benos Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 When training to quickly shoot good hits, learn what it feels like to calmly read the sights. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted November 18, 2003 Share Posted November 18, 2003 One cannot read the sights until one IS calm, it seems. I've tried it both ways. Calm is definitely "it." And, boy, did I have a couple of epiphanies about THAT a couple of weeks ago..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted November 18, 2003 Share Posted November 18, 2003 Well, get to typing so we can learn too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted November 18, 2003 Share Posted November 18, 2003 Calm!!?? CALM!?? How the hell am I supposed to be calm after watching Rob, Taran, Dave and Blake shoot the stage first!?!? That's good, simple advice Brian. It seems that when a stage goes bad, it's the basic things that went out the window. I'm at a point in my progression (or regression to be honest) where I needed to hear that, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted November 18, 2003 Author Share Posted November 18, 2003 Thinking back over a zillion match runs, the best were always accompanied by the feeling of total calmness that pervaded the entire string, although things were happening very rapidly. And for me, the original sentence captures the expression of visual patience. I found it more helpful under pressure to _remember_ how it feels to see what needs to be seen, rather than focusing solely on visual aspects. Remembering a body/visual feeling also helps to allow.... be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
short_round Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 My mantra for practice today was "visual patience." A lot of my shots started with "calmly" chanting "visual patience, visual patience ..." and ended with "dooh!" Something strange happens to me when I get a fully loaded magazine. It's like all the bullets I put in there are screaming at me to set them free as fast as I can and I can't resist. I had to start loading each magazine one round at a time. So okay, now I have to slow down and I have all kinds to time to think about my last shot as I eject the magazine, check for an empty chamber, load another round, insert the magazine, rack the slide, hit the safety, and line the gun up again. During these interludes, I noticed one thing. My index is off (a little low and to the left) so I'm pushing the gun (up and to the right) to line the sight up and when I think it's close I pull the trigger. The problem is I'm swinging the sights through the target and pulling the trigger when my mind says "now!" This does not work for accuracy drills. Maybe in a 5 yard speed shoot, but I wasn't working on 5 yard speed shooting. I was working on visual patience d@&*it! If I calmed down and let the gun settle in my grip the sights came together and my shots were much much closer to being or were right on. The problem is ... I WASN'T DOING ANYTHING! This is impossible, how can I be more accurate when I'M NOT TRYING TO BE?! So much to learn, so much to see ... p.s. I was shooting at Matt Burkette's dots on page VII-17 of his book. The game is when you hit six for six (no extra shots) you can move the target back further. Bonus points for punching out the white center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBF Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 " How can I be more accurate when I,m not trying to be ? " " Trying " is the one sure way to guarantee that the results you desire will not materialize. Benos, Beautiful, you have , as usual, put into one sentence, an entire concept. What's the status of the new book ? Travis F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9MX Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 in my last match, i tried going fast, shot miserably..re-engaging targets, ended up with a not so fast time . a couple of similar stages after, i shot calmly, got good hits but was slow right now, i feel frustrated achieving a calm mindset is easier said than done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 9MX, speed comes through practice. Your match performance should reflect what you can DO (not try) at that moment. Through practice (both mental and physical), you will evolve and be able to do better/faster, still without trying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted September 13, 2004 Author Share Posted September 13, 2004 Your match performance should reflect what you can DO (not try) at that moment. That's a good way to think about it. What can you do in practice? What and how do you need to see in order to repeat consistent runs? Just do that in matches. You're moving quickly, but you're not in a hurry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9MX Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 spook, be thanks for the pointers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eerw Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 I seem to always crash and burn after watching other fast ( good ) shooters shoot a stage and say..I can do that.. I can..but I forget my basics..the individual aspects that make my shooting smooth and effortless..thus fast and accurate..but instead I see the whole package of fast..and I get effort, jerky and slow..... I can remember facing a field course that had a lot of partial upper A/B zone shots..my practice regimen at the time included a lot of dot drills..I can remember seeing those targets and saying..."oh my gawd"... but then I spend a few moments and placed my head back at practice shooting dots..an amazing feeling of calmness and confidence came over me...and I burned that course down... hey BE...thanks for the reminder.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38supPat Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 I seem to always crash and burn after watching other fast ( good ) shooters shoot a stage and say..I can do that.. The problem here lies in the directive you gave yourself before you shot. "I can do that" is a very nonspecific idea. Do what? You did not see what the other shooter saw, all you know is his raw time. If you give yourself the directive to beat the time, you may, but you'll likely lose the stage on points, or just tense yourself out of contention. Visually you have no direction. You have not given yourself a visual acceptability limit. All you have directed yourself to do is beat the time. Visually decide what you will accept for each shot on each target. If you have trained yourself to move quickly and efficiently the rest will take care of itself, let your eyes dictate the speed you shoot at Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eerw Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Visually decide what you will accept for each shot on each target. If you have trained yourself to move quickly and efficiently the rest will take care of itself, let your eyes dictate the speed you shoot at EXACTLY.... that is the goal... I actually found shooting production...helped my open gun shooting..by making myself wait to see the sights shooting for A's..that mindset carried over when I picked up my open gun a couple of months ago.. my problem the past couple of years..is that I have been floating around from different divisions to another..so I get really good at nothing... I have learned alot about each gun and what is important in each division.. so my goal this next season is to pick a gun, use what I have learned, train for the rest and go as high and shoot as well as I am capable... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9MX Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 Shot a level II match today and applied what i've learned (and still learning) in this forum: I noticed that all this time, i have an incorrect weakhand grip, my index finger anchors itself on the front of the trigger guard, i immediately corrected this. This is probably the reason why my sights don't return on the same spot when i call my shots I didn't try to be fast, I shot well within my pace. Got 4 mikes, two of them due to a gamble i made ...can't help it But I did see what I need to see and got good A-hits on the last 3 stages (29,30,and 31 rnds respectively), I can literally read my sights! With my corrected grip, I can see them lift and return on almost the same spot. Though my time on these stages need a lot of improvement (40, 45, and 41 sec respectively). As you guys have said, speed will come later. I experienced the fundamentals today, though I gambled a bit, I didn't try to be fast, all through out the day, I was telling my self to just be. With this, I believe my progress would now the depend on gradually improving speed in reading my sights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 but then I spend a few moments and placed my head back at practice shooting dots..an amazing feeling of calmness and confidence came over me...and I burned that course down...hey BE...thanks for the reminder.. Classic. I noticed the same thing at the Nationals. What a calming effect it has to foucs on letting the vision guide the shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted September 20, 2004 Author Share Posted September 20, 2004 This thread's coming to my mind often lately. I was going to say the same thing Pat said. What a calming effect it has to foucs on letting the vision guide the shooting. That is a tremendously powerful tool... If you really commit to planning and doing it. We typically burn up a lot of attention doing things like making speed comparisons between ourselves or other shooters, when our time would have been better spent by making a careful plan of what we know we need to feel, see, and do to have the best chance of shooting the best run possible. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 I recently (yesterday ) scrapped the words "speed" and "fast" from my vocabulary. I no longer do stuff "fast". I figured that if you just do the mechanical things you need to do, there's no need in describing any of them as "fast". That really makes no sense at all. You just do the things you need to do in the right order. I liked what happened yesterday when I took this mentality to a stage. It's like the "bandwith" that was usually occupied by thinking of "being fast" is now available for being more aware of what I do an see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmitz Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 You just do the things you need to do in the right order. . Hmmm, So, "Strategy" or "Tactics" are the words now if I'm correct Another leason learned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 Well, I think I only use words when I fail to visualize It's a bad habit. I definately need to work on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38supPat Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 This thread's coming to my mind often lately. We typically burn up a lot of attention doing things like making speed comparisons between ourselves or other shooters, when our time would have been better spent by making a careful plan of what we know we need to feel, see, and do to have the best chance of shooting the best run possible. be Its so easy to get caught up in all the thoughts that enter your mind when someone else shoots a stage. Whether it is a positive or negative, comparing what you think you can do to what the other shooters DID do is destructive to our own performance. You did not see what the other shooter saw, was he just flinging rounds and got lucky? Or was he intently focused on his front sight to the point where he was aiming too much and the stage could be shot faster. Your only guide is your own plan based on your experience and practice. If you have done your homework you will shoot the stage as well as YOU can. See what you need to get the hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 I'm thinking I want to substitute the word efficient for fast when planning to shoot stages. I crashed Thursday at the Nats on three of four stages. Friday, driving out to the range my mind was full of desire --- and empty of confidence. I decided that if I hoped to salvage anything, I needed to focus on shooting Alphas --- but I was still wondering if I could. (As if one day of shooting badly could eliminate all the skill acquired during years of shooting.) On the first stage I concentrated hard on two perfect sight pictures on the first target, then looked at it to confirm that I'd shot two Alpha. Same thing on Target two. Target three, two solid sight pictures, then I motored on --- until I got to the last target: Good sight picture, shot; bad sight picture with the front sight to the far left of the notch, shot; good sight picture, shot; then finally a look at the target. Three alpha, with one touching the left Alpha/Charley scoring border. The makeup shot seemed to take no more time than a normal split. It sure is faster to read the sights than it is to read the targets. Brian once said --- and I might be paraphrasing badly --- that true shot calling ability requires trust, that what you're seeing while reading the sights will actually appear on the targets. I noticed on this stage that it's possible to reacquire trust when you've been plagued with a lack of confidence. It took me two targets, the next time it might take more or less, or it might not be an issue at all..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted September 22, 2004 Author Share Posted September 22, 2004 spook, That's a good one. Acting deliberately - completing each part of the total activity - is a good thing. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 Thanks Brian. The hard part so far to me is dealing with the difference between the execution of the plan and the idea/visualisation of the plan. The difference between what happened and what you were expecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 The hard part so far to me is dealing with the difference between the execution of the plan and the idea/visualisation of the plan. I think that's one of the last steps as you "really figure it out." Key words that helped me in the last years I was competiting - Decide Resolve Conviction Determination When the buzzer goes off - I am going to do exactly... "this." And nothing else. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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