Ask The Instructor: Wink

Question: I know I’m supposed to keep all eyes open when I shoot but I can’t seem to hit most targets without winking. If I keep shooting, will keeping both eyes open eventually work for me?

Answer: In attempting to visually acquire and intercept a clay target with a shotgun, a binocular shooter (shooting with both eyes open) definitely has the advantage.  Binocular shooting will provide you with superior depth perception and peripheral awareness versus winking. However, not everyone can shoot with both eyes open and there are some very proficient one-eyed shooters out there. Only about 20% of the shooting population are solidly dominant in either their right or left eye. Of the other 80%, many can shoot binocularly despite some minor visual “drift” issues, where the non-shooting eye “takes over”. For a small percentage of shooters, who have a significant enough level of drift or are “center ocular” (said to have “center vision”), binocular shooting seriously limits their proficiency. The degree to which a shooter is center ocular, or has drift, has very little to do with visual acuity. It is related to the way in which visual imagery flows into the eye, travels through the optic nerve, and to the brain where it is processed. The brain and nervous system then transmit signals to the outer reaches of the body moving the gun to the target. It is theoretically possible to “train” your brain and correct this drift issue so that you can eventually shoot binocularly. Whether you can or not is highly dependent on your age and the volume, frequency, and type of shooting you do.  The shooter who, together with an instructor, decides he is better off occluding or winking the non-shooting eye, has essentially three options: 1) Wink your left (non-shooting) eye. With the “winking method," you should acquire the target with both eyes open, then close the non-shooting eye just prior to completing your gun mount and executing the shot. 2) Occlude your non-shooting eye with a dot about 16mm in diameter. You will need to engage a qualified instructor to assist you with placement of the dot, or, you can refer to page 46 in by book Mastering Sporting Clays.