How to close only one eye?

[lvlanhar]

I am right hand dominant and my right eye is stronger of the two, but I can't close only my left eye. I am able to squint my right eye. When I shoot I resort to using my left but would rather use my right and stronger eye. Are there any techniques that I can use to train my left eye to close? Thanks.

[FuzzyBrows]

i shoot with both eyes open. better peripheral vision. its hard to explain but when aiming down my sights, my right eye (being dominant) would focus on the front sight with a little blur on the rear while my left eye simply sees everything on my left side as usual. the weird thing is because my left eye is seeing the left side of the gun and my right eye is looking down the sights, using them together makes the vision of my hands and my gun to 'ghost' a little bit because both my eyes are seeing two different side of the gun. but because my right eye is my strong eye, my brain is going to shift its focus on that eye (down the sights).

EDIT:

heres a good practice. since you cant close only your left eye without closing your right. aim down your sights with your dominate eye (unloaded of course) while covering your left eye with your left hand. after getting a clear sight picture with your right eye, uncover your left eye. hopefully you'll still be able to focus on the sights.

[RickyB]

Moose, I've got the exact same biological issue----right handed & left eyed. I for the life of me can't close my left eye and the very few times I tried shooting a rifle right handed told me that I couldn't hit a barn if I was locked inside of it. So I just shoot r/handed rifles lefty style. When I was rifle shopping last month I was considering buying at least one lefty rifle, but refrained from doing so since operating the bolts with the left hand just feels wierd. And weak. So I just bought a righties as they feel very comfortable and user friendly to me.

And like you, when our big NRA guy took me to the range a couple of months ago, he gave me some very odd looks when I started firing his 10/22 and his single shot lefty style. And actually hit what I was aiming at......

[Draankol]

Staples...

J/K, of course. If you want to work on the muscular mechanics of learning to close one eye vs. both eyes, I think all you can do is practice. Like learning to snap or anything your body is not used to. You have to train your muscles to do what you want.

I still can't raise only one eye brow, but I am determined to get it before I die....

In the meantime, the eye patch or a little tape on your shooting glasses can help train your right eye for shooting. Its a pain, I agree, but its like anything else in life, if you want to do something, you might as well learn the right way to do it.

Practice. Concentrate on the smaller muscles on your face and remember, you're the boss, they will do what you tell them to do, you just have to learn how.

[Will Goes Boing]

If you can't close your left eye, then most likely your dominant eye is your left eye. I'm cross eyed dominant, but I can close either eyes. I know people who are left eye dominant and cannot close their left eye only to save their life. I don't know how you're determining that your right eye is your stronger eye, but you might want to try shooting with your right eye closed and see how you shoot. Just remember to not tilt your head. Keep the pistol and your head straight up and down, but just move the gun over.

[kmca]

Hummm, I seem to remember from a genetics class, not being able to "wink" is an inherited trait, just like being able to roll your tongue.

[lvlanhar]

Thanks everybody, I shoot rifles left handed and pistols right handed. I think I am going to just stick with this because it's how I am most comfortable. Will I consider my right eye stronger because I have better vision in my right eye than my left eye.

[1911su16b870]

You can learn to close your non-dominant eye...it is only time and effort on your part.

Get a red dot and co-witness it with your irons. Now shoulder the long arm strong side, both eyes open until you start seeing your red dot. Now work on closing the dominant eye and you will see your irons come into view. Now do that for 30 days every day and you will be able to see the irons with your non-dominant eye.

[Will Goes Boing]

Thanks everybody, I shoot rifles left handed and pistols right handed. I think I am going to just stick with this because it's how I am most comfortable. Will I consider my right eye stronger because I have better vision in my right eye than my left eye.

There is a test to find your dominant eye.

http://homestudy.ihea.com/shootingskills/03dominanteye.htm

Just because you go get your vision tested at the optometrist and they say your right eye has better vision doesn't mean you're right eye dominant for shooting.

[ch3ck5ix]

OP - My cousin had the same issue as you. He could never get used to shooting with both eyes open, but definitely shot better with non-dominant eye covered. He went to the optometrist but couldn't get satisfactory fix -- until he saw one of the optometrists use an occluder while checking his eyes. His solution was to use a clip-on (flip-up) occluder to his shooting glasses over his non-dominant eye. I don't recall where he got it from but I think he said it cost ~$7.

[Pacifik]

Another eye test you can do is poke a 1-2" hole in a sheet of paper, focus on a distant object, bring the sheet into view keeping focused through the hole and move paper towards your face. The dominant eye will be the one that is unobstructed as the paper is moved towards your face.

I can aim through both, but Usually aim with right and watch with left. Might have something to do with a prexisting condition. I really need to get eyes checked someday.