Or both?

 

[KurtM]

Yes, all the above, except it is only a segment of the classes I teach. With rifle, obviously it is weak eye, weak shoulder, although if you contort enough you can go strong eye/weak shoulder on low recoiling systems. In my classes I just make people aware of occasionally using your weak eye, or when the time comes that that's all you have you don't have to figure it out on the fly.
This is not shooting with both eyes open, it is forcing you non dominant eye to take over. If you don't do that occasionally, when you need to, it takes a few seconds for your brain to understand what it is seeing. Over 90% of folks have a dominant eye, depending on how your brain is wired, your weak eye can be anywhere from pretty close to just a long for the ride, but with a modicum of practice, most folks can get to a level of being able to shoot well enough to solve close range problems.

 

[Beautiful Mulberry]

That’s pretty good! Your the only one I know that teaches this!

 

[HoLeChit]

So @KurtM youre probably the guy to talk to about this. I’m right handed. Used to be right eye dominant. Learned to shoot both eyes open mostly, with lots of time using bindon concepts and occluded aiming. But life happened, and after a facial laceration scar tissue has caused my eye dominance to change to my left eye. Iron sights are real tough, even with my left eye closed. Occluded aiming and bindon aiming is challenging but can be done, assuming I focus a little and I have an illuminated reticule. I went from 20/15 combined vision to 20/20 or a little less, so I still have great eyesight. Is there a way to effectively retrain myself? Or is there a good way to at least accommodate this, without changing to being a left handed shooter? How?

 

[KurtM]

Yes, I've got some stuff for you to try. I'll get it posted later today.

 

[KurtM]

A few things that might help. Try really focusing on the smallest print you can read, then snap your focus to something very far away and force it to be as clear as possible. Use "weak eye" only, and do this 5-10 times in a row 3-5 times a day.
Next using weak eye only, try to track something that jumps around with your eye. Kind of like a jumping screen saver on a computer. Practice snapping your eye from spot to spot, but really try to focus on the object when it briefly stops. Do that for about a minute per time, 3-5 times a day, build eye speed. Next practice, shifting focus from eye to eye while looking at a small dot across a room as fast as you can really see the dot clearly, light switch works well. Couple times a day.
Try all this for a week or two, and see if it helps. Hope it works out for ya!