To Push, or Not?

“Learn to distinguish what should be done and what should not be done; the clever soul will always select his opportunity.” 
-Nagarjuna

Until your pace is the outcome of calling every shot, there is the concept of “pushing.” 

Your goal should always be to hit each target’s maximum scoring area as quickly as possible. 

To do that, you must fire each shot at the earliest opportunity, which requires continuously knowing where the barrel is pointing. It is either pointed at the target or it isn’t. While shooting a stage, that is all you ever need to know. 

Check BE rockin’ that (sponsored by) Wilson Combat t-shirt, calling shots on The Steel Challenge’s Speed Option. Circa early ’80’s.

It’s easy to understand how your score suffers from makeup shots and poor hits. 

What is overlooked, however, is how much more quickly you’d shoot if you were never aimed at a target and not shooting.

Whether you tend to shoot to fast or to slowly, the same medicine cures both diseases: uninterrupted seeing. 

If you shoot with too much control, but feel your times are too slow, you must learn to call each shot, sooner. You are aimed at target but not pulling the trigger.

When you’ve trained to see properly, each shot will effortless fire at its earliest opportunity.

Say you typically have uncalled misses or uncalled poor hits. Again, if you always know what you are seeing, that will train you—on its own—to allow your vision to dictate the pace.

Reduce what you want to accomplish to the fundamentals. What must be done to hit every target as quickly as possible?

You must see the target clearly, know the pistol is aimed at it, and hold it there until the shot fires. That’s all there is to it. 

======
I’ll post a new topic 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.
Thanks for coming in.