[Frank Ettin]

Originally Posted by Wreck-n-Crew

As it has already been stated but , make sure you have mastered the fundamentals enough before trying to improve speed and accuracy....

Or to put it another way, to shoot quickly and accurately you first need to be very good a shooting slowly and accurately. Shooting quickly well is primarily an matter of being able to execute the fundamentals very well, quickly and without conscious thought.

To lay it all out:

1. I'm a big proponent of good professional training. Among other things, there is really no good substitute for a qualified instructor watching what you are doing and coaching you based on what he sees. Remember that practice doesn't make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.
   
   
2. Practice also makes permanent. If you keep practicing doing something wrong, you will become an expert at doing it wrong. So some good training shows you what to practice and how to practice it. It thus helps you avoid bad habits which later on can be an awful hassle to try to correct.
   
   
3. Before one worries about shooting quickly, it's best to be solidly grounded in the fundamentals. The first principle of accurate shooting is trigger control: a smooth, press straight back on the trigger with only the trigger finger moving. Maintain your focus on the front sight as you press the trigger, increasing pressure on the trigger until the shot breaks. Don't try to predict exactly when the gun will go off nor try to cause the shot to break at a particular moment. This is what Jeff Cooper called the "surprise break."
   
   By keeping focus on the front sight and increasing pressure on the trigger until the gun essentially shoots itself, you don’t anticipate the shot breaking. But if you try to make the shot break at that one instant in time when everything seem steady and aligned, you usually wind up jerking the trigger. Of course the gun will wobble some on the target. Try not to worry about the wobble and don’t worry about trying to keep the sight aligned on a single point. Just let the front sight be somewhere in a small, imaginary box in the center of the target.
   
   Also, work on follow through. Be aware of where on the target the front sight is as the shot breaks and watch the front sight lift off that point as the gun recoils – all the time maintaining focus on the front sight.
   
   
4. Practice deliberately, making every shot count, to program good habits and muscle memory. Dry practice is very helpful. You just want to triple check that the gun is not loaded, and there should be no ammunition anywhere around. When engaging in dry practice, religiously follow Rule 2 - Never Let Your Muzzle Cover Anything You Are Not Willing To Destroy." As you dry fire, you want to reach the point where you can't see any movement of the sight as the sear releases and the hammer falls.
   
   
5. Think: front sight, press, surprise.
   
   
6. To get faster you'll want to be able to perform the fundamentals reflexively, on demand without conscious thought. You do that by practicing them slowly to develop smoothness. Then smooth becomes fast.
   
   
   1. It may help to understand the way humans learn a physical skill. In learning a physical skill, we all go through a four step process:
      
      
      1. unconscious incompetence, we can't do something and we don't even know how to do it;
         
         
      2. conscious incompetence, we can't physically do something even though we know in our mind how to do it;
         
         
      3. conscious competence, we know how to do something but can only do it right if we concentrate on doing it properly; and
         
         
      4. unconscious competence, at this final stage we know how to do something and can do it reflexively (as second nature) on demand without having to think about it.
      
      
   2. To get to the third stage, you need to think through the physical task consciously in order to do it perfectly. You need to start slow; one must walk before he can run. The key here is going slow so that you can perform each repetition properly and smoothly. Don't try to be fast. Try to be smooth. Now here's the kicker: slow is smooth and smooth is fast. You are trying to program your body to perform each of the components of the task properly and efficiently. As the programing takes, you get smoother; and as you get smoother you get more efficient and more sure, and therefore, faster.
      
      
   3. I have in fact seen this over and over, both in the classes I've been in and with students that I've helped train. Start slow, consciously doing the physical act smoothly. You start to get smooth, and as you get smooth your pace will start to pick up. And about now, you will have reached the stage of conscious competence. You can do something properly and well as long as you think about it.
      
      
   4. To go from conscious competence to the final stage, unconscious competence, is usually thought to take around 5,000 good repetitions. The good news is that dry practice will count. The bad news is that poor repetitions don't count and can set you back. You need to work at this to get good.
      
      
   5. If one has reached the stage of unconscious competence as far as trigger control is concerned, he will be able to consistently execute a proper, controlled trigger press quickly and without conscious thought. Of course one needs to practice regularly and properly to maintain proficiency, but it's easier to maintain it once achieved than it was to first achieve it.
      
      
   6. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
   
   
7. Also, part of learning to shoot faster is pushing yourself a little beyond your comfort level. Start by shooting at your comfortable pace, then pick up the pace a little. Your groups will open up some, but accept that. And don't go so fast that the groups are opening up too much. The finish by slowing up a bit to tighten your groups to where they were before. You'll be increasing your speed in manageable increments.
   
   
   1. Do a lot of dry fire to build excellent trigger control. Excellent trigger control is critical. Conclude practice with a little slow fire to reinforce trigger control.
      
      
   2. Also practice your presentation so that when you have brought your gun up the sights are aligned. At that point your using the sight picture to confirm sight alignment; you're not aiming. That's the "flash sight picture." Here's how Greg Morrison describes the flash sight picture (Morrison, Gregory, The Modern Technique of the Pistol, Gunsite Press, 1991, pp 87 - 88, emphasis added):

      ...The flash sight-picture involves a glimpse of the sight-picture sufficient to confirm alignment....The target shooter’s gaze at the front sight has proven inappropriate for the bulk of pistolfighting. However, the practical shooter must start at this level and work up to the flash, which becomes reflexive as motor skills are refined. With practice, a consistent firing platform and firing stroke align the sights effortlessly. This index to the target eventually becomes an instantaneous confirmation of the sight-picture.
      
      ...Using the flash sight-picture programs the reflex of aligning the weapon’s sights with the target instantly....There is good reason for sights: one needs them to align the barrel with the target reliably....