How to go from using one eye to both?

[Bamboos51]

I spent the first 6 -8 weeks learning to shoot my 1st gun using my right eye only. I obviously made a big mistake and am now trying to switch to using both eyes. I was doing GREAT with just the right eye. Now I am really struggling with using both, everything is so blurry. I am doing better at 7 meters than 3. One of the guys at the range told me that they used to train military personnel with the same problem by taping over the right eye. He said it worked for them. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

[savannah]

I have tried to use both eyes and I just can't. I get double vision when try. I talked to my trainer about this and her advice was to use one eye if o have to and not worry about it. If you are hunting, it is nice to have that extra field of vision and light, but some of us are just not wired that way. There are some people who are right handed and left eye dominant. There is no way to change that either. You just adjust to what ou do best.

[Bugguts]

I have the same problem and got roundly criticized for it in my handgun class when I first started shooting because it eliminates your peripheral vision and in the case of multiple assailants, that can be a problem. I still don't shoot with both eyes open since I kind of squint my left eye but they do have these dots that you can put on your shooting glasses to cover the right or left eye that I am thinking about trying out. They are called Shooters Magic Eye Dots. Here's a link.

http://www.gungoddess.com/shooters-magic-eye-dots/

[Steph]

Originally Posted by Bugguts

I have the same problem and got roundly criticized for it in my handgun class when I first started shooting because it eliminates your peripheral vision and in the case of multiple assailants, that can be a problem. I still don't shoot with both eyes open since I kind of squint my left eye but they do have these dots that you can put on your shooting glasses to cover the right or left eye that I am thinking about trying out. They are called Shooters Magic Eye Dots. Here's a link.

http://www.gungoddess.com/shooters-magic-eye-dots/

Stan from TASC just put some masking tape on my glasses to achieve the same thing. I still shoot cross-eye dominant though, really difficult to overcome.

[movie zombie]

if the object is to stop the bad guy, hit the middle of the target, or take down game and you've found a way to do that w/o doing it the "proper" way, why worry about it?!

[C6H6]

I also have trouble using both eyes. Someone suggested that I turn my head slightly so the dominant eye is being used more. For example, swivel your head towards the left so your right eye is closest to the sights, and your left eye is facing 11 o-clock-ish. It helped me see the sights a lot clearer.

[BonnieB]

Not really clear on why this is so important, but I get the peripheral vision thing. When I first started shooting someone suggested keeping both eyes open, but it didn't work for me at the time.

If everybody thinks this is really important I'll practice it.

[ElDub1950]

Of course shooting pretty good with one eye closed is far better than shooting poorly with both eyes open.

But, according to a lot of trainers, it does become important in a high stress situation like defending yourself, because you will almost certainly not take your focus off the attacker, close one eye, refocus on your front sight, get your sight picture and then take your shot. You will most likely point and shoot. Without practicing with both eyes open, and practicing quick target acquisition your shots can be way way off. That made sense to me so I practice that way often.

A lot of practice can be done at home to help. At least for me it did. (insert safety disclaimer here). Pick a 'target' at the appropriate distance, start at a low ready position, quickly bring your gun on target, hold it, then close one eye and check your point of aim. repeat repeat repeat. You should start getting closer and closer to the correct point. Then practice the same at the range with live fire. I was practicing this just Monday. (B.B. may have noticed)

If you are consistently far off to the right or left you may have a cross dominance issue. Not hard to accommodate but that's a different story.

[savannah]

From what I have heard it is not likely that you will ever be able to train your brain to see the target correctly if you see double when using both eyes open. When I first started shooting trap I tried hard to keep both eyes open. I would always see two clay pigeons and would miss. Once I took my handgun training class, my trainer told me that it was unlikely that I would be able to use both, even though it is optimum. She likened it to trying to train a left eye dominant, right handed person to learn to be right eye dominant. It is just the way you are wired. Now if you don't have the issue of double vision, perhaps it is just a retraining thing. I Jane learned not to close my left eye all the way, but to squint it and use my right eye to aim.

[Horton Fenty]

I've given up on trying to learn to use both eyes. I've tried, I really have. My eyes seem to fight over which one wants control, focus jumps back and forth from one to the other. It feels like when your having a really hard time seeing the hidden image in one of those perception puzzle pics, something I've always had a hard time with by the way.

[movie zombie]

i'm right handed but suspect i am left eye dominate....and a further complication is that the vision in my left eye is worse than in the right.

as a kid i always shot my rifle left handed.........

as an adult i'm just confused........

[savannah]

Have you ever taken the simple test to determine eye dominance? I thought I was left eye dominant too. Turns out I was not.

[savannah]

Eye Dominance

If you haven't, here is a link.

[movie zombie]

yes, i've done several tests....but redid it....and once again, i'm left eye dominant and right handed.....but my left eye gets more correction with prescription glasses.

i have doubts that the bad guy is going to wait when i say "halt, i need to get my glasses and then we can proceed with your attack."

i need to be able to shoot w/o my glasses and accurately however which way i make it happen.

[BonnieB]

Zombie, I'm sure you're getting good advice from your teachers, but in your position, I'd try to learn to shoot right-handed right-eyed. I say this because I think its more important to see the target well, than to use your dominant eye. Assuming you're willing to close one eye.

Easy for me to say: I'm left handed and right eyed and shoot righty, but switching to left hand or left eye doesn't seem to make a big difference. I practice all four combinations, with a handgun.

One of my mentors told me "You don't always have good cover on your left side. Learn to shoot with both hands and both eyes. You may not be perfect with your off-hand or or off-eye, but you don't always get to pick your shot."

Lots of lefties are ambidextrous to some degree. I shoot different grouping shapes with each combination, how weird. But as long as I hit the target well, I don't care.

[sd_shooter]

Originally Posted by movie zombie

yes, i've done several tests....but redid it....and once again, i'm left eye dominant and right handed.....but my left eye gets more correction with prescription glasses.

i have doubts that the bad guy is going to wait when i say "halt, i need to get my glasses and then we can proceed with your attack."

i need to be able to shoot w/o my glasses and accurately however which way i make it happen.

I'm the same way, that is left eye dominant and right handed. Never had a problem.

My approach:
1) Focus on the target (probably mostly with left eye)
2) Point the gun at the target (both eyes open, gun in right hand, aim mostly with right eye)
3) Allow the sights to remain somewhat fuzzy, don't focus on them directly (just be aware of where they are)
4) Fire

Bad guy goes down every time. (Of course I'm just shooting at steel...)

[pennys dad]

keeping both eyes open takes practice but a good training aid is to cover one eye. an example: I wear glasses so I took the cloth i use to clean my glasses and covered my left eye. My mind reacted like i had one eye closed. Every time I went to the range i did the same trick until one day i noticed it was a default action to have both eyes open.

[fredridge]

laser sight

[ElDub1950]

Just cause no one has said it ... eye dominance ONLY matters when shooting with both eyes open.

[9mmepiphany]

I've run into this with several clients, so I'd like to offer a couple of observations.

1. Closing the non-dominate eye has some downsides:
a. it limits target awareness
b. it increases facial muscle strain
c. it causes a lost of visual acuity of the open eye as the brain perceives there exist a lower light environment

2. It is highly unlikely that you'll willingly close either eye in a high stress situation, it is much more likely that both eyes will widen

I shoot with both eyes open, I just don't pay conscious attention to the image from the non-dominate eye. This is usually trained, much the way we train a lazy eye, by obscuring that eye. We usually do this with translucent tape.

[BonnieB]

Originally Posted by pennys dad

keeping both eyes open takes practice but a good training aid is to cover one eye. an example: I wear glasses so I took the cloth i use to clean my glasses and covered my left eye. My mind reacted like i had one eye closed. Every time I went to the range i did the same trick until one day i noticed it was a default action to have both eyes open.

Yay! Great idea.

[masameet]

I'm right-handed but shoot left-handed because I am left-eye dominant. And I think initially I might have had a problem siting the front site and the target with both eyes. But I got over it and learned to concentrate on the front site, with the target's red bullseye behind it, using both eyes.

And I just thought this up. If you find yourself closing one eye to site with a handgun, will you do it with a bolt, nail or match as well?

1) take a small but long bolt, nail or match and hold it between the hands
2) simulate holding a handgun and have only the tip of the bolt/nail/match showing
3) site down the hands to stare at the tip

Can you do so with both eyes open or are you closing the weak eye even in this minor exercise?

If you can see the tip of the bolt/nail/match with both eyes open, then seeing the front site/tritium or phosphorescent dot against the target is probably a matter of convincing yourself you can do so with both eyes open. And how do we get good with guns? Right, lots of practice with front siting and keeping both eyes open, sometimes without even firing a round.

[minichnk]

Originally Posted by pennys dad

keeping both eyes open takes practice but a good training aid is to cover one eye. an example: I wear glasses so I took the cloth i use to clean my glasses and covered my left eye. My mind reacted like i had one eye closed. Every time I went to the range i did the same trick until one day i noticed it was a default action to have both eyes open.

Which is your dominant eye?