Vision problems

[Fyrfyghtr]

I have been shooting for many years. I am right handed, left eye dominant. I have recently come down with a condition in my left eye called Central serous retinopathy. It is causing a lot of distortion in my left eye. I am having to relearn how to shoot with my right eye keeping my left eye closed. Does anybody have any tips or tricks to make the transition easier?

[Peally]

Good ol' scotch tape over the left eye on your glasses might help. Kinda forces your brain to use your sharper right eye.

[spinmove_]

Work your presentations a lot for your right eye. It’ll take time, but that’s what dry practice is for.


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[Totem Polar]

I had to switch eyes to my non-dominant side due to a detached retina 21 months ago. It took less time than I would have thought; I'm even starting to work on shooting with both eyes open again (impossible for me at first as my eyes and brain fought things out).

Best advice I can offer is clean presentation reps, both in dry fire at home, and slowly/conciously at the range. Because your brain pretty much wants to see the sights and do the thing, it’ll re-wire itself—just take it in easy stages, with lots of mini-practice sessions. I was back in business in less than a year, including relearning presentation under my off side eye without having to consciously think about it. In the first few months, I literally had to say reminders out loud to myself to avoid defaulting, but it panned out pretty quickly. Hang in there.

[iveschris]

I don't know what your shooting stance is like but here's an idea (I, too, am cross dominant). Find a repeatable body index cue you can integrate into your stance. For example, chin to bicep to put one eye consistently behind the signs.

This lends itself to dry fire to experiment with and practice.

YMMV

[GJM]

For closer in defensive shooting, a laser can be a godsend when you have eye/dominance issues.

[Tod-13]

Good ol' scotch tape over the left eye on your glasses might help. Kinda forces your brain to use your sharper right eye.

Do not overlook this suggestion. I'm right handed and left eye dominant. I shoot rifles and handguns right handed. When I started needing bifocals, my left eye was less sharp than my right for a year. I had to use my right eye. Now, I can use either on demand.

[SkippySanchez]

This is a timely thread I'll be following. I'd been a newspaper photographer for 36 years before I retired about a year ago and ALWAYS used my left eye because I can't close my right eye without a serious Popeye squint on the left.

Been shooting the same way for about 15 years but recently began dry fire practice with bother eyes open. Thought I was doing pretty well til I went to the range today and had pizza-size groups with only a few in the 6" circle. Very discouraging.

I've learned in dry fire if my focus is on the SIGHT, choose LEFT target (in my double vision); if focus is on TARGET, choose RIGHT sight. At the range it all went out the window.

Still, several months ago I realized that if I identify my weaknesses and work on them rather than keep practicing the stuff in pretty good at, I'll get better. So it's back to those mini sessions of retraining my brain.


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I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.