Watching other shooters

[G-ManBart]

This isn't really something that helped me (yet?), but it's something that could help you help someone else down the road. When I was teaching my wife how to shoot (yes, I AM brave!) there were plenty of times that I'd watch the gun as she shot, and without looking at the target, know where the bullet went. I even got to the point that I could tell if she'd blinked or it was just her hand strength starting to falter (she's tiny and was mostly shooting a revolver DA), or something else (although those were the two biggies). That really helped point out when it was time to take a break, or end things on a positive note. In a similar fashion, I could almost always watch the gun and tell when she got off a round perfectly...look at the target, and the hit was where it should be.

I didn't think much of it at the time, but while helping out a friend today it sort of popped into my head again. Watching the gun while someone else shoots isn't so very different from watching the sights when you're the one shooting. If you really watch the gun/sights, they have a story to tell

A while back a different friend was having an issue with trigger freeze while transitioning to Open. I took some video of him at a big match and watched them many times trying to figure it out. After a while I realized that by watching the gun and his eyes/head, I could tell he was shifting his focus from target to the dot, back and forth. He'd shoot one shot looking at the target, then look at the dot and not be able to press the trigger because his brain was expecting to see the target. I told him my theory and suggested covering the front of the scope and doing some dry fire....bingo, problem identified and quickly solved! The sad part is he started kicking my butt

Certainly, this isn't earth-shattering, and it probably shouldn't come as any surprise, but it did seem kind of interesting. Sometimes we get so focused on our own shooting, and what we're doing, that we miss opportunities to learn something, that might help us down the road, by watching others. R,

[mlmiller1]

Great observations! Thank you, in my limited experiencs helping others, I think I've seen the same thing but didn't quite get it put into words(or clear thoughts) like you just did. This could be really helpful for not only helping others but also if you video yourself, you could analyze & see the same things.

Good job G-Man Bart!

MLM

[benos]

Nice post G-man.

And yes, over the years I learned tons of good stuff from watching others, from beginners to masters.

be

[lugnut]

Good stuff for sure. Not to be silly though, but I thought that when you are shooting Open you are always seeing the dot ON the target- always looking at the target? I am serious... I've only shot Open a few times.

[jar]

I noticed it when helping out on the trap field at some Women on Target events. I'm not even a good trap shooter, and I found I could tell quite accurately when one of the shooters broke the clay by just watching the shooter.

[G-ManBart]

Good stuff for sure. Not to be silly though, but I thought that when you are shooting Open you are always seeing the dot ON the target- always looking at the target? I am serious... I've only shot Open a few times.

No worries...if it hasn't happened to you when you tried an Open gun, that's a good thing, but I can see how it's not easy to grasp from reading a description.

With an Open gun (at least one with a dot), you're right, you should be looking at/focusing on the target and sort of just seeing the dot (if that makes sense). If you look at the dot, you won't see much if any of the target. With some folks it takes a while for them to stop shifting focus like you do with an iron-sighted gun (front sight, break the shot, transition to the next target, back to front sight etc)....they'll shoot and their eyes are programmed to go find that front sight, which is now a dot...and everything gets all sideways.

If you cover the front of the scope your dominant eye can still see the dot if your other eye is focused on the target...seems odd, but works fine. If you shift your vision to the dot you'll see nothing but the dot and the back of the scope glass....not good. R,

[G-ManBart]

I noticed it when helping out on the trap field at some Women on Target events. I'm not even a good trap shooter, and I found I could tell quite accurately when one of the shooters broke the clay by just watching the shooter.

It's funny, but a couple of weeks ago I was killing time before a meeting and watching guys shoot trap and skeet. I noticed almost the same thing....I'm not sure if it was watching their overall movement, how smooth they were etc, but you could almost always spot a miss by watching them. There's got to be something to that! R,

[Dan Burwell]

I noticed it when helping out on the trap field at some Women on Target events. I'm not even a good trap shooter, and I found I could tell quite accurately when one of the shooters broke the clay by just watching the shooter.

It's funny, but a couple of weeks ago I was killing time before a meeting and watching guys shoot trap and skeet. I noticed almost the same thing....I'm not sure if it was watching their overall movement, how smooth they were etc, but you could almost always spot a miss by watching them. There's got to be something to that! R,

I was doing that watcing the women's biathalon on TV. You could tell from their trigger press if they were going to get the hit.

I do know what you mean about watching hands. My wife shoots with me at every live fire practice and that is all I ever watch: trigger prep, reset and press, tells me everything I need to know about what just happened to the targets. With my wife bad hits usually start with a poor reset causing a rushed pull and a hit some where towards the bottom of the target, but my friend usually resets fine but often he gets behind in the prep so his first shot is all over the place.

So if you can practice with someone and can take turns watching each other's trigger finger you can learn alot.

[juan]

When I was shooting for the Marine Corps I had a coach calling my shots at 600 yds.

I ask him how he did this.

He said when your in the ten ring your brass lands in this spot and when your not the brass is not in that spot.