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Old March 21, 2012, 07:03 PM   #14
Frank Ettin
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Join Date: November 23, 2005
Location: California - San Francisco
Posts: 9,471
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cola
...I think anything that gives you time with your gun and use of the trigger is a step in the right direction...
[1] Not exactly. Just using the trigger isn't enough. It matters how much attention you pay to what you are doing. Just pressing the trigger, if you're not doing it properly every time, can do more harm than good.

[2] Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice make perfect. And practice makes permanent. So if you keep doing something badly over and over, you will not get better at it. You will only become expert at doing it badly.

[3] Shorter but more frequent practice is better than longer, less frequent practice. If you keep practicing after you've started to get fatigued or your interest and concentration has started to flag, your practice can start to get sloppy and undo the good you did earlier in the day. Frequent breaks during practice can also help.

[4] It can also be helpful 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, at least consistently, even though we know in our mind how to do it;

  3. conscious competence, we know how to do something and can do it properly consistently, but only if we think about what we're doing and concentrate on doing it properly; and

  4. unconscious competence, at this final stage we know how to do something and can do it reflexively, on demand and without having to think about it.
To get to the third stage, you need to think through the physical task consciously in order to do it perfectly. Then going from conscious competence to unconscious competence is usually thought to take around 5,000 good repetitions. The good news is that, in the case of shooting, dry practice will count. The bad news is that poor repetitions don't count and can set you back.

If one has reached the stage of unconscious competence he will still need to practice regularly and properly to maintain proficiency, but it's easier to maintain it once achieved than it was to first achieve it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cola
...I really think snap caps can be a great practice tool to help you feel when you gun is going to fire, which helps take away that surprise a bit....
While dry firing can be a great practice tool, that's not really the reason. In fact, one wants a "surprise break."

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.

Think: front sight, press, surprise.

BTW, JohnKSa offered excellent advice in posts 4 and 6.
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