The initial surgery created even more damage so his parents took him to New York for additional surgery to save his sight. Shi’s family eventually relocated to Arizona where his father, a chemist, had found a job to cover the mounting medical costs and provide for his family. A contact lens now serves as the cornea for Shi’s right eye. He can see enough for daily purposes with his right eye, but QRW WKH À QH YLEUDWLRQV RI WKH IURQW VLJKW required at this level of competition. Shi also happens to be right-handed, so that means he had to learn to shoot cross- eyed. “For me it’s an unnatural position,
DQG LW·V D YHU\ GLIÀ FXOW SRVLWLRQ DQG , VHDUFKHG IRU \HDUV EHIRUH , À JXUHG RXW how to make it feel natural,” said Shi.
“My head turns a bit further to the right shoulder, a lot more than other people do. Luckily my neck is a bit lon- ger than most people’s so it allows me the degree to turn. Every time I shoot a match, I have to measure and feel for that exact, perfect position, aligning my target to my right by standing a little bit to the left. But not too much — if it’s too much, I bend too much. There’s a perfect point where I can stand and everything lines up and is natural.” The process is complex – turning his wrist an additional three or four degrees, stepping two to six inches to the left
May 2016 | USA Shooting News 53
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