Eye Dominance And It's Effect On Fencing?

[Black Jeebus]

So after reading up on eye dominance, and doing a few little tests to figure out which of my eyes is dominant, I have discovered, I'm left eye dominant. I have been told again and again by my mother that when I was younger I always favored my left hand and foot and everything, but that my grandparents "discouraged" the use of my left hand.

I was wondering, what, if any, effect does eye dominance have on fencing?

[MikeDeadly]

That is a very interesting observation. I am right eye dominant, yet I fence with my left hand and kick with my left foot. everything else I do right handed, with a few strange exceptions (eat, brush my teeth, etc....). I would've used my left hand to write were it not for a private school teacher that tied my left hand to the desk and forced me to use my right. What hand do you fence with Jeebs?

[Zilverzmurfen]

I'm a left-eye dominant leftie.

[D'Art]

I'm a lefty, but I wouldn't say my left eye was dominant, just, less blind.

[WhipLash]

i'm left eye dominant, but right handed, though i tend to use my left hand for holding stuff, and i wear my watch on my right hand.

no observable effects on my shooting or fencing though.

[telkanuru]

I know of several people who fence left-handed due to eye dominance. One of them is currently 17th in the country, so I guess it works.

[Black Jeebus]

I fence right handed, and an attack into my lower outside is a killer for me. I try to practice that parry a lot, but I think I might honestly just suffer some perception problems...

[Go? Fencing?]

Originally Posted by D'Art

I'm a lefty, but I wouldn't say my left eye was dominant, just, less blind.

My right eye is dominant and it's also more blind, as well as less better corrected for astigmatism.

On another note, my right side tends to hurt more, while my left side twitches more.

[FeatherBlade]

Originally Posted by WhipLash

i'm left eye dominant, but right handed, though i tend to use my left hand for holding stuff, and i wear my watch on my right hand.

no observable effects on my shooting or fencing though.

...funny, same thing here, even with the watch...My friend is left handed but fences with his right hand (nobody forced him). Uhmm, I don´t know about his eyes though...

[swordsen]

I am left eye dominant but do everything but shoot right handed.

[Chafunkta]

I'm a righty who's left eye dominant and I do everything right handed. By the way, I suck at shooting.

I really doubt eye dominance (as it pertains to having opposite eye/hand dominance) matters in fencing, because you're supposed to face your opponent (with your eyes) directly at him. Maybe if you were supposed to line up your foil with your right eye and hit (as in shooting) there'd be a problem, but I'm pretty sure no world-class or even amateur fencers do this.

If you do find something let me know, though - I'm always looking for excuses for losing...

[Kenji]

I think I'm generally more right-eye dominant, but honestly I can switch between the two more or less when I feel like it. Generally, when I shoot, I use my right eye, but that's mainly cuz it's more convenient, being right-handed.

I think I agree with Chafunkta about it not really mattering in fencing. I mean, it's not like you have your head tilted to the side, or you're weaing an eyepatch (unless you're a sabre fencer who thinks he's a pirate ) or anything.

[JackOfHearts]

Erm... so.... how does one figure out eye dominance?

[remise]

I also was left-handed as a child but forced to be right-handed. I am right eye dominant. However, I am ambidextirous and fence both sides, meaning, I may start a tournament fencing left-handed, but switch to right-handed. My jacket, lame, and plastron are all back-zip, which allow me to do this legally.

[Mr Epee]

Originally Posted by JackOfHearts

Erm... so.... how does one figure out eye dominance?

Make a small triangle with your fingers.

Look through it with both eyes open.... at extended arm distance

Now alternate closing one eye, and then the other, without moving your head.

The eye you close that causes the picture inside the triangle to "jump over" is your dominant eye.

[Kenji]

Originally Posted by remise

I also was left-handed as a child but forced to be right-handed. I am right eye dominant. However, I am ambidextirous and fence both sides, meaning, I may start a tournament fencing left-handed, but switch to right-handed. My jacket, lame, and plastron are all back-zip, which allow me to do this legally.

I thought you're not allowed to do that in a tournament? One of the guys in my club asked our coach about that, and she said you have to fence an entire tournament using the same hand, unless you get injured or something.

[jeff]

Left handed and left-eye dominant. Easy for me to tell, since I lack binocular vision (hence no depth perception, which meant that learning distance and especially blade taking took more effort).

Notice to those with small children: make sure they get tested for binocular vision as young as possible, not just for being able to read the optometrist chart. At a young age it is correctable.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

Originally Posted by Mr Epee

Make a small triangle with your fingers.

Look through it with both eyes open.... at extended arm distance

Now alternate closing one eye, and then the other, without moving your head.

The eye you close that causes the picture inside the triangle to "jump over" is your dominant eye.

erm...... is it possible to not have a dominant eye?

[Cerian]

It seems I'm left eye dominant, but I fence right handed. Don't know if that has any affects

[Mr Epee]

Originally Posted by MyrddinsPrecint

erm...... is it possible to not have a dominant eye?

Many things are possible, but I don't know

You may just need better directions.