Is Dominant Eye Really What's Important?

Knowing the dominant eye is kind of important but doesn't really matter unless you know how to use it to get the most from your aiming ability.

Once you See The Light it's over, all the guessing. Now you can incorperate your aiming technique with every shot and drill you do.

Not knowing your always still guessing. Then your just practicing guessing better.


Have a great day geno........
Knowing what to do with the Dominant eye is everything as far as aiming........
 
lfigueroa said:
My memory is a little foggy on Kranicki, but what he says in that book is that he had some kind of relationship with Mosconi; had some of his ideas evaluated by him; and that Mosconi was the inspiration for him to write on pool.

He doesn't say what the relationship was or what ideas were evaluated or what Mosconi actually thought of them.

So the right answer is: no.

Lou Figueroa
Click to expand...

I guess there is no way to really know the right answer with Willie gone....

I do understand your no from your stance on the subject and my yes is not without bias either....

I am foggy on Kranicki as well and the book is out on loan but I do recall he was being vague about the Willie thing... Either Willie didn't agree OR Kranicki didn't want to betray cofidences... The book was published after Willie's death with this comment...

"My husband was so impressed with Richard’s abilities and potential that he set aside time to spend with Richard. I know Willie would have been proud and glad to see the results of this informative work."

Mrs. Flora Mosconi - Wife of the legendary Willie Mosconi

I'd like to think Willie wouldn't have put time aside if he didn't agree with at least some of it.... But there again I am biased....
 
lfigueroa said:
With all this talk lately about dominate eyeballs I wanted to throw in my 2cents:

I believe that the dominant eye 
concept -- while interesting and of some value -- is superseded in importance by the
 setup that gives you your best stroke.

IOW, it's better to ignore your
 dominant eye and use the setup that gives you your optimal stroke. And a 
second thought is that what is truly important when it comes to seeing the
 table is just having the exact same view every time you setup. IOW, you can 
ignore the dominant eye thing because if you're seeing the balls the same each time,
 your wetware will learn what is center, though physically it may be a tad off.



Now here's another thought concerning seeing the balls. I think that some 
of the very hardest things to learn are what those things are that we alter in
 our setup when under duress. When we play more slowly, or more carefully,
 or more quickly, or whatever, there is a strong likelihood of changing the 
sequence of motions we normally use to get into shooting position. And when
 you do that, you end up changing the view of the table that
 you're accustomed to.

I know that when I start playing poorly, I have the 
feeling that I'm not seeing things right -- it's the old "I know I'm 
going to miss this shot" before you pull the trigger vs. the "there's no way
 I can miss this one" we enjoy when hitting the balls well. IOW, it's not
 a mental thing. You feel weak because you're not in your normal setup and
 your brain knows it's not getting the right view and it sets off all those 
little alarm bells. Consistency and being able to perform under pressure
 come 
to visit when you can ID those little changes you unconsciously make and
 eliminate them from creeping into your setup.



So in addition to learning all those good and wonderful things you need to 
know about how the balls react off each other and your cue tip, it is 
equally important, IMO, to learn about yourself and how to deal with that 
little gremlin that comes and sits on the wing of your Good Ship Lollipop 
while you're trying to fly through the storm.



Lou Figueroa

Click to expand...

NO! For me when the balls are close i shoot with both eyes the stick is pretty much in the center of my face .Now when i shoot jack up or the balls become further apart i favor the left eye. This how i see perceive a straight line.(I am right eye dominate)You must know how you perceive a straight line in all shots!
 
lfigueroa said:
I've done this and it's not that big a deal. When Geno was in town I showed him I could shoot with my cue under either eye.

Lou Figueroa
Click to expand...

Wouldn't this imply that you do not have a dominant eye, or if so , only a slight one?
Or did you do the dominant eye test and despite having a dominant eye , you were able to do it?
Mine are so different, I miss badly under the non dominant eye.
 
Smooth said:
mine switch constantly.... anything close in (cueball) and my brain wants to use the right eye.... the object ball, the pocket, the cueball path, desired leave spot, etc are usually outside of that range and my brain wants to use the left eye. It is not an easy fix.... I do better with a long visualization process, with a lot of walking around and rocking back and forth behind the cb, and then a fairly quick, confident psr and stroke.... the stroke is doing what I want it to, as is the english, but that doesn't mean I'm delivering it on the right line. Very frustrating.
Click to expand...

Same here man :angry:
 
ShootingArts said:
Speculation on my part but I believe the slight angle might trick our eyes into doing things that they never do with greater angles or straight in shots. It doesn't happen very often as illustrated by the fact that everyone taps in these shots the vast majority of the time. Obviously I'm not in the same class as Efren and Bustamonte but the fact that they missed this same "gimme" shot with a lot on the line indicates there is more to it than meets the eye, sometimes!

Hu
Click to expand...

Same here :thumbup:
And always on close range shot :angry:
 
cleary said:
My dominate eye changes and its very annoying. When I get down and its different... I just don't feel right. I can still hit (I think) the center of the cueball but the cueball does not travel along the same path I thought it would. In fact at that point, a straight line is not straight anymore.

Of course, if its not a problem with you it may sound silly but it sucks for me.

For instance. I was playing someone last night some 1pocket. Getting 10-6, I've never ended up loser in this game against this guy. We were even after 4 games when my eye switched. Its not easy to tell whats going on but things just don't really feel right and thinning balls and what not, its hard to tell exactly if things are working the way I wanted. It took me to being stuck 3 games to realize I need to switch to my right eye. I'm 85% left eye dominate so I try to 'shoot through it' when possible. As soon as I switched eyes, I won 3 straight games and back to even.
Click to expand...

My eyes do the same thing, i found out through talking with geno that my right eye was my dominant eye i had previously thought that it was my left. like you and many others like us we can make either eye dominant and be good that way but after i worked with geno over the phone i found out that as i said my right eye was dominant. using my left i am a nine in bca but i would miss the occasional fairly easy shot when my stroke was feeling great. now those shots are becoming vary easy and the shots that gave me trouble are going straight in the pocket even when my confidence isn't there from years of struggling with those shots. I would encourage all to call geno and confirm your eye dominance and listen to what he has to say i have been for a few days now and seeing strong gains. Thanks again geno
 
sfleinen said:
I know. Other than Hu's excellent post which focused more on the difficulties in achieving a perfect eye position when shooting pool, the next time I see a comparison between shooting a rifle and shooting pool, I'll scream!

They have nothing to do with each other, either setup-wise or execution-wise, related to eye position. In rifle shooting, you are looking *through* the shot line. (That is, you are actually looking through a scope, or looking down through two iron sights, lining them up on the target and looking through that line to the target -- all done with a single eye.) In pool, your head and eyes (plural) are *above* the sightline, no matter how low you go, even if you place the cue right under one of your eyes. In pool, you can only *perceive* the shotline; you are not looking through it. And even then, unless you close one of your eyes and keep it closed the entire time, you are perceiving the shotline with both eyes. Perhaps one eye's information is more relevant than the other, but make no mistake, both pictures are being received and "meshed together" by the brain.

But unlike rifle shooting, pool (or any cue sport) has the additional execution factor -- being able to deliver the cue accurately down that perceived shotline. That, IMHO, is worthy of much more focus than "solely" head/eye position.

-Sean
Click to expand...

Actually I have always shot rifle, pistol,shotgun and bow with both eyes open.
I also happen to be ambidextrous and my eye dominance switches with need. Which enhances my shooting abilities whether it be in billiard or any other sport.

However because of being ambidextrous it appears that it actually messes with you being able to actually determine the true center of the cue ball. I have had to train myself to hold the tip in what appears to me to be just left of center.
 
Last edited:
Sev said:
Actually I have always shot rifle, pistol,shotgun and bow with both eyes open.
I also happen to be ambidextrous and my eye dominance switches with need. Which enhances my shooting abilities whether it be in billiard or any other sport.

However because of being ambidextrous it appears that it actually messes with you being able to actually determine the true center of the cue ball. I have had to train myself to hold the tip in what appears to me to be just left of center.
Click to expand...

Sev:

Actually, if you read my post, I never implied that both eyes weren't open (or, on the flip side, I never implied that any eye was closed). The important point is that in rifle and pistol shooting, although you may have both eyes open, your sight picture is obtained from one eye only -- only one eye can look down that shotline accurately at a time. (The other eye's information is essentially ignored.) For one thing, it's impossible to look through a scope with both eyes (unless you have a binocular scope -- extremely rare). And for another, in the case of open/iron sights, while it's possible to "look down along" a rifle with both eyes (you'd really have to crane your neck to do that, if you're shouldering the rifle correctly), it's next to impossible to line up the forward and rear iron sights accurately, and on target, with both eyes. You can only do that with one eye.

-Sean
 
Thanks for the appreciation.......

cool_hand_ljb said:
My eyes do the same thing, i found out through talking with geno that my right eye was my dominant eye i had previously thought that it was my left. like you and many others like us we can make either eye dominant and be good that way but after i worked with geno over the phone i found out that as i said my right eye was dominant. using my left i am a nine in bca but i would miss the occasional fairly easy shot when my stroke was feeling great. now those shots are becoming vary easy and the shots that gave me trouble are going straight in the pocket even when my confidence isn't there from years of struggling with those shots. I would encourage all to call geno and confirm your eye dominance and listen to what he has to say i have been for a few days now and seeing strong gains. Thanks again geno
Click to expand...

It was fun working with you and thanks for encouraging others to call me. Most players don't even know they have these problems seeing and just keep missing the same type of shots over and over.

I'm helping about 2 or 3 players a day right now.

I'm pretty laid up right now but having fun.

Thanks again geno...........
 
Last edited:
sfleinen said:
Sev:

Actually, if you read my post, I never implied that both eyes weren't open (or, on the flip side, I never implied that any eye was closed). The important point is that in rifle and pistol shooting, although you may have both eyes open, your sight picture is obtained from one eye only -- only one eye can look down that shotline accurately at a time. (The other eye's information is essentially ignored.) For one thing, it's impossible to look through a scope with both eyes (unless you have a binocular scope -- extremely rare). And for another, in the case of open/iron sights, while it's possible to "look down along" a rifle with both eyes (you'd really have to crane your neck to do that, if you're shouldering the rifle correctly), it's next to impossible to line up the forward and rear iron sights accurately, and on target, with both eyes. You can only do that with one eye.

-Sean
Click to expand...

No disagreement there.
However I would submit that as in pool. Both stance and proper form are important to making accurate shots.
 
book collector said:
Wouldn't this imply that you do not have a dominant eye, or if so , only a slight one?
Or did you do the dominant eye test and despite having a dominant eye , you were able to do it?
Mine are so different, I miss badly under the non dominant eye.
Click to expand...


We did the test with the big foam balls and he had trouble figuring it out. So you're probably right: I have just a very slight dominant eye, but I don't even remember which one he said.

Lou Figueroa
 
From my own experience...

Eye dominance is very important at least for me. Without knowing how you properly see the cue balls path, how can you ever know that you are truly lining up properly. Though you can do it several ways..best way IMHO is to line up the cue to shot..then place yourself in accordance to the cue. You will automatically line up your dominant eye this way without even knowing it, basically you are lining up to what in your perception is the correct shot line. You can try sighting the shot first and then getting down according to where you think you should be but remember that your swinging line may be off at an angle upon striking..do yourself a test..get down on the shot how you normally do...forget about dominant this or that...point the cue tip in the exact spot where you want strike it THEN close one eye after the other and see which one is actually MORE in line with your shot. Most people I discuss this with, who then try it are amazed to find out which eye is the DOMIMANT one doing the brunt of the aiming. This is especially helpful when the cue ball is closer to you..when the cue ball is further away, both eyes start coming into play BUT one is still more dominant over the other. Just something to think about
 
Last edited:
QUOTE=lfigueroa;3157206]With all this talk lately about dominate eyeballs I wanted to throw in my 2cents:

I believe that the dominant eye 
concept -- while interesting and of some value -- is superseded in importance by the
 setup that gives you your best stroke.

Got to agree. Setup comes first.
Everyone has 1 or 2 setups that can produce easy, powerful stroke.
The type of a stroke where even if you didn't stop anywhere at the address or at the back the cue would move perfectly straight.
There is 0 need for conscious control or paying attention if the cue is moving straight.
One can move the cue at a break speed and make perfect contact.
I think everyone has this in them, the trick is to find that plane.

However, when playing we lead with our eyes and if one can find that perfect vision spot without interference with our perfect shooting plane
then the job of combining perfect aim and perfect setup is done.

If it is impossible to combine the two than like Lou says I would stick with always having the same relationship between the cue and the eye giving the same view, without compromising the shooting plane.
.

IOW, it's better to ignore your
 dominant eye and use the setup that gives you your optimal stroke.
And a 
second thought is that what is truly important when it comes to seeing the
 table is just having the exact same view every time you setup.
IOW, you can 
ignore the dominant eye thing because if you're seeing the balls the same each time,
 your wetware will learn what is center, though physically it may be a tad off.



Now here's another thought concerning seeing the balls. I think that some 
of the very hardest things to learn are what those things are that we alter in
 our setup when under duress.

That is the mission.

When we play more slowly, or more carefully,
 or more quickly, or whatever, there is a strong likelihood of changing the 
sequence of motions we normally use to get into shooting position.
And when
 you do that, you end up changing the view of the table that
 you're accustomed to.

100% true.

I know that when I start playing poorly, I have the 
feeling that I'm not seeing things right -- it's the old "I know I'm 
going to miss this shot" before you pull the trigger vs. the "there's no way
 I can miss this one" we enjoy when hitting the balls well.

Been on both sides of this equation thousands of times.

IOW, it's not
 a mental thing. You feel weak because you're not in your normal setup and
 your brain knows it's not getting the right view and it sets off all those 
little alarm bells.

The feeling of weakness is exactly how I would describe it.

Consistency and being able to perform under pressure
 come 
to visit when you can ID those little changes you unconsciously make and
 eliminate them from creeping into your setup.


Working on eliminating those things right now as I have been able to identify a few, not an easy task.

So in addition to learning all those good and wonderful things you need to 
know about how the balls react off each other and your cue tip, it is 
equally important,
IMO, to learn about yourself and how to deal with that 
little gremlin that comes and sits on the wing of your Good Ship Lollipop 
while you're trying to fly through the storm.



Self-awareness in general is the only way to identify problems and eradicated them.
Lou Figueroa
[/QUOTE]

Great post.
 
Last edited:
Have a little experiment for you Lou........

lfigueroa said:
I've done this and it's not that big a deal. When Geno was in town I showed him I could shoot with my cue under either eye.

Lou Figueroa
Click to expand...

Hi there Lou,
I had to say something here. When i came through St Louis I was doing lessons and i thought you were interested. I didn't quite understand why you disagreed with almost everything i said but soon I did when i learned who you Lou on AZ here about 6 monyhs later. .

I wish I wouldn't have given up on trying to show you.It would have cleared up alot of this for you. I really do wish I could have helped you to understand this.

Anyone can shoot with the right eye being dominant or the left eye being dominant. But one way you won't shoot as good, at least you wouldn't want to gamble like that. And there's more to it than just shooting with the domnant eye.

figure out which way looks the best for you. Right eyed or left eyed. Force the way that just doesn't look as good to shoot the shots for about an hour.
Or if you really don't think you can tell which way is the best just switch back and forth, right eye dominant and left eye dominant.

After that it will be kind of hard to focus and play well at all. It makes it real hard for the real dominant eye to keep the non-dominant eye from hogging the aim or at least trying to share it.

The more that we accidently shot with the non dominant eye working as the dominant eye just a little bit screws up our natural ability to keep the eyes in the correct dominant position naturally.

This is why these players that say they switch dominant eyes have so much trouble. So do other players but they are just not aware that this is happening at all.

Once a person learns and really understands how important the dominant eyes is and how to keep it in the correct position all the time they know this is just the way it is.

The players that shoot the best and the straightest are just better than most at getting the dominant eye in the most correct position naturally or from repetition. Shooting a million balls.

Anyway try this and you'll see what I did. I had trouble shooting for the rest of the night.

Have a great day geno.......
 
Last edited:
genomachino said:
Hi there Lou,
I had to say something here. When i came through St Louis I was doing lessons and i thought you were interested. I didn't quite understand why you disagreed with almost everything i said but soon I did when i learned who you Lou on AZ here about 6 monyhs later. .

I wish I wouldn't have given up on trying to show you.It would have cleared up alot of this for you. I really do wish I could have helped you to understand this.
Click to expand...

Geno, I have absolutely no idea why you would have thought I was interested in lessons. You watched me shoot off a couple of racks of 14.1, I saw your shirt with "Perfect Aim" on it and I introduced myself by full name and you seemed to acknowledge who I was. I don't believe I did anything to give you the impression I wanted a lesson, though it was clear to me that you wanted me to sign up for one. I listened to what you had to say and was unconvinced. I asked you several questions and was left even more unconvinced. No biggie.

Lou Figueroa
who dug up
this thread?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top