Shooting with both eyes open

[Hamster]

What is the perceived wisdom here on left eye dominant right handers? I've read conflicting reports and been given conflicting advice by different coaches / instructors.

A four hour lesson or small book will cover this, but as HDAV says :

Shoot left handed if left eye dominant.........shoot right handed if right eye dominant (or centre dominant and right handed)

 

 
This is easy before you've acquired muscle memory, not so if you've shot for years before starting on shotguns, then the choices can vary from dimming the master eye just before the final phase, a dab of vaseline on the right area of the glasses, shooting one eyed (silly) or as never gets mentioned in articles simply learn to keep both eyes open and shoot off your correct shoulder with the wrong eye !
 
You need to understand a little how the eyes V barrel V target relationships work but it is doable and very effective to the point you won't even be aware of it from month to month.

 

[shootinguru]

:fie:  Everyone on here is a shooting instructor!  true. :crazy:  

 

[Will Hewland]

Would an easyhit/ruby fibre optic sight not alleviate the problem of cross dominance?

Helps some people, but I worry that they make you look at the bead, which has its own problems. I think there is some personal trial and error to go through. See Hamster post!

 

[Bryn12]

Skybo it just takes time and work to get it right. [SIZE=13.63636302948px]Stick with it, you'll get there[/SIZE]

I'm not a coach, not even that good a shooter yet. I'm right eye dominant but have a confidence issue on Skeet high2 and high3 because my hold position means my left eye is the first to pick up the clay which feels 'odd' and in turn means I occasionally take my cheek away from the comb so I can align my right eye with the pick up point. I've only recently stopped 'dimming' my left eye just prior to shooting. I do find shooting Sporting 'gun down' eliminates the problem.

Would also +1 a trip to Ed Lyons.

 

[DavidJ]

When shooting both eyes open should you be looking at the target directly or should you be looking ahead of the clay at the lead you think is required?

 

[Bramble]

I tried with both eyes closed......no real difference !!...... :hunter:   :hunter:

 

[Skeet UK]

When shooting both eyes open should you be looking at the target directly or should you be looking ahead of the clay at the lead you think is required?

 

[Oldabt]

Looking for the target with two eyes open is accepted as the best way to judge distance etc and 'acquiring' the target, if you maintain a focus on the target there is nothing wrong with 'dimming' or even closing your left eye (Righthanded) as you are about to pull the trigger, especially trap shooting.

Feeling free to do this and not be frowned upon by the 'only one way' merchants is a step forward to finding a way to suit you and be certain in the knowledge there have been many superb shots who have done this before you.

There is more than one way.

 

[ehb102]

I found this set of images from http://www.gunsnstuff.co.uk/eye-dominance-2/eye-dominance-explained/. It helped me develop a consistent sight picture and feel like I knew where the bead was when I was looking at the clay. Of course there were some Eds involved in this process as well but YMMV. I still get picked up for looking at the gun occasionally though.

 

[EdLyons]

Cue people pointing their finger at something in the distance, looking back at the screen and and going "so what am I???"

 

[EdLyons]

NB, I really don't like those graphics, potentially rather misleading in my opinion...

 

[Skeet UK]

. Of course there were some Eds involved in this process as well...

You know what they say; Two Ed's are better than one

 

[Bryn12]

. I thought at first glance they were a mock up of some modern art thingy to be installed 'in a natural environment'

 

[timps]

When shooting both eyes open should you be looking at the target directly or should you be looking ahead of the clay at the lead you think is required?

There was a massive thread on an American shooting forum with some quite big names involved, after countless and countless and even more pages of debate and circular argument the consensus of opinion was errrrr *#@€ knows who was right...
Personally if I look at anything other than the clay on quicker or close in stuff I miss, on the far out or slower stuff the method of looking at the clay then looking where you want to put the shot just as you pull the trigger can work for me but I don't think it's something I do a lot of.

As far as the both eyes open I learned a superimposed dominance to shoot right handed from being left eye dominant.

 

[ehb102]

NB, I really don't like those graphics, potentially rather misleading in my opinion...

I found them useful in illustrating what a ghost image looks like when looking down your gun. That is the only thing I used them for. 

 

[Irishgunner]

I never see 2 guns or 2 clays? I know I used to see the side of the gun when my left eye was taken over, that can still happen the odd time but only for a fraction of a second, could it be that I'm shooting with monocular vision even tho I have both eyes open and that's why I never see 2 guns ?

 

[urbane1]

I was having the same problem, and tried closing my left eye, which helped. So I tried magic dots (a lots less mess than Vaseline), and these have really helped.

 

[Wonko the Sane]

It has been my experience FWIW that if I look at anything besides the target, I miss.  You shoot what you look at just like a stick and ball game you hit what you look at.

How some people do all that in-flight computing and analysis is totally beyond me.  See target and shoot it.  For me, more is less

besta luck

 

[ips]

Big +1

 

[Will Hewland]

I don't think anybody (who knows what they are talking about) will tell you to look at anything but the clay. But in sporting, you simply ain't going to consistently hit long crossers without appreciating, quantifying and applying a lead picture. So while you are looking at the clay, you need to "take in" where the muzzle is.