Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns ROUGH day at the clays range today

Been having issues with my right eye not focusing at times...well, it hit me right in the middle of my first set today. Shot 19 straight, then missed the next 15. Gave the eyes a rest, broke 14 straight, then started missing again. Never had anything like that happen before...rather disconcerting.

What I have noticed is...When my right eye goes limp on me, the left eye just takes right over. Problem is, the left eye isn't the one in line with the bore:) .

Need to go right back out on Friday; I'm not going to settle for shooting a 19/25. I haven't shot that bad since high school.

Both eyes open, makes the view wider and tracking better. Of course there are those that will say I am wrong.

What are you shooting? Trap?

Sounds like you need to see an Ophthalmologist to figure out what's going on with your eye. A friend of mine was having issues, thought nothing of it. When he went to an Ophthalmologist the Dr. said he had a detached retina and fixed it with a laser on the spot.
My wife noticed an eye anomaly and went right away to an eye Dr and found she had a macular hole. Don't mess with your eyes.

I would suggest a good shooting instructor. Even some top competitors sometimes need the help of an objective observer who really, really knows how to shoot.

Sounds like he's shooting with both eyes open. His dominant eye is giving his problems and the left eye is trying to take over dominancy. I'd go to the eye doctor and see if there is something major going on there. It could just be eyesight going bad and needing glasses or it could be something worse. An opthamologist should be able to help. Also, no one is going to say you are wrong about keeping both eyes open. Anyone worth their salt in trap shooting knows that..

He's having eye issues. Thats not something an instructor is going to help with.

I instruct on shotgun, and numerous times I have had people tell me the were experiencing "eye issues" when in fact they were simply not doing the right things with their eyes. In fact, that has nearly always been the case, over 20 years of teaching.

A dominant eye does not "go limp." The off-eye does not "take over." It is far more likely that OP is simply doing something wrong with his eyes than that his eyes are not working properly.

The best in the world on this is Vicki Ash, co-founder of the OSP School in Houston. Anyone serious about addressing the "eye issues" OP described should either get instruction from Vicki (or husband Gil), or get the appropriate video.

Richard Colo is the eye doctor of the pros.....

And will explain eye dominance in a way most have never heard....Like why do many-make that some-of the top guns have their cheek barely touching the stock?.....

Its obvious he's having eye issues. He even states it in the OP. If you are not willing to listen to someone, you are probably not a great instructor. You've probably never had eye issues either. If you had, you may understand where the OP is coming from..

i wear prescription shooting glasses that are tinted kinda pinkish for trap.

At that point in life where the eyes don't work like they once did. If an instructor ignored my comments and told me I was wrong about MY eyes i'd tell him to go FFFUCK himself!

The only thing "obvious" is that he THINKS he is having an issue with his right eye. Maybe he is, and an eye doctor can tell him if he is.

But I have heard nearly the identical description of the "eye issues" GunGeek describes ("right eye stopping working, left eye taking over'") about a hundred times over the past 25 years, and every, single time the problem turned out to be what the person was DOING (and not doing) with their eyes while shooting. The problem was completely fixed with good instruction (except for the few who refused to listen, and they moved on to golf or bowling).

So, GunGeek,, get an eye exam if you wish to rule out cataracts, macular degeneration, etc., but if the doctor says there is no psyiological problem with your eyes, I would consult a good shooting instructor, because your "symptoms" are extremely common among clay target shooters.

Interrupted eye focusing is one thing....

However going 19 straight, then missing 15 straight is most likely not due to the master eye going “limp”.

Nor is going back Friday without any medical or instructional intervention likely to bring a cure. The hardest part of shooting a shotgun consistently, is correct consistent hard focus on the target....at the right time. Not 90%, but 100% hard, and often the harder we try to make it look right, the more consistently we miss.

The again, We sometimes keep making the same mistake over and over with the same results over and over....little things like hold point, soft peripheral focus...

A periodic eye exam always makes sense....so does instruction from someone who knows the game you are playing...

So it's not as if my eye is completely unable to focus. When my eyes get tired (and I didn't sleep worth a crap the night before), my left eye tends to take over dominance because my left eye vision is much better than my right eye.

So went out Saturday and I'm back to shooting 22-24's. Just a rough day.

As for an eye exam, I actually had one last month. Got a new prescription too, so who knows; that could be a factor.


As for lessons, I'm a HUGE believer! Back when I shot Sporting Clays competitively a coach made all the difference.