Your Dominant Eye

Your Dominant Eye

Missing your target(s) to the left or right consistently? It may have to do with your dominant eye. Consistently missing your mark may have to do with which eye is stronger.

Determining which eye is dominant is the first step. Without a visit to the optometrist, there are many ways to simply see which eye is stronger. A quick way is simply stretch one hand out in front of you and make a circle with your thumb and index finger; now, find something to focus on in the distance through the hole (if you’re in a bowling center, the numbers on the masking units are good for this). Now, close one eye. If the number stays in the circle, the eye that’s open is the dominant eye; if the number leaves the circle, the closed eye is the stronger one.

If a bowler is right-handed and right-eye dominant, missing the target is typically less than someone who may be right-handed and left-eye dominant. Having a stronger eye further away from your bowling hand can create the tendency to miss targets further toward the dominant eye. A right-handed bowler with right-eye dominance may miss by a board while right-handed/left-eye dominant players may miss 2-3 boards inside. Either way, we can adjust to be more accurate.

Fact is, you've already been adjusting to this in some way, perhaps without knowing it, and you’ll continue to do so as needed. A quick tip to determine where you’re looking and what’s being hit is to set up a camera and record your slide foot, lay down point and the ball at your target(s). See if the center of your ball rolls over its intended target or if your perception has another piece of the ball covering it. The ball is approximately 8.5 inches across (through the center) and the ball track is less than ¼-inch wide, so pay attention to see if the center of the ball is hitting the target where you expect it to hit.

What you determine you are missing by - 1, 2 or 3 board - adjust by simply looking that many boards further in the opposite direction so your ball rolls over the intended spot. If needed, simply move the ball slightly to the left or right, in the stance, to get it closer to the sight line for your dominant eye.

Here's a cool practice tool used for visualization at the International Training and Research Center

Keep in mind that if you know you have a tendency to miss and you’re attempting to play very close to the gutter, you may have to look at a target off the lanes to be accurate. Trying the play boards 2-3 with a tendency to miss three boards inside means you may have to look one board into the gutter to hit your mark. Know your tendency and measure your ability and soon you’ll know how to hit your marks with confidence and ease.