Starting over... What would you recommend?

I tore my rotator cuff in 2 places 2 years ago in my shooting arm and had to have the surgery plus rehab. 6 months after surgery, I shot a few rounds and it left me hurting for a few days so I talked to my doctor. He recommended leaving off all practicing for a full year and let me heal completely then work back into it. Well, it's March, the shoulder feels great and I've got a big itch to go workout and shake off a lot of rust.

I figure this is my chance to start over and practice without the bad habits like cross shooting.... I'm right handed but would aim out of my left eye.(Long story but I got my right eye fixed and it's as strong as the left eye now.)

Soooo.... what recommendations so you have for someone re-learning? My ego is out of the picture so I can go as basic as needed.

Hit me, I need it! I've got 2 new handguns and 3 rifles that need breaking in!

Right handed and left eye dominate is a common problem....one I have also.

On pistol...learn to shoot with both eyes open...when I say learn...just make yourself do it...it may take 300 - 400 rds in a day to get used to it

On iron sight rifles and shotguns its a curse because you are shooting across the barrel...You can adapt easier with the scatter gun

scoped stuff no biggie...only shooting with one eye anyway...

Or I guess you could learn to shoot left handed

both eyes open is good to learn and it helps me alot. I can't even close one when shooting a scoped now unless i really try.
Are you planning to compete?
Just start plinking with a .22lr first, but make sure you use a good grip technique. You might want to consider a few days of training with someone like Cliff to get back to basics and move forward from there. Training is key. Dry fire practice will help tremendous as well. Practice Practice Practice.
What ever you do, Don't go grabbing some high-powered Gun and just firing off a few round. no no no.
Good Luck

Yeah, getting with Cliff is something I really want/need to do. I've got to work my schedule so I can make the time.


Here's the odd thing, I've always shot with both eyes open. I got to be left eye dominate because for 30 years, I couldn't focus on a target with my right eye and I had to. Because of that, I learned to shoot rifles either right or left handed and comfortably either way.

Am I planning to compete? No, at least not in the foreseeable future, just want to be proficient & highly accurate. And yep, I look forward to as much practice as I can afford!

Practice dry fire like stated before. Run through the motions with drawing taking a shot reholstering drawing take a shot etc. Then draw shoot one target and the index and shoot another. Always maximize your range time and money by dry firing to start practice and dry firing at the end of practice. 300 plus rounds a day is nice, but if you cant afford it. Maybe 50-100 22s and 50-100 centerfire would be more than adequate.

+1 spend a day with Cliff....just do it

Right now I think as others have stated you need to do a lot of dry firing. Go slow and do it right the 1st time. Start good habits. Front sight should be clear target slightly fuzzy.

Four things to work on-
stance
grip
sight picture
trigger control

I recommend the .22 rf handguns. I have problems shooting with both eyes open. I had a brain tumor removed in 2004 and the nerves that allow the eyes to track each other were damaged. Unless I am looking straight ahead, I have double vision. I use an opaque occluder over the non-shooting eye. A piece of scoth magic tape on the shooting glasses over the non shooting eye would suffice. The occluder must allow light to enter the non-shooting eye. If light entering the non-shooting eye is blocked, it causes the shooting eye's iris to dilate to the size of the non-shooting eye. When the iris is at a larger diameter, the sharp vision in the shooting eye suffers. The technique can also be used with right or left handed shooters with cross dominant eye issues.

The Olympic Committee has determined that forcing a person to change the shooting style to accomodate dominant eye issues is not productive. This is only in stationary target shooting. Most shooters, if they are forced to change from right to left hand (for instance) will not do as well as with a proper opaque occluder.

Doug Bowser
Certified Pistol Coach
NRA and USAS

One thing I needed to add is I actually am right-eye dominate. The cross-shooting came from an old injury when I was a kid. Lasek surgery fixed that some years back and I feel myself wanting to use the right eye now instead of left. I was pretty accurate before cross shooting but not since the eye got fixed & that's why I'm work strictly from a right eye/right hand shoot.

Good advice in here, thanks all! I've been using snap caps this week to practice with in the house and it's getting more natural on the draw already.

And Cliff, I'm gonna be calling you soon to set up a time to go!

Great. Get well and we'll train soon.

I shoot one eye closed with everything (looking through sights). That is just me.........................

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