Shooting with one eye

S

SpotMonster22

Registered
Hi,
I have a friend who was in an accident and has lost vision in one eye (temporarily, we hope). Fortunately, its not his dominant eye that was injured, but he says his depth perception is a problem.

I was wondering if anyone else has had experience with this and how long it took to adjust to shooting with one eye or if anyone has any suggestions for things he could do that might help him make the adjustment faster.

Thanks!
 
Well, I believe to have heard that Nils Feijen also has very little vision or nothing in one eye and he plays really good despite that. I have a friend that plays pretty sporty too and has only one eye vision... I don't know how they do it but it definitely can be done.

Hope the best for your friend.
 
Your friend is in good company

perspicaz said:
Well, I believe to have heard that Nils Feijen also has very little vision or nothing in one eye and he plays really good despite that. I have a friend that plays pretty sporty too and has only one eye vision... I don't know how they do it but it definitely can be done.

Hope the best for your friend.
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perspicaz:

I believe you are correct; when one watches Niels aim/shoot, it's very obvious he's right-eye dominant (see link below).

Examples of Right-eye dominant players:
Niels Feijen
Earl Strickland

Examples of Left-eye dominant players:
Ralf Souquet
Billy Incardona
Ray Martin

SpotMonster, your friend is in good company; I'm sure he will adapt quickly, and who knows -- this unfortunate event may even perhaps have a positive effect on his game, by forcing him to place his dominant eye over the cue rifle-sniper style. To avoid squinting/closure of the non-dominant eye, many dominant-eye pool players learn to keep that weaker eye open all the time, and just "discard" the information that their non-dominant eye is handing them. There's a decent book that teaches how to do this:

http://www.monsterbreakbilliards.com/answer-to-a-pool-players-prayers.html

Hope this is helpful!
-Sean
 
I have a problem with a case of Shingles that developed about a week ago and it is around my left eye, not in it, fortunately. I can play with the eye open or closed but with it closed it does give me some problems.
I worked with a guy in NY who has had a glass eye since he was a kid and he could make balls ok. He wasn't a player, by any means.
If it were me, I would just wait til the bad eye healed, if it's temporary. I wish you friend luck.
 
I have a condition called Amblyopia, or "lazy eye," my left eye is pretty much useless, and I have no problems playing pool. I play almost everyday, and can run out pretty good ;)

I play left handed, but my good eye is on the right, so I kind of put my head a bit over the cue and use my right eye to play. I don't even know im doing it lol.
 
Pushout said:
I have a problem with a case of Shingles that developed about a week ago and it is around my left eye, not in it, fortunately. I can play with the eye open or closed but with it closed it does give me some problems.
I worked with a guy in NY who has had a glass eye since he was a kid and he could make balls ok. He wasn't a player, by any means.
If it were me, I would just wait til the bad eye healed, if it's temporary. I wish you friend luck.
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Pushout:

Take care of that Shingles, man -- that's a dangerous situation so close to your eye, as you obviously know via your "...not in it, fortunately" clause.

Speaking of glass eye, I have a pool-playing buddy that lost his right eye in an I.T. accident (while working in an open computer chassis that was powered on, he touched a high-velocity CPU fan with the tip of his screwdriver, and the fan blade shattered, sending a shard at high speed into his right eye). That was his dominant eye, and he had to learn how to shoot using his non-dominant left eye, modifying his whole aiming stance, etc. His stance is a lot like Ralf Souquet's now, with his face angled over his cue to place the left eye in-line over it. He said it took a while to re-learn how to sight using the other eye, but I can tell you he plays quite sporty now!

Good luck to you, and I wish a speedy recovery,
-Sean

P.S.: I suffered a bout myself a couple years ago when I was under extreme stress due to some unfortunate events that were happening to me at the time. Although the right side of my face looked like the main character from the movie, "Man Without a Face", the eruption wasn't close to my eyes. Physician warned me not to touch anywhere near my eyes, for as you know, Shingles in the eye can blind!
 
Actually the transition is much easier than expected. If he is interested in a technique---have him PM me.
 
Luis Viera from Orlando has one eye. The other one is a glass eye. He plays like a monster. I think he has had one eye most or all of his life though.
 
i think i heard somewhere that ike runnells had a glass eye too......can anyone confirm this?
 
I'm right handed and I am right eye dominant. I have lazy eye in my left eye. Basically my left eye is like peripheral vision. I can't focus with it but I can see and make things out pretty good. I have been this way my whole life so I don't really know any different. I've always sucked at catching footballs, baseballs, etc, so there is some disadvantages.

I don't seem to have a problem playing pool at all. I have the Joe Tucker Aiming Workout DVD and on the DVD Joe says that playing with one eye might just be an advantage for playing pool. He goes into further explanation where your two different eyes can send false information to your brain and mess up your aiming. I tend to agree with him.

I've also shot rifle team and I was always at or near the top in marksmanship.
 
Tommy Brown (who recently passed away at only 47) was a great player and lost an eye at about 14. He told me once, depth perception was his biggest problem. He said this was the reason he primarily stayed on the 9 foot tables. He would have to practice for a while to get adjusted to other size tables. Another great player with only one eye was Tony Howard from Kentucky. If you have the love and determination for the game you can overcome this obstacle!
 

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I play right handed but my right eye sight is very poor, i am left eye dominent, thge only thing that i have problems with is what another az'er said was depth perception on a 9' table, guys i play with ask me about me lining up my shots with my cue running under my chin but my head is cocked with my left eye over my cue, it is a problem sometimes if i rush a shot cause i dont drop in over my shot correctly, takes alot of practice and compasating for the shot at hand. But it's something i have to deal with, <<<<<<<<<<<<<
 
I hope your friend stays optimistic. One person that comes to mind is Kim Davenport. He was one of the best players in the world, and he suffered from an accident playing golf where he lost his eye about 6 or 7 years ago. I know it was tough for him specifically because he was used to playing with both eyes. He still plays fairly often, and I think he's capable of beating anyone in the world on a given day. He really is one of my favorite players to watch to date. I think you can find some old articles in Billiards Digest or other places.
 
JTfromATL said:
I hope your friend stays optimistic. One person that comes to mind is Kim Davenport. He was one of the best players in the world, and he suffered from an accident playing golf where he lost his eye about 6 or 7 years ago. I know it was tough for him specifically because he was used to playing with both eyes. He still plays fairly often, and I think he's capable of beating anyone in the world on a given day. He really is one of my favorite players to watch to date. I think you can find some old articles in Billiards Digest or other places.
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I didn't think Kim lost his eye, his sight was damaged but I don't think he became completely blind in it. I remember reading, and it may have been here, that the sight in the injured eye had improved to the point where he could play quite well again. It will never be 100% again, though.
 
I have a good friend who can only see with his right eye, and he is very good. In the beginning when he just lost his sight on the left eye he had a lot of trouble with pool, but now he plays better than most in my club. I'm starting to think if it gives him an advantage about his aim :)
 
Jimmy King only has one-eye and been like that for yrs. and at one time played real strong on bar boxes not world class but nothing to take lightly.
 
Thanks...

Thanks for all your responses and encouragement. Things are looking better for my friends eye (no pun intended), but probably not fast enough for him to play in league playoffs :frown:. Although long term is what we were really worried about.

Sounds like one eye isn't really a problem in itself, but adjusting from two to one eye may not be a quick thing. (I bet going from one eye to two eyes would be really tough!)

We'll try some things out today....I think the advice to try to stick to one table size makes a lot of sense and I had really thought about that.

If we come across any drills that seem to help, I'll report back.
 
I lost the sight in my left eye at about age 11. I have always shot one-eyed and I do pretty well. ;) Playing some sports with only one eye can be a disadvantage, but pool doesn't seem to be one of them.
 
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