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Questions and Answers for week ending:
October 2nd, 2004
| Submitted By: |
James Russell of Alexandria, Virginia |
| Category: |
Shooting Mechanics |
| Question: |
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I have been shooting for recreation every
weekend for little over a year now and this month I competed in my
second "IDPA style" match in the SSR division. My question is, regardless
of what I am shooting (revolver, 1911, etc.) once I draw the gun and
bring it up to eye level I find that the front sight is never where it
should be (between the two rear sight posts). It is either too
far to the left or too far to the right, thus resulting in me making
fine movements in my hands and wrists to "muscle in" the front sight to
where it should be. Obviously I am doing something wrong since my
natural point of aim is wrong every time. If you can give me some
pointers, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your
time. |
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Rob's Answer: |
The answer to this is simple, you must
practice. More frequently and longer than you may think. Let me
explain.
Drawing the gun and presenting it to the shooting position so the sights
are aligned is a simple act of muscle memory. The question here is not
how long you have been shooting, but how many draws have you done? I
remember, in my younger days, becoming interested in learning to draw
well. I would spend hours drawing in my house, learning everything from
the initial contact of my hand on the gun to the final part of the
sequence, presenting the gun in a proper stance and grip, sights aligned
on the target. I have repeated this process many, many thousands of
times. This is the only way you will teach your muscles roughly where
they are supposed to be positioned.
Let's dissect. The draw is over at the point the arms are extended.
The final correction of the sight picture, if needed, is done once the
gun comes to a stop. You will never repeatedly present the gun without
ever needing to correct and refine misalignment. How
quickly you make this correction shows on the clock. This is
the mistake that all who value accuracy in the draw have spent great
amounts of time perfecting. If you have only been doing this for a
year, you have not probably given yourself enough repetitions on this
technique to do it correctly. It has taken me some thirty years to get
my draw to where it is and I still have to correct misalignments
regularly. I actually do not even think about it, I just fix it as soon
as I see it.
Getting close most of the time is as good as I can do. I perform
as many live fire draws a year (where I actually shoot the gun) as most
serious shooters do dry practice draws. There is just no replacement
for actual practice. There is no special technique to learn, just as
many exposures to the problem as you can manage. Give yourself as
many opportunities to learn how to quickly make corrections. How many
hours a week do you devote to training? If you are limited to just the
few draws you will do in a match then you will never see enough
repetitions of the draw to perfect it.
I can tell you that lateral misalignment is usually caused by
inconsistent positioning of the gun in the hand rotationally, and the
support hand on the gun front to back. The real problem is the lack
of repeatability. If the gun always comes up left, then you quickly
learn to adjust. If it comes up always to the right, you quickly
compensate because you are expecting that to happen. When, like
you, you are not sure which way it will be, you must first look, then
make a change. This is both slow and difficult. It probably goes back
to inconsistent positioning of the hand on the gun at initial
contact. Correcting this is simple. Be consistent.
With respect to consistency, many shooters only shoot matches, then
wonder why they make the same mistakes repeatedly. This is caused by
the lack of proper programming. As long as the mistake is learned and
not corrected, the mistake will continue to occur. The procedure to
correct is to overwrite the programming with correct technique. I am
still trying to get it perfect, even after all these years. Never
give up the fight! By the way, this applies to all facets of shooting,
not just the draw! RL |
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