Article 10 – 2022 (November)
Australian Shooter Magazine
Question and Answers
Article 10 – 2022 (November)
Question: I am a “right eye dominant” shooter who is also has right handiness. My youngest son, who has now taken a great interest in busting clay targets also is right handed in every sport he has tried. The issue I am having is that he is left eye dominant. I want some advice as to whether I should keep letting him shoot off his right shoulder and just close his left eye or do I buy him a left handed shotgun and let him learn with two eyes open?
Harold Campbell, Ivanhoe Vic
Answer: It has been a popular question over the years Harold, but one worth answering again, but as always my answer will remain the same.
Your son is not unique. Approximately twenty-eight per cent of the human population are just like him. Right handed and left eye dominant. For the greater majority of sports this isn’t an issue, but for shotgun shooting it certainly is.
If this was my son and if he was entirely new to the sport I would give him a chance to try and shoot from his left shoulder with two eyes open. My father always told me that if “god gave him three eyes he would use all three”. The advantages if he can master this issue far outweigh the frustration he may face at the beginning. There are so many situations in shotgun shooting where two good eyes working together and providing a wide use of your peripheral vision will be advantageous. Holding above the trap house in trap, starting further down the target flight line in Skeet or in Sporting on targets where sharp angled, quick instinctual fast shots must be taken or simply in the field when walking behind your dog whilst shooting quail are all better taken with two eyes wide open and working together.
Give your son a few sessions shooting very easy straight forward targets standing directly behind a clay target thrower (station 7 on a Skeet range is ideal) and gradually make the targets harder as his confidence grows. It is important to be patient and please don’t invite all of the local club “experts” or a group of his friends to watch him as he tries to make the transition from right shoulder to left. It can be very frustrating and sole destroying at first, but more times than not something will just “click” and his eyes will all of a sudden move from incorrectly focusing on the end of the barrel to be locked only on the target where they belong. A spectator gallery offering advice after every shot is not encouraged at this point.
If, after a reasonable amount of time, your boy just simply can’t master the basic fundamentals operating the shotgun from his left shoulder then you simply will have no choice than to let him shoot from his right shoulder. Some people are so strongly “right handed” even though their left eye is their master eye then you will have no choice. Sadly I am one of those people. I can’t do anything left handed. Nothing. Fortunately I am also right eye dominant.
If he is forced to shoot right handed then I would strongly advice that you buy him a set of shooting glasses that have a pair of clear lenses, but preferably purchase a set that have interchangeable lenses so you can use some darker colors on bright days. Put a small piece of smudged “sticky tape” over the optical centre of the left lense thus blocking out the centre of his left eye therefore forcing him to shoot only with his right eye. The optical centre is best found after he has mounted the shotgun to his shoulder. Obviously ensuring the firearm is unloaded and safe, look down the barrel and cover his left eye with a one centimetre piece of tape. This will allow him to keep both eyes wide open whilst shooting.
The reason I encourage the use of glasses is not only for safety concerns, but also to negate the issue that many people that are forced to close one eye squint very badly with their “good” eye and this is one of the worst habits you can become accustomed to. The wider you can have your eyes open the better. More light entering your eyes results in better target acquisition which equates to better scores. If you are already losing the ability to use your master eye then please don’t half shut the other!
In saying all of that, there have been plenty of great competitors over the years accomplish huge victories with only the use of one eye. Try shooting from the left shoulder first and if that’s simply not possible use the technique as outlined above.
All the best to your son. Unfortunately if he can master two eyes open you will be buying him a new left handed shotgun for Christmas!