Clay Target Q&A
With Russell Mark, Olympic gold and silver medallist
Questions: russell@corporateshootingstars.com.au
Q I started shooting several months ago and I am not sure what eye I should be closing. I do most things in life right-handed, although I do play golf left-handed. How do I determine which shoulder I should be shooting from? I feel very uncomfortable shooting from my left shoulder.
Kelly Holiday, Qld
A In an ideal world, Kelly, the answer to the first part of your question, which eye should you close, is neither eye. Do yourself a favour and go outside, look up at the sky and point at the first object flying past you. It can be a bird, a plane, Superman - it doesn’t matter. Point directly at it with your index finger; either hand is okay. Now, close your left eye and if the object stays at the end of your finger, then you are probably right-eye dominant. If it moves off-centre, then you may be left-eye dominant. Repeat the exercise closing your left eye to check the result.
I have the pleasure of introducing thousands of shooters every year to clay target shooting through my corporate shooting business and I am amazed at how many people believe they are right-handed, but are actually left-eye dominant. Here is a staggering statistic. About 10 per cent of the population are left-handed, but about 30 per cent of the population are left-eye dominant. That means 20 per cent of the population are of mixed dominance - left-eye and right-handed.
Unfortunately, if that 20 per cent were clay target shooters, they should be mounting the gun on the opposite shoulder than what they would generally consider normal. It is a huge advantage to have both eyes open, thus aligning your dominant eye down the barrel of the shotgun and having the benefit of having your other eye open to gain the advantage of wider peripheral vision.
If shooting from the left shoulder is totally out of the question, simply buy a pair of shooting glasses and put some sticky tape over the middle of the left lens, thus making the right eye take control. This will let you look down the middle of the barrel without any cross-vision. Our Athens Olympic gold medallist Suzy Balogh did this and it worked very well for her.