Shooting from the other side

[SwampFox]

After off hand shooting with the RWS 34 for about an hour this morning, my groups let me know that I was getting tired.  I didn't want to stop shooting so I decided to switch hands.  I've shot right handed my entire life (over 35 years) so I didn't expect much.  After squeezing the trigger with my left finger, I was surprised to hear the "tink" of 1" spinner, and even more so to hear it on the next three shots as well.   Makes me wonder if I should have been shooting "lefty" all of these years and if I should continue to do so.  Anyone else thought about switching hands?

[Oldgringo]

Did you switch eyes, too?

[phantomshtter]

I just know what happens if I foolishly try to throw a ball of any sport type with my left hand, it is not something I would want ANYONE other than myself to witness.  VERY awkward, queer  looking and embarrassing!  I'm not sure I would even know what to do when I switched hands, I highly doubt it would favor me.  Perhaps you're ambishooterous?

[bbv13]

I'm predominantly right handed but I do lots of things left handed like shooting a rifle and bow. I'm a carpenter by trade and run a saw, drive nails with both hands. I'm also left eye dominant and that may be why left handed doesn't feel weird to me? Check you eyes to see which is dominant. All you have to do is cut a small hole in a piece of paper and look through it while focusing on a door knob or something. Wink you right eye and see if you can still see the object. If you can you are left eye dominant and should be able to shoot better left handed.

Bryan

[daveb50]

Shooting leftie is different than trying to throw a ball, which I also not so good at with my left. I have shot my airguns before with my left hand, just out of curiosity. Shooting leftie was not as hard as I thought it might be, especially from a rested position with a rifle. Pistols were a little harder, as I tended to pull to the right more when squeezing the trigger, noticeably worse if shooting without a rest. Probably just need more practice disconnecting the trigger finger from the rest, as I have done with the right. Give it a try sometime JR, you just might surprise yourself.

[Slavia]

I have been a hunter safety instructor for several years now, and it is common to have a couple of kids that are cross-dominant - i.e., left-eyed and right-handed (or the other way around).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocular_dominance

[amb5500c]

I shoot either way. Mostly lefty, but not scared to switch if situation arises.
Richard

[Chaffyn]

A decade ago I nearly cut off all the fingers on my right hand.  For six months It was in
a cast.  It wasn't long (out of necessity) that my left hand took over.  I ended up writing
beautiful script left-handed.  To make it legible I had to write mirror image -- that is, right
to left and backwards.

Today most of the function in my right hand has returned.  I don't drop my coffee cup
anymore.  My fingers don't close all the way.  Some of the tendons were never repaired.
If I get a splinter in the tip of a finger I feel it in an entirely different place.  In the winter
my right hand gets very cold.  But my left hand is absolutely functional and I can almost
play guitar.  Almost.  And my right hand can certainly gently pull a trigger.

In art school the professors made us draw with our "off" hand.  That, as it turns out, was
when we truly began learning to draw.

I will try shooting left-handed.  Good idea.

[phantomshtter]

Some incredibly interesting stuff coming from this post.  I gotta say it's amazing the ability to adapt and transition one to another for some.  I'll give it a try, tomorrow I'll shoot a group right then left handed.

[dancergene]

and i thought that i was different.  i do everything with my right hand except throw a ball and boxing. throwing a ball with my right hand is definitely lady like and in boxing i lead with my right hand and the power is in the left hand. had the 16 year old grandson over yesterday for a couple hours of shooting and i noticed that he cocks the under-levers with his right arm while i use my left. never thought about that before.  and for fun we would switch rifles every now and then and that makes you stop and think. tx200 and gamo cfr both under-levers but different breach loading, no bear trap on the cfr and no auto safety. finally got to use the illuminated reticule on the scopes when the sun went down. kinda cool.

[vinenator]

in the military we had to learn to shoot both left and right. shooting around a barricade or reverse prone with the opposite hand felt awkward but  once you got enough shots under your belt it wasn't too bad. of course this practice was in case you had to return fire and the only way to do so was to shoot around, say the edge of a building. I just recall being slow in lining up shots and getting yelled at, but now, practice that all you want, targets and nutters don't return fire!

is there a match event that requires that you shoot both ways? that would be a good reason to train.

[Bullit]

Check to see if you are left eye dominant.
Right handed guys converting to lefty isn't totally uncommon.  Shooting doesn't require much athletic motor  skill, so it's not a tough physical conversion.  I shot right handed as a kid, until I went into the military.
Us "lefties" do a lot of stuff "righty"...like golf...mainly based on necessity, so it's just as much exposure to the situation, as it is physical make-up.

[SwampFox]

bbv13 - Just tried the dominant eye test that you suggested, (it was nice to do something air rifle related at work! ).  Turns out that I am left eye dominant.  So I think I'm going to try to switch to shoot lefty.  Figure that I'll do it for a week or so and see how it goes.  Maybe in two weeks I'll do a left vs right shoot off.

[SwampFox]

Thanks for all of the replies!  Shot again tonight and while it felt awkward mechanically shooting left handed mentally it did not seem so awkward.  Being able to shoot a rifle with either hand would solve the problem that always seem to happen to me when I'm sitting with my back against a tree and a game animal appears 90 degrees to my right and presents a shot.  Plus maybe I'll be able to convince my wife that I now need a left handed air rifle !   

[Sfttailrdr46]

A decade ago I nearly cut off all the fingers on my right hand.  For six months It was in
a cast.  It wasn't long (out of necessity) that my left hand took over.  I ended up writing
beautiful script left-handed.  To make it legible I had to write mirror image -- that is, right
to left and backwards.

Today most of the function in my right hand has returned.  I don't drop my coffee cup
anymore.  My fingers don't close all the way.  Some of the tendons were never repaired.
If I get a splinter in the tip of a finger I feel it in an entirely different place.  In the winter
my right hand gets very cold.  But my left hand is absolutely functional and I can almost
play guitar.  Almost.  And my right hand can certainly gently pull a trigger.

In art school the professors made us draw with our "off" hand.  That, as it turns out, was
when we truly began learning to draw.

I will try shooting left-handed.  Good idea.

Most people can relearn to do just about anything with either hand back in the late 70's tangled with the business end of a chain saw ,lost the use of my right (dominant hand) for 18 months while the damage to my forearm healed. Still can't play the piano but couldn't before either so no loss there 99% usage back in the right hand

[phantomshtter]

From the title I thought this was gonna be a thread about airgunning ghosts. 

[daveb50]

LOL.