I know there will be arguments but this needs to be addressed, it's an epidemic. When I hear people ask or are told about eye dominance I cringe. A new shooter has trouble seeing the sights and someone suggests they have an eye dominance problem. I want to explode when I hear this! First of all, lets not get into whether or not it is a real phenomena. We simply cannot determine this because studies have not been done scientifically so forget that. I believe eye dominance is mislabeled, over used and most often should be thought of as eye preference, which is easy to change. Humans often make excuses for things that they fail at and often they only think they failed. Why would a new shooter believe they should be able to see through a sight properly on their first try? Surely they don't believe they should be able to hit a bullseye at 1000 yards on the first try. Likely because nobody told them how to and they just don't realize not knowing is normal. Please don't mention this myth and open Pandora's Box and give someone a complex for a lifetime.
For those of us with two working eyes, we see twice. One eye gives our brain information and so does the other. It is NOT the same information. Our brain processes this information and we see what we see without "thinking" about it. Try this simple exercise if you will. Place your hand, flat, between your eyes so that you can still see but your left eye cannot see to the right and your right eye cannot see to the left. If you are reading this screen you should be able to still read these words but a blurred transparency of your hand will bother you. Move your eyes without moving your head or hand and read the first letter on the first line which is on the left side of the screen. Sure you can read it. The transparent, blurred image of your hand is there but you can still read it. If you pick something on the other side of the screen you will get the same result. This blurred transparent image is the key. Ignore it, plain and simple. Trust me, you have enough brain power to focus on what you want to see while ignoring the rest. I have heard incredibly good shooters as a coach say that they believe the shooter actually has a very difficult time "seeing" from that eye. The quality of the information is not important yet, what is initially important is the fact that the shooter realizes it can be done. It is possible to conceive that there is someone out there that cannot read this page in its entirety while performing this exercise but I doubt it. Does this not prove that dominance is the wrong term to use and that we can choose which eye to use as we wish?
Knowing this, a shooter having difficulties seeing should practice this skill. Let's call it a skill because we need to have reliable control while maintaining a relaxed focus on our desired visual stimuli. Sorting information into the proper category is a very important skill for an advanced shooter. Controlling what you see so as to process that information properly into our trigger squeezing decision requires a great deal of effort. Not because it is difficult but because we are busy due to our expectations. A championship level shooter has a very busy brain. Remember though, we are talking about a new shooter and learning a single skill and their expectations should be very easy to accomplish. Baby steps, easy short term goals. Think about the mental stress a new shooter has when they try to do their best at something they know little about. Understanding and practicing which eye to receive information from is important. Simply focus on what you want to see and don't worry about the rest. Break the practice down to the very basics, just look at things from your sofa and you will know that it is possible. Now that you know you can do it, remember that you can. When it comes time to use this skill you will already be using other skills. Integration of two or more skills is actually another skill. No worries, it is easy. Why, because you recognize it. Be honest to yourself and understand where you are at. This enables you to set your next goal.
Cheers,
Rob Steele
For those of us with two working eyes, we see twice. One eye gives our brain information and so does the other. It is NOT the same information. Our brain processes this information and we see what we see without "thinking" about it. Try this simple exercise if you will. Place your hand, flat, between your eyes so that you can still see but your left eye cannot see to the right and your right eye cannot see to the left. If you are reading this screen you should be able to still read these words but a blurred transparency of your hand will bother you. Move your eyes without moving your head or hand and read the first letter on the first line which is on the left side of the screen. Sure you can read it. The transparent, blurred image of your hand is there but you can still read it. If you pick something on the other side of the screen you will get the same result. This blurred transparent image is the key. Ignore it, plain and simple. Trust me, you have enough brain power to focus on what you want to see while ignoring the rest. I have heard incredibly good shooters as a coach say that they believe the shooter actually has a very difficult time "seeing" from that eye. The quality of the information is not important yet, what is initially important is the fact that the shooter realizes it can be done. It is possible to conceive that there is someone out there that cannot read this page in its entirety while performing this exercise but I doubt it. Does this not prove that dominance is the wrong term to use and that we can choose which eye to use as we wish?
Knowing this, a shooter having difficulties seeing should practice this skill. Let's call it a skill because we need to have reliable control while maintaining a relaxed focus on our desired visual stimuli. Sorting information into the proper category is a very important skill for an advanced shooter. Controlling what you see so as to process that information properly into our trigger squeezing decision requires a great deal of effort. Not because it is difficult but because we are busy due to our expectations. A championship level shooter has a very busy brain. Remember though, we are talking about a new shooter and learning a single skill and their expectations should be very easy to accomplish. Baby steps, easy short term goals. Think about the mental stress a new shooter has when they try to do their best at something they know little about. Understanding and practicing which eye to receive information from is important. Simply focus on what you want to see and don't worry about the rest. Break the practice down to the very basics, just look at things from your sofa and you will know that it is possible. Now that you know you can do it, remember that you can. When it comes time to use this skill you will already be using other skills. Integration of two or more skills is actually another skill. No worries, it is easy. Why, because you recognize it. Be honest to yourself and understand where you are at. This enables you to set your next goal.
Cheers,
Rob Steele
