TommyC Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 After spending Days absorbing Great info on here, I went back to sqare one at the range today. I spent the afternoon shooting at a blank paper from a good sandbagged rest and really concentrating on what it felt like when the trigger tripped. It was an amazing feeling. I was amazed at how much you can feel if you are really concentrating. Of course some of the people at the range look at you kinda funny when you spend a couple of hours shooting at a blank sheet of paper!! I think this exercise along with my every night draw and dry fire practice will be my new focus for a little while. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Anderson Posted December 14, 2002 Share Posted December 14, 2002 Get used to that look. Some people are still looking for the great secret that will make them shoot well. I have an uncle in law who hunts deer with a ruger 44 mag and red dot. At every family git-together he tells me the same story about shooting low and left and asks me what do do. I dignose a simple flinch, he agrees, I recommend some practice with double plugs and 44 specials...he just grunts, tells me he'll hold high right and gets another beer. Be thankful you're on your way, and ignore the weird looks. SA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted December 14, 2002 Share Posted December 14, 2002 When you say "concentrating" do you mean actually thinking. Like thinking, "front sight", "trigger", etc.? Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedaddy Posted December 14, 2002 Share Posted December 14, 2002 Tommy, absolutely! One of my favorite sensations is feeling the trigger reset after the shot fires. I really think that feeling for the little reset "click" keeps me from slapping the trigger on the next shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBurkett Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 Bonedaddy, that is one of the tools I use to generally cut students groups by 1/2 inside of a magazine. Sure makes me look good! Most people have never felt the trigger all the way through. As for concentration vs focus. Many may never know the difference. Just like zen, its easy. You either have and don't need it or need it and can't get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 Ron, Don't confuse thoughts with action. We "use" words to "direct" action, as in when we say to ourseves - "Look right at the front site while feeling my finger steadily building pressure on the trigger until the gun fires." Then when the words stop and the action begins - all you are aware of are sensory inputs. If you're thinking you're not doing. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 benos: I am with you all the way. I way just curious what was going through TommyC's head. There was a day when I used to literally "think the trigger off", like when shooting the 50 yard line in PPC where X count made the difference between winning and being in the cellar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBurkett Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 Ron, I think I know this one!!!! What was going through his head was nothing and everything all at once. Was I right??? Huh Brian? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 Matt: Three years ago a statement like, "...nothing and everything all at once" would have made me ponder for hours. Today, it makes perfect sense and I experience it frequently. I think the terms "awareness" and "concentration" can be very confusing to a lot of new shooters. I can recall shooting the fifty yard line clean in PPC matches years ago. My vision would almost melt the front sight, and mentally I was totally focused on the trigger as it came back through the double action pull. The sight would lift and I could call that shot within a couple of inches. A freight train could go by and I wouldn't have even noticed. My entire being was projected into the front sight and the trigger. I believed I was in total control of what should be happening. That technique worked well for a fledgling Master shooting PPC, and I believed precision shooting to be a game of super concentration. IPSC has made me question my entire thought process. Today I believe concentration, in the classical sense, is very limiting and it has been the single biggest hurdle that I had to over come in my personal development. On the other hand, "awareness" has no bounds, it is limitless, and it has allowed me to open my mind up to really see what has always been right in front of me. When I stopped trying to control what "should be happening" I began to see what "is happening" at the precise moment it happens. Being aware of what happens in my environment, at the very instant it happens, has allowed me to process incredible amounts of information at a rate that I could not have even imagined was possible. Time becomes warped and no longer has value. Gun and body manipulations happen at speeds that I could not have imagined. It is as if I have finally been set free after 30 years of shooting in a vacuum. What was going through his head was nothing and everything all at once. Makes perfectly good sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBF Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 Time becomes warped and no longer has value. AMEN. Lose your self in the moment... Travis F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 I was amazed at how much you can feel if you are really concentrating. TommyC--You just about said it all with this one. (Although opinions differ as to the precise definition of this word, I think I know what you mean. For the sake of simplicity let's not nit-pick the meaning here). Just last night I had a revelation or two during a timed target match situation.... that told me everything I was doing right AND wrong. Love those moments. Now if only I can repeat it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 Sig Lady: I am not nit-picking the meaning nor am I minimizing what TommyC has accomplished. There is a huge difference between "concentration" in the classical sense and "awareness". I know a person can "feel" a lot when they really "concentrate". I was an accomplished PPC shooter for many years and at one time I was a fairly decent rifleman. I acheived a lot by concentrating. However, concentrating, thinking, and controlling are all limiting factors and I see no need to ever go back to employing those elements while I am shooting. There is a much better way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 Concentrating has no place here. This is not a Maths exam!! You know the key control is maintaining the fundamentals up to, during and after the shot. Just do it!! Have you ever done an exam where you got a question that you knew the answer to!! Doesn't it just flow.. well it is the same thing with shooting-you already know the answer to the question, it's just a matter of doing it!! Remember concentration is the concerted effort to find the answer to a question/situation, the more prepared you are the less you will have to concentrate. Focus is pulling from what you already know ('already know' means it is in your subconscious for e.g. your name). Getting to know is the challenge!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadrew Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 Thinking and doing as it pertains to concentrating: I do my thinking at home and my do-ing at the range. If I can see it, I can do it. If I can think of it, I can do it. I just want to see and do. -Drew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBurkett Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 We are the ones that make it hard by trying to describe something that only exists in our mind. Most of the time we over analyze and get caught in the words of the concepts we are having problems with in the first place. Just shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AikiDale Posted March 27, 2004 Share Posted March 27, 2004 "If you're gonna shoot, shoot. Don't talk." Tuco Benedito Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmitz Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 After spending Days absorbing Great info on here, I went back to sqare one at the range today. I spent the afternoon shooting at a blank paper from a good sandbagged rest and really concentrating on what it felt like when the trigger tripped. It was an amazing feeling. I was amazed at how much you can feel if you are really concentrating. Of course some of the people at the range look at you kinda funny when you spend a couple of hours shooting at a blank sheet of paper!! I think this exercise along with my every night draw and dry fire practice will be my new focus for a little while. Thoughts? For the first time I started shooting last sunday I practised this on our home range. Got back that 'beginner'feeling again (after shooting IPSC for 2,5 years now, 7 years in total). I intend to practise like this everytime I start a training session (25-30 rounds) concentrating on sights, trigger and reset (click). Beginner Henny. (never old enough to learn!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now