Calling Shots is not a Substitute for Trigger Control

[Sin-ster]

Learning to call shots is a long process that (deceptively) seems to happen in short bursts. One day, you see the sights in crystal clarity as a shot breaks-- your first shot call. The next day, it happens again and you are simultaneously aware your index on the target-- your first two-part shot call. Later, you're calling so many shots that you actually KNOW where the bullet will impact on the target based on their specific alignment-- you're calling the shots and reading the sights!

As time progresses, you begin to call more and more until the only time you DON'T know where your shot landed is when you just weren't seeing what you needed to see. Those "surprise" Delta's become the rarity, and you're able to look back through the stage to that moment and realize, "Yep-- I wasn't seeing much of anything!"

But I've realized in the past few months that calling the shots, though obviously important, is far from the "be all, end all" of shooting the points. If your calls on an array go something like this:

"A, A; A, C; C, C; A, C."

You've got problems-- especially in a Division with a limited magazine capacity, and even more so with agressive stage plans that leave you without many (or any) make ups.

IOW... Calling your shots is a poor substitute for getting the hits in the first place. Yes, it's fun to tell the RO where to find the Delta on the target he's about to score, but it's not good for your HF to have shot that Delta in the first place, or to have left it!

As much emphasis as we put on shot calling, I feel the urge to point something out. A competitor who NEVER had the first clue where any of his round struck, but was accurate enough to shoot all of the A's and go one-for-one on all steel could conceivably beat the best shot caller in the world. And if you pay attention at your next local match, I'm betting that you'll see this (in lesser form) happening right before your eyes in folks who are relatively new to action/speed shooting, but are able to get their points through previous experience with a handgun.

The moral of the story? Don't neglect trigger control (and all of the other things that can skew your accuracy) just because you know where all of your shots are landing! You're either giving up time making up so many errant shots, or simply frustrated in knowing that you've dropped points on the past x-number of targets!

[dravz]

Good post. I would just add that calling your shots sure makes it much easier to diagnose and fix shooting issues as you move up the learning curve.

But yeah, gotta get those Alphas.

[Corey]

I see this statement a lot either here or hearing it on the range: "I called the miss/delta but didn't/forgot go back to make it up". If your are really calling your shots, shouldn't the makeup shot happen before you even come off that target. There should be no going back because you don't leave the target until you are happy with what you saw.

[twodownzero]

I see this statement a lot either here or hearing it on the range: "I called the miss/delta but didn't/forgot go back to make it up". If your are really calling your shots, shouldn't the makeup shot happen before you even come off that target. There should be no going back because you don't leave the target until you are happy with what you saw.

yes, but it's easier said than done, especially when taking a makeup shot interferes with your stage plan.

[Sin-ster]

I see this statement a lot either here or hearing it on the range: "I called the miss/delta but didn't/forgot go back to make it up". If your are really calling your shots, shouldn't the makeup shot happen before you even come off that target. There should be no going back because you don't leave the target until you are happy with what you saw.

To expand on what TDZ said--

I found in my own shooting that there was a relatively lengthy period of time in which my call of each shot was delayed. IOW, it was taking my brain quite a while to process what it had just seen. I think part of it was just getting more experience with the process, but at the same time, I believe I wasn't "monitoring the shooting" so much as just staring at the front post without being open to the inputs it was giving me.

In that state, you may be on your way to the next array by the time it clicks that you chucked a shot-- at which point going back to make it up really isn't the right thing to do!

[theycallmeingot]

i would expand this to say that if you're neglecting trigger control, you don't KNOW where the shots are going. you have called them, based on where your sights were when the shot broke, but you will see if you neglect trigger control, that they don't land where you "call" them.

I had this happen last week on a small pepper popper that couldn't have been more than 8 yards away. I had the sights lined up and took 4 shots to hit the thing. It was then i realized shot calling is not a miracle cure for bad fundamentals. lol (apparently it's much harder to notice that your sights are moving from your trigger control when there's a bullet coming out of the gun, than in dryfire.)

[Chris iliff]

I try not to confuse myself. Yes, I've called D hits and kept on trucking. I've also called D hits and whiffed it (mike) while still trucking. It happens.

While I agree that jerking the trigger is something I can be prone to when the adrenaline is flowing, it does not effect my ability to call my shot. Why? Because my eyes are OPEN. Even with the bad trigger pull I can "call" my shot.

I, too, have called several misses in a row on distant steel, usually a small popper. I am by no means perfected in shot calling or trigger jerking. But, I do love the relation they have to each other, they are entertwined as the OP points out.

I would like to add "visual patience" as the third pillar to the equation. If a shooter can command those 3 pillars they will start having success. At least on stand and shoots.

[Sin-ster]

While I agree that jerking the trigger is something I can be prone to when the adrenaline is flowing, it does not effect my ability to call my shot. Why? Because my eyes are OPEN. Even with the bad trigger pull I can "call" my shot.

I wanna emphasize this, as it was the basis for my initial post. I can literally watch the shots (from the sights) landing outside of the A-zone as a result of improper technique. (It gets extra tricky if your index on the target is off as well...)

This is in fact the essence (or rather the importance) of calling shots in the first place. How the sights are aligned when I begin the trigger press is drastically less important than where they end up when the shot actually breaks-- i.e. Chris's distinction between visual patience and shot calling.

I'd say the order of importance goes:

1) Visual patience.

2) Trigger control.

3) Shot calling.

Is it odd or telling that I place those in the order at which they take place during the firing cycle?

[carlosa]

Shot calling is only effective if your fundamentals are there...

Even starting a transition .01 of a second before breaking the shot will go unnoticed and could lead to a hard cover mike or a no shoot..

I agree with you and truly believe the holly grail of speed shooting is index and trigger control

Calling shots is just something we do to speed up our reaction.. Example moving to the next target before after shooting a steel with out having to "wait" to hear the steel or watch it fall.. Shot calling in the context of accuracy is just aiming folks

Nice post.

Cheers,

Los

Edited June 27, 2012 by carlosa