Is it possible to not have a dominant eye?

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JBrady555

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Earlier this week I had a thread called teach me to shoot with one eye shut which was basically me trying to figure out why I had so much trouble focusing on the front sight with both eyes open. I'm still having trouble with this. If I try to focus on the front sight with both eyes open I can't find the front sight in between the rear sights. Its like I'm having a cross eye dominance issue. The problem is that if I do all the eye dominance tests I come up with being right eye dominant and right handed. Also If I try to shoot left handed and find the front sight in between the rear sights with both eyes open I get an identical problem like I do when shooting right eye/right handed. What gives? Is it possible to not have a dominant eye? It seems like both of my eyes are battling for dominance. If I am doomed to shooting with tape on my glasses, isn't this the same as shooting with one eye open? You still lose your depth perception dont you? Any info on this problem I am having would be a big help, thanks.
 
It is possible but very rare. My son had the same issue. He could shoot a rifle both left or right handed with both eyes open but had problems with pistols. we had to put a patch on his shooting glasses.
 
I don't have a dominate eye either. I am also ambidextrous. I can shoot with either hand and either eye.....chris3
 
So I take it that you guys without a dominant eye either have to use tape on glasses or shoot with one eye shut? If its the same problem that I have then there is no way you could be focusing on the front sight with both eyes open, correct?
 
You could be farsighted or right eye not strongly dominate.
Try squinting just enough to shoot. Practice shooting alot. Eventually
It should come naturally without squinting. If that doesn't do it have your eyes checked.
 
I read your other thread and I don't think it's an eye dominance thing. Really your best bet is to hire a professional. Find a good pistol instructor, explain your issue and ask how he/she can help. They should be able to diagnose the issue fairly quickly and give you appropriate training and some drills to work on. It will be money well spent. I'm not trying to discourage you from posting and I'm certainly not denigrating any of the great advice in these two threads. It sounds like you have a lot of determination. When you work this out - and you will - I want to know how you did it. Don't stop posting and don't give up!
 
I do not have a strongly dominant eye, and my brain switches dominance between eyes constantly. What I have learned is that my brain defaults to using my right eye for distance work and my left eye for close up. I have also learned that these are 'defaults', and can be overridden based upon what distance I focus at first.

If you wear corrective lenses, you can get them set up for mono-vision, whereby one eye will be tailored for distance work and one eye for close up work. That is an easy way to compensate for variable eye dominancy. I tried it for a couple of years, and wound up reverting back to 'normal' correction for both eyes.

Since I am right handed and right eye dominant for distance work, what I do is focus first on the target, bring the gun up to eye level, and then bring my focus back to the front sight. This forces my body to use my right eye (distance focus) and with minimal practice I can stay righty-dominant. In my case, the key is to first focus on the target before trying to find the sights. Since that's probably a good idea anyway, it doesn't really seem much of a handicap. :)
 
JBrady555,

I read this post and a previous post of yours and I can sympathize. I too learned to shoot a shotgun first, and then a handgun - and I had many of the same problems as yourself. If you would be willing to listen to me, I bet I could lead you from the shotgun to the pistol pretty quick based upon the shotgunning skills which you already have - which I am sure are quite formidable.

The forst question I would ask of you is this: do you have a consistent pistol technique. I mean, I experimented with the Weaver and then the Isosolece stances, and then even figured out that I was holding the pistol wrong! Eventually, I chose on an Isoceles stance based on practice and experiences, and a pistol grip as explained by Todd Jarret (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4584332856867071363). Afterwards, I was able to train myself to see sight-picture, do it consistently, and do it very quickly.

As a result, I can shoot at a target 20 yards away very quickly and accuratly, and I don't even remember aiming - just like I did when I shot a shotgun.

Like a shotgun, I learned a pistol is a device you can shoot a million times, and if you are practicing wrong, then your just ingraining bad habits a million times over. Also, like a shotgun, the best pistol shooting is learned off the range - the range is just where you work out the small kinks in your technique.

Please let me know where you are at, and I can walk you forward from there.

NASCAR
 
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Everyone has a dominant eye. Keep both eyes open and point your finger at a far object with your arm fully extended. Keeping your finger still, close one eye then the other one a time without moving your finger. The eye that does not make the object jump is your master eye. The brain uses the master eye to focus the image and the non-master eye to add 3D information to the mental image.

I am left eyeed but right handed, so I learned to shoot right handed, primarily with shotguns. I keep both eyes open shooting with both shotguns and handguns. The handgun was easy since I just switch eyes, but that expalins why I was never much good with rifles and iron sights. My dad tried to get me to switch as a teenager, even with an Ithaca 37 shotgun that dischared out the bottom, but I never mastered the shotgun using my left shoulder. I am 59 now and still shoot everything right handed, just overcoming the rifle sight issue with a scope and closing my left eye.
 
The eye that does not make the object jump is your master eye.
Click to expand...
I can make that happen with either eye.
Just as some folks are ambidextrous, some may also be... "ambiocular" :D
 
I beleve I have the same problem, you are probably right eye dominate but only slightly. With co-dominance or near co-dominance where vision is the same or nearly the same in both eyes your brain when your try to focus your attention on the target says there's something blocking my view in the right eye and automaticly switches views to the left eye.
If I try real hard I can focus on my sight picture (with either eye) and shift my focus to the target and hold my view in that eye for a moment but I just can't hold it. I've found it's just easier to close one eye when I decide to shoot.
 
I can shoot with either hand with both eyes open, using the eye on the side that I am shooting with.......nothing to it.....chris3
 
I can shoot with either hand with both eyes closed, ......nothing to it.....
 
I shoot right-handed, both eyes open except with a scope. I can shoot left-handed just not as well as I can right-handed.
 
It's very important to find your dominant eye at an early age. I grew up shooting a shotgun and hitting very little because I am cross eye dominant. I didn't find this out until I was in my 20s. Using a red dot sight with both eyes open just doesn't work for me. BTW I'm ambidextrous...not worth a darn with either hand....:)
 
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