This video is EXACTLY what I needed to see and hear. Stuck at 70-75% on sporting clays, I was told I would never be able to break 80 until I shot with both eyes open. My last 4 scores were sub 60% and were the most frustrating days of my recent life. I stopped playing golf and started shooting sporting clays because of those feelings.... I absolutely feel like I am getting too much visual information with both eyes open. I can't process which barrel I am supposed to be aware of in my sight picture. Crossers were supposed to be better with both eyes open but I could hardly hit a quartering bird, which I hit 95% of the time with one eye closed, much less improve on a crosser.... Actually I started closing again on the final 4 stations on my last round of sporting but didn't tell my shooting partners. I hit 100% and was immediately told "see how opening both eyes improves your performance?"... I didn't tell them I was shooting single eye but now I can. Seriously - aren't we supposed to be building up a visual database of sight pictures that result in breaks anyway? If so, and you figure out the target to consistently break it, what does it matter whether you're single eye or double eye? Liberty, sweet liberty....
Ultimately, it doesn't matter how you shoot or the techniques you use, if you're shooting 100/100, particularly at sporting clays at varying grounds and disciplines. There is much to be said for shooting with both eyes open, such as focusing at and judging distance, and picking up clays early in the sight picture, as many might otherwise be drawn to focus on the bead. That said, there are a few competition shooters with only one eye, so like a blind man's senses that improve in other areas, quite evident that you're best attuned to a different style to compensate for eye dominance issues. It's all in the sub-conscious part of our brain after-all, and you're clearly doing something right! Good luck to you :-)
If you want to learn to shoot with both eyes open, get a red dot on your shotgun, learn the intricacies of shooting a red dot, and then go back to your irons/bead. However once you get good with a red dot you're not going to go back.
...this is basically where I am! I think to shoot consistently you need a away to reproduce the sight picture and both eyes can give you almost too much info sometimes. I started sporting with a wide-ribbed skeet gun and would use one eye and rib to "measure" the lead required. I went from C class to AA at local clubs in less than a year. Then I learnt to shoot both eyes open but recently my consistently has gone out of the window. I'm going back to one eye for some birds if I can still do it!
Make sure you have no shift at any point in eye from bird to barrel. And try squinting or closing the eye right when you’re close enough to the bird where you’re final figuring out your lead. Try it.
Great video! I’m a right shoulder shooter with heavy left eye dominance, sight the clay with both eyes open and naturally close the left during the mount. While this works for me (90% sporting scores), everyone and their dog, including instructors, have told me just how much better I’d be with both eyes open. This video has made my day! I’ll have one less thing to worry about 👍
I do the same type of setup as you do, I am left eye dominant and wear glasses. I am always messing with my sight and started wearing a contact lens in only my right eye, which in turn will make my left weaker; before I was using Vaseline on my glasses to blur the dominant eye. I am still experimenting but the bottom line is trying to find what works for you. This video was refreshing.
also right shoulder and left eye dominant; i have both open to pick up and finish with the left closed. works for me, i recorded some bird hunts with a shotkam this past season and tend to shoot limits with ease and minimal missing.
I’m the same. had some people at the clay ground say it’s wrong but if it works it works. Glad I’ve seen this video tho and the comments from other people 👍
Love this discussion. I'm a US based pistol instructor. We talk about the fact that shooting is visual all the time. You can't hit what you can't see. If you need to squint or close an eye while searching for visual consistency, who cares! Hits matter more than dogma. Do what you gotta do to SEE better. I'm personally getting more interested in shooting wildcat clays and sporting clays. It's a blast, but I'm not nearly as skilled at reading all the various cues between shooter, gun, and target. Thanks for allowing me to listen in on the conversation ;)
I’m strong left eye dominant and right handed. I winked down my left eye most of my life. 2 years ago, I started shooting both eyes open and It has helped me achieve master class in the NSCA here in the US. However, I know there are shooters that are cross dominant and wink on every shot and they are better than me! Thank you for this video. I think it will help a lot of people.
I am from Hungary and love skeet shooting. I am right eye dominant and right handed. I always close my left eye right before shooting. I also read about this “leaving both of your eyes open thing”. When i went to the shooting range next time i made a consicous effort to keep both of my eyes open. My shots were all over the place. My instructor asked me what was going on. I told him what i was trying to do. I actually knew his mother was a skeet world champion and later the coach of a Hungarian skeet Olimpic champion, as well (unfortunately she passed away last December). He told me: “listen! My Mum won the world championship with keeping one of her eyes actually closed. If she could do that, you might also continue closing one of your eyes if that feels more comfortable for you”. I have not raised this issue since then…:-)
CPSA instructor.. the usual symptom of cross eye dominance is the dominant eye takes over and looks across the gun at the target and not inline with the barrel as a consequence the shot goes either to the left or right side of the target depending on the shooters orientation. they are usually very good at a particular crosser as this give them a natural lead but are always behind the one going in the other direction and miss. I shoot both eyes open but I am not cross eye dominant so not a problem. I have found that every pupil is different with their own individual issues and as such what works with one wont work with another. And coming up with the solution is what i love about being an instructor i started shooting when i was 11 I'm 76 now and have been qualified 18 years and still love to see that grin on a tyro face when they hit their first ever clay. Thanks CPSA great vid
There are always mixed emotions when you uncover one of those simple truths that change long-held beliefs and behaviours. On the one hand you are delighted to have made the breakthrough, and on the other, you want to kick the shit out of the person who put you on the wrong path. I am really enjoying the new Longthorne and your relationship with it - please keep up the good work.
Oh wow. Finally a Gun coach who is realistic about the gun in our vision. Thanks ED, very refreshing. I gave up listening to coaches who said "they don't even see where the barrels are". Load of bollocks.
The best video yet on single vs two-eye fully open shooting. I'm new to the sport (had my licence two years now) and have been really trying hard to shoot with both eyes open, when I do that I see, clear as day, two images of the barrel when I focus and hold focus on the distant clay - that messes with my head and gives my brain too much to compute - ie I need to tell my head to focus on the left barrel image as I line up for and take the shot which is the one my dominant right eye sees. I now patch out on my left glasses lens where I obscure just the barrel image and the difference just seeing one barrel is huge, I can now fully concentrate on just the sight picture when I focus on the clay but see the barrel clearly as you mention. Confirmed the theory of this on Saturday just gone on an ESP skills course where the difference in my performance was tangible. Cheers gents for confirming that I'm not going mad and that sometimes one eye is better than two.
THANK YOU! as a relative newby who is very sightly right-eyed I have tried many gadgets (on top of the rib, on the side of the barrels, eye patches) in an effort to stop my left eye taking over (I’m also diabetic which compicates the issue still further). I have setted on keeping both eyes open and closing my left when the clay reaches my hold point. To be Told that it’s ok to close one eye is very comforting. I will certainly try squinting my left eye. Thanks Jonny and Ed - a great video. More of you two please.
Love the video! Learned I was cross eye dominant when starting shooting trap as an adult. Shot 50 straight and then was told that I shouldn’t squint left eye. Ruined me for years!
OK. I watched this video one time. I had recently posted my worst score in several years. Having theorized one of my issues was 72 y.o. eye dominance, I decided to try the Ed Solomons' slight squint. OMG. I ran the first six stations. I'm a convert. Completely by accident.
Yes! So much of this I could relate to. I am right eye dominant, but for some reason, with the barrels swinging, the sight picture becomes noisy or confused which result in a lot of frustrating consistency issues which had previously not been picked up with instruction and not knowing any better, unable to know where to start to correct. Well, that was until watching this, cue experimenting with eye closed (very clear sight picture but felt very mechanical) eye open, then closed etc and finally trialling an I-spot, and wow, clear sight picture and better consistently. You can’t imagine how overjoyed I am at this revelation! The only negative is that I’m now desperate for the game season to start to try out my ‘new eyes’. Thanks, fantastic content.
Thankyou fellas for this I have been shooting with my left eye dominant shut most of my life and told by so called experts not to due to balance issues, especially when I was shooting better than them. So they can all sod off.
This video makes so much sense to me. Ed Lyons recommended the Shotspot which helps a lot but I still shoot better by picking up the target with both eyes and then dimming my 'off' eye to make sure my dominant eye is the one focussing on the target when I take the shot. As long I I remember, not perfect yet but improving.
Right eye dominant , had eye accident destroyed my right eye lens , had to have implant in right eye , still right eye dominant , left eye without doubt clearer vision wise , but with glasses and correct lens in right eye of glasses and left eye shut i can shoot ok , but up to now would never tell anyone as it was frowned upon . EYES ROLL. Thank you for making me realise i am not doing a bad thing closing my left eye. All the best David .
I'm a right-handed shooter but I'm left eye dominant. I tend to keep both eyes open and then squint the left eye when I'm about to shoot. Seems to work for me.
Luckily I picked up on my mates dominance within first 6 months of him shooting with other people and said you should swap hands, so now he shoots left handed
Thanks so much for this. I’m ambidextrous and while I write and throw right, all of my sighted activities I’ve always done from the left side as I’m left eye dominant. My right eye likes to jump in and take control. I like you have been told that I have to shoot both eyes open and this has made hunting and clays so frustrating. Can’t wait to get to the range w my right eye closed. Many thanks
This is one of the moments when you think everyone is hearing your thoughts. I have started teaching some students and myself to squint the off eye on targets the require very little lead or the “shoot right it targets.” Mainly because the barrel and the target are occupying the same space in the shot picture. This is causing the off eye to take over to give the since of space between the barrel and target. The result is a lost target. In the last month this has become a hot topic of clay target videos and blogs. Everyone, from top shooters to top instructors are giving there input on eye dominance and occluding the off eye. I thought it to be a band aid fix but I’m considering it to be a permanent fix.
Thank you! I've spent over 30 years shooting rifles, and I'm pretty good. But serious shotgunning is really new, and I've been struggling big-time to make sense of the "two-eyed" approach. It feels so inconsistent. But I had kept doing it, believing it was the only effective way, and that I just had to practice more. About 10 years ago I started shooting barebow archery and shot "instinctively" - and terribly - for months before learning about gap shooting. A sight picture that was more relatable to rifle shooting instantly improved my shooting. I can't wait to hit a clays course and try this. I'm hopeful it'll at least help me get a more consistent sight picture.
Excellent video on many levels. As always I applaud Ed Solomons for encouraging you to try something different, and helping you understand the 'process'. And I applaud you for being willing to listen and learn and try. At 73, I could write a whole chapter on the difference in requirements for clay shooting and wingshooting, but this very open minded approach to 'improving one's shooting' is excellent. Keep up the great videos.
Bonjour Monsieur, I have a question for you if you allow it sir. What do you think of those who say that the ball-trap is useless for hunting shooting?
Thanks to both of you. With one eye closed my focus is exponentially greater than with two eyes open. Everything is clear and sharp. With two eyes open it's confusing and almost blurred. I am right eye dominant but my left eye is much stronger than my right and I shoot right handed. So I start with two eyes open and close my left eye to bring everything into sharp and clear focus, much better for me and it works!!!
Hey mate. I'm a newish shooter, and I reckon you've just saved me a lot of time trying to please the greybeards. One eye shut/squint for most targets and both eyes for driven felt natural to me from the start. Glad I'm not mad.
If you're newish, the best advice would be to give a good try at both. But not without a simple eye dominance test first (Mount gun both eyes open, point it at a spot in the distance, close each eye in turn and see which one actually lined up with the target). I started out after coming from rifles one eye, could shoot everything without much lateral movement but always struggled on anything remotely crossing. Had a lesson, got taught to open both eyes which felt incredibly wrong, but persisted for a few shoots, suddenly my scores went up. I did notice my scores for those targets without lateral movement went down though, which is when i found out about my eye dominance and went back to closing an eye on them as well as a glow bead with a tube to improve my eye dominance.
I’ve been wrestling with the same issue. Trying to shoot with both eyes fully open, because I’ve been advised best, but in truth the single eye picture helps me on many shots. Great video, I will stick with a combination and not keep trying and trying with both eyes open on certain targets with less consistency…….just because “it’s best”👍👍👍
Glad I watched this. I have been instinctively shutting one eye as I felt on some type of clays that I couldn't get the sight picture. Also felt disconnected to the barrel. So shutting 1 eye made sense. Have recently been told this is wrong. So for me maybe it is right. Cheers Ed and Johnny
Brilliant episode!!!! and it’s backing up that I also naturally close my left eye 50-75-100% on some birds. I forced myself to keep both eyes open and after that these birds got inconsistent…. Going back to dimming the eye and there you go, consistent hits again. As usual great clip of You.
At last someone that actually understands and talks sense when it comes to the dreaded eye dominance quandary. Everyone gets told to shoot both eyes open, hardly anybody is checked if they can actually do it. Yes if you can do it happy days, but as Ed says, if not it is not the end of the world. The one thing I would say is keep both eyes open until the point your face is about to touch the stock, this will naturally bring your eye straight smack bang down the centre of the rib, and therefore the gun is now actually pointing where you are looking. It will also improve your 3d depth perception and make it easier to determine how far the clay is away from you, something Ed mentioned when he tried it. Jonny the change in your breaks were immense going from what you have been told, to what actually felt more comfortable, funny how it works.
Love it. Always preach, do what works for you. I’m majorly left eye dominate and right handed. I’ve been shooting left eye closed my whole life. When my pop taught me 45 years ago, there was no consideration to eye dominance. I was right handed and they was that. To be honest, relearning to shoot left handed is not an option. I would say, i have been interested in trying a shooting circle on my left lense. The rabbit is the only time i wish i could shoot both open. Great videos. Cheers.
For all the clay shooting videos out there, the content you make with Ed has taught me, without doubt, the most. I’ve recently taken up clays and have had some lessons, however got the vibe the instructor didn’t have much to give. He’s CPSA trained but (in my opinion) doesn’t seem a natural teacher. Ed’s advice always seems to help the shooter explore what’s right for them, but ultimately steers towards the correct fashion. I really like how he takes in the feedback and has the knowledge to discuss it, never leaving the man at the gun feeling stupid for misunderstanding (or missing). Thoroughly enjoying your content. It’s making me feel more comfortable to turn up at the shooting ground with new things to try on my own. But what I’d give for even an hour with Ed!
Great video!! Heading out tomorrow for a day of sporting clays, going to have to try this!!! I’m 99% sure I do squint my left eye, but tomorrow going to be conscious of it and actually see what closed and open do!! Thanks for this!
Great video. I've watched it a few times now. I was also told that changing to the left shoulder with 2 eyes open was the ONLY way forward. I was told I am left eye dominant. Tried it for 5 months with a good coach. It worked at times in Skeet and Trap but very seldom with Sporting clays. The dominance was just not strong enough and I had poor barrel awareness. Finally went back to right handed with a slight squint before pulling the trigger. My perception of lead and the sight picture makes a lot more sense to me that way. That day was the most fun I had in months!
Thank you, a long awaited eye opener ( excuse the pun) have tried everything, black tape ,Vaseline etc. etc. and the only thing that works is the Squint and sometimes left eye closed not to your high standard but when people tell me that I need both eyes open I`ll refer them to this video, great watching as usual
Absolutely terrific video. I have to squint or close my left eye (even with a patch) on certain targets also. Yesterday I was struggling with similar quartering rabbits and now I'm anxious to try the exercise Ed coached. I just kept cringing when Jonny would remove his glasses!
I think this is the most “eye opening “ YT video I’ve ever watched. (Pun intended). I have been shooting shotguns for 61 years and sporting clays since 1999. ALWAYS with both eyes open. I am right eye dominant and shoot off my right shoulder. I’ve had multi-focal lens implants in my eyes for 17 years and have tested 20/20 every year since then. However, about two years ago I noticed that I was not hitting crossing clays with my normal consistency. While my eye doctor said my vision was still very good, I was struggling with that “hard focus “ you need to hit targets. I started calling for the birds with both eyes open and as I mounted my gun, I would close my left eye, HOLY SMOKES, the target picture became much, much clearer! I now probably hit crossing targets as well as I ever have. I don’t like starting the shooting sequence with an eye closed, buy if I have any time, I close an eye. I know how I shoot with two eyes open. Worked for 59 years for me. But whatever the physiological dynamic that has changed with my aging eyes, I shoot better with the left one closed! This video helped legitimize my experiences. Much appreciated
Heard the same "don't close an eye" thing myself.. but I am cross dominant and since I started shooting last year, I have closed my dominant eye (left) after picking up the clay with both eyes, to then see the required lead, it works for me. I started shooting rifles before clays so it feels perfectly natural to me anyway.
As a new shooter only started a few months ago this is invaluable information. Nearly everyone Ive spoken to has told me to shoot with both eyes open. Im going to start experimenting with this next time Im at the range. Thanks for putting it out there.
As someone who is 7 months in, i stopped listening to people after the first 3 or 4 months and just did what felt comfortable to me, consistency has naturally fell into place and i feel much happier and confident every time.
I took 2 lessons from an instructor. I am a righthanded shot and right eye dominant. 1st skeet lesson I shot 3 boxes of shells and maybe hit 10, both eyes open. Most of my hits were left to right. I have the opposite problem of most right handed shooters. I find left to right easier since I can see down the side of the barrel focusing on the bird. Right to Left I focus on the bird and have double vision of the bead/barrel end. MISS! 2nd lesson my instructor said try closing your left eye on right to left shots. Shooting from all stations, I hit the bird every time. With both eyes open I would lose the bird behind the tip of the barrel and peak over. With one eye closed I could get a clear picture down the rib on Right to Left shots and match gun speed to bird speed. Even though I cannot see down the right side of the barrel to establish lead, I can see the bird easier and gun speed is correct. I shoot Left to Right with both eyes open and Right to Left with left eye closed. 3 boxes of shells on the 2nd lesson, I missed only 5. Everyone sees differently and processes information from the eyes differently. I hunt pheasant primarily and since then have only missed 2 birds this season. Amazing! BTW I shoot a Beretta Silver Pigeon with IC and MOD chokes for hunting!!
I am the opposite of this. I have more trouble left to right and actually see more "lead" to hit these targets. Not sure if it's due to not swinging the gun as good or if I pull the gun away from my face or what it is. To hit left to right targets my sight picture sees a big lead where from right to left I just swing with the target and shoot at it to hit it. I am right eye dominant but I could be picking up the skeer with my "off" eye making me have to lead more to hit. Idk
Love this video, this is Gould. A lot of thanks to you two. My two children are strong left eye dominant, (a generative situation from my mother side), to which I suffer a little less, as I normally start shooting with rite eye dominant, and then I swap to left eye dominant when I get tired. My children and I, we have insisting using both eyes Fully open because, have been thought this way... Result, a real struggle.
Great video - Ed & Ed are the guys with this - I'm right handed and by most tests right eye dominant except when shooting anything going right to left..... definitely have to squint/occlude my left eye at times!
Great instructional video. I’ll start winking again after watching this. I too was told across the pond from y'all that both eyes wide open was the key to club glory. Many clay presentations are flat out mysteries with both targeting systems out of sync. I even tried switching teams. So awkward at 55. I now believe in “hand dominance” more than eye dominance. Does Ed have a book?
Great one Jonny! Ed is truly one of the best at explaining the fine art of shooting sporting consistently. I haven't seen him for going on 2 years now so am looking forward to our next meet up. Thoroughly enjoyed the video, keep up the good work!
What a relief! I was made to believe that I will never be as consistent as someone who shoots with both eyes open and as it turns out, that is not necessarily the case. I am aware that my left eye is closed when I actually pull the trigger but could not honestly say when I close it. I shoot gun down so I suspect that I naturally do it as I mount the gun cos I don't have to think about it. Thanks for putting my mind at rest.
Great video, shows the myths that area associated with shooting, I like the whole idea of using the best eye situation for the shot, simple stuff, do what works, goes to show why Ed Solomon is not only a world class shooter but, a also a world class instructor and coach.
Yep - me too. I'm new to shotgunning and have been struggling to shoot 'two eyed" for months. Went to shoot today, started squinting my opposite eye, then BLAMO - busted clays time after time. Truly there is more than one way to skin a cat!
Also this is just a distraction trick to keep you from concentrating on the barrel. Huge fix for a shifter or transition’er/pause prone. Have to put it into practice for a whole day to see if the shooter reverts back to break in concentration or takes the eye off the ball. Fun to watch.
I've been shooting one eye closed since i was 8. About two years ago i started shooting two eyes open and my score went down. I got a shotkam and tried both methods. With two eyes open i lift my head the moment i take the shot and obviously shoot high. With one eye closed head lifting is not a problem. I am back to one eye closed but i close it prior to taking the shot.
I am left eye dominant,if I try to shoot with both eyes open I see the barrels on the left side instead of looking down the centre of the rib. Was advised many years ago to squint left eye and it has helped although I will never shoot for England! Informative video guys.
Isn't the moral of the story that traditional (unscientific) myths are a problem in shooting, particularly in how we train coaches? One example is that there is 40 years of hundreds of serious educational studies that show there is no such thing as learning styles (normally called VAK for Visual Auditory & Kinaesthetic). Yet this model of learning is what BASC use in their supposedly 'evidence-led' course to train shotgun coaches. It's little wonder that there is such a huge variation in how people are taught to shoot with far too much being endless repetition of anecdotal myths (eg never close an eye). Great segment that all shotgun shooters should watch.
This is brilliant. I shot ISSF standard pistol in college and always dimmed my left eye. Shooting clays I was always told to use both eyes and never shot as well. This is the validation I didn't know I needed.
Brilliant feature. As a lefty shooter with right eye dominance I've struggled with one eye....two eyes and have settled on a small dot on the right lense of my glasses, I still get peripheral vision but my barrels are actually pointing in the right direction, mostly anyway!
An excellent vid as usual I would not expect anything else. This question has bugged me for ages. Most of my younger life I was a rifle shooter and shot .22 for the county etc and was quite good at it. I have fired 7.62 .303 and 9mm and have won many a shoot out with these calibres with various rifles and 9mm sub machine gun. I have shot 12g on and off when younger but not that often. A couple of years ago I bought a B725 then a MK38. Whilst shooting I always close my left eye as I am right handed and right eye dominance. No worries for me whilst shooting I am so used to target shooting the natural thing for me to do is close my left eye when on target. I do not find any issues whit shooting clays with one eye closed, sometimes on a left to right target I will use both eyes to pick the target up then when sure I know where it is headed I will close my left eye and shoot the clay using my right eye. My average is around 74-85% and I am happy with that. As we are all different in everything from stature, height, eye dominance I think we need to find what is comfortable for yourself. If you shoot enough regardless of what you do your brain will configure the target for you and muscle memory will build to make your shooting experience a much better thing. I am a very competitive person especially with myself so I do beat myself up a bit if I have shot badly, in that respect it's me that needs to relax and go with the flow. All the best guys, Have fun and stay safe...Cheers!
Moral of the story and the majority of these comments - do what works for you. The key is finding what works for you, whether that good coaching or just pumping out 1000s of shells
Hi Guys, just watch the video its helped me no end. I've only been shooting since October 2021 and have eye dominance issue. I naturally close my left eye as I mount on my right shoulder and it works for me. My only issue is with left to right targets so i have to hold off mounting the gun until later, do you reckon this is the best way to progress.
Jonny, fantastic episode. It's reassuring to hear from yourself and a sporting legend like Ed Solomons that closing/dimming your dominant eye won't make you a 'worse' shooter. There was a point for me where I was getting despondent listening to others and even considered changing my shooting shoulder. Not anymore!
Thank you for this informative video. I’m right handed but left eye dominate, I’ve been told to shoot with both eyes open but I struggle to hit anything. Feels more like luck than actual judgement. Squinting my left eye has helped me a lot.
I took a teen to the Sporting Clays range with me a while back. First shotgun he ever shot was my F3 SuperSport. Not only did he close one eye, he actually aimed with “strange sights.” I couldn’t bring myself to telling him he was doing it wrong because he was doing so well and he actually did much better than me on the rabbit 🐇 stations.
Thank goodness! I don’t have to watch Jonnie slashing his gun across the sky anymore. I’ve only got one good eye and have had to listen to the two-eyed stuff for 60 years. I’m also color impaired. If I had the choice between having two functional eyes or perfect color vision, I would take the color vision.
Absolutely brilliant 👏 I use to shoot with one eye 🤨 and my scores where the best and after listening pepole to shoot with 2 👀 my scores went down Thank you! for this educational information 👍🏻and thank you! Ed
I have shot clays and wild birds. I shoot both eyes open, right dominance, I am not a world class clay shooter, but I have had other hunters tell me I am one hell of a shot on wild birds, which meant more to me than 25 straight on trap. When your peers see you perform at a high degree on hard flying wild birds that just means a lot especially when you have seen them make incredible shots themselves, having their respect for your gunning is priceless.
My youngest is right-handed but left eye dominant. We caught that when he was just learning to shoot. So we switched shoulders as he was just learning. On rifles, he is now the best shot in the family. I haven’t got him shooting clays yet. We’ll have to see how that goes.
Always had a niggle in my head about this subject since my very first lesson. Some sight pictures just seem clearer with my left eye occluded in some way, as Johnny said 'less noisy'. Have persisted with both eyes open since starting shooting clays 3 years ago, I'm going to give this a go at Barbury on Friday, could be an interesting session.
I do both. Sometimes I need to close my left to focus then open it. Sometimes I shoot straight off with both open and sometimes I shoot straight off with one closed. Depends how I feel in the moment. Shot skeet for the first time ever this weekend and couldn’t tell you how many eyes I had open and got 20/25.
Interesting, I'm right handed and strong right eye dominant but understand your comments on to much information, I'll try the one eye shooting next Sunday and see if it works any better
Hi iam left I dominant I shoot right handed have had issues in the past but getting better will take on board what you have said and try and apply them thanks for a great video on the subject
Great vlog guys, I'm just moving from one eye to shooting both open, although I can shoot with both, i find it challenging to be consistent, especially close in clays.
I am a right handed shooter and definitely right eye dominant. But I have recently developed an issue when shooting the low house on station one in skeet. If I keep both eyes open I constantly miss the target. However, if I close my left eye at the moment I want to shoot I smash it every time. I don't have any problem with the low house targets on stations two or three. I can't explain it, it's as if my left eye suddenly takes over at the critical moment. I seem to be looking down the left side of the barrels rather than along the rid. I can only assume age is causing changes to my vision. I also shoot sporting and never seem to have the issue there.
Fantastic video Jonny, I will be following the series with interest and may, as a relatively new shooter give this a go. Keep up the great work, by far the best shooting channel on UA-cam.
Fantastic video to watch, the ClayDHD is real 💯 I will have to give this squinting method a try on some of the stands next time I’m down at Grimsthorpe 👍
I am left-handed and shot left sidled.. couldn't hit anything.. thanks to a coach who discovered I was right eye dominate it made a huge difference in my shooting but always squint my left eye and watching this video has made me realise that is perfectly ok despite advice that I must shoot both eyes open..
I have been shooting for 40 years and have found my scores have definitely got worse over the last year. I suspect it is an eye problem so next time out I will try squinting my left eye and see if my shooting improves. Thanks both of you for a great video.
Hello TGS, I shot with a eye shut, what I do is both eyes are open to the target but has my gun is coming to my shellder my eye is closing as keeping the open eye on the target and connecting line with the target for the shot and I am connecting with about 55% to about 80% , I am doing this because of my shooting eye is weaker than the other eye. I aply this to all of my shooting. What is Ed's thoughts on this please.
Great Vid Gents! Been struggling myself with deciding which method to go with, both open or just dominant open? This has helped me make my decision much easier now and will acquire the target with both eyes open and then close non-dominant eye prior to trigger pull, Pretty sure that's what I've been doing but this confirms that I'm not a TOTAL quack. Agree with Ed though, the bird looks MILES away if you START with one eye closed as you lose all depth perception doing it that way. Not recommended. Keep up the good work guys!
I don't understand the resistance of dominant left-eye shooters to not just shoot left-handed. What's the deal? The minute I found out I was left-eye dominant I switched over with rifles and shotguns. Who cares which index finger pulls the trigger? It takes two minutes to readjust your hold and your feet. I did have some cast problems with shotguns -- so I bought a left-handed shotgun and adjusted my right-handed guns to fit.
😉
This video is EXACTLY what I needed to see and hear. Stuck at 70-75% on sporting clays, I was told I would never be able to break 80 until I shot with both eyes open. My last 4 scores were sub 60% and were the most frustrating days of my recent life. I stopped playing golf and started shooting sporting clays because of those feelings.... I absolutely feel like I am getting too much visual information with both eyes open. I can't process which barrel I am supposed to be aware of in my sight picture. Crossers were supposed to be better with both eyes open but I could hardly hit a quartering bird, which I hit 95% of the time with one eye closed, much less improve on a crosser.... Actually I started closing again on the final 4 stations on my last round of sporting but didn't tell my shooting partners. I hit 100% and was immediately told "see how opening both eyes improves your performance?"... I didn't tell them I was shooting single eye but now I can.
Seriously - aren't we supposed to be building up a visual database of sight pictures that result in breaks anyway? If so, and you figure out the target to consistently break it, what does it matter whether you're single eye or double eye?
Liberty, sweet liberty....
Ultimately, it doesn't matter how you shoot or the techniques you use, if you're shooting 100/100, particularly at sporting clays at varying grounds and disciplines.
There is much to be said for shooting with both eyes open, such as focusing at and judging distance, and picking up clays early in the sight picture, as many might otherwise be drawn to focus on the bead.
That said, there are a few competition shooters with only one eye, so like a blind man's senses that improve in other areas, quite evident that you're best attuned to a different style to compensate for eye dominance issues. It's all in the sub-conscious part of our brain after-all, and you're clearly doing something right!
Good luck to you :-)
If you want to learn to shoot with both eyes open, get a red dot on your shotgun, learn the intricacies of shooting a red dot, and then go back to your irons/bead. However once you get good with a red dot you're not going to go back.
...this is basically where I am! I think to shoot consistently you need a away to reproduce the sight picture and both eyes can give you almost too much info sometimes. I started sporting with a wide-ribbed skeet gun and would use one eye and rib to "measure" the lead required. I went from C class to AA at local clubs in less than a year. Then I learnt to shoot both eyes open but recently my consistently has gone out of the window. I'm going back to one eye for some birds if I can still do it!
Same exact thing for me. Grew up shooting one eye. Now I've been trying to shoot with two and it's just not working.
Make sure you have no shift at any point in eye from bird to barrel. And try squinting or closing the eye right when you’re close enough to the bird where you’re final figuring out your lead. Try it.
Great video! I’m a right shoulder shooter with heavy left eye dominance, sight the clay with both eyes open and naturally close the left during the mount. While this works for me (90% sporting scores), everyone and their dog, including instructors, have told me just how much better I’d be with both eyes open. This video has made my day! I’ll have one less thing to worry about 👍
I do the same type of setup as you do, I am left eye dominant and wear glasses. I am always messing with my sight and started wearing a contact lens in only my right eye, which in turn will make my left weaker; before I was using Vaseline on my glasses to blur the dominant eye. I am still experimenting but the bottom line is trying to find what works for you. This video was refreshing.
also right shoulder and left eye dominant; i have both open to pick up and finish with the left closed. works for me, i recorded some bird hunts with a shotkam this past season and tend to shoot limits with ease and minimal missing.
I do the exact same thing only right eye dominant.
I def squint my left eye as a cross dominance. Some people put some tape on your glasses.
I’m the same. had some people at the clay ground say it’s wrong but if it works it works. Glad I’ve seen this video tho and the comments from other people 👍
Love this discussion. I'm a US based pistol instructor. We talk about the fact that shooting is visual all the time. You can't hit what you can't see. If you need to squint or close an eye while searching for visual consistency, who cares! Hits matter more than dogma. Do what you gotta do to SEE better.
I'm personally getting more interested in shooting wildcat clays and sporting clays. It's a blast, but I'm not nearly as skilled at reading all the various cues between shooter, gun, and target. Thanks for allowing me to listen in on the conversation ;)
I’m strong left eye dominant and right handed. I winked down my left eye most of my life. 2 years ago, I started shooting both eyes open and It has helped me achieve master class in the NSCA here in the US. However, I know there are shooters that are cross dominant and wink on every shot and they are better than me! Thank you for this video. I think it will help a lot of people.
True Nirvana is shooting with both eyes closed. I've done it for years.
🤣
What’s the clay shooting ground equivalent of “FORE!” ?
😂
I think ‘medic’ might the ‘fore’ of the clay ground
Dont mention it on your renewal tho Nick 😉
Use the Force Luke hahaha
Ed Solomons….. National treasure. Deserves a Knighthood ( well at least an MBE)😊
I am from Hungary and love skeet shooting. I am right eye dominant and right handed. I always close my left eye right before shooting. I also read about this “leaving both of your eyes open thing”. When i went to the shooting range next time i made a consicous effort to keep both of my eyes open. My shots were all over the place. My instructor asked me what was going on. I told him what i was trying to do. I actually knew his mother was a skeet world champion and later the coach of a Hungarian skeet Olimpic champion, as well (unfortunately she passed away last December). He told me: “listen! My Mum won the world championship with keeping one of her eyes actually closed. If she could do that, you might also continue closing one of your eyes if that feels more comfortable for you”. I have not raised this issue since then…:-)
CPSA instructor.. the usual symptom of cross eye dominance is the dominant eye takes over and looks across the gun at the target and not inline with the barrel as a consequence the shot goes either to the left or right side of the target depending on the shooters orientation. they are usually very good at a particular crosser as this give them a natural lead but are always behind the one going in the other direction and miss. I shoot both eyes open but I am not cross eye dominant so not a problem. I have found that every pupil is different with their own individual issues and as such what works with one wont work with another. And coming up with the solution is what i love about being an instructor i started shooting when i was 11 I'm 76 now and have been qualified 18 years and still love to see that grin on a tyro face when they hit their first ever clay. Thanks CPSA great vid
Thank you two for making this video.
How liberating it feels the weight of eternal failure has been lifted off my shoulders. 🍻
There are always mixed emotions when you uncover one of those simple truths that change long-held beliefs and behaviours. On the one hand you are delighted to have made the breakthrough, and on the other, you want to kick the shit out of the person who put you on the wrong path.
I am really enjoying the new Longthorne and your relationship with it - please keep up the good work.
Oh wow. Finally a Gun coach who is realistic about the gun in our vision. Thanks ED, very refreshing.
I gave up listening to coaches who said "they don't even see where the barrels are". Load of bollocks.
The best video yet on single vs two-eye fully open shooting. I'm new to the sport (had my licence two years now) and have been really trying hard to shoot with both eyes open, when I do that I see, clear as day, two images of the barrel when I focus and hold focus on the distant clay - that messes with my head and gives my brain too much to compute - ie I need to tell my head to focus on the left barrel image as I line up for and take the shot which is the one my dominant right eye sees. I now patch out on my left glasses lens where I obscure just the barrel image and the difference just seeing one barrel is huge, I can now fully concentrate on just the sight picture when I focus on the clay but see the barrel clearly as you mention. Confirmed the theory of this on Saturday just gone on an ESP skills course where the difference in my performance was tangible. Cheers gents for confirming that I'm not going mad and that sometimes one eye is better than two.
THANK YOU!
as a relative newby who is very sightly right-eyed I have tried many gadgets (on top of the rib, on the side of the barrels, eye patches) in an effort to stop my left eye taking over (I’m also diabetic which compicates the issue still further). I have setted on keeping both eyes open and closing my left when the clay reaches my hold point. To be Told that it’s ok to close one eye is very comforting. I will certainly try squinting my left eye.
Thanks Jonny and Ed - a great video. More of you two please.
Love the video! Learned I was cross eye dominant when starting shooting trap as an adult. Shot 50 straight and then was told that I shouldn’t squint left eye. Ruined me for years!
OK. I watched this video one time. I had recently posted my worst score in several years. Having theorized one of my issues was 72 y.o. eye dominance, I decided to try the Ed Solomons' slight squint. OMG. I ran the first six stations. I'm a convert. Completely by accident.
what a privilege to have such knowledgeable friend, and how lucky are we that you are sharing it on youtube . cheers mate !
Yes! So much of this I could relate to. I am right eye dominant, but for some reason, with the barrels swinging, the sight picture becomes noisy or confused which result in a lot of frustrating consistency issues which had previously not been picked up with instruction and not knowing any better, unable to know where to start to correct. Well, that was until watching this, cue experimenting with eye closed (very clear sight picture but felt very mechanical) eye open, then closed etc and finally trialling an I-spot, and wow, clear sight picture and better consistently. You can’t imagine how overjoyed I am at this revelation! The only negative is that I’m now desperate for the game season to start to try out my ‘new eyes’. Thanks, fantastic content.
Thankyou fellas for this I have been shooting with my left eye dominant shut most of my life and told by so called experts not to due to balance issues, especially when I was shooting better than them. So they can all sod off.
This video makes so much sense to me. Ed Lyons recommended the Shotspot which helps a lot but I still shoot better by picking up the target with both eyes and then dimming my 'off' eye to make sure my dominant eye is the one focussing on the target when I take the shot. As long I I remember, not perfect yet but improving.
Right eye dominant , had eye accident destroyed my right eye lens , had to have implant in right eye , still right eye dominant , left eye without doubt clearer vision wise , but with glasses and correct lens in right eye of glasses and left eye shut i can shoot ok , but up to now would never tell anyone as it was frowned upon . EYES ROLL. Thank you for making me realise i am not doing a bad thing closing my left eye. All the best David .
I'm a right-handed shooter but I'm left eye dominant. I tend to keep both eyes open and then squint the left eye when I'm about to shoot. Seems to work for me.
Exactly the same for me.
Me 2 lol
Same here.
Luckily I picked up on my mates dominance within first 6 months of him shooting with other people and said you should swap hands, so now he shoots left handed
Thanks so much for this. I’m ambidextrous and while I write and throw right, all of my sighted activities I’ve always done from the left side as I’m left eye dominant. My right eye likes to jump in and take control. I like you have been told that I have to shoot both eyes open and this has made hunting and clays so frustrating. Can’t wait to get to the range w my right eye closed. Many thanks
This is one of the moments when you think everyone is hearing your thoughts. I have started teaching some students and myself to squint the off eye on targets the require very little lead or the “shoot right it targets.” Mainly because the barrel and the target are occupying the same space in the shot picture. This is causing the off eye to take over to give the since of space between the barrel and target. The result is a lost target.
In the last month this has become a hot topic of clay target videos and blogs. Everyone, from top shooters to top instructors are giving there input on eye dominance and occluding the off eye. I thought it to be a band aid fix but I’m considering it to be a permanent fix.
Thank you! I've spent over 30 years shooting rifles, and I'm pretty good. But serious shotgunning is really new, and I've been struggling big-time to make sense of the "two-eyed" approach. It feels so inconsistent. But I had kept doing it, believing it was the only effective way, and that I just had to practice more.
About 10 years ago I started shooting barebow archery and shot "instinctively" - and terribly - for months before learning about gap shooting. A sight picture that was more relatable to rifle shooting instantly improved my shooting. I can't wait to hit a clays course and try this. I'm hopeful it'll at least help me get a more consistent sight picture.
Excellent video on many levels. As always I applaud Ed Solomons for encouraging you to try something different, and helping you understand the 'process'. And I applaud you for being willing to listen and learn and try. At 73, I could write a whole chapter on the difference in requirements for clay shooting and wingshooting, but this very open minded approach to 'improving one's shooting' is excellent. Keep up the great videos.
Bonjour Monsieur, I have a question for you if you allow it sir. What do you think of those who say that the ball-trap is useless for hunting shooting?
Thanks to both of you. With one eye closed my focus is exponentially greater than with two eyes open. Everything is clear and sharp. With two eyes open it's confusing and almost blurred. I am right eye dominant but my left eye is much stronger than my right and I shoot right handed. So I start with two eyes open and close my left eye to bring everything into sharp and clear focus, much better for me and it works!!!
Hey mate. I'm a newish shooter, and I reckon you've just saved me a lot of time trying to please the greybeards. One eye shut/squint for most targets and both eyes for driven felt natural to me from the start. Glad I'm not mad.
If you're newish, the best advice would be to give a good try at both. But not without a simple eye dominance test first (Mount gun both eyes open, point it at a spot in the distance, close each eye in turn and see which one actually lined up with the target). I started out after coming from rifles one eye, could shoot everything without much lateral movement but always struggled on anything remotely crossing. Had a lesson, got taught to open both eyes which felt incredibly wrong, but persisted for a few shoots, suddenly my scores went up. I did notice my scores for those targets without lateral movement went down though, which is when i found out about my eye dominance and went back to closing an eye on them as well as a glow bead with a tube to improve my eye dominance.
I’ve been wrestling with the same issue. Trying to shoot with both eyes fully open, because I’ve been advised best, but in truth the single eye picture helps me on many shots. Great video, I will stick with a combination and not keep trying and trying with both eyes open on certain targets with less consistency…….just because “it’s best”👍👍👍
Glad I watched this. I have been instinctively shutting one eye as I felt on some type of clays that I couldn't get the sight picture. Also felt disconnected to the barrel. So shutting 1 eye made sense. Have recently been told this is wrong. So for me maybe it is right. Cheers Ed and Johnny
Brilliant episode!!!!
and it’s backing up that I also naturally close my left eye 50-75-100% on some birds. I forced myself to keep both eyes open and after that these birds got inconsistent…. Going back to dimming the eye and there you go, consistent hits again.
As usual great clip of You.
At last someone that actually understands and talks sense when it comes to the dreaded eye dominance quandary. Everyone gets told to shoot both eyes open, hardly anybody is checked if they can actually do it. Yes if you can do it happy days, but as Ed says, if not it is not the end of the world. The one thing I would say is keep both eyes open until the point your face is about to touch the stock, this will naturally bring your eye straight smack bang down the centre of the rib, and therefore the gun is now actually pointing where you are looking. It will also improve your 3d depth perception and make it easier to determine how far the clay is away from you, something Ed mentioned when he tried it. Jonny the change in your breaks were immense going from what you have been told, to what actually felt more comfortable, funny how it works.
Love it. Always preach, do what works for you. I’m majorly left eye dominate and right handed. I’ve been shooting left eye closed my whole life. When my pop taught me 45 years ago, there was no consideration to eye dominance. I was right handed and they was that. To be honest, relearning to shoot left handed is not an option. I would say, i have been interested in trying a shooting circle on my left lense. The rabbit is the only time i wish i could shoot both open. Great videos. Cheers.
For all the clay shooting videos out there, the content you make with Ed has taught me, without doubt, the most.
I’ve recently taken up clays and have had some lessons, however got the vibe the instructor didn’t have much to give. He’s CPSA trained but (in my opinion) doesn’t seem a natural teacher.
Ed’s advice always seems to help the shooter explore what’s right for them, but ultimately steers towards the correct fashion. I really like how he takes in the feedback and has the knowledge to discuss it, never leaving the man at the gun feeling stupid for misunderstanding (or missing).
Thoroughly enjoying your content. It’s making me feel more comfortable to turn up at the shooting ground with new things to try on my own. But what I’d give for even an hour with Ed!
Great video!! Heading out tomorrow for a day of sporting clays, going to have to try this!!! I’m 99% sure I do squint my left eye, but tomorrow going to be conscious of it and actually see what closed and open do!! Thanks for this!
Great video. I've watched it a few times now.
I was also told that changing to the left shoulder with 2 eyes open was the ONLY way forward. I was told I am left eye dominant.
Tried it for 5 months with a good coach. It worked at times in Skeet and Trap but very seldom with Sporting clays.
The dominance was just not strong enough and I had poor barrel awareness.
Finally went back to right handed with a slight squint before pulling the trigger. My perception of lead and the sight picture makes a lot more sense to me that way.
That day was the most fun I had in months!
This channel and these guys are all you need. Bravo!
Thank you, a long awaited eye opener ( excuse the pun) have tried everything, black tape ,Vaseline etc. etc. and the only thing that works is the Squint and sometimes left eye closed not to your high standard but when people tell me that I need both eyes open I`ll refer them to this video, great watching as usual
Absolutely terrific video. I have to squint or close my left eye (even with a patch) on certain targets also. Yesterday I was struggling with similar quartering rabbits and now I'm anxious to try the exercise Ed coached. I just kept cringing when Jonny would remove his glasses!
I think this is the most “eye opening “ YT video I’ve ever watched. (Pun intended). I have been shooting shotguns for 61 years and sporting clays since 1999. ALWAYS with both eyes open. I am right eye dominant and shoot off my right shoulder. I’ve had multi-focal lens implants in my eyes for 17 years and have tested 20/20 every year since then. However, about two years ago I noticed that I was not hitting crossing clays with my normal consistency. While my eye doctor said my vision was still very good, I was struggling with that “hard focus “ you need to hit targets. I started calling for the birds with both eyes open and as I mounted my gun, I would close my left eye, HOLY SMOKES, the target picture became much, much clearer! I now probably hit crossing targets as well as I ever have. I don’t like starting the shooting sequence with an eye closed, buy if I have any time, I close an eye.
I know how I shoot with two eyes open. Worked for 59 years for me. But whatever the physiological dynamic that has changed with my aging eyes, I shoot better with the left one closed! This video helped legitimize my experiences. Much appreciated
Heard the same "don't close an eye" thing myself.. but I am cross dominant and since I started shooting last year, I have closed my dominant eye (left) after picking up the clay with both eyes, to then see the required lead, it works for me. I started shooting rifles before clays so it feels perfectly natural to me anyway.
As a new shooter only started a few months ago this is invaluable information. Nearly everyone Ive spoken to has told me to shoot with both eyes open. Im going to start experimenting with this next time Im at the range. Thanks for putting it out there.
As someone who is 7 months in, i stopped listening to people after the first 3 or 4 months and just did what felt comfortable to me, consistency has naturally fell into place and i feel much happier and confident every time.
I took 2 lessons from an instructor. I am a righthanded shot and right eye dominant. 1st skeet lesson I shot 3 boxes of shells and maybe hit 10, both eyes open. Most of my hits were left to right. I have the opposite problem of most right handed shooters. I find left to right easier since I can see down the side of the barrel focusing on the bird. Right to Left I focus on the bird and have double vision of the bead/barrel end. MISS! 2nd lesson my instructor said try closing your left eye on right to left shots. Shooting from all stations, I hit the bird every time. With both eyes open I would lose the bird behind the tip of the barrel and peak over. With one eye closed I could get a clear picture down the rib on Right to Left shots and match gun speed to bird speed. Even though I cannot see down the right side of the barrel to establish lead, I can see the bird easier and gun speed is correct. I shoot Left to Right with both eyes open and Right to Left with left eye closed. 3 boxes of shells on the 2nd lesson, I missed only 5. Everyone sees differently and processes information from the eyes differently. I hunt pheasant primarily and since then have only missed 2 birds this season. Amazing! BTW I shoot a Beretta Silver Pigeon with IC and MOD chokes for hunting!!
I am the opposite of this. I have more trouble left to right and actually see more "lead" to hit these targets. Not sure if it's due to not swinging the gun as good or if I pull the gun away from my face or what it is.
To hit left to right targets my sight picture sees a big lead where from right to left I just swing with the target and shoot at it to hit it.
I am right eye dominant but I could be picking up the skeer with my "off" eye making me have to lead more to hit. Idk
Love this video, this is Gould. A lot of thanks to you two. My two children are strong left eye dominant, (a generative situation from my mother side), to which I suffer a little less, as I normally start shooting with rite eye dominant, and then I swap to left eye dominant when I get tired. My children and I, we have insisting using both eyes Fully open because, have been thought this way... Result, a real struggle.
Great video - Ed & Ed are the guys with this - I'm right handed and by most tests right eye dominant except when shooting anything going right to left..... definitely have to squint/occlude my left eye at times!
Great instructional video. I’ll start winking again after watching this. I too was told across the pond from y'all that both eyes wide open was the key to club glory. Many clay presentations are flat out mysteries with both targeting systems out of sync. I even tried switching teams. So awkward at 55. I now believe in “hand dominance” more than eye dominance. Does Ed have a book?
Great one Jonny! Ed is truly one of the best at explaining the fine art of shooting sporting consistently. I haven't seen him for going on 2 years now so am looking forward to our next meet up. Thoroughly enjoyed the video, keep up the good work!
What a relief! I was made to believe that I will never be as consistent as someone who shoots with both eyes open and as it turns out, that is not necessarily the case. I am aware that my left eye is closed when I actually pull the trigger but could not honestly say when I close it. I shoot gun down so I suspect that I naturally do it as I mount the gun cos I don't have to think about it. Thanks for putting my mind at rest.
Great video, shows the myths that area associated with shooting, I like the whole idea of using the best eye situation for the shot, simple stuff, do what works, goes to show why Ed Solomon is not only a world class shooter but, a also a world class instructor and coach.
Yep - me too. I'm new to shotgunning and have been struggling to shoot 'two eyed" for months. Went to shoot today, started squinting my opposite eye, then BLAMO - busted clays time after time. Truly there is more than one way to skin a cat!
Also this is just a distraction trick to keep you from concentrating on the barrel. Huge fix for a shifter or transition’er/pause prone. Have to put it into practice for a whole day to see if the shooter reverts back to break in concentration or takes the eye off the ball. Fun to watch.
I've been shooting one eye closed since i was 8. About two years ago i started shooting two eyes open and my score went down. I got a shotkam and tried both methods. With two eyes open i lift my head the moment i take the shot and obviously shoot high. With one eye closed head lifting is not a problem. I am back to one eye closed but i close it prior to taking the shot.
I am left eye dominant,if I try to shoot with both eyes open I see the barrels on the left side instead of looking down the centre of the rib. Was advised many years ago to squint left eye and it has helped although I will never shoot for England!
Informative video guys.
Isn't the moral of the story that traditional (unscientific) myths are a problem in shooting, particularly in how we train coaches? One example is that there is 40 years of hundreds of serious educational studies that show there is no such thing as learning styles (normally called VAK for Visual Auditory & Kinaesthetic). Yet this model of learning is what BASC use in their supposedly 'evidence-led' course to train shotgun coaches. It's little wonder that there is such a huge variation in how people are taught to shoot with far too much being endless repetition of anecdotal myths (eg never close an eye). Great segment that all shotgun shooters should watch.
This is brilliant. I shot ISSF standard pistol in college and always dimmed my left eye. Shooting clays I was always told to use both eyes and never shot as well. This is the validation I didn't know I needed.
Ed is so intuitive. Very kind in his instruction as well.
Brilliant feature.
As a lefty shooter with right eye dominance I've struggled with one eye....two eyes and have settled on a small dot on the right lense of my glasses, I still get peripheral vision but my barrels are actually pointing in the right direction, mostly anyway!
An excellent vid as usual I would not expect anything else. This question has bugged me for ages. Most of my younger life I was a rifle shooter and shot .22 for the county etc and was quite good at it. I have fired 7.62 .303 and 9mm and have won many a shoot out with these calibres with various rifles and 9mm sub machine gun. I have shot 12g on and off when younger but not that often. A couple of years ago I bought a B725 then a MK38. Whilst shooting I always close my left eye as I am right handed and right eye dominance. No worries for me whilst shooting I am so used to target shooting the natural thing for me to do is close my left eye when on target. I do not find any issues whit shooting clays with one eye closed, sometimes on a left to right target I will use both eyes to pick the target up then when sure I know where it is headed I will close my left eye and shoot the clay using my right eye. My average is around 74-85% and I am happy with that. As we are all different in everything from stature, height, eye dominance I think we need to find what is comfortable for yourself. If you shoot enough regardless of what you do your brain will configure the target for you and muscle memory will build to make your shooting experience a much better thing. I am a very competitive person especially with myself so I do beat myself up a bit if I have shot badly, in that respect it's me that needs to relax and go with the flow. All the best guys, Have fun and stay safe...Cheers!
Moral of the story and the majority of these comments - do what works for you. The key is finding what works for you, whether that good coaching or just pumping out 1000s of shells
Hi Guys, just watch the video its helped me no end. I've only been shooting since October 2021 and have eye dominance issue. I naturally close my left eye as I mount on my right shoulder and it works for me. My only issue is with left to right targets so i have to hold off mounting the gun until later, do you reckon this is the best way to progress.
As a right hand, right eye dominant shooter, I found that for extremely close targets (
Jonny, fantastic episode. It's reassuring to hear from yourself and a sporting legend like Ed Solomons that closing/dimming your dominant eye won't make you a 'worse' shooter. There was a point for me where I was getting despondent listening to others and even considered changing my shooting shoulder. Not anymore!
THANK YOU ! Right hand amputee, right eye dominant and squinting works for me.
Fantastic video, enlightened and definitely going to try the points in this video! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for this informative video. I’m right handed but left eye dominate, I’ve been told to shoot with both eyes open but I struggle to hit anything. Feels more like luck than actual judgement. Squinting my left eye has helped me a lot.
I took a teen to the Sporting Clays range with me a while back. First shotgun he ever shot was my F3 SuperSport. Not only did he close one eye, he actually aimed with “strange sights.” I couldn’t bring myself to telling him he was doing it wrong because he was doing so well and he actually did much better than me on the rabbit 🐇 stations.
Wasn’t too bothered about watching this one - Glad I Did !!!!
Great video and resonates with how I feel comfortable shooting...thanks TGS!
Well, i clicked like before I actually watched the video....from the headline alone I just knew it was going to be good!
Thank goodness! I don’t have to watch Jonnie slashing his gun across the sky anymore. I’ve only got one good eye and have had to listen to the two-eyed stuff for 60 years. I’m also color impaired. If I had the choice between having two functional eyes or perfect color vision, I would take the color vision.
He knew this all along he was saving it to spend more time with Ed and let the bromance flourish 🤣
Ed Solomons is the finest shooting coach in Europe, bar none.
Absolutely brilliant 👏
I use to shoot with one eye 🤨 and my scores where the best and after listening pepole to shoot with 2 👀 my scores went down
Thank you! for this educational information 👍🏻and thank you! Ed
As a coach i've been saying this for longer than I can remember. Nice to hear Ed say it with backing from Ed Lyons.
I shoot left handed but right eye dominant and have see the sight picture both eyes open and then close right eye :) found this video very helpful !!
Hi I'm the same ie left handed shooter with right eye dominance, will try the right eye squint....
I have shot clays and wild birds. I shoot both eyes open, right dominance, I am not a world class clay shooter, but I have had other hunters tell me I am one hell of a shot on wild birds, which meant more to me than 25 straight on trap. When your peers see you perform at a high degree on hard flying wild birds that just means a lot especially when you have seen them make incredible shots themselves, having their respect for your gunning is priceless.
Thanks chaps, been squinting more these days and thinking must keep both open . Ideal but reckon fit and mount still needs to be right👍
My youngest is right-handed but left eye dominant. We caught that when he was just learning to shoot. So we switched shoulders as he was just learning. On rifles, he is now the best shot in the family. I haven’t got him shooting clays yet. We’ll have to see how that goes.
Always had a niggle in my head about this subject since my very first lesson. Some sight pictures just seem clearer with my left eye occluded in some way, as Johnny said 'less noisy'. Have persisted with both eyes open since starting shooting clays 3 years ago, I'm going to give this a go at Barbury on Friday, could be an interesting session.
Great video gents! Hopefully this video gets far more traction than the tripe purported by the naysayers 👍
What do you know about this subject anyway 😬
😘
@@tgsoutdoors I’m slowly trying to ascend the slope of enlightenment 😂
@@edlyonssportsvision9197 iiiiiii wish you were ascending myyyyyyyy sloooooope
I do both. Sometimes I need to close my left to focus then open it. Sometimes I shoot straight off with both open and sometimes I shoot straight off with one closed. Depends how I feel in the moment. Shot skeet for the first time ever this weekend and couldn’t tell you how many eyes I had open and got 20/25.
I like Ed’s laid back approach to lessons, nice guy, I’d learn with him simply by his humorous approach.
Interesting, I'm right handed and strong right eye dominant but understand your comments on to much information, I'll try the one eye shooting next Sunday and see if it works any better
Hi iam left I dominant I shoot right handed have had issues in the past but getting better will take on board what you have said and try and apply them thanks for a great video on the subject
Great vlog guys, I'm just moving from one eye to shooting both open, although I can shoot with both, i find it challenging to be consistent, especially close in clays.
I am a right handed shooter and definitely right eye dominant. But I have recently developed an issue when shooting the low house on station one in skeet. If I keep both eyes open I constantly miss the target. However, if I close my left eye at the moment I want to shoot I smash it every time. I don't have any problem with the low house targets on stations two or three. I can't explain it, it's as if my left eye suddenly takes over at the critical moment. I seem to be looking down the left side of the barrels rather than along the rid. I can only assume age is causing changes to my vision. I also shoot sporting and never seem to have the issue there.
Fantastic video Jonny, I will be following the series with interest and may, as a relatively new shooter give this a go. Keep up the great work, by far the best shooting channel on UA-cam.
Fantastic video to watch, the ClayDHD is real 💯 I will have to give this squinting method a try on some of the stands next time I’m down at Grimsthorpe 👍
Fantastic film!
This is why i come to this channel.😁
I am left-handed and shot left sidled.. couldn't hit anything.. thanks to a coach who discovered I was right eye dominate it made a huge difference in my shooting but always squint my left eye and watching this video has made me realise that is perfectly ok despite advice that I must shoot both eyes open..
I have been shooting for 40 years and have found my scores have definitely got worse over the last year. I suspect it is an eye problem so next time out I will try squinting my left eye and see if my shooting improves. Thanks both of you for a great video.
I'm curious as to whether this helped you or not?
Hello TGS, I shot with a eye shut, what I do is both eyes are open to the target but has my gun is coming to my shellder my eye is closing as keeping the open eye on the target and connecting line with the target for the shot and I am connecting with about 55% to about 80% , I am doing this because of my shooting eye is weaker than the other eye. I aply this to all of my shooting. What is Ed's thoughts on this please.
Great Vid Gents! Been struggling myself with deciding which method to go with, both open or just dominant open? This has helped me make my decision much easier now and will acquire the target with both eyes open and then close non-dominant eye prior to trigger pull, Pretty sure that's what I've been doing but this confirms that I'm not a TOTAL quack. Agree with Ed though, the bird looks MILES away if you START with one eye closed as you lose all depth perception doing it that way. Not recommended. Keep up the good work guys!
An outstanding venue , 👌
I must have watched this 10X’s.. simply one of the best videos.
Excellent advice and top quality video.
Try the North- or/and South Devon shooting ground !! You will be amazed !
You and Ed Solomons MUST keep making videos or the world will stop turning.
I don't understand the resistance of dominant left-eye shooters to not just shoot left-handed. What's the deal? The minute I found out I was left-eye dominant I switched over with rifles and shotguns. Who cares which index finger pulls the trigger? It takes two minutes to readjust your hold and your feet. I did have some cast problems with shotguns -- so I bought a left-handed shotgun and adjusted my right-handed guns to fit.
Finally the mystery of what Tony Starks up to is solved! Great vid as always chaps. Ed ‘stark’ Solomons….. what a guy 😉