[Jeff22]

READING TARGETS, SPOTTING, AND CORRECTING ERRORS
By Tom Givens, Rangemaster, Inc., Memphis, Tennessee
(posted on lightfighter.net on 21 April 2004)

The following are the most common error among new shooters. Learning to recognize, explain, and coach the shooter in correcting these deficiencies is an important skill for instructors. If you shoot on your own, you can use these tips to self-diagnose your errors and work on correcting them.
To better visualize these comments, imagine a clock face superimposed on the target. Twelve o’clock is at the top, six o’clock is at the bottom, and so on.

(1.) Hits low, at six o’clock – This can be caused by several physical acts, but the underlying
cause of all of them is anticipation of the gun firing. Most shooters are not really bothered by recoil. It is the blast (noise and flash) that shocks their nervous systems, causing a flinch reaction. This must be overcome by concentration and practice. Ball and dummy drills using inert rounds are helpful in this. The physical manifestations to watch for are:
 Tightening the grip as the trigger is pressed.
 Canting the gun hand wrist downward as the trigger is pressed.
 Jerking the trigger.

(2.) Hits at three o’clock or nine o’clock – These are generally the result of sideways
pressure on the trigger. If too little finger contacts the trigger, the gun will be pushed sideways as it fires. If too little finger is on the trigger, the muzzle will be pulled to the side as the gun fires. The shooter needs to place the pad of the first joint of the finger on the trigger and press straight to the rear to make the gun fire.
These shots off to one side or the other are also the result of combining a small hand and a large double-column magazine gun. In such cases, the first joint of the shooter’s trigger finger, the joint that “attaches” the finger to the palm is touching the frame. As the trigger finger flexes to pull the trigger, that part of the finger pushes against the frame. The fix is to bend the trigger finger, creating a gap between that joint and the pistol’s frame. (this is sometimes called “finger drag’). The optimum solution is to find a gun that better fits the shooter’s hand, a gun that is thinner and has a shorter reach from the backstrap to the face of the trigger. This usually requires selecting a weapon with a smaller magazine capacity, but getting hits on target is much more important than how many rounds the magazine can hold!

(3.) Hits at five o’clock or seven o’clock – This is almost always the result of jerking the
trigger. The trigger is “snatched” too quickly, pulling the muzzle down and to the side. When pressing the trigger, be sure to take up the slack and then press the trigger straight to the rear as smoothly as you can. (If the shooter’s weapon is a good fit for the size of their hand, one potential problem to look for is lack of finger or grip strength. Dry fire practice can strengthen the grip and the trigger finger and reduce or eliminate this practice once a sufficient level of muscular strength is attained.)

(4.) Hits at twelve o’clock – This can be caused by two errors. By far the most common is
looking over the sights at the target. As the gun is raised, the shooter fails to pull in his visual focus to meet the front sight. This leaves the shooter focused on the target, looking over the top of the gun. Most shooters hit high when they do this. This can also be caused by convulsively squeezing the gun just as it fires. This causes the heel of the hand to push the lower part of the backstrap forward, elevating the muzzle and resulting in a high shot on target. This is called “heeling”.


(5.) Scattered hits all over the target – A lack of consistency in grip, sight focus, trigger
control, or some combination of these problems. The most common reason for scattered hits all over the target is looking at the target and not at the sights! Except at VERY close range, it is necessary to look THROUGH the rear sight AT the front sight, with visual focus on the front sight, to get hits on target. Many beginning shooters shift their visual focus from the target to the sights and back again WITHOUT EVEN REALIZING IT which sometimes makes this a VERY difficult problem to diagnose and correct.

FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKSMANSHIP:
 Grip – how you hold the weapon
 Stance – your firing platform
 Sight Alignment – front sight blade properly lined up in the rear sight notch
 Sight Picture – the sight alignment superimposed on the target
 Trigger Control – moving the trigger smoothly without disturbing the alignment of the sights until the shot breaks
 Follow Through – maintaining proper grip/stance/sight alignment after the shot breaks

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