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Shot Calling


Sac Law Man

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What do you guys think the reason is many shooters don’t call their shots? Is it they haven’t learned how, lack of discipline, or do you think they subconsciously feel it will slow them down too much? Thoughts??

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It's not something new shooters are familiar with. It takes coming to something like a match or this forum to get exposed to it.

I speak from experience... as a new shooter (competitively). We certainly never learned it in law enforcement academy.

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Don't know how or that they should even be doing it. I don't think time is the issue. Calling shots shouldn't be looking for holes in the target, its knowing where the sights are when you break the shot. It should in theory be instant. Tracking the sights takes some time to pick up and you can't call your shots until you are adequately tracking your sights. Takes some practice thats for sure.

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I'm guessing they don't understand the EXACT what and how?

I think if they understood that shot calling would help them not only shoot more accurately, but will also help them shoot quicker,....they'd embrace the skill wholeheartedly.

This is the one skill that should be pursued until completely mastered.

It's not that hard and will not take that long.

It will pay the biggest dividend.

It should be done at every practice, until mastered. Then practiced with every shot,

Edited by Chris iliff
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It's something that usually has to be learned through live fire. Plus it's only ever talked about at the competition level so most people have never even thought or heard about it.

It is instantaneous is you practice it. How many times have you run a stage and been able to remember that mike that you pulled off early. The next step is being like I rushed the follow up so I pulled a charlie or something. It will be subconscious if you train it.

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It's hard to do....

I'm new to competition. ^this.

1) most people blink when (and before) the gun fires, so they never saw the shot occurring. (I'm still learning to not blink while firing)

2) most people DO NOT concentrate on the sights adequately. (I still don't, and only now sort of kind of realize that fact).

3) only in competitive circles is the skill taught, and it's not even spoken of at matches. (To date, NEVER heard anyone talk about it...ever. only read about it)

In summary, as a beginner; if your eyes are closed or not fully engaging the sights, it's impossible to shot call. Add in that it's not talked about so a beginner has no clue. and it's no wonder beginners aren't calling shots.

Edited by johnbu
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and it's not even spoken of at matches. (To date, NEVER heard anyone talk about it...ever. only read about it)

Have you ever heard a guy say "I pulled that mike didn't I?" That's talking about it, just not trying to build up on it. Next time you are at a match find the group of competitive A shooters, the ones who are competitive in their class at LII and higher matches. Start talking to them after a run. Ask them if they knew which targets had charlies and which didn't. You would be surprised at the insight they can give.

My experience of this ability is roughly broken down by finishing % at well attended majors.

55-65% you have the guys who will start to be able to call a mike

65-75% can tell you some deltas

75-85% can tell you some charlies

85-95% can tell you the majority of charlies

Above that they can usually tell you were most every round landed

All you have to do is talk to the guys around you, most if not all will try to help you out with what they can.

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shot calling is an after effect...

you know you broke the shot.

give a look at the sights and decide where they are pointing.

usually you will see the front sight lifting in recoil.

shot calling is easy

if<--- don't miss this "if"...

your eye(s) are open

and you are looking at the front sight.

the hard part is getting used to not thinking about what you saw

you know you yanked right, make another shot a little more left....

me, I still blink and do all the other things that cause various flyers.

when I don't blink, it is a lot of fun to stand real close to a clown shooting a gun

and watching what all he does. When I get to watch, he does not miss by much,

Brian says it beautifully, take an interest in your shooting, watch what you do.

miranda

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What do you guys think the reason is many shooters don’t call their shots? Is it they haven’t learned how, lack of discipline, or do you think they subconsciously feel it will slow them down too much? Thoughts??

Lack of practice. A lot of us, especially weekend warriors, come to a match to practice so we never learn. :devil:

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I'm guessing they don't understand the EXACT what and how?

I think if they understood that shot calling would help them not only shoot more accurately, but will also help them shoot quicker,....they'd embrace the skill wholeheartedly.

This is the one skill that should be pursued until completely mastered.

It's not that hard and will not take that long.

It will pay the biggest dividend.

It should be done at every practice, until mastered. Then practiced with every shot,

i agree 100%. I know for me, it felt like I had to slow down initially in order to start seeing the sights lift on both shots, and not wanting to take the necessary time was a big stumbling block until i just decided to commit to it and make it part of every practice and every drill.

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As someone who is still fairly new to competition... It's hard to do!

I'm just now routinely tracking my sights. There's a lot going on when the shot fires. Sometimes I'm distracted by the brass leaving the gun, sometimes it's the smoke and sparks leaving the barrel. It's all there in front of me to see, but actively KNOWING exactly where the sights were the instant that they start to lift... that's maybe 1 in 50 shots right now. Seems to happen more often on a plate rack, though.

Until you're trying to shoot fast and everything is moving, there isn't much of a need to call your shots when shooting slow from static positions. Put the sights on target, squeeze the trigger.

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Early on in competition and practicing for competition I was more focused on speed than accuracy. I didn't realize a pistol could be nearly as accurate as pistols are. I needed a little coaching to slow me down and realize that my pistol could be accurate, after that, I just followed Brian's instruction on how to shoot and call the shot and mark it on a target at my shooting position......then compare it to the actual target.

Since I'm more of a type A personality, I have to keep coaching myself to use my sights and call my shots.

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Why don't people call their shots? Primarily they are distracted by something else. Such as looking for the result instead of looking at the sights. Looking for holes, listening for the ding on steel, not looking where you should because you are starting to do the "Next" thing just before the shot fires. Or even more simply, most people either blink during the shot or they basically turn their brain off as soon as they decide to pull the trigger. I see a lot of shooters simply turn their brain off right before the shot breaks because they simply want the event over with.

As for learning how to call your shots the first step is to actually know what any given displaced sight alignment equals what hit at any distance. A good drill for learning this is to setup targets at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 yards. Then put a black mark in the middle of the target. Then use the black mark to center the rear sight notch. Then displace the front sight Left until there is no more light bar on the left side and break the shot at each distance. Repeat the process for displacing the front sight to the Right, Up, and Down. Then go see what the hits look like on target. I think you will be surprised at how "Displaced" the sight alignment can be and still get solid A-zone hits out to 15 yards. For most sight setups if the Fiber dot is contained anywhere within the rear notch that is usually A-C hits out to 15 yards and creeping into the C-D at 20 yards and D-M hits at 25 yards. The important part of this is that you need to KNOW what hit quality a displaced sight alignment will produce at any given distance.

Once you know how displaced the sights can be verses the hit it will generate then you can really start working on shooting the same set of targets more aggressively to understanding what the sight picture means as the shot breaks. These skills are the fundamental baby steps needed to start to learn how to call your shots. This process takes a CRAP TON of shooting to hone and perfect. I have probably shot over 10,000 rounds at this 5 - 25 yard drill though the years to help understand what I am seeing and how it translates to on target hits.

The benefits of calling your shots goes far beyond knowing where your shot went as it breaks. Knowing where the hit will be by calling the shot allows you to do the NEXT thing immediately. This next thing could be firing the next shot, transitioning to the next target, starting a reload, exiting the shooting position, or whatever needs to be done next. The top shooters in this game are usually beating everyone else because they are able to do the next thing immediately. The key to doing that is calling your shots.

The reality is that not many people are willing to put in the homework and hard work to effectively learn how to call their shots. It is a skill that takes a tremendous amount of effort to hone much less perfect. The learning process never ends either. I am still learning more effective ways to call my shots and I suspect that I will continue to learn until I am done with this game.

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Thanks Chalee

Sent from an iDevice. Please forgive any grammatical or spelling errors. If the post doesn't make sense or is not amusing then it is technology's fault and most certainly not operator error.

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Is the mark the target next to you while shooting at the target 25 yards away the best way to do this still? Any other good ways to develop this skill?

What helps me (and as a mid-upper A, I am still learning it, so take with grains of salt) is to treat EVERY drill as a shot-calling drill. Even in speed drills I want to be seeing the sights enough to be aware of their alignment and relationship to the target on every trigger pull. In live fire I mentally note which shots i pulled low or wide before I walk up to tape targets. every time I get it right, it reinforces. when I get it wrong it is a wake-up call to pay better attention.

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My shot calling is dependent upon the size of my fiber in my front sight the the distance involved.

We have a non-USPSA match locally which are usually hoser-stages. Big green on paper - pull the trigger. Lots of As and fast. Example: three targets, stacking allowed, six round per target--8.88 seconds-no Ds and more As than Cs.

USPSA matches smaller amount of fiber just enough to find it and lots of front sight.

But reality is lots of time spent calling shoots and shooting dot torture drills. Knowing where your POI is critical.

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I get asked a lot at Steel Challenge matches if the reason I can shoot a sub 2 sec run on a stage Is because I'm point shooting ... Particularily if the stage is something like Smoke & Hope. My answer is always the same: "No, every shot is aimed but becuase I've learned to call my shots I don't have to wait until after the shot breaks to determine if I hit the plate ... I already know". The next question is also always the same; what is shot calling? It's hard to learn to do a technique you don't know exits as well as comprehend the importance of it. I tell anyone who has a regular practice regiment that they should be practicing this skill during EVERY training session until they learn it ... It's that important. You'll never really get much beyond B class if you don't learn this skill -- ignore this a your peril .... :)

Edited by Nimitz
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I get asked a lot at Steel Challenge matches if the reason I can shoot a sub 2 sec run on a stage Is because I'm point shooting ... Particularily if the stage is something like Smoke & Hope. My answer is always the same: "No, every shot is aimed but becuase I've learned to call my shots I don't have to wait until after the shot breaks to determine if I hit the plate ... I already know". The next question is also always the same; what is shot calling? It's hard to learn to do a technique you don't know exits as well as comprehend the importance of it. I tell anyone who has a regular practice regiment that they should be practicing this skill during EVERY training session until they learn it ... It's that important. You'll never really get much beyond B class if you don't learn this skill -- ignore this a your peril .... :)

I just shot my first steel challange. Subs 2s is amazing. I found myself re-shooting targets because I didn't hear the ring, even though I hit them. Obviously I'm not calling my shots. Any advise or tips/drills/books to help me learn this skillset?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

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  • 2 weeks later...

I finally called a couple shots this past weekend. The target was 25 yards out and I couldn't see the hole but I knew when I pulled the trigger is was slightly left so I leaned right and fired again. On the next array with a no-shoot I hit a dead center A and followed it with a no-shoot hit. I instantly noticed it and took a 3rd shot to find another A. And did it without any hesitation.

I followed the score keeper out to the long shot to see and sure as shit I hit a far left D and corrected it with an A. I couldn't see the hole and barely see the target but I knew I was left because I saw the sight drift left as I squeezed the shot. Don't know if this qualifies as a called shot, but it felt good.

Edited by nickbfishn
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  • 3 weeks later...

I get asked a lot at Steel Challenge matches if the reason I can shoot a sub 2 sec run on a stage Is because I'm point shooting ... Particularily if the stage is something like Smoke & Hope. My answer is always the same: "No, every shot is aimed but becuase I've learned to call my shots I don't have to wait until after the shot breaks to determine if I hit the plate ... I already know". The next question is also always the same; what is shot calling? It's hard to learn to do a technique you don't know exits as well as comprehend the importance of it. I tell anyone who has a regular practice regiment that they should be practicing this skill during EVERY training session until they learn it ... It's that important. You'll never really get much beyond B class if you don't learn this skill -- ignore this a your peril .... :)

I just shot my first steel challange. Subs 2s is amazing. I found myself re-shooting targets because I didn't hear the ring, even though I hit them. Obviously I'm not calling my shots. Any advise or tips/drills/books to help me learn this skillset?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Search shot calling drill on YouTube and you should find a short video by a shooter on the AMU on the shot calling drill. It's the only drill I ever used to learn how to do it .... Just realize mastering this will be one of the toughest things you ever try to do in practical shooting but arguably THE most important (next to trigger control. ...:))

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