Can't figure out my dominate eye!

[rufunky]

OK, so this has been bugging me. I did the little test where you make a triangle with both hands holding it away from your face while looking through the center and bringing closer until its covering your non dominate eye.

Well every time I do that I end up covering my left eye. But when I line up my site I can only focus using my left eye. When using my right eye I go cross eyed.

Anyone else experience this?

 

[GSG]

OK, so this has been bugging me. I did the little test where you make a triangle with both hands holding it away from your face while looking through the center and bringing closer until its covering your non dominate eye.

Well every time I do that I end up covering my left eye. But when I line up my site I can only focus using my left eye. When using my right eye I go cross eyed.

Anyone else experience this?

It means you're left-eye dominant. When you bring your hands down like that, you will bring them down over your dominant eye, not your non-dominant eye.

I've seen right handed shooters who're left eye dominant that basically just tilt their head to line up the sights, but I'm a rightie with both, so I can't help you much there.

Some others should be along soon to help.

 

[ateamrob]

here is an easier trick and this is how I teach my Officers to know what their dominant eye is.

with both eyes open point to something small on the wall like a mark or a light switch and keep your finger pointed at it. Close one eye. Then close the other eye.

whatever eye is on target with your finger is your dominant eye. Whatever eye is off is not.... that simple...

Piece of cake.

I am left handed but right eye dominant

 

[rufunky]

here is an easier trick and this is how I teach my Officers to know what their dominant eye is.

with both eyes open point to something small on the wall like a mark or a light switch and keep your finger pointed at it. Close one eye. Then close the other eye.

whatever eye is on target with your finger is your dominant eye. Whatever eye is off is not.... that simple...

Piece of cake.

I am left handed but right eye dominant

Great method, but for some reason with either eye closed I'm still on target with the spot. I feel like a retard.

 

[11chaos]

A-Team has a good tip there.

Right Handed and Right Eye Dominant. However in a pinch I can shoot with my left hand and left eye and still hit my target at close range

 

[11chaos]

Great method, but for some reason with either eye closed and I'm still on target with the spot. I feel like a retard.

Then you are one of the lucky ones. Not everyone is this way. Now if you get poked in the right eye you can still shoot the with your left.

 

[rufunky]

Also, when I do the finger pointing method my finger is not in focus. Is this normal? Am I trying too hard ?? lol

 

[szaino]

1. Make the triangle with your hands at arms length and focus on something with both eyes open.

2. Have someone else cover up right eye. If item still inview then you are left eye dominant.

3. Repeat step 2 except have someone cover up left eye. Object will disappear from triangle. Again because you are left eye dominant.

Only one eye focuses on an object.

 

[GSG]

here is an easier trick and this is how I teach my Officers to know what their dominant eye is.

with both eyes open point to something small on the wall like a mark or a light switch and keep your finger pointed at it. Close one eye. Then close the other eye.

whatever eye is on target with your finger is your dominant eye. Whatever eye is off is not.... that simple...

Piece of cake.

I am left handed but right eye dominant

Awesome Rob, +1 to you for sharing! This is a lot easier to tell someone how to do then the hand-triangle thing I was taught.

 

[ateamrob]

well there is certainly nothing wrong with the hand triangle as that works well too and I used to do that one with people as well but a few years back when I was at Glock (armorer/instructor) recertification school the Instructor "Mike Blount" taught me that and I was blown away at how simple and effective it is.

now for the lucky SOB that says to me, "both my eyes are on target with my finger pointed and one closed," well..... I want to buy you a beer because your one of the few gifted ones out there.

 

[ateamrob]

Also, when I do the finger pointing method my finger is not in focus. Is this normal? Am I trying too hard ?? lol

its not supposed to be. Its like the rear sight of a handgun. The rear sight should be somewhat blurred and the front should be more focused.

I think you may be trying too hard. Just quickly point to the object on the wall and you should be right on. Keep your finger there and close each eye one at a time and it should be painfully obvious what eye is off. Its the "point shoot / instinctive shooting" method that lot of schools now days teach from 15 (some say 25 and closer but I aim at 25) yards and closer when trying to teach shooters to engage with both eyes open. You just bring your weapon up and engage just like you are pointing at something. The same idea for when deciding what your dominate eye is.

again..... maybe you are seriously one of the few gifted ones that does not have a dominant eye. I dont know....

 

[Chuck Would]

OK, here's a question or two....

Do you wear corrective lenses? Have you recently gotten new glasses?

I find that it makes less difference right after I've gotten a new 'Script.

 

[Blitz1]

here is an easier trick and this is how I teach my Officers to know what their dominant eye is.

with both eyes open point to something small on the wall like a mark or a light switch and keep your finger pointed at it. Close one eye. Then close the other eye.

whatever eye is on target with your finger is your dominant eye. Whatever eye is off is not.... that simple...

Piece of cake.

I am left handed but right eye dominant

Cool

 

[Cabinetman]

As I teach students in my pistol class, I come across some that are right handed but left eye dominant or the opposite. What I suspect is that the right handed people who are left eye dominant are really "closet lefties" meaning that they were taught to write with their right hands even though they were really left handed. Still, they flounder when asked to use their left hand when left-eye dominent. They really only have two choices that are practical. First, they can learn to shoot lefty using their dominant eye. Second they can learn to use their non-dominant eye and shoot righty. There's no harm in that except that they'll have to work really hard to get good scores if they shoot competively.

There is a third option that is not a good one to practice although I've seen it occur. That is to shoot cross-eye dominent. That is to use your left eye when holding the handgun in your right hand or the other way 'round.

There is a well known actor who play a cop named "Horatio" on CSI Miami. Watch that show sometime and pay attention to him when he pulls his fake gun. He's clearly siting that pistol with his left eye even though he's right handed. It can be done but it's not an efficient way to shoot because it's hard to shoot both hands when having learned that technique.

Ultimately we should all be almost as proficient with our weak side as with our strong side. You'll never know if you're ever called upon to use your weak side. Today most modern handguns are ambidextrous so it's not that hard to do. And, if you've never tried your weak side, you may be really surprised as to how well you actually do! Because you haven't practiced with that other hand, you have no muscle memory to hurt your targeting. It's a good chance to relearn how to shoot all over again.

Finally, you can only focus on your front site or your target. It's impossible to do both. With practice you'll learn that. Forget about the rear site and just put the 'pumpkin on the fencepost" with your dominant eye and the same hand and you'll be successful. Poor practice won't help, however, so it might be helpful to have a good instructor watch you as you shoot and help correct your deficiences.

Rome

 

[ateamrob]

As I teach students in my pistol class, I come across some that are right handed but left eye dominant or the opposite. What I suspect is that the right handed people who are left eye dominant are really "closet lefties" meaning that they were taught to write with their right hands even though they were really left handed. Still, they flounder when asked to use their left hand when left-eye dominent. They really only have two choices that are practical. First, they can learn to shoot lefty using their dominant eye. Second they can learn to use their non-dominant eye and shoot righty. There's no harm in that except that they'll have to work really hard to get good scores if they shoot competively.

There is a third option that is not a good one to practice although I've seen it occur. That is to shoot cross-eye dominent. That is to use your left eye when holding the handgun in your right hand or the other way 'round.

There is a well known actor who play a cop named "Horatio" on CSI Miami. Watch that show sometime and pay attention to him when he pulls his fake gun. He's clearly siting that pistol with his left eye even though he's right handed. It can be done but it's not an efficient way to shoot because it's hard to shoot both hands when having learned that technique.

Ultimately we should all be almost as proficient with our weak side as with our strong side. You'll never know if you're ever called upon to use your weak side. Today most modern handguns are ambidextrous so it's not that hard to do. And, if you've never tried your weak side, you may be really surprised as to how well you actually do! Because you haven't practiced with that other hand, you have no muscle memory to hurt your targeting. It's a good chance to relearn how to shoot all over again.

Finally, you can only focus on your front site or your target. It's impossible to do both. With practice you'll learn that. Forget about the rear site and just put the 'pumpkin on the fencepost" with your dominant eye and the same hand and you'll be successful. Poor practice won't help, however, so it might be helpful to have a good instructor watch you as you shoot and help correct your deficiences.

Rome

Outstanding post..... 100% agreed

 

[wahsben]

here is an easier trick and this is how I teach my Officers to know what their dominant eye is.

with both eyes open point to something small on the wall like a mark or a light switch and keep your finger pointed at it. Close one eye. Then close the other eye.

whatever eye is on target with your finger is your dominant eye. Whatever eye is off is not.... that simple...

Piece of cake.

I am left handed but right eye dominant

This is the method I use. It is very easy to do.

 

[rufunky]

Ok, so when I point with my right finger my left eye is on target and when I point with my left finger my right eye is on target. My Girlfriend tried the same and said her right eye was on target either way.

EDIT: I tried with both fingers pointed like a gun and I could not cover the target. It's like my eyes are fighting for the right to focus. This is weird.


Chuck Would, no I do not wear glasses or contacts.

 

[Knob Creek]

Hold a pencil up in front of you and line it up with something. Now cover one eye. If the object is still in line then that is your dominant eye. If its not then the other eye is dominant.

 

[KMaurer]

Great method, but for some reason with either eye closed I'm still on target with the spot. I feel like a retard.

Sorry, but this is impossible. Either one eye or the other is lines up with finger and the target. They only way they could both be is if you could look through your nose and other eye with one of your eyes to see your finger and the target. A lot of people subconsciously readjust their finger or shift their head in order to see the target when they change eyes, which is why I find the first method to be better.

Now you need to understand that the fact that one eye is dominant doesn't mean that your vision is better in that eye, or even as good. It simply means that your brain prefer using that eye's image to that of the other eye. If the difference in vision gets significant enough, the brain will usually shift to using the better eye. It can still, however, continue to use the eye with poorer vision when that difference may be critical to shooting. I had surgery on my dominant eye a few months back, and the vision in that eye is still terrible compared to my non-dominant eye. My brain still insist on using it as the dominant eye, even though it's essentially possible to get a clear sight picture. Out at Front Sight shortly after the surgery the vision in my dominant eye was even worse, but the only way I could get a clear sight picture was to completely block the vision in that eye and shoot the course with only my non-dominant eye.

Ken

 

[Supermoto]

you can also put scotch tape on your shooting glasses over dominate eye to get the brain use to using the weak eye

 

[Half Cocked]

Sorry, but this is impossible. Either one eye or the other is lines up with finger and the target. Now you need to understand that the fact that one eye is dominant doesn't mean that your vision is better in that eye, or even as good.
Ken

There are people who do not have a dominant eye.

 

[BOBKATT]

I personally do not have a dominant eye. And therefore I see two guns. I just shoot the one on the left.

 

[The Village Idiot]

All these fancy-schmancy schemes to figure out which eye is dominant. Just do what I did and poke your left out with a sharp instrument. Right eye dominant!

 

[Secesh]

Ok, so when I point with my right finger my left eye is on target and when I point with my left finger my right eye is on target. My Girlfriend tried the same and said her right eye was on target either way.

EDIT: I tried with both fingers pointed like a gun and I could not cover the target. It's like my eyes are fighting for the right to focus. This is weird.

I have the same problem. If I try pointing at something across the room then I see two fingers, blurred. If I focus on the finger I'm pointing with then the spot across the room is doubled. I gave up trying to figure it out and just use the left since I shoot left handed.

 

[Ham Slam]

Great method, but for some reason with either eye closed I'm still on target with the spot. I feel like a retard.

are you cross-eyed?

 

[ateamrob]

All these fancy-schmancy schemes to figure out which eye is dominant. Just do what I did and poke your left out with a sharp instrument. Right eye dominant!

good one

are you cross-eyed?

how bout lazy eye

 

[KMaurer]

There are people who do not have a dominant eye.

Not relevant. Everything I said still holds. People without a strongly dominant eye will align with one eye the when they test, and possibly the other eye the next time they test. It's still impossible to align with both eyes. It's not about physiology or neurology, but simple geometry.

Ken

 

[Half Cocked]

It's not about physiology or neurology, but simple geometry.

Ken

I see your point!

 

[Tooth]

I am a left eye dominant right handed shooter. I can also use my left hand pretty well with most things (no jokes please). I have very little shooting experience, (just with freinds and with two courses that I have taken) and am still waiting for my ltc (don't ask). I have tried using my left hand, but am waiting until I get some experience to really experiment and find what works for me. I doubt this was helpful, but it is an issue I am also having. If anyone knows of an instructor that is right handed and left eye dominant I would love to hear from them.

 

[Bob P]

As I teach students in my pistol class, I come across some that are right handed but left eye dominant or the opposite. What I suspect is that the right handed people who are left eye dominant are really "closet lefties" meaning that they were taught to write with their right hands even though they were really left handed. Still, they flounder when asked to use their left hand when left-eye dominent. They really only have two choices that are practical. First, they can learn to shoot lefty using their dominant eye. Second they can learn to use their non-dominant eye and shoot righty. There's no harm in that except that they'll have to work really hard to get good scores if they shoot competively.

There is a third option that is not a good one to practice although I've seen it occur. That is to shoot cross-eye dominent. That is to use your left eye when holding the handgun in your right hand or the other way 'round.

There is a well known actor who play a cop named "Horatio" on CSI Miami. Watch that show sometime and pay attention to him when he pulls his fake gun. He's clearly siting that pistol with his left eye even though he's right handed. It can be done but it's not an efficient way to shoot because it's hard to shoot both hands when having learned that technique.

Ultimately we should all be almost as proficient with our weak side as with our strong side. You'll never know if you're ever called upon to use your weak side. Today most modern handguns are ambidextrous so it's not that hard to do. And, if you've never tried your weak side, you may be really surprised as to how well you actually do! Because you haven't practiced with that other hand, you have no muscle memory to hurt your targeting. It's a good chance to relearn how to shoot all over again.

Finally, you can only focus on your front site or your target. It's impossible to do both. With practice you'll learn that. Forget about the rear site and just put the 'pumpkin on the fencepost" with your dominant eye and the same hand and you'll be successful. Poor practice won't help, however, so it might be helpful to have a good instructor watch you as you shoot and help correct your deficiences.

Rome

But it MUST work because on TV H can hit a sniper yards away with his 3.25" barreled pistol! Dude, I saw it!