The Call to Follow Through

Posted on Posted in On Shooting

“When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.”
-Shunryu Suzuki

The Hard Part
Aiming is easy. The simple desire to hit the target takes care of aiming. Firing the shot without disturbing the aim is the hard part.

The 3rd Fundamental
Know the barrel is pointed at the target until the shot fires. 
Complete details on the 3 Fundamentals.

Sight Picture
Sight picture has two components:
Sight Alignment: The alignment of the sights.
Sight Picture: Where the sight alignment is on the target.

The Call to Visually Follow Through
… Means, at the instant the shot fired, remember the sight picture. You called the shot.

Keep all your attention on the front sight until it lifts in recoil. Look right at the front sight—that is all you need to see to call the shot. If you don’t blink, <INSERT LINK as the shot fired, you will remember the sight picture. Comparing your call on the shot to where the shot hit the target is your key to improvement.

Early days… 1981’ish. Today, a sea of houses resides in that area where Robbie and I did our first training together..

Dedicate a period of each practice session to shot calling. Do that until precise calling becomes second nature. If you call every shot, you will shoot without doubt. 

The Problem
A pistol is the most difficult firearm to accurately shoot offhand, because the sights never stop moving. So it is a natural tendency to try to “snatch” the shot (trying to shoot when everything is temporarily lined up). You must learn to accept the movement, and release the shot without disturbing the aim.

A trick I learned from a silhouette shooter might help. Imagine your pistol is locked down in a machine-rest, and the target is moving around behind the sights. The only thing you can do is release the shot without disturbing the sight alignment.

Learning to shoot from a bench rest. Sandbag your pistol so it’s rock solid. Aim into the backstop, but not at a target. Consciously direct ALL your attention to the feeling of your finger on the trigger, as it steadily increases pressure until the shot fires—as a total surprise.

Once you begin applying pressure, never stop increasing the pressure until the shot fires.

END OF PART ONE. Check March 12th for Part 2.
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