can you fix eye dominance issues?

I think what you are seeing is normal. It's just a question of teaching you brain to ignore (or reduce) the input from the other eye, even when it is open.
Try this as an explanation of what you're seeing.
Take a sheet of 8 1/2 X11" paper, draw a single light line down the center from top to bottom of the long (11 1/2" side). This should be as faint as possible a line.

Now mark 2 spots on one edge about 2" apart, on 1" on each side of the line.

Measure & mark a cross hatch on the faint center line, one 2" in from the edge with the dots & another 3" further in than that.

Get some colored pencils, pens or whatever in 3 different colors, say red green & blue.

Pick a color, any color & draw 2 lines. One from the left dot through the 2" in cross hatch, and on to the far edge of the paper, now draw a second from the right dot.

Change colors & do the same again, but passing through the cross hatch 5" in.

Do a third colored set from the dots to the point where the faint center line cuts the far edge of the paper.

Notice anything? The colored lines intersect & diverge depending on where you have them meet. Kind of like the optical phenomenon you're describing isn't it?

What you need to do is train yourself to pay less attention to the "other" set of images, & the tapes, fuzzy patches & so on will help you do this without effecting everyday use of your eyes.:)
 
What you need to do is train yourself to pay less attention to the "other" set of images, & the tapes, fuzzy patches & so on will help you do this without effecting everyday use of your eyes.
Click to expand...

so i should shoot with the patch for a while, so that i learn to ignore what that eye sees, then when i shoot without the patch, my brain is already used to filtering that out? so i'm training myself to ignore the extra images my left eye creates.
 
Yep, either that or anything else to "teach" the eye to not be "co-dominant". Once its "taught" you can quit using the device, or just periodically re-use it if you find the problem starting to come back.
 
that's great. thanks a lot. i think i'm going to try that method. instead of worrying how to fix dominance, i can just learn to ignore the "bad" image. great advice.
 
I am not an ophthalmologist, but what you describe suggests to me that neither eye is really dominant. A dominant eye will cause a shooter to aim at what that eye sees with both eyes open, but there is only one image, i.e., the image the dominant eye sees. This is true regardless the side from which you are shooting a long gun, and, of course, with any handgun. Since you see two targets with both eyes open, it seems like closing (or covering) your left eye is a solution, but extensive practice with both eyes open may "train" your nervous system to rely of your right eye and - hopefully - virtually eliminate the image from your left eye. FWIW, I am cross-dominant and learned to shoot left handed over 55 years ago; I shoot all long guns and bows left handed, but I have difficulty eating soup with my left hand. :o
 
Don't look with non dominant eye

Okay, it will sound wacky but think about your eye focus. But here's an example that may help.

Make sure your firearm is unloaded and the action open. Point the firearm at the target and look at the front site with ONLY your right eye. Then line up the front site with the rear sight. Keep your left eye OPEN but don't let it focus toward the target or any of the sights. It is just like looking straight ahead with your left eye while you use the peripheral vision of your left eye to look to the left.

Being both RE and RH dominant it should come pretty easily.
 
This may not be much help but I'll post it anyway. I've been a diabetic for 45 years and as a result, have had eye problems with lots of laser work done. My eyes are "stable" now but the central vision in my right eye is not good and I am right handed - I always shot right handed (rifle) since I was a kid.

In shooting pistol, I shoot right handed but am not left eye dominant. Sometimes I shoot with my right eye closed, sometimes not. I think it is a case of you just have to find what works for you and your condition and then practice. At the range I sometimes shoot at, I had a RO say something to me when he noticed that I was closing my right eye - he was just cruous as to why I did sometimes. I'm finding that it all depends on what the lighting is whether I close my right eye or not. I think that you have to find what works best for you and then stick with it - with practice, you'll adapt.

In my case, I don't consider it a "handicap" - just a necessary "adaptation" from being right eye dominant to left eye dominant and then training myself to use the left eye while shooting right handed. Think of it this way . . . if you lost the sight in one eye, you would have to adapt if you wanted to continue to shoot so you just have to go with the flow.
 
I have the exact same problem. What I've found is that if I really take my time and concentrate I can usually get it all under control and eliminate the duplicate images. After a while it goes away. The other thing I've found is that it usually only happens indoors, which leads me to believe it's a bit of a lighting issue, at least for me. Outdoors I don't have the problem.

I have no idea what the long term solution is, if any, but would sure like to know. :) Two years ago my vision was perfect and then one day bang, I need glasses to read a magazine or see anything else with small print within arms length. The lower the light the worse the issue.
 
OK I just read through all of the post.from what I have read you haven't said for sure if you know that you are right eyed dominate.this test will help out alot for anyone who shoots a hand gun.

first you need to find a spot about 10 feet away from you .now with both eyes open you should look at say the door knob,but while looking at the door knob you should make an open fist ( being able to see through ) with the dominate hand ( the one you will fire the hand gun with )now you will/should be able to see the door knob with both eyes open.

now close the right eye ,know one way or another the door knob will either stay in the hole of your hand or move.if your hand moves over the door knob then you are left eye dominate with your right hand.if not then you
are right eye dominate.but you have to use the hand that will be fireing the hand gun for this to work.

when I asked about being able to shoot with both eyes open this test was given to me.I then found out that I was left eyed dominate.now when I fire useing my right hand I just move the pistol over to my left side and I am able to see with both eyes open.

I hope that I was clear enough at explaining the test.either dominate hand works with this test.the eye that moves the hand over the door knob is the dominate eye.if you need to PM me to get my number then do so.I can then tell you the test over the phone.
 
The other thing I've found is that it usually only happens indoors, which leads me to believe it's a bit of a lighting issue, at least for me. Outdoors I don't have the problem.
Click to expand...
I think it's probably more a "frame of reference" than a lighting problem.

Outdoors there is usually something way, way out there, your eye/brain kind of uses things you aren't actually looking at to create, for lack of a better term, a "visual environment". Indoors the distances are much closer, so the frame of reference in the environment differs.

Does the problem go away indoors if you look out through a picture window? If it does it's because you added more "clues" to the environment!:cool:
 
I'm left handed and right eye dominant.

I've just learned to shoot equally well with either hand, but for long guns I shoot off the right side.
 
eye dominance

Check the net for this article:

The cross-dominant eyes: corrections are easy -- by Massad Ayoob, in Guns Magazine /September 2007

Being cross-dominant is not a big problem in shooting, but it is hard for anyone who is NOT cross-dominant to understand, since there is no practical way (that I know of) to duplicate the phenomenon.

I am right handed and have a left master eye. I shoot handguns with the right hand and long guns off the right shoulder. With handguns, I use the left eye to sight with. (Out to 10 or 12 yards I have trained myself to shoot with both eyes open -- farther out than that and I have to close the weak eye.)

I use a Chapman stance (modified Weaver) that better brings the front sight of the handgun into alignment with my left master eye. I slightly shift my head to line my left eye up with the sights.

When shooting long guns, I close the left eye. This does cut down on peripheral vision to some extent, but I find it works a lot better for me than trying to shoot off the left shoulder, although I do practice bilateral shooting out to about 25 yards with both handguns and long guns because one never knows the precise nature of any situation one might find themselves in.

I do know some shooters with a cross dominant master eye who have learned to switch hands successfully.

I've taught police recruits at the local regional police academy off and on since 1988 and I have observed that it is fairly common to have a left handed shooter who had a right master eye who also shot right handed, even though they used the left hand to write with. I suspect that circumstance forces left handed people to develop a greater degree of ambidextrous skills, simply because almost all firearms and many other implements are designed for use by right handed operators.

With my particular vision circumstance, I cannot use occluded eye gunsights.

I have found a number of people who cannot close a single eye independently. This condition pretty much requires that all weapons be fired using the hand/shoulder that corresponds to their dominant eye, regardless of which hand has greater dexterity.

Being cross dominant is not a big problem in most circumstances, but everybody's vision and level of physical skill varies. Experimentation will usually find the best option to select.
 
I'm Slightly LE/RH Dominant and It's a Challenge

I learned, as a photographer shooting with a small SLR camera, that I'm "slightly" left eye dominant and "very" right hand dominant. Even though both eyes "were" strong my significant right-hand dominance really messed things up for things "other" than shooting with a small SLR camera. With small SLR cameras this "failing" was a PLUS because my right hand controlled film advance and shutter release while my left hand cradled the camera and focused the lens... PERFECT compromise because this kept my focusing eye out of the way of the film advance. Guns and sights/scopes are an entirely different scenario. These days both my eyes are showing significant weakness. Now I'm having trouble with "every task".
 
I'm 52 years old,I've always shot with one eye shut when usingf open sites and I probably will for the rest of my life.

I've tried and failed to fix that.

I need to use the method that works for me to hit the target.

One eye closed is the key for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top