KyleJ Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Hey all, I am currently collecting gear for my first season of USPSA. I have a 9mm TSO on the way and will be shooting in the limited division. I am a late bloomer to shooting sports and have a question. I am extremely right eye dominant. When I pick a focal point both eyes open and make a triangle around it with my hands, when I close my right eye it completely disappears from my field of view. When I view with my left eye closed it hardly moves at all. I've never been able to shoot any optic both eyes open, and find myself straining to keep my left eye closed after some time on the range. Does anyone have suggestions for exercises or possibly form to help in this regard? I'm not chasing points of championships, just looking to become a better shooter and have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rnlinebacker Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Hey all, I am currently collecting gear for my first season of USPSA. I have a 9mm TSO on the way and will be shooting in the limited division. I am a late bloomer to shooting sports and have a question. I am extremely right eye dominant. When I pick a focal point both eyes open and make a triangle around it with my hands, when I close my right eye it completely disappears from my field of view. When I view with my left eye closed it hardly moves at all. I've never been able to shoot any optic both eyes open, and find myself straining to keep my left eye closed after some time on the range. Does anyone have suggestions for exercises or possibly form to help in this regard? I'm not chasing points of championships, just looking to become a better shooter and have fun. Bring gun up to dominant eye with both eyes open. Some people will cant their head but it's easier to bring the gun to the dominant eye. Or, put some clear tape on your left glasses lens and keep both eyes openSent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jschroep Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 (edited) I think you are in the same position as me except with the dominant eye switched. You are going to naturally bring your gun up to your dominant eye. I am cross eye dominant (left eye is 20/15 right eye is definitely not 20/20 haha). I shoot pistols right handed but bring the pistol to my left eye. I ended up re-learning to shoot rifles and shotguns with my left hand That being said, are you able to get a clear sight picture both eyes open when bringing the gun up to your natural aim point (IE behind your right eye)? If not the tape solution is a good idea. I'd suggest finding a way to slowly get used to both eyes open. Out of curiosity are you left handed or right handed? Edited January 3, 2020 by jschroep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleJ Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 Right handed. I will practice bringing the gun up to my dominant eye and working both eyes open. I've shot archery my whole life with my left eye closed, but the stance there is quite different, you draw to your dominant eye and everything is very relaxed. When attending long shoots with my bow I have used a literal eye patch for my left eye, but that's a diciplin where you're stationary for every shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleJ Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 I just tried with my carry gun and even when I bring it up to my right eye (turns out this is how I've been doing it since I started shooting) and keep both eyes open, I lose the front sight post when I try to focus my vision. Right eye only, all is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Descartian Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 You will not be able to focus both eyes on the sight, use your dominant eye only. Try training your eyes to only sight with your right eye while both eyes open. A trick that I learned here was to put a very small piece of painters tape over the left lens of my shooting glasses. Put it over the spot where you would normally see the sight, that way you keep your peripheral vision but can not see the sight. You will eventually train your eyes to pick up the sight with your right eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perttime Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 You need practice. Start from dozens of repetitions and work up Right handed with dominant right eye is the simplest and easiest combination. With practice, you'll forget about the non-dominant eye. The dominant eye will do the aiming while the non-dominant helps you function in other ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 I'm right handed and weak right eye dominant. I will readily switch to my left eye if I can't pick something up with the right, which caused a lot of issues for me when starting out. I can't keep my left eye closed once the buzzer goes off, so I had to come up with a different plan. I regularly put a paster on my shooting glasses when I'm on deck, just enough to block my left eye from seeing the front sight under recoil. I can still keep both eyes open for transitions. Then I take the paster off and stick it on my earmuffs when I'm not shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intheshaw1 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 I used the tape method when I started. Bought a cheap pair of safety glasses and put clear tape on it that was slightly opaque. Just the tape dispenser variety and I put a few pieces right in the center of the left lense. This allowed me to still see out of my glasses but blurred my left eye enough that I couldn't focus on the sights at all. Not sure if it's the best method, but it's what worked for me. Still have those glasses and occasionally use them during dry fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perttime Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Lots of people have used the tape on glasses trick - at least temporarily. Worth a try if the weak eye seems to interfere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 15 hours ago, KyleJ said: when I bring it up to my right eye and keep both eyes open, I lose the front post. I'm confused. If you are right eye dominant and bring the sight up to right eye, the front sight should be clear ??? You shouldn't have to "focus your vision", it should already be crystal clear. What do you see before you "focus your vision" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleJ Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 19 minutes ago, Hi-Power Jack said: I'm confused. If you are right eye dominant and bring the sight up to right eye, the front sight should be clear ??? You shouldn't have to "focus your vision", it should already be crystal clear. What do you see before you "focus your vision" ? It's hard to explain, when I bring the sights into my field of view with both eyes open the front sight post becomes blurred/doubled. When I say focus my vision, I mean aligning the front sight post over my target. I brought it up with my optometrist and she did a couple basic exercises and basically told me my brain is using the majority of the information from my right eye and only a small portion from my left. If I draw using my right eye only, I am able to see my objective, bring the front sight post to my field of vision and remain clear. Like I said, it's hard to explain in words what I'm seeing. It's also totally possible I am doing something wrong. The extent of my training basically comes from picking up a fun a gun and enjoying shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinready300ex Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 That's weird. I'm right handed and I have 20/20 corrected in my right eye, and roughly 20/400 in my left. So my brain is getting basically zero information from my left eye. I don't have issues like you're describing. Like others mentioned I would try putting a piece of tape over the lens of your left eye and see what that does for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George16 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 (edited) 16 hours ago, KyleJ said: I just tried with my carry gun and even when I bring it up to my right eye (turns out this is how I've been doing it since I started shooting) and keep both eyes open, I lose the front sight post when I try to focus my vision. Right eye only, all is good. You’re experiencing the “ghosting” effect of looking at a close object having both eyes open since you haven’t trained your dominant eye to “focus” even when your non-dominant eye is looking at the same object. Your vision is not diverging into an object so you’re seeing a shadow when the non-dominant eye is open. Practice is the key. You can buy a Brock string from amazon and practice with it. Edited January 3, 2020 by George16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleJ Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I have a set of the WX shooting glasses with the replaceable lenses so I'm going to start by taping one while doing dryfire practice from now on. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that I've shot my bow with my left eye closed for the last 15+ years. With a bow all of my shots are stationary very rarely pressed for time. It's going to take training reps to adjust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleJ Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 6 minutes ago, Racinready300ex said: That's weird. I'm right handed and I have 20/20 corrected in my right eye, and roughly 20/400 in my left. So my brain is getting basically zero information from my left eye. I don't have issues like you're describing. Like others mentioned I would try putting a piece of tape over the lens of your left eye and see what that does for you. It's strange, I'm 20/20 in both eyes with my contacts in. Both eyes have the same prescription for lenses. I explained it to my optometrist and that was what she told me after a few exercises but she isn't exactly s shooting enthusiast so she didn't have the best advice for workarounds, haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleJ Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 8 minutes ago, George16 said: You’re experiencing the “ghosting” effect of looking at a close object having both eyes open since you haven’t trained your dominant eye to “focus” even when your non-dominant eye is looking at the same object. Your vision is not diverging into an object so you’re seeing a shadow when the non-dominant eye is open. Practice is the key. You can buy a Brock string from amazon and practice with it. This makes a lot of sense. When I look at an illuminated RDS reticle I get the same image, but dimmer of the reticle ghosted off to the side and slightly elevated. One eye open, all GTG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waktasz Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Little bit of tape on the left eye of the shooting glasses is a good way to train the brain to ignore the input from your left eye. Hopefully after a while you will be able to get by without it. Not sure if it will be before or after you ditch that 9mm limited gun. Time will tell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleJ Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 52 minutes ago, waktasz said: Little bit of tape on the left eye of the shooting glasses is a good way to train the brain to ignore the input from your left eye. Hopefully after a while you will be able to get by without it. Not sure if it will be before or after you ditch that 9mm limited gun. Time will tell If/when I get serious about chasing points I will undoubtedly get a .40, probably a 2011. Currently I'm only intending to have fun and get better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waktasz Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 Best way to have fun is to have gear that isn't clearly handicapping you but it's your score, not mine. Enjoy yourself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleJ Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 As soon as I get that first ammo sponsor I'll be switching over to 40, don't you worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perttime Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 So, the left eye, too, wants to see the sight - when it would be better employed ensuring that you stay upright and don't bump into things. I guess the tape trick might also help the left eye to ignore the sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 You can partially close your Left eye which still allows you to see peripherally out of that eye but not focus on anything. This is what I do which allows me to shoot with both eyes "Open" but still maintain a right eye dominance without seeing double sights or targets. I also want to point out that there are several top shooters in the practical shooting sports that fully close their non-dominant eye when shooting. If you can't figure out shooting with both eyes open, embrace the reality that you may simply need to shoot with only your dominant eye open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleJ Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 26 minutes ago, CHA-LEE said: I also want to point out that there are several top shooters in the practical shooting sports that fully close their non-dominant eye when shooting. If you can't figure out shooting with both eyes open, embrace the reality that you may simply need to shoot with only your dominant eye open. I didn't know this, I have always assumed most people shot both eyes open and that's just the way it was. I appreciate the help and suggestions from everyone. I have my first match coming up so Ive got lots of things to try! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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