Eye Dominance / Shmominance

“The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities.”
-Shunryu Suzuki

The following statements have been debated to the rank of irritation: “You must aim with your dominant eye.” Or worse, “To shoot to your potential, you must keep both eyes open.”

Because no two people see alike, there is not a correct way to aim.

Experts who expound the you-must-shoot-with-both-eyes-open doctrine do so only because they can. If you are one of the lucky few that can shoot with both eyes open, and never get double vision, do it. The unfortunate majority, however, should experiment to discover their optimum visual plan.

I quizzed vision experts on this topic. One such expert went from beginner to master in 6 months! Optometrist Dr. Kerry Pearson assured me that vision is highly subjective. Just as a few can shoot a pistol effectively with both eyes open, many cannot and never will. After untold hours of experimenting, on myself and others, I know that is correct.

In 20 years of training and professional-level competition, I never stopped experimenting with this topic. As I got older and my target-to-sight focus speed became slower, continuing to experiment became vital for consistent success.

BE (left), most likely getting his ass handed to him by Tommy “Gun” Campbell, in the shoot-off at the 1981 IPSC National Championship.

I am right-handed and left-eye dominant, and always have double vision if shooting with both eyes open. The solution: Aim with my right eye, and either squint or close my left eye.

Then I came up with the tape. 

The right eye is the aiming eye in the following example.

Put a piece of transparent tape at the top of the left lens. Precise placement of the tape is critical. When in your freestyle shooting position, the bottom edge of the tape should just obscure the grip and pistol. Experiment until you get it perfect. (You can easily see with both eyes as you lower the pistol to move or change shooting positions.)

With the tape, the non-aiming eye can remain fully open, so the aiming eye’s pupil remains correctly dilated for the current light conditions. The benefit is quick, precise focus shifts. 

Closing the non-aiming eye causes the aiming eye’s pupil to open wider than it should be for the current light conditions, which if you can avoid, with the tape, is a good thing.

Before the tape, I shot well with my left eye squinted or closed. At the Steel Challenge, <INSERT LINK which is the ultimate target-to-target transition test, I could hold my own with the best.

To shoot cross-dominant, shooting right handed and aiming with the left eye, is not an issue. To align your left eye with the sights, just rotate your head slightly to the right.

At around 40, my right eye became noticeably slower to refocus from the target to the sights. So I began aiming with my left eye, which, fortunately, had retained a quick refocusing speed. (I taped the right lens, as described above.)

Never believe anything you read or hear. To figure out what’s best for you, experiment until you have no doubt.

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Comments are welcome, and all questions will be answered.

A new topic will arrive each Friday afternoon, in one of two categories. One will be on shooting, and the other will be on living. Or: how I learned to live from what I learned by competing.

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