Whats the first thing you focus on for first shot?

[B_Seehawer]

This has probably been hashed over a billion times but I didn't see much. Before the buzzer and assuming you are looking downrange, what is it that you are focused on before you draw to pick up your sights quicker? I'm having a hell of a time on my first shot and getting on the sights. I know that I need to practice smoothing up my draw but I'm not sure what I should be visually focused on.

And yes, I'm a newbie.

Brad

[Singlestack]

If it is a holster draw, I'm looking with a very sharp focus on the target where I want the first shot to go. If I'm picking the gun up, I have a very sharp focus on where I want to put the tip of my strong hand index finger. On a 1911, thats on the frame right next (muzzel side) to where the slide stop comes through.

[CocoBolo]

+1 SingleStack hit the nail on the head.

Dry fire practice will get your first shot time down. Be sure that if your weapon is equipped with a safety that you are taking it off as you push the gun out and you always put in on before holstering.

If your wielding a double action for first shot you will need to work staging the trigger into your routine.

Two signs that you have it down are that you can look at the target close your eyes and draw and your sights are on the exact spot you want to shoot. Also a well practiced shooter can put his gun in the holster without looking down.

Check your natural point of aim and adjust the gun to this istead of fighting it. Get a pro to show you how to present the gun properly, like I said pushing it out, not the dirty harry up and then down make my day kind of presentation.

Check YouTube for educational videos by Matt Burkett and other top shooters. It helps to see how its done right with the explanation.

[gunnerBU]

+1. Singlestack said it well.

In a match, I usually look at the first target that I will engage. I pick a spot where I want my first shot to go, usually a paster, and focus on it. If I can't see the target, I focus on the spot where my first step will be so I know I will be in the best position to engage the first target or array. Picking up gun from table, I don't have a spot that I focus on. I just look at the grip of my gun because that is where my strong hand is going.

In dryfire, some of my targets have a small dot, about the size of a Skittle or M&M, that I drew with a sharpie. This is what I focus on.

[Aristotle]

Depends on your start. Holster starts I'll go for upper portion of the A. At table starts, I concentrate on the gun. If there is no visible target, or the shooting area is a few steps ahead of my starting position, then I'm looking for my "spot" that I found during airgunning the stage.

Edited December 9, 2009 by Aristotle

[Chills1994]

At holster start stages, I am looking at the first target like it owes me money.

For table start stages, I am looking at the gun... and in some cases the table or old cable spool the gun is on...wondering if I am going to get a splinter under my thumbnail when I go to pick the gun up.

For the start in box A and run to box B and engage these targets stages, I am kinda looking at where I can place my feet. Usually, I just try to step on the wooden 2X2 border...without tripping over it or losing my balance.

[JThompson]

This has probably been hashed over a billion times but I didn't see much. Before the buzzer and assuming you are looking downrange, what is it that you are focused on before you draw to pick up your sights quicker? I'm having a hell of a time on my first shot and getting on the sights. I know that I need to practice smoothing up my draw but I'm not sure what I should be visually focused on.

And yes, I'm a newbie.

Brad

If you have a pretty good shooter, say an A or M at your club, you might ask them for help. I'm sure they would be willing to work with you.

[B_Seehawer]

Jimmy, you were the one I was gonna look up since you are ten times faster coming out of your holster and getting good hits doing it!!

I'm usually staring down that piece of steel or target, I just seem to lose focus of it when those pesky sights get in the way. I didn't really notice it that much til doing a classifier this weekend and the targets were half black, seemed like the first shot took forever, when I switched to the other target I didn't seem to have the problem though.

Brad

[benos]

Before the draw I have the target in focus clearly, then as the draw begins I bring my focus back to where the front sight will be.

be

[JThompson]

Before the draw I have the target in focus clearly, then as the draw begins I bring my focus back to where the front sight will be.

be

That's is what I do, but sometimes i cheat it a bit. My eyes are getting old and it takes to long for them to achieve focus if I'm looking at a 50ft target and then pull back to the sights. If I do that it takes a full second to get my eyes to focus at the sights. So what I have been doing lately is focus on the target until I get the standby then I pull my vision back to where the sight will be. I don't know if this is something you want to do or not, but it seems to help me in the time it takes for these old eyes to focus near after looking far.

JT

[VegasOPM]

The hard focus on the target goes hand in hand with a good index. If your index is solid, the sights will "magically appear" wherever you are looking upon presentation. The secret to a good index after the draw is hours of dry practice from the holster. The secret to a good index after a transition is hours of dry practicing transitions.... getting the picture?

[B_Seehawer]

Ok, I have terrible eyesight. Wierd thing though, when I close my non dominant eye, it is easy to transition my focus. With both eyes open, it takes a full second. Guess I'll just start my stages with one eye closed, maybe just wear an eye patch like a pirate. Nobody wants to get beat by the pirate!!

Brad

[j1b]

I pick a spot on my first target. Like others have said. A paster, a fly, a shadow mark - whatever. Doesn't matter. A very specific spot in the upper A zone.

I then "draw" an imaginary line between that spot and my eye.

At the buzzer I simply place and point the gun down that line - and away we go.

J

[benos]

Before the draw I have the target in focus clearly, then as the draw begins I bring my focus back to where the front sight will be.

be

That's is what I do, but sometimes i cheat it a bit. My eyes are getting old and it takes to long for them to achieve focus if I'm looking at a 50ft target and then pull back to the sights. If I do that it takes a full second to get my eyes to focus at the sights. So what I have been doing lately is focus on the target until I get the standby then I pull my vision back to where the sight will be. I don't know if this is something you want to do or not, but it seems to help me in the time it takes for these old eyes to focus near after looking far.

JT

+1.

I also experimented with that, even on close targets, and found it worked real well. I would hold a mental image of a razor sharp front site, in perfect position on the target. And then "draw to that mental image."

But by all means, experiment. The goal being to have the front sight in razor sharp focus the instant it's on the target.

be

[AriM]

i try to focus on my breathing....i like to be relaxed in my upper chest....so i like first shot to be focused on exhaling....and my eyes to be focused on where the front sight will be....for me it doesn't seem to matter how blurry the target is, just as long as my chest isn't tight and I don't feel anxious, the front sight seems to dictate where my first shot will land...I have noticed that I tend to focus mid-point (half target and half front sight) after my first shot though (looking for grouping).....do you guys think that is counter productive and/or a bad habit.....should I always be focused on front sight and allowing the pistol to "reset"....???

[LPatterson]

Before the draw I have the target in focus clearly, then as the draw begins I bring my focus back to where the front sight will be.

be

That's is what I do, but sometimes i cheat it a bit. My eyes are getting old and it takes to long for them to achieve focus if I'm looking at a 50ft target and then pull back to the sights. If I do that it takes a full second to get my eyes to focus at the sights. So what I have been doing lately is focus on the target until I get the standby then I pull my vision back to where the sight will be. I don't know if this is something you want to do or not, but it seems to help me in the time it takes for these old eyes to focus near after looking far.

JT

As a bifocal wearer I don't have the ability to just shift focus, I have to shift lenses as well so I get set up at the first target or where I have to go for the first target using the distance lens. Then it is a shift of the head to the near lens to pick up the sights as they appear. All shots within a position will be made using the near lens then shift the head for the distance lens for the next position. I've tried keeping focus between one script all the time but I can't judge distance near and can't focus on the sights far. Open is looking like the next alternative.

[JThompson]

Before the draw I have the target in focus clearly, then as the draw begins I bring my focus back to where the front sight will be.

be

That's is what I do, but sometimes i cheat it a bit. My eyes are getting old and it takes to long for them to achieve focus if I'm looking at a 50ft target and then pull back to the sights. If I do that it takes a full second to get my eyes to focus at the sights. So what I have been doing lately is focus on the target until I get the standby then I pull my vision back to where the sight will be. I don't know if this is something you want to do or not, but it seems to help me in the time it takes for these old eyes to focus near after looking far.

JT

As a bifocal wearer I don't have the ability to just shift focus, I have to shift lenses as well so I get set up at the first target or where I have to go for the first target using the distance lens. Then it is a shift of the head to the near lens to pick up the sights as they appear. All shots within a position will be made using the near lens then shift the head for the distance lens for the next position. I've tried keeping focus between one script all the time but I can't judge distance near and can't focus on the sights far. Open is looking like the next alternative.

One of the reasons I chose Open... I'm just having to much fun shooting limited minor to give a damn right now.....

[shooterbenedetto]

I focus on the A zone first target and I'm thinking of a relaxed grip.

always works,NEVER FAILS..If I dont do this, I cant find the dot or cant align the sights.

[MemphisMechanic]

I'm having a hell of a time on my first shot and getting on the sights. I know that I need to practice smoothing up my draw but I'm not sure what I should be visually focused on.

And yes, I'm a newbie.

Brad

Based on my observations of local new guys, its the way you are driving the gun onto the target. Bring the gun up to high ready, where the reload finishes in the center of your body, arc the sights up In front of your eye as quickly as possible, and EXTEND THE SIGHT PICTURE into the Azone by driving the gun straight out. Most new guys make a rounded arc from holster to target, where the misaligned sights appear at the last instant.

You want the front sight in front of paper while the arms are still bent a full 90 degrees at the elbow. Feels slower, but you sight and extend at the same time, which is ultimately faster.

Over time,as your index improves, you can round off that corner more and more. But at first, the gun needs to move in an "L" IMHO. Straight up to a twohanded grip below the dominant eye, then stabbed out into the A with the trigger being prepped. Eliminates that half second of wiggling the gun around to get the front sight centered AFTER the gun is on-target.

I bore a hole in the A, then lock onto the front post as soon as it starts to come up into view.

Thinking DRIVE THE SIGHTS TO THE TARGET helps me focus on the technique. Our newbies seem to think its a good way to explain it, too.

Edited December 26, 2009 by MemphisMechanic

[JThompson]

There's some really good feedback here.. I hope he comes back to read it.

[mildot1]

Target visable, I focus on the A- Zone

Target behind a partition, I look at a point downrange that is on the same elevation as the target. When I draw and start to move my eyes should already be in line to pick up the target as I round the partition.

If I have to move before engaging I focus on where I'm going until I'm almost there then shift to the target and hopefully have the gun out and presented so I can fire when legal.

[pjb45]

I spent two hours yesterday working with a M shooter on my draw. It needs help. It always needed help.

Is you index correct? If so then work the next step.

He had me focus on the target before the buzzer, after standby, he had be lower my eyes to pick up the front sight sooner. I started looking at the ground where my front sight would first appear. Then I would focus on the front sight while bringing the gun up. He also noticed I have a big hesitation between when the front sight is in the A zone and I am pulling the trigger.

So now I will spend the 20 hours of dry fire getting the draw/first shot back.

BTW: He also had me doing two shots instead of one, which kept me focused on the follow-through.

[B_Seehawer]

Yup, still checking up on this one. Thanks for all the replies.

Brad

[TMC]

I appraoch it like racing placing my attention on what I have to do next. So like all others have said, if I'm stainding in one place and will draw and shoot something at the buzzer I'll look at that first target. If its something else like opening a door, picking up my gun, or moving to a spot to shoot that is what I'll be looking at and thinkning about.

[Paladin]

establish the correct intention for the target challenge and focus on your intention..