Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.
-Jose Ortega y Gasset
Active & Passive
In various scenarios, apply the concept of active or passive to either the sights or the trigger.
Bench rest shooting example: The pistol is resting solidly on sandbags… As you align the sights on the target, the sights are active and the trigger is passive. You may or may not even be aware of the trigger—all your attention is on the sights. At some point, you decide the sight alignment cannot be improved. Now the trigger becomes active. All your attention is in the feeling of your finger as it steadily increases pressure until the shot fires. You were passively aware of the sights, but you did not care about them. Passive awareness is all that is needed to maintain sight alignment.
Only after you’ve mastered shot calling off the bench rest should you begin shooting offhand.
Getting in one last practice session before the sea of houses arrives. (I was still in “Weaver-mode” back then.)
Shooting offhand, aiming at nothing in particular, fire the pistol with all your attention in your trigger finger, while simply observing the sights lift and return. Remember how this feels: you don’t care where the bullets go. You are just watching and firing and remembering.
Shooting a typical USPSA stage, the sights are usually active. The only thing you always need to know is where the sights are.
For 20 years, I ended each practice session by shooting offhand groups on a nine-inch paper plate at 25 yards. I’d take all the time I needed to shoot the smallest 5-shot group possible, perhaps lowering the pistol between each shot. I’d shoot at least five, 5-shot groups, and keep the smallest as a testament to my group shooting supremacy. (My 20-year, smallest 5-shot group was 1 3/8”.)
Shooting slow-fire, offhand, try this… As you begin applying pressure to the trigger, will the trigger pressure to steady the pistol’s movement, as if the building pressure is steadying the sights. I know that’s a bit out there, but it worked for slow-fire group shooting, for me.
To sum up, for slow-fire offhand shooting, train to call your shots by accepting the movement, focus right on the front sight, and as the shot fires, remember where the sight picture was on the target.
Once shot calling is firmly ingrained, preserve this most important of all fundamental while increasing your shooting speed. Project your attention into your hands and sights. Master that, and everything—you, your attention, and the shooting—will become one.
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Comments are welcome, and all questions will be answered.
A new topic will arrive each Friday afternoon, in one of two categories. One will be on shooting, and the other will be on living. Or: how I learned to live from what I learned by competing.
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