How to Find Your Dominant Eye

Do you know your dominant eye? Is it even possible to have a dominant eye? We are sure you have heard the term ‘dominant eye’ but you might not be sure what it means. Please allow me to explain.

What is A Dominant Eye?

Simply put, your dominant eye is the one that provides more input to the visual part of the brain and relays information more accurately, especially with regard to the location of objects.

Sometimes the dominant eye is used to describe the normally functioning eye in cases where the other is weaker such as with strabismus (eye turns) and amblyopia (lazy eye).

How to do a Dominant Eye Test

Here is a simple test to determine your dominant eye.

• Create a small triangular opening between your thumbs and forefingers to form 45 degrees by placing your hands together as shown below.

• With both eyes open, center triangle on an object at some distance from you-such as a door knob.

• Close your right eye.

• If the object remains centered, then the open eye (the left one) is your dominant eye. If the object moves, then your right eye is the dominant eye.

Is Eye Dominance Directly Related to Handedness?

Eye dominance varies among people and may depend on the task or test. Hand preference alone does not determine which eye is dominant.

While it is correct to say that a right-handed person is 2.5 times more likely to be right-eye dominant, it’s still impossible to determine eye dominance based on your dominant hand.

No Dominant Eye: Is It Possible?

Eye dominance varies between people and tasks.

If an individual lacks a dominant eye, it’s more likely that the person has a mixed ocular dominance (alternating ocular dominance), where one eye is dominant for certain tasks and the other eye is dominant at different times.

Fact: Knowing your dominant eye will help you in photography and in sports like golf and baseball.

A photographer sights his camera with his dominant eye.

Good luck shooting something you can’t see.

Dominant Eye in Photography, Shooting, and Sports

Have you ever wondered why some people never miss a moving target with their rifle? How did Tiger Woods get so good at golf?

positioning your dominant eye properly can improve your depth perception and you ability to rrack fast-moving objects.

It all begins with your dominant eye…

Even the best photographers use their dominant eye to look through the viewfinder to get a more accurate preview of the actual shot.

Here’s an excellent article by Craig Hull, specifically about the effect your dominant eye can have on your photography.

Certain sports like baseball, shooting, and golf require you to position your head properly to take advantage of your dominant eye.

Interested in maximizing your vision for a competitive edge? Midtown Optometry’s Dr. Crag Fellers is a Sports Vision Specialist. Check out our Sports Vision page or schedule a sports vision consultation with Dr. Fellers today:

Consult Dr. Fellers

Now that you know how to find your dominant eye, it is high time you start taking advantage of it and use it to your full potential in sports. For those of us that love photography, your dominant eye will help you get better photographs.

If you have any questions related to your vision, we are always available to help. Have you done the dominant eye test already? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to visit us on facebook and twitter.