Cross eye dominate and I picked Trap for a shooting Sport?

[gregkl]

I am wondering if I am possibly setting myself up for failure. I am cross dominant. I can't switch and shoot from the other side. Too old, way to right handed. I am really struggling with Trap. Last night I shot a 9, 17, and 8. I probably average around 11 per round. I am currently trying the opaque tape on my dominant eye to force my non-dominant eye to do the focusing.

What I am beginning to wonder is: should I be trying to shoot a non-moving target instead of a clay pigeon? I know that other cross dominant people do okay, but no one will convince me that it is not a handicap in activities in which you aim or point at an object. I see other new shooters like myself and they are hitting in the mid to high teens right out of the box. And it seems like within weeks they are up around and over 20. I have shot 450 rounds out of my 20 ga O/U, then switched to my 12 ga autoloader(which I think is better suited for Trap) and have shot 375 rounds so far this year.

Do I just need more practice? Or should I cut my grief and try something else? I can shoot pistol by a slight head/body turn to line up my dominant eye and I have no problem closing one eye for bench type shooting with a scope.

Add: hopefully this will post and I will get notifications. So far with the site "under construction" I have not had much luck.

 

[Leo]

Close the left eye, relax and enjoy yourself. There are a lot of two eyed shooters out there and a lot of one eye shooters, use what works for you.

In the above post it looks like you are doing a fair job talking yourself out of getting good enough to really feel good about it.

I was probably 5000 shots into trap before I really started understanding the sport. Shoot where the bird is going to be!

 

[Mgderf]

Close the left eye, relax and enjoy yourself. There are a lot of two eyed shooters out there and a lot of one eye shooters, use what works for you.

In the above post it looks like you are doing a fair job talking yourself out of getting good enough to really feel good about it.

I was probably 5000 shots into trap before I really started understanding the sport. Shoot where the bird is going to be!

You might try setting up a static target. Start your swing the same as usual, but follow through on every shot. If you can find the lead on a still target while you are moving, it might help.
It may not either. Just a thought.

 

[Vince49]

My head hurts!

I was having the same problem last night Greg (maybe I was standing too close to you? LOL). I too am left eye dominant and a right handed shooter. I noticed that a number of the really good shooters were having a tough time for whatever reason last night,maybe the heat? I saw more misses from everyone than I ever remember seeing before. My own problems I do believe were what some of the previous posters have alluded to I think I am over analyzing myself right out of the game! I have always been left eye dominant and a right hand shooter but when I hunted with my dad and friends years ago I very seldom missed a rabbit on the run or a bird in flight (we ate very well). Age aside I think my biggest handicap right now is thinking instead of just relaxing and shooting. Now lets see if I can practice what I just preached next week!

 

[kludge]

Scotch tape (not the clear, the "invisible" frosted kind) on your left lens.

 

[1911ly]

I am left eye dominate too. It has taken me a few years to work around it. I still have issues once in a while. Just practice. A patch should help. I managed to just keep my left eye closed. I am a twin. My brother and I are mirror twins. He has the opposite issue.

 

[Mike Elzinga]

Eye dominance can be changed, also, try both eyes open

 

[gregkl]

Close the left eye, relax and enjoy yourself. There are a lot of two eyed shooters out there and a lot of one eye shooters, use what works for you.

In the above post it looks like you are doing a fair job talking yourself out of getting good enough to really feel good about it.

I was probably 5000 shots into trap before I really started understanding the sport. Shoot where the bird is going to be!

You are right, Leo. I should give it more time.

I was having the same problem last night Greg (maybe I was standing too close to you? LOL). I too am left eye dominant and a right handed shooter. I noticed that a number of the really good shooters were having a tough time for whatever reason last night,maybe the heat? I saw more misses from everyone than I ever remember seeing before. Age aside I think my biggest handicap right now is thinking instead of just relaxing and shooting. Now lets see if I can practice what I just preached next week!

I also noticed that there were more lost birds.

Scotch tape (not the clear, the "invisible" frosted kind) on your left lens.

Trying that now. And this is probably why I am not giving myself a fair shake. I may have around 800 rounds so far, but only 75 with the glasses taped. Suppose it make take awhile to get used to it?

Eye dominance can be changed, also, try both eyes open

Both eyes open is a disaster and I am no eye doctor, but I don't think you can change eye dominance.



So, since I am not hearing anyone say that I picked the wrong sport and I should take up backgammon, I will stay at it. I didn't want to beat myself up if I did have a real handicap to at least getting off the bottom of the score list. You know, the Russians would not have trained Nadia Comaneci to be a rugby player.

 

[snapping turtle]

Do you have a middle bead on either shotgun barrel?

Being left eye dominate myself and right handed I will admit that I am a much better shot with a pistol or scoped rifle than shotgun. Unlike yourself I missed lots of rabbits as a kid shooting a single shot 20 gauge and often found myself shooting high when I could see the pellet patern on the background of the area in which I shot.

When I moved up to a pump 12 I was still shooting high and still using both eyes.

i then happened on a barrel that was extra full and 34 inches long. I forgot to switch out barrels before shooting thrown Clays and to my surprise closing the dominate eye and lining up the middle bead and the front bead seemed much easier and I started hitting them even with a much tighter choke.

Dad said it had nothing to do with the bead or closing one eye. He said I was taking more time since I knew the shot pattern was tighter. Either way I have started using the middle bead o. My vent rib guns a d have even had a couple of them installed on guns that did not have them. To me it levels out my aim and I do not seem to aim high any longer.

so i would look at a center beaded shotgun and taking more time before the shot.

 

[gregkl]

Do you have a middle bead on either shotgun barrel?

Being left eye dominate myself and right handed I will admit that I am a much better shot with a pistol or scoped rifle than shotgun. Unlike yourself I missed lots of rabbits as a kid shooting a single shot 20 gauge and often found myself shooting high when I could see the pellet patern on the background of the area in which I shot.

When I moved up to a pump 12 I was still shooting high and still using both eyes.

i then happened on a barrel that was extra full and 34 inches long. I forgot to switch out barrels before shooting thrown Clays and to my surprise closing the dominate eye and lining up the middle bead and the front bead seemed much easier and I started hitting them even with a much tighter choke.

Dad said it had nothing to do with the bead or closing one eye. He said I was taking more time since I knew the shot pattern was tighter. Either way I have started using the middle bead o. My vent rib guns a d have even had a couple of them installed on guns that did not have them. To me it levels out my aim and I do not seem to aim high any longer.

so i would look at a center beaded shotgun and taking more time before the shot.

I always thought as a kid, I was pretty good with a shotgun, but the reality is, I missed more ducks than I hit. I only hunted rabbits once and my neighbor taught me the trick of yelling which caused the rabbit to freeze for a second so I actually shot my one and only rabbit when it wasn't running.

My autoloader has a center bead. It is a field gun with a fixed modified choke. I want to learn how to shoot it well instead of buying a Trap gun, which I can't afford right now anyway.

I have noticed on occasion that if I wait an extra second, I get more hits. But I have no idea on the misses if I am behind, below or above so I don't know even know how to begin to adjust.

When I was trying to shoot both eyes open, my line of site was looking at the left side of the barrel. With the left lens taped, I see right down the rib unless my glasses shift some and then I tend to see around the lens. I am going to look for a larger pair of glasses and see if I can totally block off that eye.

Or maybe I will pick up a pirate patch!

 

[darthfader]

People change eye dominance all the time without realizing it. If you look to you left you will pick things up with the left eye before the right and in that moment you are left eye dominant. Same goes for the right side. Don't worry about your left eye dominance. Use a cover on the left eye to focus on the sights with you right eye eye. Line up the beads correctly. You should stack them so it looks like an 8. Now here comes the tricky part. Everyone always says crisp front sight... Well in trap your focus once the beads are aligned should be on the bird and not the sights. It should be crisp bird blurry sights. The exact opposite of pistol and rifle. During your swing follow thru with you shot after you have fired. For leeds divide a semi circle into 5 equal parts. Anything that goes up the center gets 0 leed. Anything that goes in the next section from center gets 1 ft of leed. Anything going in the last section gets 2 ft of leed. Most important of all. Have fun and don't get discouraged! You can train your eye using this trick. Cove the left eye. Stick out you finger or thumb using it as a sight. Cover up something at around 20-25 yards with you finger sight. Change your focus from your finger to the target. Repeat multiple times. This will train your eye to do what you want it to do cheaply without using any ammo. Is like dry firing for your eyes!

 

[Vince49]

Or maybe I will pick up a pirate patch![/QUOTE]

You do know Greg that this would not be an issue at all if you had shot an eye out like your mother said you would!

 

[gregkl]

Or maybe I will pick up a pirate patch!

You do know Greg that this would not be an issue at all if you had shot an eye out like your mother said you would! [/QUOTE]

You have to be careful with that Red Ryder!

 

[indyrun]

Invest $15 in Magic Dots. The best thing I have ever found to let me keep both eyes open and still have full use of both eyes!

 

[Westside]

Invest $15 in Magic Dots. The best thing I have ever found to let me keep both eyes open and still have full use of both eyes!

^^^ This

I will also ask have you patterned your gun to know where the pattern centers with regard to your sights. Some guns you should cover the the bird with the front bead and some you should hold just under the bird.

I will also add that you should develop a routine for mounting your gun each time you shoot. and repeat it the exact same way every time!!! if you don't mount the gun the same way every time your point of aim will change every time.

 

[gregkl]

^^^ This

I will also ask have you patterned your gun to know where the pattern centers with regard to your sights. Some guns you should cover the the bird with the front bead and some you should hold just under the bird.

I will also add that you should develop a routine for mounting your gun each time you shoot. and repeat it the exact same way every time!!! if you don't mount the gun the same way every time your point of aim will change every time.

I tried Magic Dots. I ended up looking around the "dot" so right now I have the entire lens covered with opaque Scotch tape.

I probably should pattern the gun. Maybe I'll try to do that this week.

And, yes I am practicing at home on a routine to mount the gun. My goal is to really never look at the front bead. Right now, I mount the gun, look at the bead and then look away.

Thanks for the tips! And thanks to you others that are helping out.

 

[top hat 45]

like all of the above posters, i'm also crosseye dominate on shotguns .look from left eye for handguns, easy to close left eye for scopes. have shot at nearly 50k clay birds over a 20 year period and have came down to watching launch of clay with both eyes open and shutting left just before pulling trigger. not to say it will work for everyone but does work most of time for me. not the best shooter, but a low b or high c class in sporting clay.....daryll

 

[Twangbanger]

Hi Greg,

Some ideas, in no particular order: (the following assumes you're right-handed; flip thte directions if you're left-handed).

First of all, we'll get the one out of the way that you don't want to hear: and that is, if you're new to the sport, don't have a lot of time invested, and are definitely 100%-of-the-time contralateral dominant (as opposed to just occasionally having your master eye drift to the other side), have you considered shooting off the other shoulder? I know...most people run from this idea like the plague, but it's a serious suggestion. I used to know an ATA shooter, since moved out of state, who re-taught himself to shoot left handed and broke the plateau, progressing to 27 yards, a solid mid-90s doubles shooter, and consistent class A to AA singles shooter. Contrary to what many newbies think, trapshooting at the highest levels is not about muscle memory, and preserving movements and reactions you've built up on one side of your body. It's a visual sport, and is all about focusing on the target as soon as possible upon its exit from the house, and having that visual input driving a confident and direct move to the target. This matters more than anything in trapshooting, more than body "feel," timing, muscle memory, or any of that other crap people think is important. Now obviously, this is a big change, and you don't want to make it unless you're completely, incurably 100% contralateral dominant.


Next option is scotch tape on your "offside" glasses lens, which you've already mentioned. Ideally, you want just enough to block your off eye's view of the barrel/bead (only). You do not want to put so much tape that you block your off eye from being able to see the target UNDER THE BARREL when it first emerges (a crucial trapshooting visual skill, which is the entire advantage of being able to shoot two-eyed in the first place - your brain has already identified the angle, before the target has risen above the barrel). You also want the amount of light transmission in the off side to be very close to that on the master side, so there's no imbalance to cause fatigue.

Next option - if your "cross-fires" only happen occasionally (ie, you shoot way in front of a LH angle from Post 1, say one time in five, because the left eye is showing the gun way behind the target even though you're actually too far in front), there is a device which can help you. It's the small, approx. 1/4" high metal strip that attaches to the left side of your shotgun rib, a few inches back from the muzzle via adhesive tape. This is practically invisible to your master eye, but prevents your off eye from seeing the bead. It's often the best option, because it involves no tape on the glasses which could inhibit under-barrel target acquisition by the off eye. It simply prevents your off eye from developing a bird/bead relationship once the bird is above the plane of the barrel. Good shooters like Kay Ohye (the only shooter to win all Grand American trophies in a shooting career) have used it and found it effective. It preserves all the advantages of two-eye shooting, with no glasses modifications.

Lastly, there's always switching to one-eyed shooting. There's some good shooters who have made it work, but it's the least preferable because it gives up all the advantages of two-eyed shooting. Some shooters close one eye after the bird is out, but it's exhausting, and it's also easy to forget to do it when you're concentrating.

Knock-on-wood I haven't had the cross-firing problem yet, but I've known a number of good AA-27 shooters who have worked through this problem successfully. The first step is just knowing you have the problem, and how often it's occurring. If you break it down and treat it like a problem-solving exercise, just like everything else you do in shooting, you can work through this and come out well.


Good luck and don't hesitate to send me a PM if you need help.

 

[EvieDannevig]

You need to do practice nothing else, try to have some concentration, the only way to win this battle is have concentration and totally relaxed mind.

 

[kludge]

Rep for Twangbanger.

Your depth perception is very important for trap shooting.