Finding Your Dominant Eye

To perfect your pool shot aiming skills, you will need to figure out which one of your eyes is the dominant one. It is thought that 96% of the world's population has a dominant eye. This dominance can seriously change the way you aim your billiard shots.

Finding Your Dominant Eye for Billiards

When you process an image, your brain complies the images from each eye. It combines the information to produce a third image. This third image is actually what affects your aim, and motor skills during the billiard shot. When you are aiming your shot and looking down the cue, your dominant eye takes over, and is responsible for the alignment that you choose when you finally release the shot. Because of this, the dominant eye should be the one looking directly down the cue and aiming the shot and the weaker eye should be looking to the periphery or the pocket.

You can find your dominant eye by holding your arms straight out in front of you and fully extended. (Paralell to the ground.) Connect your index fingers to a point toward the ceiling, and then join your thumbs at the bottom to form a triangle. with both eyes open, focus on a distant but stationary object as normal. While remaining focused on that object, slowly bring the triangle closer to your face. As it is moving closer, you will notice that your dominant eye will begin to take over focus, and hone in on the object, and your hands will naturally move toward that eye. Whichever eye your triangle is aligned with is your dominant eye. At first when you do this, you may only notice a slight movement of your triangle to one eye. If you are unsure, try forcing it to the other one while remaining focused on the distant object. Notice how awkward it feels?

Use this knowledge for finding your dominant eye for billiards. Then you can ensure that the dominant eye is always placed over your cue when shooting.

Finding Your Dominant Eye

Title: Finding Your Dominant Eye
Author: billiardsforum (Billiards Forum)
Published: 9/30/2006 12:26:56 AM

Finding Your Dominant Eye

The Finding Your Dominant Eye article belongs to the Aiming and Execution Tutorials for Billiards category. Billiard and pool playing tips around shot making, aiming, and execution.

Finding Your Dominant Eye Comments

lefteyedominant from Mill City, OR on 9/7/2009 9:26:51 PM
I want a professional opinion on the matter.

Side Pocket from Columbus, OH on 4/4/2010 3:24:45 AM
Thanks, good article. I knew about the dominant eye but had forgotten that it is important in aiming.

Criselda Marie from Corpus Christi, TX on 5/27/2010 10:40:07 PM
This was very helpful, thank you!

Don in Oakland from Oakland, CA on 1/3/2011 12:51:53 PM
A simpler description of how to determine your dominant eye is to use either hand and point at a distant object (like a gun made with the hand) and see which eye is aiming.

I'm left eyed and right handed and it affects my game. At least that is the excuse I use. I have always had trouble with balls moving fast toward me too.

Shoto from Nairobi, Kenya on 1/14/2011 10:48:59 AM
Very helpful indeed. I can't wait to try it out. It seems that I have been doing the wrong sighting of the balls for years now.

Mark from Janesville, WI on 2/10/2011 12:14:19 PM
What kind of advice do you have for someone that is left eye dominant but shoots pool right handed?

Kit from Topeka, KS on 8/14/2012 10:14:20 AM
Good article, but what do I do with the information? How do I make it useful when playing pool?

Kat Mettille from Klamath Falls, OR on 8/8/2013 1:08:18 AM
I am a right handed shooter and my dominate eye is my left eye. I can shoot easy and close to the pocket with my left hand. This makes a lot of sense to me because when I was a young kid I had lazy eye and I believe that is why my left eye is dominant.

My biggest question is what advice do you have for pool players in my situation, or is there a way to make my other eye dominant?

Denny in FL from Hernando, FL on 11/17/2019 10:24:07 AM
I'm right-handed and have a very dominant left eye (right eye is a lazy eye or astigmatism).

When shooting right handed (with a left-hand bridge) I cannot seem to get my dominant left eye above the cue while keeping my head level.

Years ago, after learning about my left eye dominance, I had to learn to shoot a shotgun and bow left handed, which increased accuracy from zero to a fairly good shot.

I'm experimenting with shooting pool left handed (with a right-hand bridge), but this is very awkward and will probably take considerable time and practice to develop proper stroke and muscle memory. I am far from ambidextrous, and can barely write my name left-handed.

Is there some trick to getting my dominant left eye over the cue when shooting right handed? Or am I forced to learn to shoot left handed?

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