Okay…what am I talking about….

Too often it has been my experience with law enforcement shooters (and competition too) that the need to pull the trigger “now” supersedes the requirement of hitting the target.  It’s like a building pressure in the mind that shooters will settle for less than an acceptable sight picture and blast off a round..or two..or three.  It’s almost as if a self gratifying sound and feeling overwhelms what the process should be.

We’ve all been there before.  We are shooting a drill or a stage in a match.  There is a long shot of 15 yards away and the sights are almost there (shoot now!).  You start the process of pulling the trigger (shoot now!) and aiming the gun (shoot now!) when “boom”…we shoot “now”.  Why did I miss?  Following the fundamentals of shooting is tough. Shooters like to blow by the basics to get to that Advanced training.  “I learned to shoot 20 years ago….” or something like that is heard in every class I teach.  But the fundamentals ground us.  It gives us purpose.  See the target, line up the sight picture, press the trigger to the rear without disrupting the “acceptable” (what’s acceptable to you might be different than for me) sight picture.  Do that and you will get your hits.

But why do we shoot “now”?  It’s because we already have invested in the end result, the hole in the bullseye or the plate falling down.  It’s hard to keep the mental focus necessary of watching the sights and the mind says “ENOUGH!”  This is followed by a loud blast…

How do we get pass this?  As I mentioned before, the fundamentals work to help us.  At your next practice (live fire) or shooting class, let go of the desire to hit the target and give yourself the freedom to relax into the basics of shooting by lining up the sights and pressing that trigger.

You’ll be surprised at how much better you’ll shoot by simply enjoying the fundamentals.

Now..go out and shoot.