Clay Target Q&A
With Russell Mark, Olympic gold and silver medallist
Questions: russell@corporateshootingstars.com.au
Q I read with interest a previous column you wrote in the Australian Shooter on the disadvantage Trap shooters have when shooting with one eye closed, as opposed to those who shoot with both eyes open. I am left-eye dominant, but have to shoot clays from my right shoulder as I just can’t seem to shoot from my left side, as I do everything else in my life right-handed. I close my left eye and seem to shoot okay. Just what are the disadvantages that you speak of?
Ken McClure, NSW
A Ken, I am assuming you mean Down the Line (DTL) when you talk about Trap shooting. There are two obvious disadvantages when shooting Trap. The first is the loss of a large part of your peripheral vision when you close one eye. To give a practical example to explain this more clearly would be to try driving up to a roundabout with one eye closed and seeing how hard it becomes to judge your way through it safely (I don’t really advise doing this though). With both eyes open, an experienced driver can virtually sense through their peripheral vision that there are cars inside the roundabout; therefore, they must give way, or if it is empty, they can proceed safely without really having to move their head sideways. With one eye closed, much greater sideways head movement will be needed to make the correct judgment. The loss of peripheral vision by closing one eye will also affect your perception on the depth of vision.
The second disadvantage is that many AA Class DTL shooters will use a technique at some stage in their careers when it is beneficial to call for the release of targets when their guns are in the starting position above the top of the Trap house roof. Shooting into a headwind is a good example of this. The advantage of this technique is simply that it requires less gun movement to shoot the target. Holding above the trap requires the use of peripheral vision to see the target correctly. If one eye is closed, then a blind spot will occur just above the trap house caused by your left hand, which is holding the gun’s fore-end.
The only solution for a one-eyed shooter is to hold the gun down on the top lip of the trap house and therefore let the target get way out in front of the barrels when it is released and then ‘chasing’ it from behind. The more you are forced to follow the target from behind and below, the greater chance you have of making a mistake, unless your timing is perfect.
In saying all of that, I can name many two-eyed shooters who use this technique anyway and have multiple National Championships to their names. I have also seen three Olympic gold medals won by one-eyed shooters.
I still believe one-eyed shooters are at a disadvantage. Personally, if I had three eyes, I would keep them all open, but in no way is closing one eye a total barrier to success in the sport as the above examples prove.