Struggling to Aim

[Crazy]

Throughout my shooting I've shot at white paper targets that have a black bullseye dot because this is what the local range has. The bottom of the black dot has always been my point of aim. I have recently printed some scaled down IPSC classic targets and the shooting at them is really tripping me out because there is no specific aiming reference. Does anyone have any tips as to how to overcome this esp when practicing transitions or coming up from the draw? My shooting has gone from nice groups to shotgun because of this.

[JThompson]

Throughout my shooting I've shot at white paper targets that have a black bullseye dot because this is what the local range has. The bottom of the black dot has always been my point of aim. I have recently printed some scaled down IPSC classic targets and the shooting at them is really tripping me out because there is no specific aiming reference. Does anyone have any tips as to how to overcome this esp when practicing transitions or coming up from the draw? My shooting has gone from nice groups to shotgun because of this.

Draw a black dot or use a black paster in the lower center of the A zone. As you get used to shooting it make the black smaller and smaller until you no longer need it. I went through the same issue... after a while you will just know where your aimpoint is.

JT

Edited July 28, 2009 by JThompson

[Miranda]

In a case of the blind leading the blind...

what are you looking at when you aim?

are your shots outside of the A box?

I put my leveled sites just over the bottom line

and as long as I see even goalposts, I shoot....

I am not as fast as these guys.

I hear they place a dot in the box and blast away.

miranda

[Flexmoney]

I like using masking tape to make a set of cross-hairs on the target...right where I want to hit. (which is quite a bit higher than "center of mass")

[rvb]

A good read:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9655

[MikeFoley]

Upper half of the A zone will likely become hard wired after several practice sessions. Put a paster or dot or + on the target as suggested above at the A perforated in the center of the a-zone, or where you want to hit. After a while, your presentation on full targets will align at the point of aim very naturally. Saul Kirsch's book perfect practice has some nice drills in it that you can do over and over to perfect certain skills, and covers this very topic. Good question, and good luck.

[BSeevers]

The dot is good but you might benefit also with outlining the "A" zone in white tape and try a thick black sharpie too. Train to not have anything be a factor in calling your shot as an end goal.

Edited July 28, 2009 by BSeevers

[Crazy]

what are you looking at when you aim?

are your shots outside of the A box?

When I aim I'm trying to go roughly for the middle of the target but this is easier said than done. As for my shots using the 63% size target I'm hitting about 75% A, 20% C and 5% D. But thats with a .22 at 10m (11yds). I don't have a centrefire yet but I imagine it would be a lot more horrible.

I will try to draw a small dot on the target and see how I go. Another question which has popped to mind is I'm practicing with a scaled down target - 63% of real size. Is this a bad thing? The reason I do it is because the full size targets are massive and I can't print that big. Would it be better to just print off the full size A and C zones of a target (or even just the A zones) and practice on those or stick with the reduced size targets?

Edited July 28, 2009 by Crazy

[GrumpyOne]

what are you looking at when you aim?

are your shots outside of the A box?

When I aim I'm trying to go roughly for the middle of the target but this is easier said than done. As for my shots using the 63% size target I'm hitting about 75% A, 20% C and 5% D. But thats with a .22 at 10m (11yds). I don't have a centrefire yet but I imagine it would be a lot more horrible.

I will try to draw a small dot on the target and see how I go. Another question which has popped to mind is I'm practicing with a scaled down target - 63% of real size. Is this a bad thing? The reason I do it is because the full size targets are massive and I can't print that big. Would it be better to just print off the full size A and C zones of a target (or even just the A zones) and practice on those or stick with the reduced size targets?

I would go with just printing off the A and C zones full size, then outline them in black sharpie. Remember, if it even touches the A zone, it's an A, so the scaled down target might help you get your groups tighter than needed, but t might also slow you down because you are aiming and shooting at a smaller target.

[badassmcgraff]

I think you just need to focus on the center of the target and force your brain to understand where you want the bullet to go, if you can shoot a hole out of a black circle then you can do it without a black circle, just takes time and patience. All these are good ways to improve but remember at a match you're not going to have a sharpie over the target. The only reason it's hard now is because you're not used to it.

[Graham Smith]

You might want to have a look at Warren Tactical Training Targets.

[STI2011]

The dot is good but you might benefit also with outlining the "A" zone in white tape and try a thick black sharpie too. Train to not have anything be a factor in calling your shot as an end goal.

+1 Outlining the A Zone helps

[Flexmoney]

Another question which has popped to mind is I'm practicing with a scaled down target - 63% of real size. Is this a bad thing?

Using scaled targets can throw you off.

[Duane Thomas]

Not so sure that simply outlining the A-zone is going to help. This can promote what we call "area aiming" where you're simply trying to hit the A-zone somewhere. If all you're trying to accomplish is to hit they A-zone, and you're a bit off, which does tend to happen when we hit the *thumb rest [generic]*, what happens? You miss the A-zone. It works much better to train yourself to hit a specific, small point inside the A-zone. Then if you're a bit off that, what happens? You still hit the A-zone. "Aim small, miss small." When experienced speed shooters miss, it's usually not a matter of windage, it's a matter of elevation, and generally we tend to pull the shots low. We overcompensate for recoil, or hit the trigger a little harder than we should, the shot, while fine for windage, goes a bit low. Thus it works well to make your point of aim in practice a bit higher in the A-zone than center mass, a few inches above the performated "A" in the box, to compensate for that. Flex has suggested in the past putting a red paster there and using that as your aiming point in practice, and that seems like a good way to go for me.