Dang It Dan 13202 Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 There is a THIRD way of focusing while shooting at speed. Jerry "The Burner" Barndhart had a different focal point when he needed real speed. His focal point was between the front sight and the target. Think about that for a moment. Between the front sight and the target there is NOTHING to focus on. It's not "target focus", nor "sight focus" but somewhere in between and because there is nothing to gauge your focal adjustment by, it's a hard concept to grasp. I have done it but it's hard to do and it takes me out of the subconcious and puts me in the concious world (if you don't know what I am talking about then none of this is making sense, but I only shoot really well when I am not processing information while I am shooting, but rather watching the senario unfold as I shoot). At any rate, you may want to try this the next time you are at the range. It's not for me, but it may work for some. Dang It Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Shapiro Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Dan, I've tried that. Every time I end up with no idea where the shots went and a lot of misses. It doesn't work for me either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margarita Villain Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 OK, I'll chime in on this one. "twice failed to pick up targets hidden in the underbrush" An important thing I was recently reminded of, and working on, is this part. Make sure your not shooting in tempo. As you shoot the stage in your head, you build a tempo for how your going to shoot it, and the speed with gaps between shots you think you'll need. If you stick to that tempo and pull the trigger to the beat, you'll miss a lot. Focus on the sights. Also Remember when the targets are close and big you can throttle your shot speed up, when they are far or small and or blending in or hidden, pull the reigns back and slow your shot to shot speed down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Woodrow Cahill, SASS # 54363 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 You have been reading Brian Enos too. Actually his is a very good book, but something about it brings the word Zen to mind. There is more to shooting than just the raw mechanics of sight alignment. Breathing, muscle memory & movement, tuning out distractions to focus on the task at hand ... it's an art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 OK, I'll chime in on this one. "twice failed to pick up targets hidden in the underbrush" An important thing I was recently reminded of, and working on, is this part. Make sure your not shooting in tempo. As you shoot the stage in your head, you build a tempo for how your going to shoot it, and the speed with gaps between shots you think you'll need. If you stick to that tempo and pull the trigger to the beat, you'll miss a lot. Focus on the sights. Also Remember when the targets are close and big you can throttle your shot speed up, when they are far or small and or blending in or hidden, pull the reigns back and slow your shot to shot speed down. This is why we call it "shooting" and not "hitting". Lots of factors, and getting the timing right is but one of them. Making the switch from a Marlin to a '73 has my timing a bit screwed up. The gun is ready to fire before I make the full swing from target to target at speed, which is a recipe for multiple misses if yer on autopilot..... Gonna takea bit to iron out the process.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Shapiro Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 This is why we call it "shooting" and not "hitting". Lots of factors, and getting the timing right is but one of them. Making the switch from a Marlin to a '73 has my timing a bit screwed up. The gun is ready to fire before I make the full swing from target to target at speed, which is a recipe for multiple misses if yer on autopilot..... Gonna takea bit to iron out the process.... That's because your cue for the timing is all wrong. The cue for gun go bang should be "sights on target" not "done cycling". Pavlovian response. Sights on target, gun go bang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart Solo Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 Well, I tried changing my focus from my front sight to the target last night. After missing 3 out of 5 on a couple of five shot strings, I decided focusing on the front sight was a better way to shoot. I went back to my old way of bringing the front sight into focus and my shooting improved immediately. I am still going to have to work on not losing targets in the weeds, but I don't think I am going to change from the way my father taught me to shoot over 50 years ago anytime soon. KC, Rowdy, I know what you are thinking. Don't say a word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 That's because your cue for the timing is all wrong. The cue for gun go bang should be "sights on target" not "done cycling". Pavlovian response. Sights on target, gun go bang. Yer right of course, Doc. BUT, when ya have shot well and fast with a rifle for years, then move to a longer, heavier rifle that has an altogether different levering feel, ya pretty much gotta UN-LEARN the muscle memory routine that has worked so well with the old set up. I'm nobody's idea of fast, but with the rifle I can be very fast (clean the Texas Star and it only starts to move as I make the last shot). So all the "auto-pilot" stuff engrained in the brain has to be rebuilt for the new rifle, going back to "front sight/bang" instead of the entire string being a "canned" sequence.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart Solo Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 This talk of cues and muscle memory brings up an interesting thought. When I am shooting a stage, I use visualization to rehearse the stage. When the stage starts I draw and start shooting. I am aware of pulling the trigger or moving to the next target, but I am not consciously thinking about pulling the trigger or moving to the next target. It is almost as if the eye is disconnected from the conscious brain. Obviously the conscious brain isn't in charge. Is the subconscious in control? Once started can a fast shooter react to changing conditions? What if, God forbid, somebody wanders into the line of fire? Can a really fast shooter stop shooting immediately? As a corrolary question, does the brain catch up? As my stage times have dropped, I have never noticed myself getting faster, but when I shoot a stage 10 seconds slower than my current good time, I notice. It seems very slow even though one or two months ago I would have felt great about the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red River Ray SASS#33254 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 This talk of cues and muscle memory brings up an interesting thought. When I am shooting a stage, I use visualization to rehearse the stage. When the stage starts I draw and start shooting. I am aware of pulling the trigger or moving to the next target, but I am not consciously thinking about pulling the trigger or moving to the next target. It is almost as if the eye is disconnected from the conscious brain. Obviously the conscious brain isn't in charge. Is the subconscious in control? Once started can a fast shooter react to changing conditions? What if, God forbid, somebody wanders into the line of fire? Can a really fast shooter stop shooting immediately? As a corrolary question, does the brain catch up? As my stage times have dropped, I have never noticed myself getting faster, but when I shoot a stage 10 seconds slower than my current good time, I notice. It seems very slow even though one or two months ago I would have felt great about the time. I can tell you this, if I get stopped in tha middle of a stage by tha RO (as in one more in tha rifle or pistol) wheither they are right or wrong I have no idea what ta do after trying to fire one more. Same with being bumped, I come into conscious thought an I'm in no mans land so da speak. RRR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.