Do My Eyes & Brain Work?

[fortini01]

I hope that I can get some help, I have used the search function and haven't found what I am looking for regarding my eyes and transitions.

I shot my first match on July 1st, 2012 and as you can imagine I became consumed by the sport. I have shot pretty much every match in the area as I can and also shoot on my own during the week. I also have been training with a instructor in the area and practicing with a Master class shooter. On of my biggest issues is transitions, they...well they just suck! I understand the dry fire drills along with live fire but I continue to screw it up. The instructor tells me that I have to snap my eyes to the next target as soon as the gun lowers and the gun will go right to where my eyes are, but I am still not getting it and I feel like my eyes and brain are not working. Does anyone have any tips or tricks that I can try? I am never going to get out of C class until I can make the transitions happen.

Steve

[daves_not_here]

It's good that you're looking at transitions for saving time. There's a lot to be gained there.

Working with an instructor and shooting with a Master Class shooter is a great way to improve. One-on-one classes are worth the savings in ammo, every time. Shooting with people better than you keeps you hungry.

Keep working at trying to understand your instructor. This person has first hand knowledge of what you are doing They have a personal interest in you improving and doing well. The better you do the better your instructor looks. Win-win situation.

You might be moving your eyes fast enough but not soon enough.

Waiting for something: I love to see the hole I just made in the target. That costs 0.5 seconds every time I do it. There's also admiring how well the gun works. I like to feel the recoil of the shot and have the sights lift and look how pretty my fiber optic sight looks. At least another 0.5 seconds. Total 1 second as a spectator for the stage.

I'm sure you're heard about "calling your shots". This is knowing where the bullet went, not checking where it went. I got a lot faster approaching it this way. When I throw a shot I know it...most of the time. I'm working on automatically sending a make-up shot. Still working on this one.

There's also something that is like a "conscious search and decide mode": This is when I find myself searching for the target, finding exactly where I the A zone I want to put the bullet, recognizing the proper sight picture, staring at no shoots etc. There's a lot of unnecessary processing the in my conscious mind that has nothing to do with putting a hole in cardboard. Brian Enos' book is great for being aware of what the brain does and how to manage it. A skill that is useful in every day life too.

I would suggest: Steve Anderson dry-fire drills I've kicked some butt lately because of these. I'm only using his first book. Read the captions and get the baseline times.

Buy a real timer! I tried the iPhone apps and other the other stuff but there's nothing like the beep of a real timer to get you in the mode.

Post back on what you've found helpful.

DNH

[fortini01]

DNH;

Thank you very much for you reply and advise. Moving my eyes fast enough fast enough but not soon enough is something that I have not thought of for some reason.If I understand my instructor correctly the gun lifts in recoil, the front sight returns on target, I snap my eyes to the center of the "A" on my next target and then the gun will follow to the exact spot my eyes are focused on. Would you say I am get the general idea?

I do have two timers, I use the CED7000 as my main timer and I have a Pocket Pro 2 for a back-up.

My instructor has given me a manual that he has made for me which includes live fire and dry fire drills. I just got Steve's "Refinement and Repetition" and will start working on the dry fire drills this evening, there is no point in waiting to get going.

Thanks again for your help and I will be sure to add updates.

Steve

[daves_not_here]

"...there is no point in waiting to get going." - you're going to be a successful shooter!

Yes, I think you get the gist of the idea of moving the eyes. Just remember it will take a while to get it into your "procedural memory". That part of your brain is very primitive and takes a little time to learn but it's very efficient. Steve Anderson's drills help get it into that part of the brain.

It is important that YOU DON'T PULL THE TRIGGER for the first 7 drills in Anderson's book. It's the sight picture that is important to confirm. The trigger finger is one of the first subconscious procedures that get learned. For example, you're probably not always thinking press smoothly with trigger finger. By keeping the trigger finger out of the par time exercise you avoid rushing the shot and we all know how that affects accuracy.

Looking forward to your next update.

DNH

[kylehb]

It sounds like youre over thinking it maybe, or trying to consciously execute different tasks as you shoot, which will never work because muscle memory is what you need, and any conscious decision making will immediately hinder that. If I were you I would get about 500 to 1000 rounds, go to the range when you have an afternoon of free time, stop trying to do exactly what the instructor told you to do, and just shoot until you learn it for yourself.