Eye Dominance

[Johnny McCrae]

By all of the tests I am right eye dominant. Several years ago I had Cataract surgery in both eyes. The results were incredible. I now only need glasses for reading small print. It seems that my right eye has now become my weaker eye. I have had Glaucoma for many years and it is controlled by eye drops. Recently I've been told there are some spots in my right eye that cause it to be the weaker eye.

When I hold a pistol in my right hand and close my left eye, the front sight is a bit blurry and hard to see at times. When I hold a pistol in my right hand and close my right eye, the front sight is very clear.

If I put my right thumb on an object and close my left eye, my thumb stays on the object. If I reverse the procedure and close my right eye first then put my right thumb on an object, when I open the right eye my thumb stays on the object. I have tried shooting this way and I am more accurate. I've been told not shoot this way and also been told if it works for you, shoot this way.

In order to shoot a pistol consistently with my right hand and right eye closed, it will take some of practice. I'd like to get some more input before I switch over to to a right hand hold and right eye closed style. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I don't hasve these issues with my rifle or shotgun.

[ol coot]

With right hand and left eye you may see you are shooting a little to the left of center, no big thing just be aware of it.

[Sagebrush Burns]

If you are shooting two-handed using a Weaver type stance, the right hand-left eye should work just fine.

[Coffinmaker]

Ah well, Way back inna Wabac (Sherman and the Professor), when I started my sweetheart into CAS, we found she was VERY left eye dominant and right handed.  Simple solution was to teach her to shoot left handed from the get go.  Pistols, Rifle and Shotgun.  Work'd out really well.

You on the other hand, have been shooting right handed for so long, that switch may not be practical.  The reason your rifle and shotgun continue to work "right eye" is "depth of field."  Sights are sufficiently farther out to be focused.  There is absolutely no reason you cannot shoot with your right eye closed.  However, you may also wish to try shooting with both eyes open.  With both eyes open, you head will tend to shut off the signals from your weak eye (maybe).

But as mentioned above, shooting a modified Weaver Stance should fix ya right up.

[Johnny McCrae]

Many thanks for everyone's input.

I shot Duelist until three years ago. When my hip went bad I switched to a two handed grip and a Weaver stance. I will try using a modified Weaver stance. It's the darndest thing, When I try shooting with both eyes open I see two front sights. It would be a challenge at my age to start shooting with my left hand. I did get a new hip in October of 2016.

[August]

Forgive me in advance for saying something you may already know.  But, on the chance you haven't considered it, let me mention how the eye is changed during cataract removal and artificial lens replacement.

The (original, biologic) lens in the eye is supported by a ring of muscles.  Those muscles contract to change the shape of the biologic lens that our eyes come with.  That change in shape -- a flattening of the lens -- makes its focal length change to adapt to objects at varying distances; from inches away from the face to infinity.  The brain does all this contraction and shape changing automatically to bring any object, at any distance, into sharp focus.  As I said, forgive me for telling you something you already know.

When the lens gets cloudy over the years, it is said to have a cataract.  The lens loses its ability to contract and become opaque as the cataract 'grows'.  So, the cataract is removed and replaced by an artificial lens that is fixed in focal length -- usually set up to be infinity.  The brain can no longer make the shape of the lens change to work optimally at varying distances.  

Pistol sights are not, of course, at infinity, or even very far away from the eye when the gun is at battery.  So, the eye with a replacement lens cannot actually focus at this distance.  Some form of supplemental magnification has to be used -- just like when reading.

The perception of focus is also affected by how much light is being admitted to the eye.  The iris of the eye is also a ring of muscle and it changes the size of the pupil to adapt the eye to the amount of light that is transmitted.  The important part of the size of the pupil, for the shooter, is that, as the pupil is made smaller by the contraction of the Iris, the DEPTH OF FIELD of the image at the back of the eye is increased.  The smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field.  That means that a wider range of distances is 'In-Focus' as the aperture is made smaller.  For a third time, forgive me for saying things you already know.

Finally, eye dominance is something the brain does and is independent of the visual acuity of the eyes.  The brain will NOT switch to the "better" eye.  Eye dominance is fixed for all intents and purposes.

The solution!!!  I'm gonna guess you've been using dark glasses while shooting.  I'm gonna guess that because most of the shooters I see in matches are using dark lenses.  The works against good shooting, in general, and particularly makes the depth of field on the retina very shallow because the Iris is opened by reducing the amount of light coming into the eye.  When the Iris gets bigger, the depth of field becomes very narrow, and, in the case of a person with a fixed lens, making only very distant objects sharp to the shooter's perception.  

But, increasing the amount of light (wearing clear or lightly tinted glasses) is not sufficient to bring the pistol sights into focus for those of use who have replacement lenses.  We also have to add some amount of diopter (magnification) to focus on things that are only 18" from our faces.

You would benefit greatly from a good set of specially prepared shooting glasses.   Go to Walgreens and find the end cap with the reading glasses.  Hold your arm out and stick your thumb up.  Try on readers until you find the diopter that allows you to see all the little lines and details in your thumb nail.  It will be somewhere around +2 Diopters plus or minus a quarter diopter.  You won't be able to bring any objects further away than five feet into focus.  But, all you care about as a shooter is the front sight.  There  is no other component of reality for the shooter.

Now, knowing your "correction" for a proper shooting lens, have a pair of shooting glasses made up with lightly tinted lenses with the right eye at this diopter setting and the left eye set for infinity.  At a match, put your glasses on early.  Your brain will quickly adjust to the strange, new world you've created.

I could have just said this:  you need some proper shooting glasses with a correction for close vision for your right eye.

I would recommend DeCot HyWyd as a company with decades of experience helping people like you, and me, (aka, Shooters) with glasses that permit better sight acquisition than ever before -- even back in the day when our eyes did most of this work on their own -- or, gave the illusion of doing so.

No other, single purchase has improved my shooting as much as has getting proper shooting glasses with right eye, plus diopter correction and a light tint that allows greater light transmission.

Of course, the targets will be blurry with these glasses.  That's all to the good.  Remember, targets are just a seduction, taking your attention away from where it needs to be during a match -- on the front sights of your guns.  So, good shooting glasses will also help you be more focused on what's really important in a gun fight -- the sight on the barrel of your gun.

[Lumpy Grits]

RH/left eye since birth.
I use both eyes, with open sights.
LG

[Jefro]

I could have just said this:  you need some proper shooting glasses with a correction for close vision for your right eye.

I would recommend DeCot HyWyd as a company with decades of experience helping people like you, and me, (aka, Shooters) with glasses that permit better sight acquisition than ever before -- even back in the day when our eyes did most of this work on their own -- or, gave the illusion of doing so.

No other, single purchase has improved my shooting as much as has getting proper shooting glasses with right eye, plus diopter correction and a light tint that allows greater light transmission.

Of course, the targets will be blurry with these glasses.  That's all to the good.  Remember, targets are just a seduction, taking your attention away from where it needs to be during a match -- on the front sights of your guns.  So, good shooting glasses will also help you be more focused on what's really important in a gun fight -- the sight on the barrel of your gun.

Ta Daaa!! Went to my local eye doc, they knew just what to do. Right eye-front sight, left eye normal script with bifocal. Had them made with my favorite frames and transition gray lenses, add a pair of B-52 side shields......."shooter ready" "Stand By!!"

Jefro Relax-Enjoy

[Johnny McCrae]

Again, my thanks to everyone for your input.

Forgive me in advance for saying something you may already know

Thank you for your explanation August. I was not aware of the changes caused by Cataract Surgery. I would mention that I've used only clear glasses when shooting, never dark or tinted. We have a local Eye Wear store that specializes in shooting glasses. I will be visiting them today.

[Johnny McCrae]

I visited my local Eye Wear store yesterday. They recommended getting a new prescription from a nearby Optometrist who has the latest equipment and technology. They will use this prescription to develop a pair of shooting glasses for myself that will take into account my right eye issues. I have an appointment for this coming Friday. The input I received from this post has been very helpful.

[Johnny McCrae]

Using the new prescription I received last Friday a new set of shooting glasses were made. The new glasses have corrections for my right (weaker) and a plain lens for my left eye. These glasses are not perfect but a big improvement. I shot duelist black powder on Saturday and had four misses. On Sunday I shot two-handed smokeless and was clean. I believe the input I received here has helped me to make a good decision. Thank you all again.

[Sagebrush Burns]

Good to hear that it is working for you!

[llanerosolitario]

 Happy to hear that you have found a solution.  I am a rigth handed shooter but with a left eye dominance, and a retractable diopter on my shooting glasses was the most affordable answer, though the solution of new prescription glasses is probably the best (specially with retactable glasses).

in itself, there is no problem in being rigth handed shooter and left eye dominant, it does not affect accuracy, just point of impact. The  serious problem is a tired eye, that cant focus near objects. That was my case, but when I began using shooting glasses with diopter or iris, I discovered that a  standing shooting position with  rigth hand and rigth eye was far more comfortable specially in one hand held as the head position was natural, in line with the body,  and not forced like left eye-rigth hand, with a tilted head.

in this field, the germans and the swiss are the great experts on shooting glasses given their long tradition of shooting.

the german Knobloch company is well recognized and offers several combinations of iris shutters that can be mounted on our normal glasses:

https://www.knobloch-schiessbrillen.de/index.php/Shutters

also Gehman and Varga are well known for their quality

https://gehmann.com/english/products.php?id=64&kategorie=31

Yes, they are more intended for accurate shooting and not exactly for Cas, but they do work as they will show target and sigths perfectly focused on the same focal  plane. The drawback is that the first time we use them during the shooting day, the eye will take around 0,5 second time to "understand" the picture, until the eye gets used to it and practically takes zero time after 10-15 minutes of use.  For Cas, a full prescription glass or glasses collects more ligth from the sides and is faster and more adequate.

for me it would be unnatural, practically impossible or terribly uncomfortable to change my shooting hand...I was born rigth handed and will die rigth handed unless I loose my rigth hand..I even sleep rigth side only. We cant oppose our own nature.

[1961MJS]

Hi

My Eye doctor lets me bring my 1911 and Schofield into the examination room with me to be sure that I get a prescription that I can focus on the front sight.  That prescription is labeled as my "Hobby Lens".

Later