by L. Woodrow Ross

Created on: July 12, 2007

If you are a beginner in the shotgunning sport and are having difficulty in hitting the clays, you may have a not too rare malady that affects some shooters. If you are right handed and left eye dominant, you will be at a major disadvantage in shooting.

This trait is not an acquired trait, but is something that we have from birth. It cannot be changed, but with the proper training and adjustments in your shooting, you can overcome this problem. The first step is to identify the problem.

In order to determine if this is the case, form a circle with your forefinger and thumb on your dominant side (right hand or left hand). Select an object about 20 feet away and raise the circle quickly with both eyes open and look at the object through the circle. If you are right handed, close the left eye. If you are right eye dominant, the object should appear in the circle. If you are left eye dominant, the object will be outside the circle. The instructions would be opposite if you are left handed.

If your dominant hand and eye are not on the same side, there are a couple of things that you can do to improve your shooting. You can learn to shoot from the opposite shoulder. It is not as hard as you may suspect, and your shooting will improve rapidly. If this is problematic for you, you can try placing a patch over your dominant eye and the other eye will take over. The patch may be hard to adjust to, but some people cannot adjust to shooting from the opposite shoulder.

Opposite dominant eye shooters may be missing targets by a large margin. If you are right handed and your right cheek is on the gun stock, your left eye will be several inches out of alignment with the barrel. This will mean that your dominant eye is looking at the target and the end of the barrel, but not aligned along the length of the barrel. This forms an "X" with the shot traveling along one axis and the vision along another. "Never the twain shall meet."

Try this exercise if you are consistently missing targets and you may be on to a solution that will get you on the right track. You should see immediate improvement in your shooting and as a result, will get a lot more satisfaction from the shooting sports.

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