One of the first things a young athlete learns when they
start playing sports is if they are right- or left-handed. Discovering your dominant hand helps you to
position yourself correctly in a variety of different sports. However, many athletes don’t know they have
another kind of dominance that can further enhance their athletic performance: eye
dominance.
Your dominant eye processes information 14 to 21
milliseconds faster than the non-dominant eye and helps to locate points and
objects in your visual field. Finding out whether you are right- or left-eye
dominant can give you a distinct advantage in your sport.
Once you have learned which of your eyes is dominant, you
can better position yourself for success.
To test your eye dominancy, hold your arms and hands
extended forward with your palms away from you, then bring your hands together
to form a small hole with your thumbs. Find an object or spot on the wall, look
at the spot and raise your hands (with the small hole between your thumbs) and
find the spot on the wall. Once you have found the spot, close one eye and then
the other. The eye that finds the spot is your dominant eye. If you can still
see the spot, make the hole between your thumbs small and continue until just
one eye finds the spot.
Next week, I will share how to use your eye dominance to
your advantage when lining up a putt in golf.
As always, please feel free to write in with your questions.