I was reading a competitive hand gun training book last night and ran across a small section where the distinguished author stated that both eyes need to be kept open while shooting bullseye (conventional) pistol. Does this technique also carry over to other handgun disciplines, ie. IDPA and USPSA???? I have been shooting handguns for the last 10 years while keeping my weak eye shut. What/how should I train?

P.S. This isn't the first time I've found out that I have been doing something the wrong way LOL!

LOL....... I shoot with 2 eyes open for everything "except" strong hand only bullseye........

Yes, it especially translates to IPSC and other speed shooting. If you see photos from the front, top shooters will have both eyes wide open. Only a very few shoot with one eye shut. One way to train is slow fire, where you align the sights with one eye shut, then open it for squeezing off the shot. Eventually you can train your eyes so this is automatic. If your strong side eye is not dominant, it could be very difficult or impossible.

Most defensive shooting schooling says keep both eyes open because you have a much wider visual of what's around you. Try looking ahead and close one eye. You should notice a loss of peripheral visionl on the closed eye side. You could miss another BG coming/shooting at you on your weak side. For that reason I believe shooting in any scenario should be both eyes open. Why shoot/train any other way than what you will shoot in a possible defensive situation?

Closing one gives you wrinkles...

Both eyes open...

I also shoot handguns with both eyes open. As a matter of fact I really struggle with long guns because I cannot do it, and I really dislike having to close one eye.

It's a matter of habit I suppose.

PS: Experts point out that in a life or death situation, there is no way in hell anyone can close an eye to aim. Survival instinct kicks in, the brain needs all the information it can get and your eyes will be wide open.

Keeping both eyes open makes it much more difficult to flinch (close both eyes and pull trigger). So from that perspective, keeping both eyes open during all firearm sports make sense.

It really makes sense in any action type shooting as it greatly increases your field of vision.

I find it stressful to close one eye while shooting. Especially when doing extended sessions. After a while my eyes get real flinchy and I just can't focus correctly.

However, I am one that aims with one eye shut. I will have to start practicing with both eyes open. That would be the best way and with less stress on the eyes.

Yes....both eyes open. The weak eye may be less open than the strong side.

Annie Oakley , who knew very much how to shoot and taught WWI solders shooting before they shipped out to France, shot with both eyes open...always.

This makes me want to talk about the scout rifles and scout scopes.

The supposed "benefit" to them is that one can keep both eyes open while shooting with the scope. Well....while game shooting with a scope, both eyes should be open, this with even a scope mounted close to the shooter rather than only a forward mounted "scout" scope.

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A Snider squibbed n the Jungle

Most people feel that keeping both eyes open is the preferred method for handgun shooting. This is particularly true for speed shooting and combat oriented disciplines.

However, getting a good sight picture with both eyes open is very difficult for some people. I have read that the issue has to do with the strength of the dominant eye. If the dominant eye is strongly dominant, then it is easy to see the sights with both eyes open. But if the dominant eye is only slightly dominant then it is difficult to shoot with both eyes open. I do not know if eye dominance is really the issue, but I do know that keeping both eyes open is easier for some people than others.

One technique for helping people learn to keep both eyes open is obstruct their view of the sights with their weak eye. You can put a small piece of scotch tape or a spot of chapstick on their eye protection. The spot should be aligned just to block their view of the sights with the weak eye. This method allows the weak eye to remain open and to still see the backstop and surrounding area. I learned this method from an experienced instructor who has worked with hundreds of students. It does not work for everyone, but some people find it useful.

I finally broke my bad habit of closing one eye to shoot about 20 years ago. It took a lot of practice to break the habit, but once I did, my shooting improved quite a bit. It takes "trigger time" and concentration, but you can break the bad habit. Notice I labeled shooting with one eye shut as a bad habit. That is how I perceive that practice that I was taught as a very young child.

The other advantage of keeping both eyes open is called "sympathetic pupil response".

Whenever you close your non-dominant eye (or obscure it with a dark-colored blinder), the natural reaction of the pupil in that eye is to dilate. All that pupil knows is that it's in the dark, and whenever it's dark, it opens up to let in more light.

The problem is that your pupils don't operate independently of one another. When your in-the-dark pupil dilates, the one you're using to try and shoot attempts to do the same. This results in a loss of visual acuity.

That's why shooters using blinders frequently use white or frosted/opaque blinders instead of dark-colored ones.

However--sympathetic pupil response doesn't affect everyone equally. Older shooters, in particular, are more likely to be negatively-affected by it.

Check out this article by the late Dr Norman Wong, OD, and pretty damn good bullseye shooter:
Shooting Sports USA - August 2011

And a larger collection of his writings:
Dr. Norman Wong Articles as posted to the Bullseye List

It's a lot better than having both shut!

Thank you everyone. This seems like a pretty big component in training correctly. I wonder why it has escaped me for so long? My CCW instructor never mentioned it. If it wasn't for that small paragraph in the competitive handgun book I would have never asked about it. All my CCW buddies I train with on the weekends are old school weak eye shut too. Guess we all have a lot of work ahead of us. Better late than never!

I shot Free Pistol in league for a number of years. Eliminating anything that causes any kind of stress (i.e. having to hold one eye closed) is considered good. Figure that this is a sport where those that are really good at it will control their breathing and pulse rate while shooting. I've seen guys that will take up to several minutes lining up each shot. You have 2 Hours to fire 60 rounds, so, trust me, the less stress of any kind, the better.

If your binocular vision is such that you can't get a clear sight picture without closing one eye, I would suggest you use a blinder on the weak eye. ((White or opaque for the reasons mentioned above.)

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

Interesting. The only time I have to close an eye is non dominant one hand . . .

(full disclosure, I don't shoot any of the alphabet competitions . . .)

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I'm not a competitive shooter, but found out last trip to the range, I am now more accurate with both eyes open, than with only one. Weird, but true.

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I am right handed shooter but left eye dominant so I have to close my right eye to shoot iron sight hand guns. Both eyes open with red dot sights.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

Old habits die hard. The transition hasn't been too bad actually. I do find myself blinking a lot more while forcing my weak eye open. Just going to take more range time, and that's fine by me.