doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - Master eye issue?

My Lady friend has started shooting with me! That is a good thing, but after she attended a "Boot Camp" put on by the Vintagers, we discovered that her left eye is her dominant one. She is a right handed shooter. Aside from buying her a left handed gun (just bought her a Beretta 20) does any one have any suggestions?

I have tried many solutions, but the crossover stock is the ultimate solution. My left eye dot is permanently installed when I shoot a straight gun and a right eye dot is permanently installed on the glasses I use with the crossover gun to reinforce my use of the left eye when using that gun. Remember, as one poster emphasized, the dot should only block the front sight and the front end of the rib, leaving the view of the target unobscured. Some coaches just don't understand the proper use of the dot. The dot is not meant to make you a one eye shooter. The dot is meant to make you a two eye shooter who does not look at the gun with the off eye. The placement of the dot is a careful procedure when done correctly.

ATTENTION!
Dr.Drew Hause, thank you that is a brilliant post from a professional who knows what he is talking about and is a true shooting enthusiast .
I really do tire of reading 'so-called' 'experts' who actually know very little about the subject matter but are quick enough to try and make a dollar.

Drew, thanks very much for another highly informative post. After reading/watching all those links, it is clear that Penn and Cushman are a small minority, and neither explicitly address strong cross dominance in experienced shooters.

As an ex eye professional I feel that Doc Drew's post(s) on this are spot on. I think that I have previously made a post or two concerning vision and shooting and about the very large amount of "information" put out by so-called "experts" on this matter. Some of this "advice" and "explanation" comes from some very well known individuals.

His explanation about depth perception and judging distance is particularly good and easily understood by the layman. As he explains, BINOCULAR vision is extremely important for depth perception for ranges UP TO about 20 feet or so. Beyond that distance it essentially makes zero difference whether using MONOCULAR (one eye) or BINOCULAR (both eye) vision. Unfortunately I can verify that this is true due to the fact that I was blinded in one eye 13 years ago. And of course the affected eye was my master eye which forced me to learn to shoot from the opposite side which is another story. (Need help with that? I've got answers, haha.)

Very close (arm's length) depth perception is terrible. Examples would be threading a needle, using tools, pouring liquids, pushing buttons at the gas pump and even something as simple as applying tooth paste to a tooth brush requires a lot of effort. At a bigger distance like parking a vehicle? Extremely difficult to determine if I am six inches or three feet from an object in front. Same with mirrors pulling into a garage. Again, get beyond the approximate 20 foot range and the problem totally disappears. In other words, judging target distance with one eye only is unaffected. Obtaining a driver's license is a non-issue. In fact I can still hold a 1st Class FAA Airman's Medical for my ATP certificate.

I did and do notice that processing visual information was slower. Initially there was a noticeable difference which with time has effectively disappeared for the most as far as I am aware. An example of this would be trying to pick a single out on a Bobwhite covey rise! Now that I do notice! Actual visual acuity in the remaining eye is totally unchanged, still 20/15. However, using TWO eyes with good vision is simply far more effective because that's the way our total visual system is designed to function. My take from all of this is that if you have two normally functioning eyes use them BOTH. And it goes without saying.....PROTECT them.

One of the best female trap shooters ever, Lela Hall Frank, and 2 other female shooters, are shown at the 1940 GAH clearly closing their left eyes; at about 30 sec.

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/...ion-pile-of-empty-news-footage/502472065

The problem is that the eye wink muscles are bilaterally innervated, and for many it is impossible to shut one eye without partially shutting the other, or with visual distortion of the on-eye with doing so. There is also the fatigue factor, which the tape avoids.

Image of Vicki Ash with totally occluding her L eye, which she no longer does



A good video

I have a new problem. After shooting with a dot on the left lens, I've had cataract surgery on the left eye. Now my left eye sees very well, while my right eye doesn't see as well as the left. I'm going to try shooting with both eyes open, as well as trying the blink method.
At 75, it sucks getting old!
Karl

It will be a lot easier to just link this thread when similar questions arise in the future, so I thought I'd add Robert Churchill's How To Shoot written in 1925. "The Master Eye" is Chapter VIII
In the normal man the degree of "master eyedness" is slight. What is not so well-known is that fatigue of the master eye rapidly transfers the mastery (temporarily of course) from one eye to the other.
If you strain and weaken the command of your right eye by putting your head down to the stock of a badly fitting gun or by a bad habit of gunmounting you tire the eye.
After a few such shots the right eye is fatigued and the left then takes mastery.
(His interpretation of transient dominance switching)
In practice at other sports this eye problem does not appear to cause trouble. Left eyed cricketers and tennis and golf men all probably exist but only in shooting do we hear of it as a dreadful physical problem.
(Interestingly, today we believe cross-dominance may be of an advantage in baseball, cricket and golf.)

If you learn to shoot without contortions and strain you will be in the same position as the ordinary man who uses his eyes all day without any perceptible strain or discomfort. By adopting a natural head position 75% of the master eye difficulty is solved.
If, on the other hand, you are completely left-eyed...(a "left-eyed" gunstock) will compensate for the trouble...

https://www.trapshooters.com/threads/robert-churchill-eyesight-and-the-master-eye.910472/