Shooting/aiming with one eye closed?

CalBlackSheep

CalBlackSheep

Registered
So I justed started playing again after a five year break. Five years ago I was a strong 6 in APA and could cut almost any shot. Granted I mainly played on 7' and 8' tables, and now I'm practicing on a 9' with a new cue. So now that I've started up again (total of 8hrs on the table). I'm missing shots that I wouldn't have thought twice about before. I'm talking about shots 20° off and 2-3 feet away! It was really discouraging.

Sooo after researching some YouTube videos and learning about lining up with your dominant eye. I started thinking about how my vision has degraded over the years. I'm right eye dominant, but that's also my worst eye. I went out tonight to test my theory. I started shooting with one eye closed. My game instantly improved, not great but a lot better.

I'm wondering if this could form into a bad habit. Or do some of you do the same and is no big deal if it helps? I probably just need to go to the eye doctor, but that brings up other questions. Is it hard to play with glasses or contacts, and I'm guessing contacts are better?

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I picked up a pair of $10 reading glasses from Walmart because my visions not that bad but definitely not 20/20 and it definitely improved my shotmaking. If you don't want to get prescription glasses, I'd just do that.
 
CalBlackSheep said:
So I justed started playing again after a five year break. Five years ago I was a strong 6 in APA and could cut almost any shot. Granted I mainly played on 7' and 8' tables, and now I'm practicing on a 9' with a new cue. So now that I've started up again (total of 8hrs on the table). I'm missing shots that I wouldn't have thought twice about before. I'm talking about shots 20° off and 2-3 feet away! It was really discouraging.

Sooo after researching some YouTube videos and learning about lining up with your dominant eye. I started thinking about how my vision has degraded over the years. I'm right eye dominant, but that's also my worst eye. I went out tonight to test my theory. I started shooting with one eye closed. My game instantly improved, not great but a lot better.

I'm wondering if this could form into a bad habit. Or do some of you do the same and is no big deal if it helps? I probably just need to go to the eye doctor, but that brings up other questions. Is it hard to play with glasses or contacts, and I'm guessing contacts are better?

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Totally bad habit.

Go to an eye doctor.

Don’t get misled by youtube.

Get with an instructor to understand your eye center (PBIA calls it “centergistics”).

This isn’t like shooting a rifle.



Freddie
 
Cornerman said:
Totally bad habit.

Go to an eye doctor.

Don’t get misled by youtube.

Get with an instructor to understand your eye center (PBIA calls it “centergistics”).

This isn’t like shooting a rifle.



Freddie
Click to expand...

What he said. There are very good reasons we have two eyes, depth perception being only one of those reasons. Get to an eye professional.
 
There were times in my past that I had to close one eye to play. I had to close one eye to drive home too. Glad those days are over! lol
 
CalBlackSheep said:
I started shooting with one eye closed. My game instantly improved, not great but a lot better.

I'm wondering if this could form into a bad habit. Or do some of you do the same and is no big deal if it helps? I probably just need to go to the eye doctor, but that brings up other questions. Is it hard to play with glasses or contacts, and I'm guessing contacts are better?
Click to expand...
Get a good pair of glasses.

Use both eyes.

Regardless of which eye might be dominant or not, find your personal vision center position.

Good luck,
Dave
 
When I was a young teen and getting frequent headaches, my parents sent me to an optometrist. He naturally prescribed glasses (business is business/‘everything looks like a nail to the man with a hammer’/etc.). Problem was, every time I bent over to make a pool shot, the eyeglass rim (50s era heavy black ‘Clark Kent’ frames) distracted me/obscured the image. So, I just threw them away. Never had a problem with my vision since (except of course, the need for reading glasses as age advanced).
 
Well I learnt that you use one eye when using a scoped rifle and you use both eyes when using none or say a red dot, thus closing one eye for pool has just always been a no no.
then there's also Darts and Bows and I'm sure they don't close one eye.
 
CalBlackSheep said:
So I justed started playing again after a five year break. Five years ago I was a strong 6 in APA and could cut almost any shot. Granted I mainly played on 7' and 8' tables, and now I'm practicing on a 9' with a new cue. So now that I've started up again (total of 8hrs on the table). I'm missing shots that I wouldn't have thought twice about before. I'm talking about shots 20° off and 2-3 feet away! It was really discouraging.

Sooo after researching some YouTube videos and learning about lining up with your dominant eye. I started thinking about how my vision has degraded over the years. I'm right eye dominant, but that's also my worst eye. I went out tonight to test my theory. I started shooting with one eye closed. My game instantly improved, not great but a lot better.

I'm wondering if this could form into a bad habit. Or do some of you do the same and is no big deal if it helps? I probably just need to go to the eye doctor, but that brings up other questions. Is it hard to play with glasses or contacts, and I'm guessing contacts are better?

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Yes, if you have two eyes to use, they're better than one. Happy to give you a free lesson to clear this issue for you.
 
Have been thinking about this a lot lately. I was taking a lesson from Lance Cowles in Battle Creek MI. He took a picture of me at one point as I was about to take a shot and showed me I was lined up incorrectly. I have been paying attention to it lately and have found that perhaps 1 time out of 5 I line up wrong, especially on short cut shots. I line up correctly most of the time if I stand back and line up the shot from more of a distance. Where I really screw up is moving to quickly into the shot. I have found I can double check by briefly closing one eye and confirming if I am using the right (my right) eye. I can then quickly adjust and use two eyes to shoot.

I think from studying this that it is important to have both eyes open. I shoot firearms a lot too but there is a big difference between shooting a rifle and shooting pool. With a rifle you are shooting to a point. There is no need for depth perception because you are just lining up the sight, e.g. a crosshair with that point. In contrast, when shooting pool you are bringing two different points into contact with each other, one on the object ball and one on the cue ball. And both are on a curved 3 dimensional surface. The shot looks much different with one eye closed than it does with both open, because you are literally determining what point on a globe to hit not what point on a flat target to hit. So I check that I am lined up with the correct eye by briefly closing my left eye but then once confirmed I shoot and focuas on my target with both eyes.
 
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