Robin Hood’s: Eye Dominance and why it Matters Steal from the rich, and give to the poor. He was Robin Hood the outlaw of Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood the Crusader, Robin Hood the yeoman, Robin Hood the nobleman. Sometimes he had a band of Merry Men and Friar Tuck. Sometimes Maid Marian was there and sometimes she was not. Although accounts of him are diverse and conflicting, one thing remained constant: his skill as an archer. The lore and ballads of the great bandit of Sherwood Forest leave much to speculation and imagination. Outside of the fact that he was a skilled archer and swordsman, the only other fact that is certain is that he was English. However, his skill as an archer gives us one scientific insight into his person that surely was never written into prose or poem: he shot with his dominant eye. And that dominant eye was the same as his dominant hand.
Science for Shooting a Bow Back in the days of Robin Hood, when science was applied less frequently as it is today, Robin most likely picked up the bow with his non-dominant hand and pulled the string with his dominant one. It’s only natural for people to do that. If dominance of hand and eye had been the other way around, and Robin first pulled the string with his dominant hand and depended on his weak eye to aim, he would not be the legend that he is today. Very few people should actually care about this nonexciting, yet coolly scientific discovery. But it proves a point. If you want to be a good archer, you had better learn about your eyes. This applies for any sport that requires aim, including archery, darts, hunting, or any other type of shooting. If you participate in a sport that requires precise aim from a distance, you are going to want to find out which of your eyes is dominant. There are a few tests that you can do to discover which of your eyes you rely on most. Most of these tests include similar tactics: select an object in the distance to look at. With your hands or a piece of paper, create a hole like a lens or scope that you can see the object through. Slowly bring the hole closer to your face and it will naturally end up circling your dominant eye. You can also hold up your thumb to cover the selected object and move your thumb closer to your face, keeping the object blocked, to determine which eye you are using.
Equal Eye Dominance It is possible for your eyes to be equal in dominance. You can learn equally well with either eye, although after using one eye to aim consistently, you may become dependent on that eye. It is also possible to change which eye is dominant through exercises/practices or surgery (although it may not be covered by your vision insurance).
Regardless, moral of the story is: by using your dominant eye to aim with, you accuracy will increase and your skill as an archer or shooter will be maximized. And who knows – maybe you’ll be the next Robin Hood! Photo Credit: digitalemu,