Front Sight Focus & Smooth Trigger Press: Conscious or Subconscious for You?

[treeprof]

I been going thru short periods of highs and slumps the past few months, and it seems like loss of front sight focus is the 1st to go. This is invariably followed by loss of trigger control, flinch, etc., within a couple dozen rounds. Unfortunately, it always takes me a while to realize what's happened.

During periods when I'm shooting exceptionally well (for me), I seem to start looking at the target right after pulling the trigger to see how the groups are shaping up. For a while, I can subconsciously retain rough sight focus and trigger control but then it goes down from there as I become more target-centered. It's not so much looking at the target while firing as it is just losing focus, blinking, etc. Once I lose sight focus, my finger muscle memory goes out the window, my grip and stance get loose and my shots go wild, but in the heat of trying to get back on track I don't seem to notice (maybe that's the problem?). Then, I spend a lot of time fixing things only to realize loss of sight focus got the whole shebang rolling.

I stopped firing my .357 Sigs indoors very much because the noise and blast seemd to make me more prone to blinking and losing focus, but it happened to me this past week shooting 9 mm. So, and I got to wondering if the rest of you have to consciously focus on the front sight each time you pull the trigger, or for some of you long-time shooters has it become instinctive? For me, it seems as tho remaining focused on the front sight will always have to be a deliberate act.

 

[Monkeyleg]

I fall victim to the same things you do. When my groups start to open up, I try to figure out what's going on, and I realize right away that I'm focusing on the target not the front sight. I try to focus on everything: grip, trigger, sight, and when I do I shoot the best. Maybe it's instinctive for some, but not this shooter.

Dick

 

[DAKODAKID]

I dry fire alot which helps live firing.(balance a dime on the front sight).
I analyze and think about shooting while I dry fire but when I live fire I don't think shooting, I just relax and enjoy the experience.
Brian Enos has a really good book that you should read, I highly recommend it.
Check out his website:

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/home.html

 

[41magFan]

Stop shooting, take a deep breath, think about what your objectives for that days training are and start again, slowly. Front site, front site, front site, "bam!"

 

[hsvhobbit]

I think every shooter has the problem with either losing focus or just developing the habit of looking at their target. Some advice passed on to me from a high master bullseye shooter is to put your target out far enough that you CAN'T see the holes, this will reduce your tendency to try to watch the shot. Also, some days when your concentration just isn't there, stop shooting and go home. By continuing to shoot when you aren't doing well you just reinforce the BAD habits...coming from a guy who had several times broken the 2600 barrier (out of 2700) shooting bullseye, I had to respect it. Something to consider perhaps.

 

[WESHOOT2]

CONCENTRATION............

..........until it's not required.

Ditto roller coaster.

Shoot long-range groups using utmost discipline. Make the groups get smaller. Repeat multiple thousands of shots, maintaining concentration (PERFECT practice makes perfect).

Repeat.

Shoot as many IPSC/USPSA and IDPA matches as possible, but shoot these as fast as you can while still getting paper with every shot.

Repeat.

...never-ending effort required...

 

[CReynolds]

Great topic. I too find myself looking at the target and not the front site. I feel I need to identify the target before I shoot at it. What if I think its a bad guy, but its not. What if the dude looks menacing, but he only had some glasses in his hand, not the shiney knife I thought he had? Still, I know I am supposed to focus on the front site. Should I ID the bad guy then quickly shift to the front site? What do you guiys think? Does anyone have any drills they do for this?

Thanks

Coley

 

[DAKODAKID]

Check out this thread, it has alot of good info----

http://glocktalk.com/docs/gtubb/Forum4/HTML/000367.html

 

[RobW]

CReynolds, I think you are on the right track! You can practice 100 years to concentrate on the front sight and you do well on the training range. But, in a life-threatening incident, the instincts that are still in mankind come to overrule everything else and that is to look at the threat! This instinct behaviour enables you to decide quickly to fight or to flee. And - you are in BIG trouble if you have to admit in a court that your concentration was on the front-sight and not to check out if the threat was real or not.

 

[treeprof]

Thanks all for the helpful comments. The most frustrating thing is implicitly knowing what you're doing wrong without explicitly thinking about it enuf to fix it. I know that a big part of the probme is seeing good groups appear and then getting target focused, seeing if they'll improve. In a selfish kind of way, I'm glad to hear I'm not alone.

On a good day, and I can shoot 2-3" or less groups consistently off-hand at 25 yds, and then they'll open to >6-8" when I lose the front sight. Sometimes I'm good at 1 session and bad the next, falling into the trap of target-watching while shooting, thinking "this session will be as good as the last, so I think I'll just watch the holes appear". For example, last week I shot a 491/500 during league (my personal best) and shot as small as a 1 1/4" 25 yd group afterwards. But this week, I shot a sloppy 409 with 5 out of the scoring rings and was shooting 8-10" at least. At the end I got back to 3", but it took a couple hundred rounds.

hsvhobbit, you're point abt stopping while shooting bad is a good one; it just goes against my nature, tho I'm trying. Previously, I've switched to my .22 during a bad session to help iron things out, but I'm often too impatient.

DAKODAKID, that was a good thread on g-talk. I actually printed it out a few mos ago when it was mentioned here in a TFL thread, and it helped a lot. Time for a re-read and a lot more dry fire, like I used to do. I've been thinking abt getting Enos' book, and now's a good a time as any.

 

[MrBlonde]

I have noticed the same thing. I try and pay attention to where to bullet is going, instead of where the ront sight is. Also, I am starting to flinch sometimes, when I am on empty with a revolver. I should do more dry fire practice.

 

[MatthewM]

Personally, I shoot about 3-4 shots and then notice one out of the group. I bring the gun back down, take a deep breath and try to clear my mind, and start all over again. My 10 shot groups take two to three volleys to get through.

I took a lesson from a champion silhouette shooter. He said to try and imagine the bullet traveling to the target. You try and metally "push" it into the target. Like telepathy. I tried this and it works. I think it is a psychological trick to get your mind off of your grip and trigger squeeze so that you quit screwing up! He has trained several other winning shooters.