Ever since I had cataract surgery, I have had trouble getting my eyes to work together on a target. The surgery was perfect, I have 20-20 in my right eye and 20-15 in the left.

I was always right eye dominant until I got a cataract in that eye, and waited 3 years to get it taken care of. During that period, of course, the left eye was getting all the good jobs and got kind of proud of it. Now it seems like on target the eyes fight each other instead of agreeing on a spot.

I have to either hold a long time until my eyes work together, or swing up and shoot before they can declare war.

I do windage very well with the left eye closed, but elevation, not so well.

I have no trouble looking at the target until the arrow is in the picture from half draw on back. It's as if my tensing muscles are pulling on the eyes.

Anybody KNOW (not dream up) a mental sequence that helps with something like this?

Yeah its tough shooting with an eye closed if you're not using sight. Takes 2 eyes for depth perception so you hit high n low. Maybe in time it'll come together hopefully. I never had that problem but mine grew fast so had to be done right away.

I wonder what you described is what has been my issue since my surgery years ago now. I can’t seem to “concentrate “ on the spot. Like my eyes wonder. Crazy thing is I do better at longer ranges keeping my concentration. My arrow may fall short but that’s because I picked the wrong spot. I will be following this thread.

Jim -

It's not going to work, until you realize (and accept) that target acquisition is a 3 dimensional process (depth perception plays a part), but aiming is 2 dimensional, usually one eye is better than two. If you're not doing some kind of "aiming", formal or subconscious, then it doesn't really matter.

You might be worrying about a problem that doesn't really exist.

M60 -

at longer ranges, the arrow is more in your line of sight. Like it or not, it makes a difference. Your new lenses may have changed your optimal focal length.

Viper out.

Jim Ask your eye Doctor. There are eye exercises that may help.

I have astigmatism in ONE eye. Drove me more crackers than I was already. Looked around online and found The Tibetan Eyechart. You can Google it. There is a simple eye exercise you do with the chart ad much or as little as you like. Does it work? I went from serious to mild Stigmatism in very short order. The VA is very confused as to why my vision seems to be improving year after year. You got absolutely nothing to lose. Remedially, I have found Bilberry to help with vision support. It's just like a vitamin. Well, there you go!

All I can tell you is that in my case my right eye is so weak i shoot lefty. There is no competition between my eyes due to the strong dominant left eye and, there is no such thing as 3 dimensional sight in my world. So, I guess i've learned to judge distance pretty well anyhow (ability to adapt)--- the maintenance guys at work used to get a kick out of my ability to tell them something was X distance in feet and id be very close, so i know distance estimation can be done accurately with one eye. I hear folks say its good to shoot w both eyes open, but how would i know? I can tell you that shooting with one eye works for me. A cheap thing for you to try would be to put some scotch tape over your sunglasses on the left lense if you're shooting right handed.

An ophthalmologist might be able to help, they're sorta experts.

Try closing the off eye in the middle of the draw sequence.

Many successful shooters do close one eye as they aim(especially those that dont have one strongly dominant eye.). The teachers who preach that you must keep both eyes open are full of crap.

Id agree everyone should give both eyes open a good try. But theres nothing wrong with switching to one eye if its not working for you.

Thanks to all. I have tried some of the suggestions, and they all seem to help. At least I have hope that I can retrain the old eye bones.

I’ll tell you one thing…

There are NO “dumb” ophthalmologist. That’s one of the highest paid specialties in all of medicine, and those guys make serious BANK. That means you have to be in the top 2% - 3% of your medical school class to get one of those spots.

And that’s not enough… As a rule, you have to be a pretty darn good person as well.

So FWIW, an ophthalmologist is a great place to start.

I’m really interested in this, though, because today I seem to have miss placed my left contact lens, so I have been experimenting with good distance vision in my right/dominant eye and limited to a close on my left. And now I’m wondering how that might work out for shooting at 20+ yards… I always assumed that it would drive me crazy, but as it happens I am kind of enjoying not having to reach for the cheaters to see what’s happening on my phone…

I would also recommend talking with an ophthalmologist but I have to comment on GF’s post. Ophthalmologists are not one of the highest paid specialties. They aren’t even in the top 15 in average salary. I worked with them for many years selling equipment and instruments, spent countless hours in the OR for close to a thousand cataract and retinal procedures and trained them on how to use surgical microscopes and lasers. They are like any other profession. Many are excellent and some are not.

That is absolutely mind-boggling…

When my ex was in med school, there was absolutely NOBODY getting into ophthalmology residency who was not AOA....

But I guess it really is just like her dad said…

“Do you know what they call the guy who graduates at the very bottom of his medical school class?”

“Doctor.”

So I’m not going to argue with Phil on this. He clearly has a much better knowledge base than I do. Either way, though… There is an enormous gap between a good ophthalmologist and an optometrist. Both will give you an eye exam, but a good ophthalmologist will keep you seeing. My dad had some issues with low pressure glaucoma that didn’t do him any favors, but with the macular degeneration that he had, I don’t think it was really a major issue. Sometimes you’re just screwed no matter what. I’m trying to avoid a similar outcome for myself.

Well there you go GF, you lost a contact, that explains perfectly why you can’t tell a left wing from a right wing feather.

I agree there’s a very big difference between an ophthalmologist and an optometrist. And I also agree about what they call the person that graduates at the bottom of the med school class. LOL

I have no trouble whatsoever telling a right wing from a left wing feather.

I also happen to know that my reading comprehension is better than that of the average ophthalmologist.

"LOL"

Ouch.

Jim, Riverwolf touched on what I do.

I have gone from strong right eye dominant to basically neutral. Drove me crazy until I figured it out. Then it drove me crazy until I found a “fix.”

Now I blink my left eye as I start to aim. It forces the right eye into control. Once one eye is in control they don’t fight. It’s just a matter of who’s in control at the start.

Good luck as it is frustrating.

Hmm.

if you patch the left eye like a pirate for awhile i wonder if that would make the right eye start getting more control. Just a thought

My right eye is no longer quite as good as my left which messed with my eye dominance. I did like one guy above and started my draw with two eyes for depth perception then in mid draw I close my left eye briefly which I hope is training my brain to use my right eye.

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