The discipline of shooting

[benos]

Regardless of shot difficulty or speed, knowing precisely where the bullet went before it arrived is the key that unlocks all aspects of successful shooting. And as no two shots fired are ever the same, shooting demands the discipline of continuous learning.

be

[Ray S.]

Hi. I'm using a 1 1/2" orange dot in the middle of the target to try and narrow the sight picture while trying to call the shot, which is a lot slower than using the entire center circle on an IDPA target. Am I practicing to be more accurate or is it practicing to make myself a slow shooter?

Thanks.

Ray

[benos]

Am I practicing to be more accurate or is it practicing to make myself a slow shooter?

Thanks.

Ray

Yes.

Of course it takes more time, theoretically, to hit a 1.5" circle than an 8" one; however, there are several additional concepts to consider. Training yourself to shoot more accurately is never a bad thing. Neither is training yourself to hit an 8" circle as quickly as possible. Which implies two things: Hitting the 8" circle anywhere, while knowing you are doing so.

[Paladin]

It is you who have slowed yourself down.. fire a shot into the target and measure the diameter of that shot.. certainly it is less than one and a half inch..select a spot and shoot it, not at it.. it does not matter if it is surrounded by an 8, 20 or 2 inch circle.. DON'T LIMIT YOURSELF!! IT IS IN THE DOING THAT YOU HAVE THE KNOWING (LEARNING)..

The real confidence is in knowing (learning) you can put that little bullet hole anywhere and the real challenge is repeatability..

[Ray S.]

Good Lord! After reading you guy's answers back and forth I do believe I begin to understand. Problem is, right now I can't explain what it is I'm understanding. Guess I must understand it completely before I can explain it, huh?

Thanks to both of you.

P.S.

"And as no two shots fired are ever the same, shooting demands the discipline of continuous learning"

"Hitting the 8" circle anywhere, while knowing you are doing so."

Not much different from how I teach awareness in learning to cook a great steak or barbeque, is it? (hope that doesn't sound too weird)

[short_round]

... which is a lot slower than using the entire center circle ... is it practicing to make myself a slow shooter?

For me, yes. I've been dealing with this "problem" for the last 2 months and it is kicking my a$$. For me shooting more accurately is slower. I can spray and pray very fast which I indulged in for a little while before I started the real work on my "complete vision package." It has been hard for me. To the point to where I think I have hit my second plateau. I'm trying to hang in there. I know I can pull the trigger a lot faster than I am doing right now, but I don't because I am concentrating on a lot of other things that I didn't before (things that I didn't even know existed).

In the long run I know what I am forcing myself to do right now is correct. As this process becomes more natural and I gain more experience I will be able to smooth it out and be accurate with the speed that I can spray and pray with today. When I get to that point I will have to start the whole process of refinement over, because at that time I will be able to understand more than what I do currently.

Lately it's been frustrating and feels excruciatingly slow ... it's times like these that I wish I was taller.

[benos]

I talk about calling a lot, but maybe I don't emphasize when the call becomes complete. Which is when you compare where you thought the shot went to where it did. You will accelerate your progress by increasing the degree of scrutiny in both your initial call and when examining the result. For example, you will learn to accurately read your sights at a quicker rate if you, after shooting a Bill Drill and before looking at the target, ask yourself "where is each shot on the target," as opposed to asking "did all 6 shots hit the target?" Did you shoot all A's, or did you shoot a fist size clump of 5 A's, with one shot about three inches lower than the clump? Did you have five solid hits with one unexplained miss? Why didn't you call the unexplained miss?

Every great shooter develops this skill until it is almost second nature.

What if you made a secondary goal of all practice sessions to increase your ability to call precisely. After each shot, string, or stage, mentally review the targets before looking at them and wonder - where should the hits be on each target? Then be sure to note where they were. There is a benefit from completing the loop.

be