Dominant eye. New experience. Interesting.

[KSdan]

It has been discussed here before but thought I would post some brief thoughts on my current experiment on dominant eye and shooting.

I have been in archery for 40 years- trad specific for almost the past 30. I shoot right handed. I have considered myself "instinctive" as I do not see the arrow or the point.  When I can keep my head I can be a decent shot on game and even placing high in a few local 3-D shoots.
     
I have heard the dominant eye theories/discussions.  One thing I have noticed over the years is my dominant eye seems to fluctuate.  I even wonder if there are times in the heat of the moment if my eyes fluctuate- which would throw the arrow left or right (which has happened on game!). Today I was with a friend and hunting partner- he is also an eye doctor.  He took me in his office, gave me a little "vision" education, and we started experimenting.

Long story short- my eyes do fluctuate between left and right dominant.  To even make one eye clear and one blurry does not overwhelm the dominance to the clearer vision eye. Even in his office my eyes were fluctuating at times.

So- my Doc buddy tells me I should really try shooting with my left eye closed or patched.  It may surprise me.

I get home tonight and start the left eye closed experiment. Its early on, but I really am amazed at the difference of sight picture.  When I close my left eye- forcing right dominance, my right and left arrow placement is simply perfect.  I mean, I can not imagine how I could even shoot left or right as the arrow-in my dominant eye periphery is lined up on perfect windage. Without much effort out to 18 yds I was pretty much stacking arrows on one another.  The elevation feels a little awkward, but I am really intrigued.

I will keep you posted if you like.  Open to others thoughts for sure. . .

[Dirtybird]

Very interesting.  I've often wondered this myself.  Keep us informed on your progress.

[T-Bowhunter]

I am left handed.  I am right eye dominant and shoot a bow left handed.  I shoot a bow and pistol left handed and a rifle and shotgun right handed.  I always have to close my right eye when I shoot left handed.  I know that this is strange but I have shot this way since I was a little boy.  I am 52 years old now and feel its to late to change.    

[maineac]

I am right eye dominant, but know sometimes my brain seems to equalize the eyes when shooting and my arrows are off.  I wish I could sense it when it was happening. Might have to start squinting the left eye right before release.

[Mudd]

Thank you for starting this thread.

I now have some work to do, something to try.

I have this statement printed in very large letters and posted up on the wall in my living room.

"It is not necessary to believe everything you think."

I have found that if I believe what I think I sometimes limit myself.

If I believe "I can't" (whatever), then I will most likely prove myself correct.

God bless,Mudd

[damascusdave]

Read my first tag line to get my view on this matter...I corresponded for a while with Dr. Jay Kidwell and one thing he told me is that he spends about half of his shooting time experimenting with different concepts...good for you thinking, and operating, outside the box and for involving someone with a totally different level of expertise in the process

DDave

[katman]

When I am ready to shoot I will squint/close the left eye forcing the right to take over, usually takes a couple seconds, can then open left draw and shoot. Yes I switch dominant eye also.

[kenn1320]

Interesting, so when you shoot with both eyes open, you dont see the arrow, but when you close one eye you now see the arrow? Sounds similar to people who shoot opposite their dominate eye. What exactly was the test your eye doc was doing to determine your dominate eye? I suspect your not shooting your "mainly" dominate eye and closing it forces your open eye to be dominate.

[KSdan]

Kenneth- that is the interesting issue- my eyes really do fluctuate.  In a sense- both eyes are vying for dominance.  My doc buddy thought it was really interesting- and it even explains a lot.  I think this explains why I have never looked at the arrow shaft in my periphery as it just looks all cross-eyed (realize this has beent his way for 30 years of archery!). So, YES, when I close my left eye my right is forced to win the dominance and I see the shaft right under where I am looking.  Like I said originally- apart from a bad release or something- I am not sure how a guy could miss right or left based on sight picture.  I have never had this reference before.  

The tests the doc did were the typical dominance tests; hole in your two hands, holding a ring out, etc. my eyes would respond different to varied tests!  He then would compromise the vision on one eye and it was fascinating to see how my eyes would still fight for dominance.

BTW- my home was MI.  Grew up in Gaylord, early adult years in west MI.  Know many in the bowhunting community up there.

Dan

[kenn1320]

I supose its possible to have eyes that are so close to being equal that you could switch back and forth, and your eye doc friend would likely know for sure. I can focus with either eye and cause either one to be dominate on eye tests, without squinting. Just have to think about which eye I want dominate. That being said Im mainly left eye dominate and right handed. I shot well right handed, but made the switch to lefty and have zero desire to go back. lol I believe the guys that conciously gap can shoot non dominate eye cause they are purposely referencing the arrow and aligning it. Kinda like looking down a gun barrel. Just looking at the target and shooting, I found I had unexplained occasional flyers like you mentioned, which is why I made the switch.

[e alexander]

My daughter is that way. She is right handed, but left eye dominate.  She was consistently shooting left, so we tried a patch on her left eye and everything came together.  She can now close her left eye and shoot well.  From what I can tell, she can make her right eye take control, but it's not all the time.

She's tried a left handed bow, but had difficulty making the switch.  I'm not sure she wouldn't be better to switch to left handed, but for now we're working thru the eye issue.  The patch works well, but she would prefer not to use it.

[easyup]

I am always interested in dominance findings.  My dominance shifted sometime in my 50s taking me a while to figure out what was going on.  Due to back/neck issues I have been shooting left and right handed, alternating days and find I shoot only very slightly better on whole left handed.  Early on I closed an eye for the shot but now it is not required.  Shoot fully instinctive, my only concern is the usual form,tension, release, etc.

[Overspined]

Figuring this out is so helpful, especially with kids.  I am in the not so fun process of teaching my boy to shoot leftie, good thing he's 5 and they learn quick.

[Sirius Black]

I am like this too. I've been calling it 'eye neutral' for lack of anything better. I have gone back to my compound in frustration a few times, but have always come back to my recurve to give it another try. I've been using the new Beman CenterShot arrows with the wood grain appearance lately, and for whatever reason, I can see that shaft clearer in my secondary vision than I did my black shafts (Beman Hunters)and my shooting is improving. Good luck to you in your archery journey.

[Green]

I had battled this issue for quite awhile.  When at full draw (RH/RE), the string's position would cause my right eye to lose dominance to my left eye.  Arne suggested last year that I close my left eye......worked like a charm.  After the Rod Jenkins clinic last year, I returned to shooting with both eyes open, and just yesterday (when I switched back to 3under) I started closing my left eye again......it's amazing how much more detail I can pick up on the target.  The only issue is depth of field.....I have to come to final alignment with both eyes open to set my elevation, then once I'm a few seconds into applying back tension, I close the left eye....finalize my aim, and work the shot to conclusion.  

If you're eyes seem to be fighting each other, it's not going to hurt a thing to see if it helps you (especially as your eyes age).

[e alexander]

Green,

I've been wondering if three under would help this condition.  Seems like getting the arrow closer to the right eye would in some cases encourage it to become more "dominant".  

I plan to try this with my daughter.

[longbow fanatic 1]

Many years ago, I was hunting deer. I had a chip-shot at a nice buck and completely missed the deer. I was astounded because I had spent many hours practicing and shooting 3-D's, and I was a fairly decent shot (this occurred with a compound bow). Unable to figure out the reason for the miss, I decided that on the next deer, I would line by shot up with both eyes open. After lining up the shot, I would close my left eye to verify my point of aim. When I did this, I was amazed to find that I wasn't even "on the deer" with my sights. I have since discovered that I too have a fluctuating left/right eye dominance issue and must shoot with my left eye closed.

[Green]

Originally posted by e alexander:
Green,

I've been wondering if three under would help this condition.  Seems like getting the arrow closer to the right eye would in some cases encourage it to become more "dominant".

All I can say is try it and find out.  I'm actively trying to not close one eye anymore as I noticed in tournaments that I shoot with both eyes open.  One eyed at home and both open at tourneys may have been one reason I'm working through a really nice case of TP right now.     :D

[ripforce56]

I shoot right handed and am somewhat left eye dominate, but here is the thing I write , hold a fork, hammer, saw, etc left handed, do all sports bat, catch, tennis, basketball etc, all right handed! As to archery I shoot well right handed but this topic is interesting!

[Jack Hoyt 75]

Interesting. Never hear of such a thing.  I am RH shooter with LE dominate.  I will try closing left and see what happens.