Getting started, which hand? Optimize for eye dominance or hand dominance?

Hope I'm not spamming the forum too much, but this seems worth a separate thread.

As noted in earlier posts, I'm just getting started on developing handgun skills. One possibly odd question I have is, which hand should I learn on, or should I learn on both? I'm a mixed bag on handedness, using my left hand for writing, eating, other fine motor skills, but with a strong preference for right hand on racket sports, tool use, other more macro activities. In the case of see a gun and reach for it I am currently 100% right handed. On the eyesight front I am definitively left eye dominant.

In my early pre-instruction tests with an airgun I am more accurate with right hand, able to reliably hit a 4" box at 7 yards, vs a 6" box at the same distance left handed. The easy thing to do would be to learn and train right handed, but I wonder if that would be a mistake when considering ultimate future capability.

Thanks in advance for any feedback or other input.

-Paul

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by paul-mf

Hope I'm not spamming the forum too much, but this seems worth a separate thread.

As noted in earlier posts, I'm just getting started on developing handgun skills. One possibly odd question I have is, which hand should I learn on, or should I learn on both? I'm a mixed bag on handedness, using my left hand for writing, eating, other fine motor skills, but with a strong preference for right hand on racket sports, tool use, other more macro activities. In the case of see a gun and reach for it I am currently 100% right handed. On the eyesight front I am definitively left eye dominant.

In my early pre-instruction tests with an airgun I am more accurate with right hand, able to reliably hit a 4" box at 7 yards, vs a 6" box at the same distance left handed. The easy thing to do would be to learn and train right handed, but I wonder if that would be a mistake when considering ultimate future capability.

Thanks in advance for any feedback or other input.

-Paul

---

Based on the info in your post I would recommend you work left handed.

Shooting is primarily a visual activity and having the gun under your dominant eye is advantageous. It’s also a fine motor skill activity.

I had a student last year that was similar. I brought both left and right handed holsters and the kid was equally good with either hand. He was an impressive shooter for his first time.

If I remember correctly, he said shooting left handed was more natural due to the left eye dominance. I encouraged him to train with both hands in the future.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by paul-mf

ONE One possibly odd question I have is, which hand should I learn on, or should I learn on both?

As you initially begin you need to pick a hand so to speak. You can and should build ambidextrous skills as you get further along the road of skills progression.

TWO I'm a mixed bag on handedness, using my left hand for writing, eating, other fine motor skills, but with a strong preference for right hand on racket sports, tool use, other more macro activities. In the case of see a gun and reach for it I am currently 100% right handed. On the eyesight front I am definitively left eye dominant.

Left-handed people grow up in a right handed world, with the exception of reaching for a pistol right handed I'm exactly like you describe. I attribute that to learning to do things from right handed people.

I naturally began learning to draw and shoot with my left hand, because for all intents and purposes, I'm left-handed.

In my case, I shoot nearly as good right-handed as I do left-handed with handgun, I largely attribute that to the fact that as a left-handed firearms instructor I needed to shoot right-handed to demo and teach manipulation. I never went so far as to wear a right-handed holster but I demoed everything else both right and left-handed.

THREE In my early pre-instruction tests with an airgun I am more accurate with right hand, able to reliably hit a 4" box at 7 yards, vs a 6" box at the same distance left handed. The easy thing to do would be to learn and train right handed, but I wonder if that would be a mistake when considering ultimate future capability.

---

There are myriad reasons that you may have been more accurate with your right hand in an initial 'test.'

Like HCM, who I've found to be one of the more knowledgeable folks on P-F, I think you should learn left-handed.

As he mentioned, shooting is a visual activity. If folks draw with either hand, and keep both eyes open during the process, the pistol/revolver will end up under your dominant eye.

Try this, find a suitable area, one in which you won't be disturbed and one in which an accidentally fired round won't injure someone - initially you'll need a mirror (THE RULE: EVEN IN TACTICAL SITUATIONS BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET BACKSTOP AND BEYOND).

Next, take an unloaded pistol - first make sure the magazine is removed and, especially if loaded, placed in an area where it CAN'T be accidentally loaded into the pistol. After that has been done, lock the action to the rear, look into the magazine well to ensure it is empty, then look into the chamber to make sure it is also empty - it's nice to also use you fingers (feel) in conjunction with your eyes (THE RULE: TREAT ALL GUNS AS IF THEY ARE LOADED UNTIL YOU HAVE VISUALLY AND PHYSICALLY CHECKED TO ENSURE OTHERWISE).

Let the action go forward, and take a RIGHT-HANDED TWO HAND GRIP raise the pistol until you get a sight picture in the mirror, if you are left eye dominant, you should see that even though you are holding the pistol in your right hand, it has come to rest so that it is on your left eye. Remember you are looking at a mirror image.

Now, remaining in position, with the pistol on target, arms extended as in shooting, take a look at your right arm - notice how it angles across your body to the left?

Now, do the same exercise holding the pistol in the left hand. Check and see if the pistol again orients under your left eye. Again, remaining in position, take a look at your left arm - notice how it is straighter from the shoulder than when you were holding the pistol right-handed?

Mechanically, that is why it is ideal to shoot a pistol using the hand that reflects your dominant eye.

There is a work around, you could simply close your left eye and shoot right-handed. The problem is that you are then losing half your visual field. That may be okay if you are plinking, or shooting bullseye, but it seriously impacts your safety in a self-defense situation.

Again, my vote would be left eye dominant, shoot left-handed.

I've had the conversation outlined above with numerous student officers over the years, and on occasion with moronic Chiefs who issued left-handed officers right-handed holster because 'that's all we had.'

I'm right handed, and very left eye dominant.

I shoot right handed, both eyes open, lining the gun up in front of my left eye. It's no big deal.

I don't close one eye, or turn my head, or anything. You're talking like a 2" shift to line the gun up in front of the "wrong" eye. I just always did it that way from the first time I picked up a squirt gun pistol.

That said, I shoot long guns left handed.

This is not a universal answer, but the gun in the most dexterous hand is usually best. Some people never even know their eye dominance until they've already solved the problem. Long guns are a different bag, but I am RH-LED and still shoot right handed. I have taken multiple carbine classes from 0-200y left handed, with ambi and non-ambi guns and there's no reason for me to change.

I know there are lots of people who may challenge you on this and suggest you choose handedness based on your eye dominance, but given the number of top shooters who are cross dominant and the fact that many of the people who suggest this are not cross dominant, a "works for me" answer may indeed just be what works for you.

I don't believe you're going to be limited in potential (for your goals) if you proceed this way.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dark Star Gear

This is not a universal answer, but the gun in the most dexterous hand is usually best. Some people never even know their eye dominance until they've already solved the problem. Long guns are a different bag, but I am RH-LED and still shoot right handed. I have taken multiple carbine classes from 0-200y left handed, with ambi and non-ambi guns and there's no reason for me to change.

I know there are lots of people who may challenge you on this and suggest you choose handedness based on your eye dominance, but given the number of top shooters who are cross dominant and the fact that many of the people who suggest this are not cross dominant, a "works for me" answer may indeed just be what works for you.

I don't believe you're going to be limited in potential (for your goals) if you proceed this way.

---

Yep. I am RH-LED and just started out shooting RH using my left eye because using my right hand was far more natural. I had no idea til years later. It's not a big deal.

Thank you @HCM, @lwt16, @DDTSGM, @Noah,

One other fact possibly worth mentioning on the fine motor skills front is that I use a computer mouse exclusively right handed and am very awkward when attempting to use one left handed.

With both eyes open, it will likely be a moot point. I would let your instructor know up from that you're cross-eye dominant, let them see you shoot with either hand, and take their advice on how to proceed.

If your instructor is going to start you off with a "traditional" hard front sight iron-sight focused shooting style, you'll probably be better off gripping the pistol in your left hand to start.

The Glock Sport-Combat holster is your friend - it's inexpensive and COMPLETELY ambidextrous. https://www.amazon.com/Glock-Sport-C...%2C116&sr=8-43

Thank you, everyone. With respect to the eye-dominant opinions, I'll plan to start right handed, open to redirection from my first instructor. My instinct to grab any tool other than a pen or fork with the right hand is so ingrained that I fear I'd default to this in the high stress moment when I most need to do things right.