mudman

STI makes an aluminium grip too. I haven't tried one but I imagine it would require less fitting than a 3rd party option. http://www.stiguns.com/grips/

Nice post, Jshuberg. This made a world of difference for me. Just observe the front sight as it travels up and down. Make it your intention to hit the target, and the shot will fire when the sights are properly aligned.

Reading that made me stop in my tracks. And it applies to so much more than shooting. Thanks, BE!

When I was first starting out, I used to put a paster on the center of the A zone (on a turtle target, it's just above the letter "A") to use as an aiming point. You can also outline the A zone on the target with a marker, which will help your mind/eyes figure out where the A zone is in relation to the entire target. As you progress, you'll want to train yourself to aim at a specific spot on the target - not just "the A zone". Where that spot is depends on the target. If you've got a full open target, then your point of aim should be the center of the A zone. If the A zone is partially covered (by no-shoots or hard cover), then you want to aim for the center of the available portion of the A zone. If it's a tight partial target with a no-shoot on one side, I tend to nudge my point of aim further away from the no-shoot. It's better to hit a C than a NS.

Have you tried closing (or squinting) your non-dominant eye? It's not 100% necessary to shoot with both eyes open.

After you call your shot, focus on snapping the left hand down to grab a fresh mag from your belt and back up to insert it in the gun. The left hand has the most distance to travel, so its course of movement takes up the most time. Try to have the fresh mag up near the magwell so you can insert it the moment the old one drops free. You could also try holding the gun up a bit higher. If you bring the gun up to your eyes, you can keep your focus in the same general plane as your target. If your gun is down in the middle of your chest, you need to take your eyes off the target, look down to reload, then look up again to re-aquire the target - which is inefficient. If you check out the famous YouTube video of Travis Thomasie's lightning mag change, he moves the gun up a bit to reload, which allows him to keep his eyes on the target - then he just has to pull his focus closer for the mag change, then back out to the sights - no up-down eye/head movement at all... Hope that helps. Good luck and keep at it!

Thank you for sharing your experience, Brian. You have a gift for making the profound sound simple! This stuff is fascinating... mudman

From an article about the “stopped clock illusion” and how our attention influences the perception of time: “Rapid eye movements create a break in information, which needs to be covered up. Always keen to hide its tracks, the brain fills in this gap with whatever comes after the break. Normally this subterfuge is undetectable, but if you happen to move your eyes to something that is moving with precise regularity – like a clock – you will spot this pause in the form of an extra long “second”… It doesn't have to be an eye movement that generates the stopped clock – all that appears to be important is that you shift your attention. (Although moving our eyes is the most obvious way we shift our attention, I'm guessing that the “inner eye” has gaps in processing in the same way our outer eyes do, and these are what cause the stopped clock illusion.)… These, and other illusions show that something as basic as the experience of time passing is constructed by our brains – and that this is based on what we experience and what seems the most likely explanation for those experiences, rather than some reliable internal signal. Like with everything else, what we experience is our brain's best guess about the world…” Full article is here: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120827-how-to-make-time-stand-still The article got me thinking about how the perception of time seems to change when shooting a stage “in the zone” – those runs where you don’t consciously have to do anything, and even though they feel slow they’re fast on the clock. I’m not nearly smart enough to begin to tie the two together, but I suspect the pieces fit together somehow. Hopefully this will trigger something in the more intelligent folks here.

You're very welcome. I think you've got the right idea. The proper technique will help you achieve consistency and eliminate wasted motion (i.e. speed). Every now and then you should push yourself to see if you can execute the proper technique more quickly, but working on "speed" by itself is an illusion. We're looking for the highest points in the least amount of time. If you can't get the points the speed means nothing. Good luck and keep at it!

You're absolutely on the right track. You want to train yourself to the point that wherever you look, you find the sights superimposed (and perfectly aligned). Lots of good info here: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5230 Good luck and keep at it!

I run a 0.125" Brazos Lightning Rod front sight and Dawson Precision FO rear sight. To be honest, I never notice the FO rods in the rear sight when I'm shooting - but it looks pretty spiffy in the holster.

Dammit Jim - I'm a shooter, not a doctor! Unfortunately I don't know the medical terms for all the parts of my wrist... But this article might provide some useful insight. Hope it helps. http://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/articles/handguns/maximizing-the-combat-grip/ Good luck and keep at it!

I use foam earplugs and a set of Sordin muffs with the gel cups. Can't hear anything (except for the beep) - even with the electronics turned up. I usually take the muffs off and pull out an earplug if I need to have a conversation. I shoot on an indoor range, so double-plugging is a necessity (especially when the open shooters are blasting away).

+1 for tape and hard work... Having said that, it seems a lot of folks do just fine shooting with one eye squinted or closed. Don't let it hold you back. There's a thread (just a few lines down) titled "Is learning to shoot with both eyes open necessary?" Lots of good info there. Good luck and keep at it!

Looking good! IMHO, I'd say transitions are your "low-hanging fruit" right now. I think cutting down the time from target to target will give you more of a benefit than working on shooting on the move right now. On close targets, it's possible to get your transition times about the same as your splits. Again - see what you need to see to make the shot. You can get away with a lot less refinement on close targets. Good luck and keep at it!