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Wife - eye dominance + shoulder injury...disaster?


marnold
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Hi guys,

 

Hoping to get some advice if possible?

 

I bought my wife a clay lesson this time last year in the hope that she would love it and want to come again and I would eventually gain a shooting buddy for weekend clay bashing! I have only used my new shotgun twice before rifle shooting took over and fancied getting out on the clays again.

 

Well, as expected she loved it to bits, shot well and came away wanting to go back again. Great, I thought, I knew having her try it would work!!

 

However, the following day she was in a lot of pain. She is petite and had been given a shoulder pad and was shooting with a nice little 20g O/U, but she had to shoot left handed due to an eye dominance issue (she wears glasses) picked up by the coach - which had caused an old injury with her left shoulder to flare up again.

 

So, that was that, she said that although she loved it, it wasn't worth aggravating her shoulder.

 

Can anyone suggest what can I try in order to help her enjoy clay shooting, without causing any more issues with her shoulder?

 

Many thanks in advance!

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Does she really have to shoot left handed. You don't really give enough information about her sight problem but if it is just a question of her left eye being dominant then she could do what I do which is shut my left eye as I shoot. Of course others blot out their dominant eye and that did not work for me. There are lots of views on what you should do and every one has merit but this is what works for me. She could then shoot off her right shoulder which could help with the left shoulder problem.

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Sorry, I'll elaborate a bit - her eyesight is not great so she wears glasses at all times. She struggles to concentrate and keep her left eye closed when shooting, especially on a scoped rifle - to the point where she has to physically cover her left eye with her hand! I have no idea why though - I thought everyone could wink!!!

 

She was shooting left handed on instruction from the coach, and whilst shooting had no discomfort, it was the day after that the shoulder started playing up. He said it would be easier to learn to shoot left handed than to try and correct her eye dominance?

 

So it would be an option to obscure the left lens of her glasses to force her right eye to take over? Would that make it more difficult for her in the long run?

Edited by marnold
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As Sian says is it just an eye dominance issue not any issues with sight in her right eye?

I am a bit left eye dominant as well but have to shoot right handed as I have been a rifle shooter for years and shooting left handed just doesnt work for me. All I do is keep both eyes open to acquire the clay and then close my left eye to take the shot, it works for me and I hold my own with my shooting friends whenever we go clay shooting any issues with hits are down to my variable ability.

 

Edit after your reply you can get glasses that allow you to blot out the eye required a few people used them at the ground I shoot at so this would be a good option.

Edited by Zetter
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I actually covered my lens on my glasses for a good while to try and help keep both eyes open but allow the right eye to take over but I didn't like it so I now prefer as Zetter does to acquire most targets with two eyes and then shut my left eye. Some targets I do start off with left eye shut. As I said there is merit in different merits just letting you know what I felt was good for me. I certainly did not want to change to left shoulder so that would not have been a good experience for me.

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I actually covered my lens on my glasses for a good while to try and help keep both eyes open but allow the right eye to take over but I didn't like it so I now prefer as Zetter does to acquire most targets with two eyes and then shut my left eye. Some targets I do start off with left eye shut. As I said there is merit in different merits just letting you know what I felt was good for me. I certainly did not want to change to left shoulder so that would not have been a good experience for me.

Brilliant, thank you very much for your input Sian, it is most appreciated :good:

 

We'll give the glasses a go and try shooting from the right shoulder to see how she gets on!

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Top Gun supply an "Eye Ocluder" which clips onto the frame of your glasses, takes away the dominant eye affect.

When not shooting the Ocluder flips up on its hinges.

For about a tenner it is well worth a look.

 

Where are you based?

 

Was it a Qualifed Coach that delivered the lesson?

 

It is hard to come to a firm conclusion on eye dominance and shoulder etc. without seeing the shooter in person.

 

Some good advice from Zetter and Sian, have not seen either for a long while hope they are both well.

 

Terry

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cross eye dominance issues are very common - more so in women than men. The way forward depends on many factors. Some peoples co-ordination off the 'wrong' shoulder makes that a significant handicap to getting good scores and one explores other avenues. Your wife's issues with her shoulder would rather preclude swopping shoulders as a sensible option. The flip up ocluder's work very well and do not require new glasses. Eyespots - or a bit of sticky tape can work well on a cheap pair of dedicated glasses. If it is only a slight bias from the 'off' eye then there is a device called 'easyhit' which effectively stops the 'off' eye seeing the bead. It is supposed to correct cross eye dominance but in my experience it will shift the dominance of central vision but I have had variable results from full cross eye issues. There is another very clever and effective device - although not a cheap fix - which attaches to the side of your gun and reproduces a second short rib to line up with the 'off' eye. This means you can shoot off the natural shoulder, with both eyes open, and the gun will point where you are looking. It folds neatly down on the side of the barrels for going in the gun slip. John Jefferies of ParazziHPX has developed it.

So don't give up just yet - there are lots of options to try and find out which suits her best and is most effective.

John

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Thank you both bakerboy and oldfarmer!

 

The occluder looks a good idea, definitely worth a go, thank you.

 

We are based just on the Devon/Cornwall border. She had her lesson with a professional coach - Bill Moussalli - an English open champion in the past I believe? He was very good and had my wife confidently killing birds.

 

In fairness, she didn't seem to struggle shooting left handed, it was just the pain the following day I want to address.

 

I'm keen to have her share in and enjoy a great hobby, without scaring her off!

 

Thanks again!

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Crossover stocks were popular years ago but then fell out of fashion - and if you have ever shot one you would know why - they kick sideways bruising the check something awful!! This is one of our regular shooters with a fine modern crossover stock which is actually very comfortable to use - but as you can imagine - it isn't a cheap fix and you would want to be very certain it was the right route to go down before investing this kind of money.

 

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Shooting when small is like going to the gym, its going to hurt at first but once you learn to mount the gun proper then it should get better.

Other options are a semi auto gun with 21g loads have virtually no recoil and thats what i shoot alot of. I have given up on large pads as i could not feel where the gun was and led to bad mount and causing more pain as the gun was in the wrong place so went over to a more cusioned recoil pad on the gun and a thin pad in the vest. I now can shoot 100 sporting with a sxs and dont have too much pain after.

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Some good advice from Zetter and Sian, have not seen either for a long while hope they are both well.

 

Terry

 

 

Thanks Terry, I'm well and enjoying my shooting thank you. Hope you are well and well catch up at A1 sometime this year.

Sian

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I'm like the other left eye dominants above,

 

I shoot off the right shoulder keeping both eyes open until just before firing........

 

Can I ask what size cartridges she was using?, a 28g cartridge through a 20g will hurt more than through a 12g,

 

Even a lightweight 12g with Comp X 21g cartridges would be a lot better for her

 

:shaun:

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Wow, thank you all for input and help - pigeon watch at its finest!

 

Shaun - that's a good question...I didn't actually think to ask regarding cartridges she was using, so that's a good point.

 

We have booked another lesson for a few weeks time and we are going to try shooting from the right shoulder whilst blotting out her dominant left eye.

 

Fingers crossed that will resolve the issue and I'll gain a new shooting buddy.

 

Thanks again all, I'm most grateful!

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I am recovering from a right shoulder operation, which at least, has been damned painful. I started shooting again around 3 weeks ago. I first of all used my Grandkids 28 bore with some 14 gram cartridges (thanks to Welsh W). I am unable to adapt to left handed shooting so shot off the right shoulder. I found lifting the gun harder than any recoil issue. As my shoulder improved I switched to my 20 bore and 21 gram cartridges, limiting my total shooting in any 1 session to 25 cartridges but again no recoil issues. I have just returned from a 200 bird driven day and shot alternate drives to a total of 4 drives in the day and some 40 cartridges using 25 gram cartridges. Although tired and a bit stiff around the shoulder, this was due more to holding the gun with barrels skyward whilst awaiting a shot, rather than recoil. So, if your Wife prefers to shoot right handed and that has been well covered, get some 21 gram (I used Eley CT plaswads) cartridges or ask the Instructor if she could try a 28 bore. I use a Yildiz 28 bore non ejector which I paid £350 for and it does the job well enough.

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My wife is also starting, and is in the same 'configuration' ie, small, with left eye dominance; and glasses. It took quite a while for her to get used to close the left eye when shooting with the right shoulder, but eventually she did it, and now is quite consistent. I've been trying to get her to now open both eyes when looking for the target, THEN close the eye, but it'll take a bit of work. In fact Saturday she shot 100, but at some point she must have lifted her head when shooting, and got whacked by the gun, so she has a big bruise on the cheek now!

Luckily she's quite keen on shooting, and the bruise seems to manageable with makeup so she'll soldier on...

Edited by buze
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