Eye Dominance:
Something we often observe causing people to regularly miss targets when shooting, is a lack of knowledge of their Eye Dominance. This results in someone noticeably missing a target either to the left or the right. Often with a quick eye dominance check, then changing their shooting slightly to allow for this, they are soon back on target.
Eye Dominance is a very important factor to know when shooting with a shotgun, as this will either effect the way you shoot or what shotgun you buy. Various adjustments can be made if, for example, you shoot off your right, but are left eye dominant. An option is to learn to shoot off the shoulder which is on the same side as your master eye - not easy but it can be done with practise, and can be the best way forward.
Simple Eye Dominance Test:
What happens next:
Now that you have a good idea which is your master eye, you need to decide the best way for you to proceed when shooting with a shotgun.
Obscuring your master eye:
This is how many people deal with a master eye that does not match if you're either left or right handed. This can be done in various ways, such as:
Of these methods, I personally think the tape method is the most advantageous, especially for clay pigeon shooting, but it is probably best to try all three and see what suits you best. Better still would be learning how to shoot off the appropriate shoulder for your master eye.
Learning to shoot off the other shoulder:
For some this can seem daunting, especially if you are very used to shooting off one side. For younger people, and people new to shooting the transition is usually a lot easier and in our experience produces good results, once they are used to it. I would advise trying this at a local clay shooting club, ideally with a left handed shotgun(assuming you have been shooting off the right), but if you have access to an over and under shotgun with only a little right handed cast, it should be fine for testing purposes.
If you do go down this route and find it that it suits you, we do try to have a fair selection of used left handed and ambidextrous shotguns for sale, not all are listed on this site, so please contact us for more information.
Eye Dominance is a very important factor to know when shooting with a shotgun, as this will either effect the way you shoot or what shotgun you buy. Various adjustments can be made if, for example, you shoot off your right, but are left eye dominant. An option is to learn to shoot off the shoulder which is on the same side as your master eye - not easy but it can be done with practise, and can be the best way forward.
Simple Eye Dominance Test:
- Make a circle using your thumb and index finger (your sight.)
- Find a small mark or item on the wall e.g. a light switch (your target.)
- Without closing either eye and standing square on to the target, line the target up in the middle of your sight (with your sight hand held out in front of you.)
- Without moving, take turns closing eyes until you know which eye is showing the target in the middle of your sight. If your unable to close one eye at time, you can cover your eye using your free hand.
- Do this at least 3 times and if all 3 results are the same eye, this is very likely to be your 'master eye'.
What happens next:
Now that you have a good idea which is your master eye, you need to decide the best way for you to proceed when shooting with a shotgun.
Obscuring your master eye:
This is how many people deal with a master eye that does not match if you're either left or right handed. This can be done in various ways, such as:
- Simply closing your master eye before/as you see your target.
- Using a small piece of black tape on the center of your shooting glasses, so that you cannot focus in with that eye, but still have your peripheral vision.
- Using an eye patch.
Of these methods, I personally think the tape method is the most advantageous, especially for clay pigeon shooting, but it is probably best to try all three and see what suits you best. Better still would be learning how to shoot off the appropriate shoulder for your master eye.
Learning to shoot off the other shoulder:
For some this can seem daunting, especially if you are very used to shooting off one side. For younger people, and people new to shooting the transition is usually a lot easier and in our experience produces good results, once they are used to it. I would advise trying this at a local clay shooting club, ideally with a left handed shotgun(assuming you have been shooting off the right), but if you have access to an over and under shotgun with only a little right handed cast, it should be fine for testing purposes.
If you do go down this route and find it that it suits you, we do try to have a fair selection of used left handed and ambidextrous shotguns for sale, not all are listed on this site, so please contact us for more information.
