It’s normal to think you should keep one eye shut for better focus over your target. But I’m going to debunk that shooter myth!
Because actually, shooting with both eyes open will HUGELY IMPROVE your shooting game. I know mine did!
Although I won’t lie there’s a learning curve, it’s EASIER than you think!
Let’s get into how to shoot with both eyes open!
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Tips on How to Shoot with Both Eyes Open
As weird as it is to think, learning to shoot with both eyes open is actually BETTER when you’re starting out as opposed to learning it as a skill later on.
Don’t worry.
Even if you’ve been shooting for years now, these tips will still apply to you and help you polish your shooting skills.
1. Know Your Dominant Eye
If people use one hand more often, it isn’t so strange to think that our brain prefers using one eye over the other too, right?
Except…there’s one thing you’re missing here.
Eye dominance IS NOT about one eye having better vision or clarity than the other eye. It’s more about which one leads faster and, again, that’s mainly up to preference.
Usually, the dominant eye provides more accurate information to the brain than the non-dominant one, so knowing your dominant eye is helpful for shooting.
DID YOU KNOW: Hand and eye dominance are thought to be related, meaning if you’re right-handed you’re probably right eye dominant but that doesn’t always follow.
Having opposite hand and eye dominance can be tricky but it’s nothing that can’t be worked with!
Yes, you can be right-hand dominant and then left-eye dominant.
The Super-Simple Method to Finding Your Dominant Eye
- Focus on an object that’s fairly far away from you – about 10 or 15 feet.
- Make a triangle with your hands, then put that object inside the triangle.
- Close one eye (left eye) and then the other (right eye).
Then…
- If you closed the right eye and the object stayed in the middle of the triangle, congratulations, you’re right eye dominant!
- If you closed the left eye and the objects stayed in the middle of your left eye, good for you, you’re left eye dominant!
This goes without saying, but if you closed one eye and the object moved from the center, say hello to your non-dominant eye.
It doesn’t really matter whether you’re left-eye dominant or right-eye dominant since your performance depends on your skill.
2. Aiming with Both Eyes
Let’s make it clear that when you’re shooting with both eyes open, you aren’t really using both eyes to focus on your target.
The dominant eye is still the one being used to focus on the target.
So what’s the difference?
This time… the non-dominant eye stays open too – technically, you’re still shooting with one eye.
There are a bunch of reasons why shooting with both eyes open is a good thing:
First, it allows you to see a WIDER field of view.
Closing one eye of course limits the field of view, changes lighting, and our vision needs to adjust.
If both eyes stay open, you won’t come across that problem.
Second, let’s say, for example, you’re in a high-pressure situation and adrenaline rushes through your nervous system.
It’s pretty difficult to actively work on keeping one eye closed just to focus the other eye.
But, if you already practice keeping both eyes open, it just takes away that extra effort.
You gotta stay ready so you don’t have to get ready!
Training to Aim with Both Eyes: How It’s Done
Two words: Muscle. Memory.
It’s hard at first to learn how to focus on using your dominant eye even if the other eye is open.
First, find your balance. I hope that while you’ve been practicing shooting, you have been standing squarely on both feet, yes?
Well, good because that’s the first step.
Now, you can try out a method or two to start training and see which works for you.
I’ve given you a few options but whichever you settle with is totally your choice.
There’s a couple of things you can do to get used to keeping both eyes open while shooting:
- Squint your non-dominant eye while holding up your gun. This will clear away any blurred vision while you practice keeping both eyes open
- Wear shooting glasses and blur the non-dominant eye side with Chapstick or cover it up with tape. This will force your brain to work on using the dominant eye while still having the other eye open.
- Use an eye patch when practicing. Basically the same concept as the glasses tip. This way your brain is forced to concentrate on a target with one eye.
When practicing this technique, focus on your front sight while holding up your gun and your eyes will get the hang of it!
These tips really helped me develop good muscle memory over time that I didn’t even realize that I was shooting with both eyes open!
1. Cross Eye Dominance
Remember when I said that sometimes even if you’re right-handed, you may be left eye dominant?
That’s called cross-eye dominance and a lot of expert shooters have it.
Yes, being cross dominant may make things a bit tricky in terms of balance and technique but you can easily overcome it.
Some instructors might tell you to switch hands, meaning use your non-dominant hand to match your dominant eye, which you can do in certain situations.
Although, it’s easier to maneuver things with your dominant hand – especially with pistols – so why on earth would you give that up?
You just have to practice your sight alignment with your dominant eye and adjust your gun position and shooting technique.
Remember! Front sight focus is key!
Here’s how to clear up your sights:
- With pistols – Line up your sights.
- Align your gun with your non-dominant eye.
- Keep your head neutral and just slightly shift your hands over to line the pistol up with the dominant eye.
- With rifles – Train your non-dominant eye or hand.
- This technique is a little bit more tedious than with a pistol but if you want to shoot with a rifle it’s something you have to do.
- Using the same process as training the muscle memory of your dominant eye, work on focusing with your non-dominant eye.