Sight Alignment, Sight Picture, Visual Acceptability...

[Ron Ankeny]

I think I am finally reaching a decent understanding of sight picture, sight alignment, and visual acceptability, as they relate to various shooting sports. I have run the gamut from blasting at brown at warp drive in IPSC, to shooting itty bitty groups at 50 yards in PPC and Bullseye. I have shot plate racks with my hair on fire in shoot offs, and I have shot racks by the hundreds when I was active in NRA Action Pistol. I have always known the fundamentals of shooting are identical across all shooting disciplines, and the only thing that differs are the techniques employed to support the fundamentals of shooting. But what I didn't fully appreciate is how very small changes in visual inputs, how we process those inputs, and where our attention is directed can make such a huge difference in performance.

I had an experience last Saturday in a practice session that really drove home a lot of the things Brian talks about in his book, on this forum, and in his interview with Matt Burkett. I was attending a training session primarily for new shooters at a neighboring gun club. One potion of the training consisted of an exercise with three targets spaced a couple of feet apart edge to edge around 8-9 yards downrange. The guy running the program was addressing target aquisition, tracking the sights, etc. He had the shooters draw at the buzzer, shoot two on each target, reload, and fire two more on each target. He recorded hits and times as a pretest. I went first and I hosed. I was speedy and I had a lot of C hits. I was too concerned with sight picture and not concerned enough with sight alignment and I accepted the A zone and surrounding area. We then went on to other issues.

At the end of the day the guy running the stage had me come back over when everyone had left. He remarked at how my speed had improved in recent years, but it was at the expense of accuracy. He asked me to load up and shoot a slow Bill Drill that were all A's. I thought he meant the letter A so I shot the center out of the target. He had me reload then repeat the drill with two on each target shooting the center of the A box. We reviewed the timer and the splits were in the low to mid .40's as were the transitions. The six rounds were center of the A box and I suppose you could cover them with a playing card.

You guessed it, tape the targets LAMR, then shoot all A's as quickly as possible. Buzzz, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. When I finished I remember saying holy (deleted) because for the first time in a long time I had witnessed my own shooting from behind the gun with remakable clarity. I had located the exact center of the A boxes, the gun moved like magic to the center of the target, the sights were in perfect alignment, and the sight picture at the time the shot broke was crystal clear, even though my focus was primarily on alignment. I was also totally aware of my fire control. I could have sworn I saw some of the bullets in flight, following them as they punched through the paper. I know I was aware of the patching tape ripping as the sights lifted even though I wasn't directing my attention or focus to the target face. I knew exactly where each round would go before I manipulated the trigger and I knew exactly where each round went as soon as the sights lifted. All six hits were in the A box. I told Kevin (the guy with the timer) that it felt like slow motion and time had lost all meaning. The total time was 1.95 seconds with 1.08 of that in the draw. Nothing earth shaking, but what I saw and felt was beyond belief. Those six rounds have done more to reignite my passion for shooting and learning than you can imagine. Thank you Brian (you too Kevin).

[eerw]

Ron...

reading about your experiences these past few posts of your....has been inspiring..

it is great to hear your tales of enlightenment...I hope someday to be on the same path

Thanks for sharing..

Come visit down here soon..love to spend a day on the range

[Ron Ankeny]

Stu:

I think there are a lot of shooters who really don't care about the Zen stuff, the little details of shooting, the subtle differences between sight alignment and sight picture and how they relate to shot calling, etc. I would imagine there are hundreds of shooters who are much better than I who don't even give it a thought. I just like to know how things tick and I find Brian's teachings indispensible as far as learning "why" instead of just "how".

I think the real value in understanding what is happening right in front of my face is to be found in the ability to enter "the zone" by letting myself shoot. Right now, I find myself drifting in and out of the zone. It would be nice to spend more time in than out, lol.

[eerw]

There is value in the lesson..in the "why" rather than the "how"

as a student..you can study things again and again..but without a master to guide you or another student to offer a differing view..you will be blind to the lesson.

You must see things for their value and experience them to open the door to other experiences.. once you open enough of the right doors and learn enough experiences can you enter or even recognize the zone for what it is and where it is.

You enter the zone with trust and knowledge..and you leave as soon as you have doubt.

We all know how to shoot..and if we let ourselves shoot..we enter the zone..

I think its kind of like talking to people that have had near death experiences..

you just want to ask...

What was it like..what did you see..how did you feel..

[tightloop]

If you once have been in the ZONE, you can't wait to return...and then you start having problems with TRYING...You really have to be confident of your ability and skill to LET YOURSELF GO without trying and just let your body and your innerself guide the gun from target to target, mostly unaware of the gun going off...it is almost slow motion, yet when you are finished with the stage and look at the timer...WOW...usually it is close to, if not a personal best..

I think you could go your entire life trying to understand it and never find the answer...those of us with little mental ability just accept it when it happens and try to make ourselves ready to let it happen again...

Glad you are finding it within yourself to let it happen...you have been down on yourself and your ability for too many months now...

It is GOOD to be in the zone, hey Ron....

[Ron Ankeny]

TL:

Even though I am still in my infancy when it comes to shooting field courses, my stand and deliver shooting has really improved. Who would of thought I would build speed at 50 years young? Even though the place is full of paper GMs, I think I'll go ahead and move up in Limited and Production just because I can.

[tightloop]

Now you talking, You da Man...

[eerw]

I think I'll go ahead and move up in Limited and Production just because I can.

That I love...

make it happen

[John K]

Maybe this is the wrong place for this but I thought I would ask a question.

I have been shooting IDPA for about a year and a half. I shoot at the bottom of the SharpShooters with both my Glock G17 and My CZ75. I ahve made a lot of progress in that time. I tend to over analyse things. Then at one match I just let go and stopped trying to correct everything i did wrong last time I stood on the line. It was amazing. The only way i can describe it is as follows. I got the gun out of the holster and towards the target and from there all i saw was the front sight. It was like the whole visaul world was the front sight. It moved from target to target with no concious effort. I shot great that day.

I have just started Brian's book and have seen where I should see the front sight all the time, through recoil and movement. lI was not sure if I did or didn't.

Last trip to the range and i tried to be aware of if i saw the front sight through recoil. Sure enough i do. What is next?

Great thread!!

John

[HSMITH]

I am envious Ron. I have 'seen' a quite a few times, but only on one or two arrays of a stage and usually seperated by several stages if not a couple matches. I haven't figured out how to get back there, it seems almost accidental when I do 'see'.

I am relatively young and have a pretty good set of wheels, longer field courses are where I make my ground up. Stand and deliver stuff chews me up almost as bad as hoser stages.

One time was a bank of six poppers from under a table laying prone as the last array of the stage, I don't think the first one was down yet when the last was hit. I was as surprised as anyone else LOL. I didn't even notice that I had skinned off both knees and both elbows going prone at warp 9 until someone asked why I was bleeding LOL.

If I could just put it together for an entire stage....... Then an entire match..... Then figure out how to switch into that mode on demand....

I don't know much but I think this is a BIG part of what seperates the really good shooters from the great shooters.

[Al Capizzo]

Thanks for posting this Ron. It is encouraging and inspiring to see someone who's been at this a while, and accomplished quite a lot, still endevoring to both 1) improve, and 2) learn.

I've been shooting IPSC a good 20 years, but only the last few with any self awareness, and thats critical to improving past a basic "B" level or so.

A lot of the technique that gets discussed on forums like this are things most people will learn given enough time and ammunition, but to realize they are doing certain things and why they do these things is key to understanding shooting.

You can't experiment, change or even practice things that you do not even know you're doing!

I've always noticed that most of the great shooters are totally self aware of their shooting.

"I enter boxes/ports on this foot unless..."

As Saul said, most of us shoot stages "with a certain degree of panic". Thats what we're trying to get away from.

Thanks again.

[Genghis]

I think I remember that the sky was blue when I first stepped to the line at the last match, but then the timer went off and I don't remember anything else!

Seriously, this is an excellent thread.