Question on eye dominance

[theMadAlaskan]

Recently I read something about being “ambidextrous eyed” and was wondering what exactly that means. Whenever I do the thumb test I see two “ghost” thumbs but when I read about it it seems that people are only seeing one thumb when they have both eyes open. When I do it the right ghost thumb is the one that naturally lines up with the target so I always assumed I was left eyed.

I am somewhat ambidextrous, my first 22 as a kid was a rolling block which I shot left handed just because it seemed natural to do it that way. I only switched to right handed when I got my first bolt action.

So the question is do most people only see one thumb with both eyes open? And what does ambidextrous eyed really mean?

 

[Sniper338]

Recently I read something about being “ambidextrous eyed” and was wondering what exactly that means. Whenever I do the thumb test I see two “ghost” thumbs but when I read about it it seems that people are only seeing one thumb when they have both eyes open. When I do it the right ghost thumb is the one that naturally lines up with the target so I always assumed I was left eyed.

I am somewhat ambidextrous, my first 22 as a kid was a rolling block which I shot left handed just because it seemed natural to do it that way. I only switched to right handed when I got my first bolt action.

So the question is do most people only see one thumb with both eyes open? And what does ambidextrous eyed really mean?

i see two thumbs when i keep both eyes open too... but i know im right handed. On the other hand as far as my trgaining goes i had to learn to shoot both right and left handed with rifles and handgun. And i have to qual everytime both right and left handed... it doesnt feel right left handed... but it can be aquired as a skill. Ive seen some people that have less problem with it learning than others..

 

[chkunz]

Two thumbs with both eyes open. Or two front sights with both eyes open, that is why I have to put a small piece of tape over the lens of the shooting glasses for my left eye since I shoot right handed.

 

[FeMan]

A better test for eye dominance is to cut a 1" hole in a piece of paper and hold it at arms length. Align at a small object at distance with both eyes open and then alternate eyes opened to see which is dominant. I have never heard of ambidextrous eyes.

 

[M14AMU]

Could this be classified as Internet BS?? :-\

 

[wolley]

Not BS. Some folks just don't have a strong dominant eye.

 

[chkunz]

Over the years I have tested hundreds of juniors and adults for dominant eye. It is a must do when conducting marksmanship training for new shooters. I have found that ambidextrous folks tend to not have a strong dominant eye and one simple test can be misleading. But if you understand what is going on there are effective ways of dealing with this issue.

 

[Chappy]

I shoot rifles right handed but pistols are are lefthanded with my right dominate eye. About the only way I can hit jack**** with a handgun. ;D

 

[theMadAlaskan]

T-REX I think you hit the nail on the head. What they were referring to was either no dominance or an eye that is only weakly dominant.

 

[jrm850]

Seem like a lot of the times I try to get a new shooter to do a version of the hole test I have very little confidence that they are not skewing the results. An easier method that gives them less opportunity to force results is to have them tilt their head way back and then ask them to focus on a small object at distance like a light switch. Then ask them which side of their nose do they see.