Clay Target Nation, April 2019

Q A WITH THE PROS NOT AT ALL MEH WHATEVER How Bad Is It ANSWER Disposable sponge earplugs wouldnt be as widely used and readily available as they are if they couldnt effectively protect a shooters hearing However theres a caveat Proper fit is the key notes NSCA Sporting Clays Director Brett Moyes Theyre what the majority of people use You can pick them up at most stores or at the club and they do a pretty good job if you follow the simple directions provided to put them in properly ANSWER Shooting crossdominant can result in shooters experiencing wild misses If undiagnosed and not addressed the condition can render shotgunners ineffective The good news is cross dominance is simple to diagnose and its treatments are achieving high success rates Overcoming the condition starts with its discovery Readily available and easy to perform exercises can be used to confirm crossdominance 80 WWW NSSA NSCA ORG APRIL 2019 to wear disposable sponge earplugs to shoot cross dominant REALLY DEPENDS BIG WHOOPS NEVER AGAIN Some of the more traditional treatments have included shooters switching hands to shoot from their dominant eyed side as well as shooters forcing their eyes to swap dominance by sticking a piece of Scotch tape on their shooting glasses lens or by blinking just before they shoot More recently as crossdominance has been more widely identified as a neurological response to what the brain interprets instructors are prescribing exercises that seek to overcome crossdominant eyes by improving the brains interpretations Were dealing with the way brains see things says Gil Ash an NSCA Level III instructor and owner of OSP Shooting School What you see is a neurological and not a visual function Additionally Ash notes There are varying degrees of dominance and research indicates that dominance shifts We have developed several drills to help shooters retrain their brain to interpret visual data Once the brain understands how you want it to present the visual data it will show it to you BOTTOM LINE Dont let your cross dominant eyesight go untreated At the same time accept it for what it is a condition that is sometimes temporary and always surmountable with diagnosis and proper treatment Improvement can be drastic when treated Shooters who dont take the time to compress the spongies by rolling them around in their fingers before inserting them and letting them expand will get little or no attenuation and it might take only one shot to leave exposed ears permanently damaged Any sound louder than 85 decibels can threaten a persons hearing and gunfire can be as loud as 140 decibels or more As suitable as sponge earplugs can be their effectiveness is not the same for everybody Shooters who seek even greater attenuation than the spongies provide or find them uncomfortable to wear can find alternatives in the form of custom fitted plugs or ear muffs Obviously the alternatives cost more but the need to protect their ears should leave shooters unhesitant to spend the extra money Needless to say the need for effective ear protection applies as much to non shooting observers as to competitors Hearing protection is mandatory equipment whenever youre on the course or otherwise around gunfire BOTTOM LINE By no means are disposable sponge earplugs the most effective hearing protection available but they can provide the level of attenuation you require if you take the time to insert and wear them correctly whenever youre at the range or club If you need greater protection than the spongies allow however dont think twice about investing in custom fit models or muffs