Right-handed shooter that's left eye dominant???

fd_colorado

fd_colorado

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Silver Member
My daughter is home from college for the summer and we have been playing some pool.

Her main problem is her poor aiming. I was hoping that with some more table time and some help from me she would get it figured out.

Last night, I finally tested her to see what her dominant eye is and found that she is left eye dominant. She shoots right-handed so I told her to try and get her left eye over the cue to see if that helped. It didn't seem to make much immediate difference.

Now that we've talked about it, she says that when she aims she automatically closes the right eye. She also says that for some reason she has difficulty closing her left eye.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom or suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

PS. I know this topic has been touched on before but I didn't find anything more than passing references in various posts. So, please forgive the possible repetition.
 
I am the opposite and I just found out a week ago. I shot poorly in a tournament the previous weekend and couldnt figure out why. After some trial and error I realized that because of the opposite eye dominance i have to get my head further out over the cue. In times of stress or tiredness it seems i wouldnt lean over fully.

I am still working on sorting this since it only happens on rare occasions, but I find that by lining the shot standing up (place the cue on the target line), then bending down over it, my head would shift to make the shot look right. After doing this a few times (not even shooting), then my eyes would equilibrate and id get back into a rhythm.

Closing the one eye while down on the shot messed with my routine too much to be effective.

I would suggest some straight in shots, lined up prior to getting down over the shot, then adjust until the shot looks like it will go, then have her fire away.

Doing some drills like this will adjust her body mechanics into the correct alignment.

At least, it works for me. Its been a hell of a problem for me to isolate and fix, and my issue came out of the blue.

Best of luck!
 
i wouldn't worry too much about that. it won't matter at all where she's aiming if she can't get her stroke straight (if you can't make the CB go where you're aiming how you're aiming doesn't matter) . after she gets her stroke reasonably straight she'll be able to adjust how she aims pretty easily
 
I'm also a left right. I use a slight head tilt. What helped me the most is keeping track of thick and thin misses. Once I saw the pattern I adjusted. I have to over cut just a hair and have to focus a bit harder and longer cutting right; thin cuts. It also helps to take the time to walk over and take a good look at exactly where I need to hit the ball. Cutting left I see the edges clearly and need no adjustment. It's so ingrained into my game it's become automatic now.
 
On straight in shots, have her move her head a little further right (across cue). On cut shots, it really doesn't matter because when you cut a ball left, you will use your left eye and when you cut a ball right, you will use your right eye.
 
I am a left handed shooter and right eye dominant. Just have her keep her chin directly over the cue line, and use both eyes. Works for me.
 
metallicane said:
On straight in shots, have her move her head a little further right (across cue). On cut shots, it really doesn't matter because when you cut a ball left, you will use your left eye and when you cut a ball right, you will use your right eye.
Click to expand...

metallicane:

This would be true if one used fractional aiming (i.e. proportionate "slices" or "eclipsing" of the object ball by the cue ball). In fact, the first 10-15 minutes of Gene Albrecht's Perfect Aim DVD explain exactly this -- how one should let their eye dominance "shift" depending on whether the cut of the object ball is to the left or to the right.

However, on true ghost ball technique, where one is focused on the placement of the center of the cue ball to the spot behind the object ball on the shot line to the pocket, I believe one should aim normally, by placing his/her "virtual dominant eye" over the cue. ("Virtual dominant eye" means that not always is one's dominant eye "100% dominant." The place between the eyes where the aim looks straight may not be directly under the dominant eye; e.g. it may be just slightly to one side of the nose, but not directly under the dominant eye. One has to experiment with some of the techniques described by Dr. Dave, Bob Jewett, Mike Page, and JoeW [above] to find where one's personal "magic spot" between the eyes is located.)

Back on topic, if one uses true ghostball technique that focuses on the center of the cue ball to the spot behind the object ball on the shot line, I believe one should have this "magic spot" (between the eyes) over the cue as if shooting a straight-in shot.

I'm certainly interested in others' thoughts on this!

As far as the uniqueness of "opposite eye dominance," it's not strange or unique at all. In fact, the OP's daughter is in good company! Such notable players are also opposite eye dominant:

Ralf Souquet
Billy Incardona
Ray Martin
...and a veritable slew of others, I'm sure!

I hope this is helpful,
-Sean
 
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metallicane said:
On straight in shots, have her move her head a little further right (across cue). On cut shots, it really doesn't matter because when you cut a ball left, you will use your left eye and when you cut a ball right, you will use your right eye.
Click to expand...

Great aiming system, thanks....SPF=randyg
 
Fenwick said:
I'm also a left right. I use a slight head tilt. What helped me the most is keeping track of thick and thin misses. Once I saw the pattern I adjusted. I have to over cut just a hair and have to focus a bit harder and longer cutting right; thin cuts. It also helps to take the time to walk over and take a good look at exactly where I need to hit the ball. Cutting left I see the edges clearly and need no adjustment. It's so ingrained into my game it's become automatic now.
Click to expand...


I agree. I am the same - right -handed, left eye dominant. When I cut to the left, it is great, but I usually undercut to the right UNLESS I make sure my chin is directly over my cue.

I also have mono-vision...a different power contact in my dominant eye to see distance and shorter in my weak eye to see computer and read. For months I had them in switched and I think it has made a difference since I changed. I am always blind though so hard to tell, lol.
 
Aim vs stroke

poolplayer2093 said:
i wouldn't worry too much about that. it won't matter at all where she's aiming if she can't get her stroke straight (if you can't make the CB go where you're aiming how you're aiming doesn't matter) . after she gets her stroke reasonably straight she'll be able to adjust how she aims pretty easily
Click to expand...

I have to take issue with this statement. Some see learning to aim and stroke as a chicken and egg thing, one before the other. An analogy in rifle shooting is this. If you pick up a rifle for the first time and shoot 10 shots and they all hit the target below the bullseye, is the scope off, are you pulling the rifle down as you shoot, or are you not compensating for the bullet drop? I think the first thing to eliminate is the scope issue. Put the gun in a rig and see if the bullet hits where the scope says it should.

When I see my girlfriend shoot, I see this exact problem. Number one, her "center of cue ball" is about 1/2 tip left of center and when she aims at a ball you can see she is 1/2 ball off. She can pocket balls, but she misses quite a few pretty big. One the ones she does pocket, you can see an obvious stroke correction in the final stroke. Subconcienciously she knows she is off and fixes it at the last second, but it doesn't always work. Everytime she wants to practice, I have to start out helping her align her shot, and then she can make balls pretty consistently. I subscribe to the "virtual dominant eye" or chin over the cue theories depending upon the player, but her left eye dominance makes it difficult for her to use her dominant eye (she shoots righty). I think her stoke and aim need to be fixed at the same time. Where to aim (ghost ball, cte, etc come after she knows where her ball is going.
 
fd_colorado said:
... Last night, I finally tested her to see what her dominant eye is and found that she is left eye dominant. She shoots right-handed so I told her to try and get her left eye over the cue to see if that helped. It didn't seem to make much immediate difference. ...
Click to expand...
The bottom line is whether she sees the shot accurately. Have her play short straight-in shots and see if she lines up along the correct line, with the cue stick pointed through the centers of both balls. If she doesn't have that part right, I think it is the first thing to work on.

I'm left eye dominant and right handed. Much of what has been said above does not apply to the way I aim or my perception when shooting. I was unaware of the issue for the first 15 years or so that I played but then a friend asked me why I always lined up on the left side of the cue ball. I was over sometimes as much as a whole tip but it looked like the center of the ball to me. Yes, I could be off that much and it would still appear to be the center. I had subconsciously learned to swerve from left to right on the final stroke to hit the cue ball in the middle.

I wish I had had access to an instructor who knew what he was doing back then, but I don't think fundamentals were really understood or taught very well in this country in the 1960's. Just a video would have helped with the diagnosis, but the technology was not there yet.
 
Just have her shoot....

left handed :) ...... that's what I do!

Wait a minute, after 30 years..... I'm still a banger... so that may
not be the best advice. :wink:


td
 
I shoot right handed and am left eye dominent. See my avitar almost side saddle. I tried to put my right eye over the shaft and could not see the aim point.
 
Set up a straight in shot and and place the cue tip right at the center of the cue ball. Now move your head until you are looking straight from the center of the cue ball to the center of the object ball. Wherever the cue is in relation to your eyes when this happens, that is where you should position your eyes over the cue.

I think Bob Byrne said flippantly that if you can't aim to look straight at the target you should take up bowling. Like a lot of things, I think it gets confusing once we think about it too much.

By the way, being opposite eye dominant worked for this guy.

willie1.jpg
 
I suffer from the same condition. Right handed, left eye dominant.

And I think the links posted are great.

I wish I looked up those links earlier as well.

What I did after many trial and error is.

1. use the tube technique to see where her aiming line is.
Make a tube with your both hands end to end. or Use a used up toilet paper tube. Look through the tube with both eyes open to see exactly where her aiming line is. It might not be right underneath her left eye, although it will be closer to her left eye(dominant eye).

2. Hold the cue stick on that line right in front of the face. While the cue stick is pointing straight up with the butt on the ground.

3. Note the part of the chin that contacts the cue stick. This part of the chin should always be above the stick during the stroke.


World Champion teenager WuChia Ching the taiwanese wonder boy is left handed right eye dominant look at his videos.
 
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