Skywalker Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Today, while driving, I just had this thought (or should I say revelation). I was in a hurry, and driving quite fast to get to work. I was trying to be attentive and notice whatever could have sneaked into my car path. I turned into a narrow neighbourhood street, where a car (some 200m down the road) was parked: it had some sort of unrecognized thing in front of it, and due to the distance (and light, being it 6:45 a.m.) I was not able to spot what was that thing in front of the car at once. I then (thought I) got quite a clear view of it, and decided it was a cat standing in front of it and moved my sight away. Then, upon coming close, I realized it was not a cat, but rather a sorghum broom leaning onto the car hood. While realizing what I had mistaken, I had this revelation: sometimes, when we're rushed to do something, and we pretend to be visually attentive and driven, the desire to rush lets our brain sneak into our vision. At that point, we no longer process the visual inputs, rather we build our own ones. As if the need for speed doesn't allow us to complete our vision inputs, but tries to build a complete image from pieces of perception, to save time. I mean, had I had the visual patience to actually see what I was seeing, I wouldn't have seen a cat where a broom was. I was in such desperate need to be fast to assess the situation, and move on, that I built my own vision based on too few visual inputs. I guess the same happens while shooting: I have such a desire to shoot fast, that I don't wait to have all the visual inputs I need to call my shots: I rather just build my vision of the shot from what I actually see BEFORE letting the shot break and see the sights raise. Does this make any sense for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Great post! It makes sense to me. Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AikiDale Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Great post Luca. I should have read this before yesterday's steel match. I kept shooting the cats and missing the steel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Thanks for the cool post Luca. I think it was forum member Sam who said that: unattentiveness is like "signing off" before you've completed what you need to complete. This is the perfect illustration of that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Nice post. I shot a steel match last weekend and my times dropped when EricW said I had better visual patience. Trying to shoot fast sux for me, but dang I FEEL FASTER! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidball Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 I guess the same happens while shooting: I have such a desire to shoot fast, that I don't wait to have all the visual inputs I need to call my shots: I rather just build my vision of the shot from what I actually see BEFORE letting the shot break and see the sights raise. Wow. So when this happens, I am not calling what I see, I am creating what I WANT to see and fooling myself into thinking that is what I actually saw . . . This explains a lot. Nice post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 I guess the same happens while shooting: I have such a desire to shoot fast, that I don't wait to have all the visual inputs I need to call my shots: I rather just build my vision of the shot from what I actually see BEFORE letting the shot break and see the sights raise. Wow. So when this happens, I am not calling what I see, I am creating what I WANT to see and fooling myself into thinking that is what I actually saw . . . This explains a lot. Nice post. It sure does .............. and so do YOU with what you said there ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j2fast Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Great post! It makes sense to me. Thanks, +1 Excellent post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schoonie Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Luca, Excellant observation. You would not have realized that there was a problem if you had not looked again and gotten different visual information. I relate to this problem as it relates to the second shot sight picture when the quick perception feedback indicates all is well but the scoring tells a completely different story. Afterwards I would swear that what I saw and did should have resulted in a good shot but reality is very different. It's like the mental processor in charge of visual processing is running at a very slow clock speed and needs more time to spool up the actual image. My question is how can you tell difference between the bogus but fast image and the correct but slower processed image? When do you know when you got the right one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Luca, That is a great insight - thanks for sharing it. For me, driving has always been an avenue of insight. My question is how can you tell difference between the bogus but fast image and the correct but slower processed image? When do you know when you got the right one? That's a good question. I don't know how many times I would have sworn a shot "looked good," but it wasn't there. Once I started trying to figure that out for myself, I noticed I could be aware of my mental state as existing in two distinct categories: rushing or not rushing. If I was rushing, and I became aware of any indication whatsoever that something didn't look or feel right - there was doubt - I'd make up the shot. If I was not rushing, there would be this sense or state of calm assuredness, in which I would knowingly move from one shot or thing to the next. Or in other words, if you were rushing and there was doubt - shoot again. If you were not rushing this question will not arise. You'll notice that when you are rushing - you see in bursts or "glimpses." If you are seeing calmly, steadily, and fully - your mind won't create a complete image from a glimpse. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamakiri Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Great post/topic! This one falls into that "light bulb going on" category whereby past experiences are suddenly illuminated by new understanding... Thinking back on times when I've failed to call a bad shot, I realize that those were typically times when I was in "rushing" mode as BE describes it, not processing what was actually happening as patiently as I should have (and therefore allowing imagined sight pictures to creep in, apparently). Another thought: I suspect that susceptibility to "bogus" images is also brought on by too much intention, too much wanting... If you are less concerned about results, and more attentive to the process, you are probably less susceptible to seeing what you want/expect to see instead of what is actually there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonub Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Very deep Brian and very true. Great posts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Right on. A shooting buddy (and mentor) once said to me, "...don't shoot until you see the sight picture you want. Just don't shoot until you do." It caused me to slow down for that vital split-second it takes to 1.) relax long enough to see the front sight do its thing, and 2.) actually fire a good shot. I've never forgotten that bit of advice from him. It all had to do with taking the time to see correctly. Even that little split-second... so important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted February 22, 2006 Author Share Posted February 22, 2006 (edited) Hi all, thanks for the positive comments on my initial post. Like Kamakiri pointed out, it was sort of a light bulb going on in my head when I realized this. BE, since I drive a lot, I too happen to build or look for similarities between driving and shooting: the most handy, to me, is doing things for habit (meaning without paying too much attention to them) and finding out that the results where not what I expected them to be (such as ending up on the office way on saturdays or sundays when I'm driving the family to a picnic... ). Schoonie, it was a pleasure to meet you and a few other members in Frostproof; I guess Brian has already outlined the perfect answer to your question, so I'll refrain from posting dopiness... All in all I had this light bulb switching on in my head, and of course didn't use it to light my path at the Florida Open... Edited February 23, 2006 by Skywalker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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