I've been reading the boards and doing some experiments in preparation for the wife and myself to attend our first AS shoot. I discovered that I am left eye dominate and have always closed the left eye and shot right handed. I am ambidextrous but always used my right hand for most things just to fit in. I've been shooting right handed for over 20 years. I tried shooting left handed and indeed my sight picture is better and I can do it both eyes open, but it feels sooo unnature and awkward to me(and bounces the brass off my nose). Should I start all over learning to shoot left handed or cover my left eye with a patch and build on the thousands of rounds and years of experience I have shooting right handed? I have never had any formal firearm training and know that I need to learn proper form and stance, but I'm pretty good at making the lead go where I want it too. With everything that I need to learn at Appleseed about form, do I just start all over-left handed or deal with my vision firing right handed? Any advice??? :-\
Stick with what you do and focus your eye on the front sight. I'm left eye dominant and right handed. I've shot right handed for over 30 years. It hasn't hurt me any...shot Rifleman my first time out. As Nickle says "shoot the fuzz, hit the fuzz."
Left eye dominate right handed here too.
That's how I chose my handle Xeyed.
Here is what I've learned on my Appleseed Journey.
If you have always closed your left eye and shot right handed, that probably feels the most natural. Even if the sight picture is better left handed, the important question is can you see the front sight clearly right handed? The aperture on the rear sight and the target should be fuzzy, and the front sight crystal clear.
You can only physically focus on one object at a time. Which means your best sight picture leads you to "shoot the fuzz, hit the fuzz." This is one of the secrets to tight groups.
You don't have to close or cover your dominant left eye 100% to focus on shooting with your right eye. Eventually, it will lead to eye strain which will impact your shooting session and maybe even cutting it short. By using an eye patch you block off the left eyes ability to process peripheral light and a sense of depth. Fortunately, all you need to do is prevent the left eye from focusing and sending confusing signals to the brain. An easy way to do this is position a strip of translucent scotch tape over the dominant eye's pupil area of your shooting glasses. The diffusion will prevent the left eye from focusing, but it will allow light and other peripheral information get to your brain. Which will make it easier focus on the front sight and reduce eye strain.
If you already wear glasses, you can pick up a cheap set of flip up sunglasses at your local discount store and tape those up.
I'm a firm believer in keeping things stupidly simple. There is a lot of material covered in the course of an Appleseed weekend. You will learn about the six steps of firing the shot, Inches, minutes and clicks and NPOA. And some good history discussion mixed in too. There will be enough new material running through your head, with out the need to make it more complicated by shooting off handed. And all these skills will work equally well for left handed shooters too. So you can experiment on your own after the shoot until you find the method that works for you.
The most important thing to bring is an attitude open for learning. The Appleseed instructors deal with a wide variety challenges every weekend. They will be your best source for the answer as they will have the benefit to see you shoot.
Have a wonderful Appleseed.
Thanks for all the advice {pm's too}. I will try it ! The only reason that I considered shooting left handed is that I am am truely ambidextrous [both sides of my brain equal] and that I paint cars [a fine motor skill] with both hands. It wasn't something that I tried to do it just happened. When I spray the left side I use my right hand, when I spray the right side I tend to use my left. It just felt natural to me. I think I'll stay right handed for now and try some drills on my own time left handed. The vision seems to be more of a problem for me with handguns than with rifles. Thanks again. :D