Intermittent eye dominance

[Bigweed]

I know there's lots of posts on eye dominance but here's another one. Hope it makes sence !!!

 

I am right eye dominant but when mounting the gun my left eye sometimes takes other or i see the left side of my barrels (left eye) confusing the "picture".

 

Is there any training that can be done to enforce right eye dominance to allow me to shoot with both eyes or should I just stick with Magic Dot on glasses

Edited May 13, 2010 by Bigweed

[wymberley]

Hi,

I have this problem, always have. For quite a while I've had to wear prescription glasses and have an "aviator" pair which I keep for shooting: Has the advantage that you see with the glasses some snooker players wear but not to the same extent. I use the patch, and whenever I shoot whatever I wear the glasses and now it goes unnoticed. The trick is to keep the colour unobtrusive (ie, not black), as small as possible and positioned so that it has no effect until the gun comes into the shoulder thus maintaining 3D vision until the time you shoot.

I know that it's not universally popular but it works for me and as far as I'm concerned, that's all that matteres.

[HDAV]

Have you tried the spot on the lens of your shooting glasses to block the vision from one eye and force the other into use? I tried but my eye dominance is too strong for it too work.

[throdgrain]

I've got this problem off and on mate, and definately ON at the moment, I've gone back to an easy-hit sight, hoping things will improve.

[Bigweed]

Have you tried the spot on the lens of your shooting glasses to block the vision from one eye and force the other into use? I tried but my eye dominance is too strong for it too work.

 

 

Yes currently use magic dot and yes it works but was trying to find a way of doing without it so i can get the benefit of two "full" eyes - perspective and all that

[Bigweed]

I've got this problem off and on mate, and definately ON at the moment, I've gone back to an easy-hit sight, hoping things will improve.

 

 

Tried that and didn't get on with it - perhaps i didn't give it long enough.

 

I was wondering if there's any exercises you can do to stop the left eye seeing the barrels - improve right dominance and all that

[timps]

Tried that and didn't get on with it - perhaps i didn't give it long enough.

 

I was wondering if there's any exercises you can do to stop the left eye seeing the barrels - improve right dominance and all that

 

When I first started shooting I was left eye dominant & right handed. I did manage to train my brain to change eye dominance. It involves a lot of point at distant things (lampposts, pylons etc) every day. Swinging to the object left to right and right to left stopping on it & getting your finger to point with your right eye.

 

In my case I would just point at a distant object and shut my left eye so I knew the right eye was aiming at it. I would stare at the object with my left eye shut to get a mental picture in my mind of what it looked like aiming with the right eye. Then I would open both eyes and I would swing (slowly at first) away from the object then back to the object stop on it and dim an eye to see which was aiming.

 

At first I had to concentrate hard as the left eye would aim at the object first (left to right) go past this and stop when I thought the right eye was doing the aiming, or going right to left stop before the clearer sight picture.

 

After a while this became easier and easier to a point where I had two distinct sight pictures depending which side I was swinging from (central vision) where either eye would take over.

 

At one point I knew which eye was aiming at the object, now I am definitely right eye dominant.

 

It does take some time but theory is with repetition & concentration the mind subconsciously gets to know this is what you wanted and changes/reaffirms dominance.

 

Whilst shooting I also used a tru glow sight, so in the stand I would shut my eye and mount the gun to get the sight picture and then open both eyes drop the gun and call for the clay. The red glow into my right eye seemed to help.

 

It does take time and is not an easy quick fix, I was pointing at things and using broom handles or whatever I could pick up every day and just doing repetitions for a few minutes throughout the day.

 

I would also practice my mount at home using the ornaments as a guide.

 

If you are prepared to put the time and effort in then you should see something in a month or so and within 6 months you should be right eye dominant (I was strongly left eye so maybe less time for you). If you take a more relaxed approach then it could take longer or not at all.

 

So its just shutting an eye whilst pointing at a distant object then opening it and trying to get you finger to point at it with both eyes whilst slowly swinging to it, then shut an eye again to check you have the right sight picture. But you have to repeat this procedure daily. I don't do any pointing now so it seems to have worked, I do check before i shoot that it has not change though

 

It sounds like you have the central vision to right that I had for a while and I did overcome this.

I hope I have explained how I did it ok and good luck.

[COACH]

Try what timps says, it really can work but you have to be very determined, very, very determined.

[Salopian]

Timps,

That is a very good explanation.

Optometrists believe that eye dominance cannot be changed due to the way that the brain is wired up. We all know that electricians make mistakes!

I re-affirm that in my opinion and doing as Trimps suggests you can re-train the brain.

[Chard]

Timps,

That is a very good explanation.

Optometrists believe that eye dominance cannot be changed due to the way that the brain is wired up. We all know that electricians make mistakes!

I re-affirm that in my opinion and doing as Trimps suggests you can re-train the brain.

 

 

I thought it was well explained too.

 

I've shot with Timps for a while now and can recall the progress and the difficulties he's had with it.

 

It shows it can be done though

[John_R]

Thank you Timps, I'll be trying that too!

 

I find my left eye tries to take over when I get tired, and I never got on with spots on glasses or similar tricks.

[HDAV]

When I first started shooting I was left eye dominant & right handed. I did manage to train my brain to change eye dominance. It involves a lot of point at distant things (lampposts, pylons etc) every day. Swinging to the object left to right and right to left stopping on it & getting your finger to point with your right eye.

I am in the same situation but with a twist, my right eye is weaker than my left and needs a stronger prescription (I dont need glasses but could have them if i wanted) also i am strongly left eye dominant

In my case I would just point at a distant object and shut my left eye so I knew the right eye was aiming at it. I would stare at the object with my left eye shut to get a mental picture in my mind of what it looked like aiming with the right eye. Then I would open both eyes and I would swing (slowly at first) away from the object then back to the object stop on it and dim an eye to see which was aiming.

 

At first I had to concentrate hard as the left eye would aim at the object first (left to right) go past this and stop when I thought the right eye was doing the aiming, or going right to left stop before the clearer sight picture.

 

Having tried this the best i can do is get ghost image from my right eye so i have decided to try left handed shooting does mean i get a sort of ghost image of the breach if i look into fore ground but at range it looks better.

 

What settled it for me was using a laser http://www.arrowlasershot.com/shop/product.php?id_product=10 and seeing how far out i was with my right eye compared to left.....I'll see how it goes shooting leftie and if it doesnt work may try cahnging eyes (but thats a last resort as it may well effect my overall site)

[timps]

I am glad my explanation made some kind of sense.

 

When I first decided to do this I had no idea if it would work. I had read an article where the author said he had some success changing eye dominance with his pupils but it gave no methodology on how to do it. I had also read that dominance was nothing to do with the eyes and that it could change with age or fatigue and there was no physical reason why you were right or left dominant. With all the other bits I had read over the years I decided to give it a go and came up with my little routine.

 

I have no idea if it will work for everyone but it did for me, the people in the article and anni on here has had some initial success in changing his left eye dominance to central/right eye.

 

The hardest part for me was not changing dominance (as my shooting did not suffer as I was still dimming an eye whilst trying to change it) but actually getting used to shooting both eyes open after diming my eye for all of my shooting beforehand. It was like sensory overload I had no frame of reference in my sight picture memory bank.

 

It’s worth a try as its costs you nothing and the only downside is people wonder what the heck you are pointing at. But in my opinion you have to do it for a few minutes in the morning, at dinner & then a bit longer at tea time every day, if you just did it once or twice a week I don’t think you will see the benefits although I could be wrong. Also you have to give it time, it was 6 months for me before i felt comfortable shooting and even then i had the odd problem with it switching back. Once done it seems to have stuck with me so I just check it every now and then and it’s not altered back to date.

 

Definitely worth the effort, after an initial slump in scores they came back a lot stronger, this was the first time I had ever shot both eyes open so I expected some kind of upheaval. If you’re already shooting both eyes open then you will not suffer the same as I did.

Edited May 14, 2010 by timps

[timps]

I am in the same situation but with a twist, my right eye is weaker than my left and needs a stronger prescription (I dont need glasses but could have them if i wanted) also i am strongly left eye dominant

 

 

Having tried this the best i can do is get ghost image from my right eye so i have decided to try left handed shooting does mean i get a sort of ghost image of the breach if i look into fore ground but at range it looks better.

 

What settled it for me was using a laser http://www.arrowlasershot.com/shop/product.php?id_product=10 and seeing how far out i was with my right eye compared to left.....I'll see how it goes shooting leftie and if it doesnt work may try cahnging eyes (but thats a last resort as it may well effect my overall site)

 

The gost image is pretty much what i got at first, it then got stronger and stronger over time but my right is only a little bit weaker than my left so it might not work for you. I did try left handed shooting it did work, however after years of racing motorbikes & the associated crashing my left shoulder is goosed and did not like shooting 100 clays so it was my knackered body rather than anything else.

[Guest cookoff013]

i`ve got this problem,

i just close my left eye.

[throdgrain]

When I first started shooting I was left eye dominant & right handed. I did manage to train my brain to change eye dominance. It involves a lot of point at distant things (lampposts, pylons etc) every day. Swinging to the object left to right and right to left stopping on it & getting your finger to point with your right eye.

 

 

Good explaination mate and sorry to part quote your post, but I agree particuarly with this bit.

 

A few years ago I had a easy-hit sight on my Benelli, and it stayed on for years. However I never liked the look of it, and one day took it off. All seemed well, I believe my brain had been "trained" to look with the correct eye. Anyway, as time went on I found I was pulling my cap down a bit over my right eye (I'm left handed) and this was having the effect of making my left eye dominant as I wanted.

 

Anyway, a couple of years have gone by, and I've noticed my scores plumetting I've scratched my head about this for a while, and finally realised what it is - my cap is now pulled down SO FAR over my right eye that I'm lifting my head to see where the clay is coming from, then of course target lost Also with clays coming overhead from behind you - forget it. Of course at some grounds that dont change thier targets much this is less of a problem, as you know just where to look, but basically I'm almost looking through the slot in a helmet from a suit of armour!

 

Result? There's a new easyhit foresight on my gun today. I'm going to shoot with it for the first time on sunday. I don't expect miracles in one day, in fact I expect to do quite badly while I get used to it, but I'm going to stick with it and hopefully get back to where I was

[Cosmicblue]

i`ve got this problem,

i just close my left eye.

 

 

I'm the same - had a whole bunch of eye tests about 6 months ago - new to shooting in 2008 and aged 52 as well. The optician discovered that the dominant eye could change every few seconds which completely wrecks the brain's perception of depth of field/perception of angle - like sometimes I could see both sides of the barrells an instant apart....weird. I almost gave up lessons after 6 months....I had about 70 in total while I battled and my coach patiently worked with me.

 

I've cracked it now - wherever possible I shoot gun out of the shoulder - John Bidwell 'Move, Mount, Shoot' style (the DVD is worth buying and encouraged me to persevere). That way I have both eyes available for target acquistion - and when found and I'm on it I close the left eye. I'm probably never going to be a superb shot - started too late/have never pursued any kind of sport, ever but I consistently hit about 60% of ESP targets and I'm still improving, have some fun and go home happy

Edited May 16, 2010 by Cosmicblue