Controllable Eye Dominance

Yes, it's what I do. I'm not sure exactly where my cue is lined up other than it's straight in line with how I perceive a straight line from my dominant (left) eye. I'm right handed. I also have experimented with one eye like sighting a rifle but it doesn't feel quite right. However, when I am getting the line of a shot, such as getting down to see if the OB or CB will slip through a tight opening, I very often one eye it.

You probably do not even want whatever 'help' I can offer since I've been through something similar & Gene has helped me , so I'll just let Gene give it to you.

Patrick Johnson said:

I'm left handed, left eye somewhat dominant. For most of my pool playing years I shot with the cue comfortably a little left of my chin, not all the way under my somewhat dominant left eye. This gave me a stereo view of my shaft that I could interpret pretty easily and accurately.

But I've always wondered if it would be easier and more accurate to do the final alignment part of aiming with one eye rather than interpreting a stereo view from two eyes. The one eyed view, I reasoned, would be more like aiming a rifle even though the eye is above the stick.

So I've been experimenting with focusing more of my "visual attention" on my dominant left eye when I'm down on a shot, and holding the cue more fully under my dominant eye. The results are promising so far - shifting my focus more fully to my dominant eye as I get down to shoot is becoming an easy, non-strenuous habit, and it has noticeably clarified the shot picture for me, making final aiming alignment more simple, reliable and accurate.

Anybody else do this purposely - or notice that you do it automatically?

Geno, does this make sense to you?

pj
chgo

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This may NOT be universal but, decades ago when it finally dawned on me that
I wasn't Willie Mosconi - so it was a mistake to try to copy his stance... esp for me,
I got a helpful tip from a friend that lining up with one eye closed would make it
instantly apparent if you did have the shaft under your eye, or only close. But it was a terrible way to play.

FWIW - I had been playing for years with one ""normal" vision eye and the other nearly
legally blind. With my weak eye closed I couldn't make a ball. Both eyes open I could
cut in anything.

YMMV

Dale(eagle-eyed on one side)

I play darts as well and focus both eyes at the target on the board. However, when the dart comes back to a ready position it is under my right eye (dominant), which seems to be taking over the toss.
A little like sighting down a barrel but not necessary with the short dart. I will see what happens in pool, but I'm an "object ball last" guy so I'm going to need both eyes to see best.

I play snooker with a guy that closes the left eye when he shoots, I'm not even sure he knows he's doing it. Doesn't stop him from making centuries... I need my cue to be in a very specific spot under my chin. I've tried lots of other things, but in the end always come back to that spot, it is not my vision center, in the way it's usually defined, but off to the non dominant eye side. Trying to change it makes me shoot worse in every way, so I leave it alone.

It's definitely definitely possible to re-train eye dominance and switch eyes. They use patches and blurred glasses.

Patrick Johnson said:

Oh, stop pouting and tell your story if you want to. I'm interested.

pj
chgo

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I think you are aware that seeing a straight line while looking at it from above is different than looking down a straight line like a rifle barrel or a 2x4.

When Gene proved to me that I saw the straight line properly with my normally non 'dominant' left eye, the trick to keep my right eye from taking over once down with the eyes low & looking more straight out on the line, was to only look at the OB the whole time when going down & getting set on the line. Only then give a glance to the CB to set the tip.

It's worked for me, just as Gene said that it would.

Sometimes in the heat of competition I will revert back to my old way & have found that once down, I can just turn my head a slight bit clockwise & my left eye will take over.

To be clear, if shooting a rifle or a pistol with the line straight out from my eyes, my right eye is dominant, but if looking from above like shooting a rifle from the hip or over the pool table it is my left eye that is dominant & sees the line properly.

Gene also says that my issue can pop up with age or from a reduction of regular play, of which I am a victim of both.

To your point specifically, I have now found that seeing it with one eye as opposed to in a binocular manner is definitely an improvement in precision & hence accuracy.

Sorry for being so long winded.

Hope this helps or is at least some food for thought.

I'm extremely right eye dominant.
After my 15 year layoff, I discovered I wasn't seeing the center of the cue ball correctly all of the time.
I was hitting just left of center which was messing up my position.
I started closing my left eye until I was lined up then opened both eyes.

Then I switched to aiming over the ball with both eyes open.
This helped a lot.
Then I discovered, my vision center is just inside my right eye close to my nose.
Now I can see and make shots and hit the cue ball where I intend.

Patrick Johnson said:

I'm a little surprised to find I can turn it on and off so easily. It's a form of concentration so it also helps with focus.

pj
chgo

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The brain is a wonderful thing.. As long as you keep consistent your brain will start to suppress the information from the non-dominant eye more and more... It's what we are wired to do in instances were binocular vision gives us 2 images that are significantly different enough to require a choice.

by moving into a more dominant position you are reinforcing your brain choosing the dominant information every time..

The key now as Geno will tell you if you talk to him is to keep from letting the non-dominant eye cross into the shot line. You need to set up dominant while standing and move into your shooting position while keeping that dominance....

Good luck..

Chris

PS

Gene first suggested & wanted me to see with a different eye depending on the direction of the cut & I was just not comfortable doing that. When I told him I was using just my left eye for both, he said 'That's fine, that's the one that is see correctly.'.

The Renfro said:

The brain is a wonderful thing.. As long as you keep consistent your brain will start to suppress the information from the non-dominant eye more and more... It's what we are wired to do in instances were binocular vision gives us 2 images that are significantly different enough to require a choice.

by moving into a more dominant position you are reinforcing your brain choosing the dominant information every time..

The key now as Geno will tell you if you talk to him is to keep from letting the non-dominant eye cross into the shot line. You need to set up dominant while standing and move into your shooting position while keeping that dominance....

Good luck..

Chris

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Exactly, Chris.

You said that in so much fewer words & more clearly than I tried to do.

Best 2 Ya.

Patrick Johnson said:

I'm left handed, left eye somewhat dominant. For most of my pool playing years I shot with the cue comfortably a little left of my chin, not all the way under my somewhat dominant left eye. This gave me a stereo view of my shaft that I could interpret pretty easily and accurately.

But I've always wondered if it would be easier and more accurate to do the final alignment part of aiming with one eye rather than interpreting a stereo view from two eyes. The one eyed view, I reasoned, would be more like aiming a rifle even though the eye is above the stick.

So I've been experimenting with focusing more of my "visual attention" on my dominant left eye when I'm down on a shot, and holding the cue more fully under my dominant eye. The results are promising so far - shifting my focus more fully to my dominant eye as I get down to shoot is becoming an easy, non-strenuous habit, and it has noticeably clarified the shot picture for me, making final aiming alignment more simple, reliable and accurate.

Anybody else do this purposely - or notice that you do it automatically?

Geno, does this make sense to you?

pj
chgo

Click to expand...

The main issue caused by the non-dominant eye is, from my experience, that many times the non-dominant eye takes control in exactly one of the critical moments in your shooting routine - the moment when you fix your bridge hand.

If the non-dominant eye dictates where your V in the bridge is placed, the shot is doomed right from the beginning - it gets you out of alignment.

Try this - when getting down and fixing your bridge, close your dominant eye right before placing the bridge, and see how the cue is aligned totally wrong if you place your bridge with the information given by the non-dominant eye.

So...we need to find a way to limit the influence of the non-dominant eye especially when we are transitioning down from standing position to getting down for placing the bridge hand. More about this later, only if anyone is really interested

I have found many times in this forum that one of the problems in discussing eye dominance is in the different definitions of a dominant eye.

Here's the definition of a physically dominant eye: The physically dominant eye has more nerves that go straight back to the brain as opposed to the recessive eye, which has more nerves that extend diagonally to the brain. The brain receives the information quicker from the eye with the nerves that go straight back --- shortest distance between two points.

The only way to change a physically dominant eye is in childhood where these nerves are still developing.

The other definition of dominant eye is more obtuse, which involves training an eye through exercise to be stronger and closer to equal with the dominant eye. While it can get stronger, it will never be the dominant eye in an adult. It's physically impossible unless there is a pathology like blindness in one eye.

Depending on the physical nerve configuration, some people have a severely dominant eye and some --- not so dominant. Players like myself, with a severely dominant eye, have to be careful not to let the cue drift too far outside the eye. It can happen very easily because the eye is so strong (not necessarily the better eye visually, but the stronger eye in sending the image to the brain). When the cue drifts too far outside the eye, it can cause a distorted view of where the center of the cue ball is.

If the cue placement falls outside the dominant eye, severely right-eye dominant people may see the left side of the cb as center ball. And the opposite holds true for those with severely dominant left eyes.

FranCrimi said:

Here's the definition of a physically dominant eye: The physically dominant eye has more nerves that go straight back to the brain as opposed to the recessive eye, which has more nerves that extend diagonally to the brain. The brain receives the information quicker from the eye with the nerves that go straight back --- shortest distance between two points.

The only way to change a physically dominant eye is in childhood where these nerves are still developing.

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I've never heard that before (about the optic nerve). It's true that the left half of the left eye's nerves goes to the left hemisphere and its right half goes to the right hemisphere. Is that what you mean by straight back vs. diagonally?

I'd be interested in a reference to this if you have one. Honestly, I'd be surprised if a relationship between the optic nerve and eye dominance has ever been demonstrated, at least in people. They don't usually dig into human brains to determine something non-life-threatening like sighting eye dominance.