Left and right eye dominance question.

[TN Teebird]

I've been playing for 10+ years now but I'm always learning new things and still asking questions so here's one to think about.

This is one I've been thinking about for a while and since I'm getting back into tournament play soon I've been experimenting with new things.

Ok most of us know that when putting if you are right eye dominate you aim more left of the pole and if you are left eye dominate you aim more right of the pole.

My question comes to drives. Can the same method of putting be incorporated into driving? I've been experimenting a bit and it seems to be working.

Using right eye dominance in this example:

Ok take for instance a straight drive,trees on both sides.So if you miss left or right you are in trouble.You know you have to go straight down the Teepad to get it straight,but sometimes the disc goes right instead of straight.Mentally you was aiming in the middle or to the right just a bit resulting in a clipping of the trees resulting in loss of disc speed and a shorter shot or going way deep in the rough to the right.

As of late I've been experimenting aiming more left instead of straight down the gut or if it's a anyhyzer aiming much more left of my target instead of where I know the disc will turn and on hyzers aiming more right. So far drives have been more accurate and I've been about 80% successful.

What do you guys think? Does left and right eye dominance have a play in drives too? Or am I just overthinking things and my results are just coming from me concentrating a little bit more?

 

[Broken Shoulder]

You should be aiming with your shoulders and body alignment. I know I'm not looking at my target until after the disc is gone and my head comes around. Honestly, you're probably just concentrating more and putting your body in better positions.

Fwiw, I aim center pole when I putt, not left or right. Both eyes on the target.

 

[zgmc]

You should be aiming with your shoulders and body alignment. I know I'm not looking at my target until after the disc is gone and my head comes around. Honestly, you're probably just concentrating more and putting your body in better positions.

Fwiw, I aim center pole when I putt, not left or right. Both eyes on the target.

You don't have a dominant eye? You know you can easily test yourself to figure out which eye is dominant...

 

[TN Teebird]

You should be aiming with your shoulders and body alignment. I know I'm not looking at my target until after the disc is gone and my head comes around. Honestly, you're probably just concentrating more and putting your body in better positions.

Fwiw, I aim center pole when I putt, not left or right. Both eyes on the target.

I probably am just concentrating more,but i'm always concentrating pretty good. So I just threw this out there since I was gaining a ton of accuracy.

I'm basically using my minds eye when I drive and not looking directly at it the whole time. I get a visualization of the surrounding area,sort of a mental picture and I keep that in my head until I release the drive. And yes I do aim with my shoulders and body alignment. It may just be something that works for me,but I think maybe this thought process could be incorporated to some added accuracy of sorts. I've been messing around with it for a bit now and it seems to work pretty well.

I have a unique putting style. I' have more of a Ken Climo Stance so my right eye is looking more at the target than the left when I putt. So the uniqueness is that I close my Left eye when I putt since my right eye is more dominate.That way if I miss right it was because of me flailing my wrist out instead of shaking hands with the basket like you are supposed. Closing my left eye helps me diagnose problems faster on the spot.

 

[TN Teebird]

You don't have a dominant eye? You know you can easily test yourself to figure out which eye is dominant...

It is the coolest test too. I wonder if he knows the test?

 

[TN Teebird]

Ok I'll post the test so he can try it.

Place an object on a Table. Maybe a soda can or something like that. Ok next make a circle with your hand so you can look through it with both eyes. Next Close one eye and then close the other. Whichever eye you can see the Soda Can with is your dominate eye.

 

[markmcc]

Don't be surprised if you don't have a clearly dominant eye.

I shot pistols and rifles competitively for about 15 years, and got used to using only my right eye (right-handed). But when I started shooting shotgun I was trying to keep both eyes open, and was having a good bit of trouble. A couple of shooting instructors tested me and found that I didn't have a clearly dominant eye. Sometimes the tests would indicate left, and other times right. I just did the test again and had the same results.

I've never even considered eye dominance in DG. When putting the only offset I consider is the direction the disc will fade on longer putts.

 

[Broken Shoulder]

Im aware of the test. I'm right handed, but left eye dominant, which isn't super common. If it factors into my shots I'm unaware of it. Hence aiming center pole on putts and both eyes are open.

I'm not saying you're wrong on it factoring into your drives. If you believe it, who am I to argue? I don't believe it is a factor for me.

 

[SeveN]

I'm also right handed and left eye dominant. I also aim up and down the pole with both eyes open. If I started aiming to the left to balance my left eye dominance, I would have a lot more "am side" spit outs. Its how you practice, right? Just up and down the pole and make sure you don't jerk your release at the end.

And the further out I am, the more to the right of the pole I aim, to account for the hyzer finish of the putter. I think you're over thinking the eye dominance. If you think you are consistently missing your hit/target, check to make sure you are in line with everything (shoulders-chest-putter) and that your release is clean. I miss the basket more because something is off on my throw, and not because of where I aim.

 

[Shipley]

Pick your target, and aim for the smallest part of it.

 

[WhiteyBear]

I honestly think the whole dominant eye thing is ridiculous. You need both eyes for depth perception and visual processing. This isn't archery or rifle shooting, and were not having a 90mph fastball. You have thirty seconds to make you line, it has almost everything to do with hand eye coordination, which takes years of muscle memory and repetitive practice. Eye dominance is negated when you are squarely facing the intended target, with both eyes fixed on the specific location without bias.


Just my .02, you'll have better results by developing muscle memory from a thousand hours of practice rather than trying to adjust for eye dominant theories in disc golf. But, if that's what puts the sharpened edge on your game, it works firer you and could give you that mental edge.

I guess you could say I give it plausible deniability of success.

 

[Mixed Bag Madness]

Feldberg is the one who explained the right/left eye dominance to me and is a firm believer in it. He used it in his clinics and you could see immediate improvement with the newer players putting once they tried it. I'm a firm believer in this and use it every day on the course. My putting and driving became a lot more consistent once I learned about this. I'll go as far as to say that besides a lot of putting practice, learning about right/left eye dominance is the reason that putting is absolutely the strongest part of my game. I even use it on the basketball court with great success. :thmbup:


Edit: Keep in mind that it's just another tool to have, and that nothing beats controlled repetitive practice.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

Disc Golf Putting Clinic By David Feldberg RE: eye dominance

https://vimeo.com/19847946

 

[Dan Ensor]

Meh ... kids also don't think about disc pivot. I'm with Whitey; eye dominance doesn't come into play when I'm "aiming". Straight is what my arm and eye think it is. Enough practice will get the two being the same.

 

[art_vandelay]

I'm with Dan. Your brain and body will sync itself up with your eyes through repetition. Please, don't distract me while I'm trying to putt with another "thing". :gross:

 

[Kodachrome]

Closing your eye is just hurting your game. Depth perception and being able to tell where you are in space is kinda sorta important.

 

[Kodachrome]

I probably am just concentrating more,but i'm always concentrating pretty good. So I just threw this out there since I was gaining a ton of accuracy.

I have a unique putting style. I close my Left eye when I putt since my right eye is more dominate.

Duh.

Read his post. I was in no way referring to you. Good luck with that mensa **** .

 

[TN Teebird]

Closing your eye is just hurting your game. Depth perception and being able to tell where you are in space is kinda sorta important.

I mistyped that earlier. Sometimes when my putting game is off i'll close my left eye. Where I'm right eye dominate it gives me a clear visual of my hand and how it's going to the basket. If my hand is flailing out instead of shaking hands with the basket I can fix it right on the spot quicker.

@everyone. Great discussion on the topic. I know everyone will have differing opinions on the matter.The main reason I started doing the eye dominance thing is I remembering reading somewhere that Ken Climo was talking about it and we all know how good The Champ is. So I took his advice and incorporated it into my putting game. Then over the years I started incorporating it into my drives.Sometimes i would go away from it for a while because I wasn't sure if it was working,but the more experience I get through years of playing the more I find it useful.

 

[andrewv]

I aim for a chain link to the right of and on the back side of the pole. I remember watching that Feldberg clinic a few years back about the eye dominance thing and it messed me up for like half a round until I forgot about it.

 

[WhiteyBear]

"Empirical data" for eye dominance in disc golf for dominant eye theory....

I need to start two new clubs, Rain Man DG and Eye Deniers.

Not getting angry, just giving my opinion that the lack of data for this theory in dg dies not make what feldy spoke about as solid proof. I still don't buy into it, repetitive and repeatable motion mixed with muscle memory is what makes a difference. Which is why you can close your eyes and make puts. It's not reaction to a motion, it's repeating a normal motion.