Relation of Eye Dominance with Performance and Subjective Ratings in Golf Putting

Previous research has discussed the interaction of hand preference, eye dominance, and sport performance. In this study, the relation of eye dominance with performance and subjective ratings in golf putting was investigated. 47 right-handed Japanese students from a college of physical education putted 10 balls to a drawn circle 3 m away, each under right-handed and left-handed stance conditions. Putting performance was measured by the number of successful putts. After putting in each condition, they rated subjective visibility and feelings of hitting. Analyses indicated that right-eyed subjects had significantly better performance using the right-handed stance than the left-handed stance, whereas left-eyed subjects showed the opposite. Most subjective ratings were more positive with right-handed stance for both right-eyed and left-eyed subjects. These findings suggest that eye dominance could have some influence on putting performance of Japanese novice golfers.