Spearfishing with a lazy eye

[Johndory Hunter]

I thought I'd post this for information as it took me years to work out.
My left eye is a bit slow and learning to shoot shotguns I had to have a patch on my left eye or I couldn't hit very much.
When spearfishing all my shots go way left of where I'm aiming so I tried painting the left lens on my mask and it works just the same and I seldom miss a fish now.
I'm also pretty positive bass come in closer when I have 1 eye covered over. I use black or white car paint. Thought it might be useful for people to know.

 

[Mr. X]

Sounds like a "master issue". My brother is quite knowlegable on this & could probably tell you which eye is your master eye from the above information - afraid I can't. Most people have a preferred "master eye" much like being right-handed or left-handed. If you were to be fitted for a shotgun in England, they might put significant bend in the stock to correct for it (e.g. right-handed with left master eye).

Alternatively/as well, a lot of folk grow up aiming toy pistols/rifles with one eye closed. That makes adapting to 2 eyes open aiming (for shotguns, spearguns or, perhaps, in military use with a SinglePoint sight) difficult & counter-intuitive.

Did you try just closing one eye, as is if aiming a rifle?

 

[Mr. X]

Found some references on this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocular_dominance
http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-Your-Dominant-Eye
http://www.totalshooting.com/html/mastereye.html

That last reference is particularly interesting. Judging by it, you probably have a left-master eye & because it was causing problems, I am guessing that you are right-handed:

"The concept of Master Eye is an important one that must be determined at the outset. Quite simply, the Master Eye determines how the gun aligns with the target. Shooting from the right shoulder with the right eye as master the gun will align exactly with the target. However, should the left be the Master Eye then the gun will attempt to align with that eye. With the gun mounted in the right shoulder this will cause the gun to misalign to the left of the target. Similarly, should both eyes contribute equally to the task of alignment then once again the gun will misalign to the left."

It suggests 2 applicable remedies:
"... there are several cures, the simplest being to shut the left eye early at the commencement of the shot, thus eliminating its influence. On the other hand, when the left is totally the Master Eye, and the right eye contributes nothing to the alignment process, then it is perfectly possible and preferable to learn to shoot from the left shoulder [or shoot left-handed for a speargun presumably]. Indeed for the beginner this will soon feel entirely natural and will allow two eye shooting. ..."

And provides so other insights & reassurance such as:
"There is one other problem caused by two eye shooting, and fortunately a rare one. This is difficulty with co-ordination. A few people, although apparently right eye dominant, find the timing of the shot difficult with two eyes open, and are also prone to firing oddly off-line shots, too. For these people one eyed shooting is the answer, and it will usually make an immediate improvement to their consistency.

So two eyed shooting is preferable where possible, but one eye shooting is no guarantee of poor shooting, far from it. World and Olympic Gold Medals have been won by single eye shooters who would have been struggling to make B Class had they tried to shoot with both eyes open. ... "

It also describes how to determine your master eye. As does the wiki page, which also includes this little snippet:

"It is possible to change eye dominance by actively suppressing the visual field of the dominant eye. This is achieved with an eye patch bandage that covers the dominant eye, with adhesive tape around the patch perimeter."