[Fox70]

I’m right handed and left eye dominant. I just close my left eye and shoot. No problems. But you need to be consistent. I range with my non dominant eye before the shot too .

 

[Drew Hause]

Unfortunately for some Fox, the Orbicularis oculi (the muscle that shuts the eye) is bilaterally innervated by branches of the facial nerve (cranial nerve VII) so many of us can not close one eye without involuntarily squinting the other eye, with significant distortion of the vision.

 

[Jim Tyner]

And IMHO it would be helpful to "focus" (pun intended) on the larger issue of visual processing rather than simply dominance, dominance shifting, and "cross-firing" - which are all processing issues.

Thank you Drew for "getting it". There is a lot more to vision than just acuity or a simple thumb dominance test. While eye tracking issues were well known, until the development of sophisticated measuring devices they couldn't be accurately measured and categorized so that effective therapies could be developed. Now that we have them, top level performers in a multitude of sports have been taking advantage of them for a few years now. As the technology proliferates it is reaching down to young athletes who have the dedication and motivation to be the best that they can be.

 

[Notch15]

Unfortunately for some Fox, the Orbicularis oculi (the muscle that shuts the eye) is bilaterally innervated by branches of the facial nerve (cranial nerve VII) so many of us can not close one eye without involuntarily squinting the other eye, with significant distortion of the vision.

Do you use some sort of blocker over your non-dominate eye?

 

[Drew Hause]

Notch: happy to share, but my experience most certainly may not reflect the experience of others.
Part of my problem was that my dominance could shift several times in one round of skeet or trap, but esp. with L to R targets. And I clearly see 2 golfers rather than the one on the tee outside our fence about 30 yards away.
Blinking my L (off) eye distorted by R eye vision.
A "bead blocker" just attracted by L eye. No (Ralph) I was not "bead checking".
A tiny occlusive dot exactly in front of my pupil worked at first

but then didn't, and trying larger dots or total occlusion attracted by L eye to the point that all I could "see" was the back of the occlusive If I shut my L eye and stared intensely at something with my R I could shift dominance back.

After 3 frustrating years of this, I now shoot both eyes open again, and somehow have subconsciously adjusted the leads when shooting low gun recreational skeet.
Trap is still a mess (as in 5-5-1arghhh!!-4-4), but with my hopeless flinch and previous TBIs I've mostly given up.

 

[Notch15]

Notch: happy to share, but my experience most certainly may not reflect the experience of others.
Part of my problem was that my dominance could shift several times in one round of skeet or trap, but esp. with L to R targets. And I clearly see 2 golfers rather than the one on the tee outside our fence about 30 yards away.
Blinking my L (off) eye distorted by R eye vision.
A "bead blocker" just attracted by L eye. No (Ralph) I was not "bead checking".
A tiny occlusive dot exactly in front of my pupil worked at first
View attachment 76217

but then didn't, and trying larger dots or total occlusion attracted by L eye to the point that all I could "see" was the back of the occlusive If I shut my L eye and stared intensely at something with my R I could shift dominance back.

After 3 frustrating years of this, I now shoot both eyes open again, and somehow have unconsciously adjusted the leads when shooting low gun recreational skeet. Trap is still a mess, but with my hopeless flinch and previous TBIs I've mostly given up.

Thanks.

Eye issues can be complicated; a one size fits all approach to fixing one's problem(s) is not the answer.

My translucent 12mm blocking circle on the left lens of my shooting glasses has worked for me.

 

[Scatergun71]

Try closing both eyes and use the Force young Skywalker!
Mike

 

[Drew Hause]

Didn't work either

 

[Scatergun71]

Notch: happy to share, but my experience most certainly may not reflect the experience of others.
Part of my problem was that my dominance could shift several times in one round of skeet or trap, but esp. with L to R targets. And I clearly see 2 golfers rather than the one on the tee outside our fence about 30 yards away.
Blinking my L (off) eye distorted by R eye vision.
A "bead blocker" just attracted by L eye. No (Ralph) I was not "bead checking".
A tiny occlusive dot exactly in front of my pupil worked at first
View attachment 76217

but then didn't, and trying larger dots or total occlusion attracted by L eye to the point that all I could "see" was the back of the occlusive If I shut my L eye and stared intensely at something with my R I could shift dominance back.

After 3 frustrating years of this, I now shoot both eyes open again, and somehow have unconsciously adjusted the leads when shooting low gun recreational skeet. Trap is still a mess, but with my hopeless flinch and previous TBIs I've mostly given up.

Yes, that's true. Your blood pressure can change your eye dominance in mid round of shooting. And the same thing occurs when you are playing golf as well. It can be a mystifying Conard sometimes explaining your ups & downs, but you will never notice the change in eye dominance.
Mike

 

[Diddle]

"...but once you see the target the gun has to be moving with the eyes or you aren't going to be shooting where you are looking."

“The gun shoots where it is pointed…”

Truer words have never been spoken.

 

[Scatergun71]

Thanks.

Eye issues can be complicated; a one size fits all approach to fixing one's problem(s) is not the answer.

My translucent 12mm blocking circle on the left lens of my shooting glasses has worked for me.

Yes, sometimes a translucent or opaque spot on the opposite eye lense can help, but if you are a right hander, when you look hard left the curvature of the eye can change perspective on the line of sight.
Sometimes when I'm shooting doubles, or True-pairs I wish I had eyes like a lizard, but darn it, I can still only shoot one target at a time!
Mike

 

[sera]

I have been shooting for money (mine and others) since the late 90's and for GLORY since 2003. And there are eye issues no matter what someone ELSE says.

After 2 eye surgeries , I can now shoot both eyes open and no "Dot." I do not recommend this for you.

 

[Notch15]

Yes, sometimes a translucent or opaque spot on the opposite eye lense can help, but if you are a right hander, when you look hard left the curvature of the eye can change perspective on the line of sight.
Sometimes when I'm shooting doubles, or True-pairs I wish I had eyes like a lizard, but darn it, I can still only shoot one target at a time!
Mike

"...when you look hard left..."

I try to never do that.

 

[the45er]

How the heck did I miss that discussion? I guess you gotta keep both eyes open around here!

I have been shooting a shotgun for over 60 years and sporting clays for 22 of them. In the last few years the most important thing I've done is taught myself to use both eyes at the instant I call for the target but as I move the gun to the break point, I close my left eye. The focus and clarity improvement is amazing (at least for me). I'm lazered in on that bird and all the left eye clutter disappears. My eye doctor says that there is nothing "wrong" with my left eye that would explain this. It may all be in my head, but that smoked clay or dove on my grill doesn't know that. This YouTube clip explains it much better than I can.

I enjoy delving into technical details about shooting and will not diss the OP. (Don't get me started on shot "clouds" vs two dimensional "patterns" LOL) However, I'm not sure I would know what to do with this clinical information about my eyes. In addition, at my age I'd have to say "so what, I'm never going to compete for HOA in the Nationals!

 

[Jim Tyner]

However, I'm not sure I would know what to do with this clinical information about my eyes.

The System can recommend specific eye exercises based on the results if a person wants to try to improve their vision performance. In rare cases, adjustments must be included in a prescription to correct the deficiency.

 

[BHorne]

Nonsense? Virtually every Major League Baseball team uses the RightEye System for continuing vision analysis of their players. The MLB player combines run all the potential draft choices through it. Because of the large assessment database, it can tell a team how each player compares to the average A, AA, AAA , major and elite major league players in their ball tracking ability. They then can have vision therapy regimens created to improve the deficiencies that are presented in the assessments.

I had a chat with the vision therapist for the Cincy Reds. He relayed an anecdote about a top rated prospect in their farm system who could hit every pitch except the ones over the middle of the plate. Using the RightEye System they were able to identify the deficiency causing that and correct it. His batting average went from .192 to .307. That bad road turned out extremely well for him.

You guys can beat a topic to death….Dominance will never impact your shooting or batting unless you aim. I don’t know any MLB players that aim. 1) How do you aim a bat? 2) I know how to aim a shotgun…don’t do it point it! This goes back to occlusion, I have never seen a MLB player occlude his dominant eye. Same goes for the best shotgunners too. I have decided most folks who want to be relevant can’t handle the truth!!

 

[Robert70]

I can agree with a lot of these comments. I have severe cataracts in my left eye. I wear a patch on that eye when I shoot (I don't target shoot) so there is 'no light haze from that eye'. My dominate eye is my right eye anyway. We all do what we have to do.

 

[Notch15]

You guys can beat a topic to death….Dominance will never impact your shooting or batting unless you aim. I don’t know any MLB players that aim. 1) How do you aim a bat? 2) I know how to aim a shotgun…don’t do it point it! This goes back to occlusion, I have never seen a MLB player occlude his dominant eye. Same goes for the best shotgunners too. I have decided most folks who want to be relevant can’t handle the truth!!

I don't see any similarities between shooting a shotgun and playing baseball. The last time I shot clays none were thrown directly at me where I had to wait to catch them, or thrown within feet of me where I had to physically hit it with my shotgun.

There can be eye dominance issues associated with your peripheral vision. Baseball players don't use their peripheral vision to catch or hit a baseball.

 

[BHorne]

I don't see any similarities between shooting a shotgun and playing baseball. The last time I shot clays none were thrown directly at me where I had to wait to catch them, or thrown within feet of me where I had to physically hit it with my shotgun.

There can be eye dominance issues associated with your peripheral vision. Baseball players don't use their peripheral vision to catch or hit a baseball.

Both visual sports unless Im missing something. I am right handed and left eye dominate and cataract getting bad in right eye. Use all the vision God has bless’d you with men and make the best of it and I promise you will break more targets and have more fun if you peel all the do-dads off your glasses and learn to mount and point your gun consistently.
You can occlude and its a quick fix for an aimer, however to max out your potential in any shotgun sport with moving targets you must point!

 

[Notch15]

Both visual sports unless Im missing something. I am right handed and left eye dominate and cataract getting bad in right eye. Use all the vision God has bless’d you with men and make the best of it and I promise you will break more targets and have more fun if you peel all the do-dads off your glasses and learn to mount and point your gun consistently.
You can occlude and its a quick fix for an aimer, however to max out your potential in any shotgun sport with moving targets you must point!

"Both visual sports unless Im missing something."

So all visual sports (what's not a visual sport??) are directly related to shooting clays?