Dominant Eye same side as grip hand?

W

will14.1

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ok I'm pretty sure this is a stupid question, but a friend of mine said that if you're left eye dominant you should learn to shoot with your left hand and same for if you're right eye dominant. I see a lot of pros who are left eye dominant but shoot right handed, i do the same thing. Is there anything do this or he just making stuff up out of the clear blue sky?
all opinions appreciated
will
 
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I had a similar question about dominant eye and did a search. Do an advanced search and search titles only. In summary, the majority of people are cross eyed dominant (from what I read).

I find myself tilting my head a little bit because I am right handed and left-eye dominant but a lot of people just keep the cue right under both eyes.

what it comes down to is whatever is comfortable. See the shot, trust it, hit it and watch it go in.

good luck
 
doesn't matter which eye you use

It'd probably be easier to change eye dominance than it would be to learn a good stroke with your off-hand.

That being said, shouldn't everyone learn to shoot with BOTH hands?

There are some real advantages to doing so.
 
I've seen guys who had this issue that would keep there head to the side of the cue so the dominant eye would be closer to the cue bal, instead of having their head centered over the cue. I looks pretty funny, and extremely uncomfortable as well. There was a player from Arizona named Andy Scott who was about the best player I've seen shoot with that style.
 
I think it's easier to position your body so that your dominant eye is over the cue if your dominant eye and dominant hand are on the same side.

But having said that, plenty of excellent and even great players (Billy Incardona comes to mind) hold their opposite eye over the cue, so it's certainly possible.

Personally, I would figure it's far more important to shoot with your more coordinated arm than to shoot on the same side as your dominant eye.

-Andrew
 
Instructors often tell you to put the cue under your dominant eye and sight down the shaft like you're sighting down a rifle barrel. If you're right-handed and left-eye dominant, however, this can be a little awkward and might lead to some balance issues. The best advice is to put the cue under your chin and use both eyes to aim. I would think that would be much better than trying to train yourself to shoot everything left-handed.

But as one other poster said, it's good to learn to shoot with both hands, anyway. It can almost entirely eliminate the need for the mechanical bridge.

By the way, I am a certified instructor, and I never bring up the subject of eye dominance with my students unless I see that it is going to be an issue.

Roger Long
 
your head has to be square and perpindicular to the shaft, most people tilt or learn over cockeyed to get the dominant eye over the shaft. Now that I straightened everthing up out I pocket alot more balls again especialy when I use inside english now.

Remember it takes 21 days to develop muscle memory so you have to work on it awhile not just over night.

My friend is left eye dominent right handed it helps if you have a long neck, I have no neck and all shoulders most accuse me of playing football and when I say now I play billiards and darts they look at me like i'm sick.

Best of Luck,

Craig
 
I've done research myself and found this came from people shooting guns and rifles. It really matters then. As far as pool goes, it really doesnt matter which eye is dominant unless you are closing one of them when you shoot
 
chris_williams said:
I've done research myself and found this came from people shooting guns and rifles. It really matters then. As far as pool goes, it really doesnt matter which eye is dominant unless you are closing one of them when you shoot
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Chris Williams is in the house, what's up? For me, shooting pool, a pistol or rifle with both eyes open is all the same. I am LE dominant and have to align myself left of center to shoot with both eyes open. I learned to shoot shotgun and rifle left handed because of the recoil catching my chin/cheek in doing so. Target shooting, I can close my left eye and dead aim with the right (being right handed it's more comfortable) and be very accurate. IMO, when playing pool, how you align for your dominant eye is more important than when shooting guns.... How you line up over a shot is the whole basis for shooting straight. Alignment with a gun is alot more straight forward because you have three absolute points to aim with (dominant eye, front sight rear sight). In pool, you have two, dominant eye and the contact point on the object ball. To show you how important knowing your dominant eye is, that is the first thing that The Dog did with me the first lesson I took from him years ago......

Kirk
 
Niels feijen is right handed and right eye dominant and its pretty cool to watch him shoot with his good eye lined up perfectly with the cue every time. It definitely works for him.
 
I'm right eyed dominant and play right handed. I've always played like that. Its similar to shooting a rifle, shotgun, etc...

Hold your finger over something, such as another persons eye from a distance. Then close each eye, Seperately, when the image doesn't change, that is your dominant eye.
 
chris_williams said:
I've done research myself and found this came from people shooting guns and rifles. It really matters then. As far as pool goes, it really doesnt matter which eye is dominant unless you are closing one of them when you shoot
Click to expand...

You are correct. Rifle/shotgun shooters have reall no choice other than to
A) Shoot over a non-dominant right eye if they shoot right handed or
B) Shoot left handed.

Not everyone...very few actually, are gifted with true ambidexterity. Many can and do shoot both ways but most of them shoot FAR better one way vs. the other.

In pool, unlike rifle shooting, it is possible to place the cue between both eyes. Given the nature of binocular vision, while the sight picture may be different for right/left eye dominant shooters...it is CONSISTENT for each of them.

And as Feijen and Strickland (at least in the early 1990s) prove, moving the cue entirely outside the plane of EITHER eye can produce outstanding results. (I didn't even realize Earl did so until I saw his 1993 match against Django on ESPN Classic yesterday).


But given the rarity of true ambidexterity, recommending shooting offhandedly due to dominant eye issues is silly.

Regards,
Jim
 
Unlike a rifle, you aim a cue stick with your eyes above it, so you have to reconcile the view of both eyes to see where it's pointed. Eye dominance can be strong or weak, so some players get the best ("straightest") picture with the stick beneath the dominant eye and others with the stick beneath the chin (between the eyes). If you're one of the lucky ones who likes the stick beneath his chin, then eye dominance doesn't matter.

pj
chgo
 
I don't know if it is better one way or the other, but what I can tell you for sure is that I distinctly recall reading in an older Billiard Digest magazine (1980's vintage) that it was an advantage to be cross dominant because as you stand at an approximate 45% angle your leading eye would be your dominant eye if you are cross dominant.

Again, this is what I recall reading in BD mag. FWIW.
 
I noticed my vision in my left right is crystal clear and my right eye is quite fuzzy........... but naturally I shoot left handed so it helps me...
 
chris_williams said:
I've done research myself and found this came from people shooting guns and rifles. It really matters then. As far as pool goes, it really doesnt matter which eye is dominant unless you are closing one of them when you shoot
Click to expand...
This is correct when shooting shotguns or handguns, it makes a big difference or rifles with open sights. Scoped guns it does not make a bit of difference. In pool, your focus object is far enough in front of you that you have depth perception and are using both eyes. I have a little experience in the field and will tell you that in pool it's better to play the way your comfortable and you'll become accustomed to how you need to aim.

Doug
 
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