Should You Shoot Right Handed or Left? | How to Shotgun

Should You Shoot Right Handed or Left? Many people simply pick up a shotgun and shoot on whatever their dominant hand side is, but that may not be the best idea and in this video, we will tell you why.

The Basics

• Just like many other sports, shotgunning is a hand-eye coordination sport. If you can look at an object in the distance and point at it with both eyes open, you should be able to successfully shoot a shotgun in the same way.

• However, many folks still prefer to shoot on their dominant hand side even if it is opposite from their dominant eye side as that's what they've always done and it's 'more comfortable' for them. Check out our last video to find out why that isn't always the best strategy (WATCH HERE)

• It's as simple as this: If you know which eye is dominant, you will see the most success if you are shooting your shotgun on your dominant eye's side.   

I'm Cross-Dominant, So What Am I Suppose To Do About It?

• There are a couple of options for training yourself to shoot with both eyes open, and on your dominant eye side. First thing first: If you know your dominant eye, you should be shooting on that side, even if it feels uncomfortable at first. Your best option is to adjust your body accordingly because your eyes are your eyes. Fighting your eye dominance is a hard thing to do.
• One option that we would not necessarily recommend is the wink method. This is where you begin with both eyes open, with your focus on the target. Keep them open through your whole mount and point. As soon as you're about to shoot, wink your eye opposite of the gun to pull the trigger. This allows you to maintain data from both eyes to judge distance and speed through your whole mount but allows you to turn it into an aim as soon as you're ready to engage the target. We would not recommend this method because it's hard to do consistently, timing is a huge factor, and you're not really getting to the root of the issue, but it is better than one eye closed.
• Another solution would be to occlude the vision of your dominant eye to force the eye over your gun to take over. This can be done by putting scotch tape over your shooting glasses, or by using a special dot system. This allows you to maintain peripheral vision while forcing your eye over the gun to take over as the primary mode of focus. We know a very successful national trap shooter that does this and performs very well.
• The option we like best isn't necessarily the easiest, but in the long run, it is ideal. Switch to shooting on your dominant eye side. As we said, this may be awkward at first, but with a little practice and repetition, it will become second nature relatively fast.

Fighting your dominant eye is always going to be a challenge, don't fight your eyes. If you'd like more details, check out the prior episodes in this series and live Target Focused!