Calling Shots? Did It Just Hit You Or What?

[IronEqualizer]

I have read all kinds of things on what calling the shot is and completely understand it but what did you do to learn it? Did you learn it on paper shooting 1-1-1, or on plates or at a long distance? How? What drills? Or just constantly watching for it and one day it just starting happening? I have done it before, in fact several times but it is not constant with me. Sometimes shooting plate racks just drawing and shooting one, and I miss, I can say to myself well that was left or that was high. I read an old post where Steve Anderson said he learned to call shots on the plate rack. How about everyone else? Thanks.

IronEqualizer

[George]

For me, it came after countless hours of dry-firing and sight alignment drills at home. At a certain point, you will begin to recognize an acceptable sight picture and the various versions of it that work at various distances. When this visual familiarity arrives and presents itself to you, the next step is to learn how to detach the active mind and really watch what you are doing when you are actually shooting. If you are really seeing what is happening during a shot, then the visual recognition of an acceptable sight picture at the moment the shot breaks will occur. Trigger control plays a large part here as the gun has to remain stable while the shot breaks.

Once again, endless amounts of dry-fire is what enabled me to learn to see and follow through on every shot. Some folks arrive at this point using endless amounts of live-fire. For me, the lack of recoil during dry-fire is what allowed me to learn to follow a shot through visually. Range time after that is what allowed me to apply that visual perception to a live shot with real recoil.

Visual patience during sight alignment is important, you just need to learn how to be patient while you are in a hurry and to be quick about it ;-)

[Micah]

For me, it came after countless hours of dry-firing and sight alignment drills at home. At a certain point, you will begin to recognize an acceptable sight picture and the various versions of it that work at various distances. When this visual familiarity arrives and presents itself to you, the next step is to learn how to detach the active mind and really watch what you are doing when you are actually shooting. If you are really seeing what is happening during a shot, then the visual recognition of an acceptable sight picture at the moment the shot breaks will occur. Trigger control plays a large part here as the gun has to remain stable while the shot breaks.

Once again, endless amounts of dry-fire is what enabled me to learn to see and follow through on every shot. Some folks arrive at this point using endless amounts of live-fire. For me, the lack of recoil during dry-fire is what allowed me to learn to follow a shot through visually. Range time after that is what allowed me to apply that visual perception to a live shot with real recoil.

Visual patience during sight alignment is important, you just need to learn how to be patient while you are in a hurry and to be quick about it ;-)

Wow! +1, there's nothing much else that I could add!

[IronEqualizer]

Thanks for the reply George. I have been pondering what you said for a few days. Tell me if I'm getting close on this. It's kinda like an out of body experience where you are behind your eyes just watching yourself shoot, or an experience where every part of your shooting is subconscience from your stance to grip to trigger pull and it's like the gun is floating in mid air shooting by itself and you are just observing and seeing everything it is doing from shot to shot target to target. Am I getting close?

[George]

I'm thinking that you have it pretty close. When I get into a groove shooting a stage, I also notice a hyper detail thing like the glint of sunlight on ejecting shells spinning away as the slide chuffs smoke closing behind them. I have heard this type of time slow down phenomena described as Tachyphsychia. When in the groove, I find that I am picking up shots automatically whenever I need to as a matter of fact thing, not as a result of me conciously recognizing the sight pic was off and then generating a command to take the pick up shot, but as a totally unconcious action exactly like squirting on some gas when the rear tire starts to slide out on a motorcycle. The old maxim from motorcycle racing is: If you have to think about it, you are already out in the haybales! This is just another form of racing ;-)

[Loves2Shoot]

The first time I got it, it felt like the Matrix movies. Truely and out of body type experience. Everything just made sense and was crystal clear.

Becoming an observer instead of a doer is the key for me.