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Two eyed shooting

6.4K views 22 replies 14 participants last post by  Shooting Sailor  
#1 ·
I have been shooting both eyes open for bout 8 yrs. I talked to some friends at my club was surprised by what I heard. When I shoulder my gun with both eyes open I see two ribs. To counteract this I pull the brim of my cap to block my non dominance eye from seeing the rib yet can still see the field with both eyes. Most shooters said they only see one rib with both eyes open. Also when I focus on an object on the wall with my pointer finger up, I see two fingers. I want to shoot registered targets this year but with shooting glasses, I block my rib with my cap. Also, a piece of tape on the glasses doesn't work, tried it and my eyes get really confused. Do I have no dominant eyes? Really want to shoot registered targets but can't shoot with glasses on.
 
#2 ·
Have you determined which eye is your dominant one? Many right handed shooters are left eye dominant, me included. I use a sight blocker that is attached to the rib up near the muzzle. It keeps my left eye from seeing the bead and has worked perfectly for me the past 30yrs. before that I was a one eyed shooter. I think ATA requires everyone to wear protective eye glasses, so shooting registered targets you will need them.
 
#4 ·
Sounds like you may of used all of a piece of tape through the center of the glasses maybe? When we are figuring out eye dominance with the kids we teach, we have them get into their shooting position on post 3 of a trap field and hold soft focus with the bead on the top edge of the house. We have them hard focus half way up the bank of the field, which is roughly 8 feet above the house while in shooting position (where you are shooting no doubt is different). We then look at their left eye (assuming right hand shooter) and make the bottom most edge of the tape line up with the top part of their pupal. I wish I had a picture of this because I am not sure this explanation translates to text very well. Generally speaking the bottom edge of the tape is down from the top edge of the shooters glasses about 1/4" of the way. You only want to block it the minimum amount that forces the brain to make the right eye dominant in a right hand shooter.

Unsure if you have tested for, or know how to test for eye dominance, but if not the way I have always done it is;
Extend both hands forward of your body and place the hands together making a small triangle (approximately 1/2 to 3/4 inch per side) between your thumbs and the first knuckle - example https://sammyhksmith.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/eye-dominance.jpg

With both eyes open, look through the triangle and center something such as a doorknob, another persons nose, etc. in the triangle.

Close your left eye. If the object remains in view, you are right eye dominant. If closing your right eye keeps the object in view, you are left eye dominant.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Dustin , visually you are perfectly normal. Seeing two barrels, when shooting with binocular vision( two eyed shooting) is norm and is called Natural diplopia .
That,s not eye dominance problem that most people think it is!
If you shot 8 years with two eyes is no reason to cut your binocular vision by placing a dot on the glasses.
Learn to ;work; shoot with the real barrel and ignore the ghost barrel.
Blocking the rib with the cap is the same thing like putting a dot on the glasses. Eliminates the ghost barrel but in the same time eliminates the two eyed
shooting as well despite the fact that the blocked eye is open.
Again, you don,t have eye dominance problem. Keep shooting both eyes open!

Bill
 
#6 ·
If you have a dominant eye, then one of youe eyes will line up with where the gun is pointing. It depends on how dominant your eye is, as to whether your brain can use the stronger picture of the rib, to align with where you are pointing, with both eyes open. If you are nondominant, then neither eye will line up with what you are trying to hit. I am nondominant, and use a small piece of tape on my glasses, that covers the bead, on my off eye. I shoot right handed, and block the left eye.
 
#8 ·
Everyone sees that, two images. It is a matter of where your concentration is, and at what intensity that level is. If it is only on the target which would be your main focus and not peripheral, that should not register consciously.

What I noticed is that if you use the opposite hand to line up with an object for establishing dominance of sight, that side becomes the dominant eye if you are really not fully concentrating on that far away object for a longer period of time. Therefore the above triangle method is recommended to show which eye is dominant because you are using both sides equally, and blocking the vision of one to reveal the dominant eye of highest concentration.

More than likely it will be the eye that focuses the best on that target also, I would think.
 
#10 ·
Errrr....if I point my finger at a distant object I see two pointing fingers in my peripheral vision. If I didn't I would deduce I was blind in one eye. If I look directly at my pointing finger (or barrels) I only see one finger (barrels). This is how the eyes work. They converge on the object being viewed.

As a simple test take a standard compact disc or CD. Pick a spot on the wall and holding the CD at arms length (doesn't matter which arm you use) position the CD so you can clearly see that spot on the wall through the hole. Now move the CD back towards your face keeping the spot on wall in the middle of the hole. The hole should come back to your dominant eye (assuming of course that have a dominant eye). Simples :)

If you are lucky (and typical) your left eye (as you are a leftie) will be the dominant one and this makes gun mount soooo much easier. If your right eye is the dominant one then you may need to put a small spot of translucent tape on your right lens (glasses) to trick the brain into using the left eye image instead. By using a spot which just blots out the bead, rather than blocking out the entire eye by shutting it, you still get the advantage of depth of vision and are better able to determine target direction and speed.

I really don't understand how you can pull your cap down to hide the second bead and still see the trap field with both eyes though??

My lad is left handed and left eye dominant but learned to shoot right handed (as I only had RH guns.....my bad) and he has managed to overcome his natural left eye dominance, when shooting anyway. he has since tried a LH gun and it felt totally alien to him so has suck with a RH gun.

TD
 
#11 ·
Can't shoot with glasses on? This one I don't get and I will go a bit further than that and say you shouldn't be participating in any shooting sport without protective eye wear. It is not a matter of if you get a serious eye injury but when - the odds are very much against you on this one. Aside from the safety realities, a decent optometrist can help you understand what your eyes are doing with respect to dominance and possible corrective measures. (glasses)
 
#13 ·
1. If you are going to shoot without glasses, you may as well leave out the ear plugs. That way you can end up blind and deaf. I actually can't believe there is a club that allows shooters to shoot without eye protection.

2. What's your average?

3. Two eyed shooting is not a necessity to shoot top scores and trying to shoot two eyes with cross dominance issues is a great way to stay in "B" class and never get past the 22 yard line.

4. Try taping your glasses this way. Reverse for left eye.

http://www.trapshooters.com/attachments/glasses-tape-jpg.306992/
 
#15 ·
I want to shoot registered targets this year but with shooting glasses, I block my rib with my cap. Also, a piece of tape on the glasses doesn't work, tried it and my eyes get really confused. Do I have no dominant eyes? Really want to shoot registered targets but can't shoot with glasses on.
Glasses are mandatory, so no comments there and you are not cross dominate unless you do the dominance test to confirm that

What I understand is that you want to get rid of the ghost barrel by blocking the rib from the non dominate eye with the cap.


Why you can,t do the same when you use glasses? Well, I guess is too complicated

You have tried tape and you get confuse.

Here is a solution that can eliminate the double barrel vision, fights cross dominance or cross firing( if any) keeping the two eyed shooting ( binocular vision)
as well.

Image


Is called XD solution. The blade blocks the ; off; eye to see the barrel but in same time the ; off;
eye can see the target. As a result the binocular vision stay in place and the eyes are rested
during the entire shoot.
 
#16 ·
Thank you so much for all the helpful advice. I wish I would have investigated this problem earlier. Apparently my struggles aren't only common but affect most two eyed shooters. I have since looked into Offeye and XD and will use these methods accordingly until I train my eyes to do what I want. The tape just doesn't seem to work for me.
 
#17 ·
To help you all understand my cap method. It won't work with glasses because the frame of the glasses, by my eyebrow line, only lets me pull my cap down to my eyebrow. I need to pull it down a little farther than that and offset it to inside of my non dominant eye to block the ghost rib. I apologize to anyone I offended by admitting I have shot without safety glasses. Maybe you can realize that I am trying to fix this problem and better myself and my safety.
 
#23 ·
What you are doing with the brim of your cap is what I do with my left eyelid.
In order to keep my left eye from occasionally taking over as the dominant eye, I just drop the left lid slightly (relaxed squint). This gives me full binocular vision, with full depth of field and field of vision being equal to having both eyes wide open, but having the left lid down forces the right eye to remain dominant.
In order that you contine to be able to wear your glasses, try mounting the gun and focusing on a spot on a wall, while using two eyes. You say you see the rib and a ghost rib when you do this. Now try dropping your right eyelid slightly, and see at what point the ghost rib disappears. It should be well before you notice any loss of field on your right side. If you practice this, both at home and while shooting, it will soon become automatic, and you won't have to worry about wearing your cap like a character in a rap video, or shooting without your eye protection.
 
#18 ·
You can't train your eyes to do what you want, but you can waste a ton of money trying.

The real problem as shooters age is transient cross dominance where eye dominance changes during the shot and the off eye takes over tracking the target. This results in the target aligned with your off eye and the barrel aligned with your dominant eye. As such, you have to not only block the barrel from your off eye, you have to block the target as well.
 
#21 ·
The real problem as shooters age is transient cross dominance where eye dominance changes during the shot and the off eye takes over tracking the target. This results in the target aligned with your off eye and the barrel aligned with your dominant eye. As such, you have to not only block the barrel from your off eye, you have to block the target as well.
This is exactly what happens to me. Occasionally on a left angle target my left eye locks on the target and my on shoulder right eye merely goes along for the ride. After the Miss I am sometimes vaguely aware of the black left side of the tube of my hooded fiber optic front bead but not the bead itself.