[Frank Ettin]

Originally Posted by Microgunner

I disagree. When beginning a new skill accuracy is the goal If I were learning to knit I'd begin very slowly concentrating on correct technic . As my skill improves so will my speed.
Practicing marksmanship (trigger control, sight picture etc) is fostering speed. IMO.

I'll go with pax on this. IME on this subject she knows what she is talking about. But you're probably not all that far apart.

Here's an excellent post by pax on the subject in a thread focusing on increasing speed while retaining accuracy:

Originally Posted by pax

Typically, it's a confidence issue more than anything else. As long as you have a secure grip (aren't letting go with your non-dom hand after every shot, don't need to readjust your grip all the time), and as long as you are snapping the gun back to the target quickly to manage the recoil, then your delay is almost certainly a confidence thing.

If you've gotten in the habit of waiting for and then "snatching" a magic moment when everything is absolutely perfect, it can actually slow you down even though each individual shot will feel fast. Instead, what you need to do is accept the slight wobble in your sights, accept imperfection while continuing to realign the sights through the wobble, and press the trigger smoothly.

Here's one of my favorite learning to go faster drills: http://www.corneredcat.com/the-speed-up-drill/

It's good because it improves both speed and trigger control. Too many go-fast drills teach one while destroying the other.

pax

And some more good advice from pax in the same thread:

Originally Posted by pax

After you have learned good trigger control and are using an extremely consistent grip & shooting technique, then you can start playing around with how much of the sights you need to see.

Until you have learned good trigger control, playing around with sight / no sight / partial sight pictures is just wasting good ammunition.

After you have learned good trigger control at fast speeds, that's when the other stuff comes in.

Crawl, walk, run, run faster. You can bypass the crawl & walk stages and even travel really fast by jumping off a cliff and flapping your arms a lot, but that probably won't get you where you want to go in the shape you want to be when you get there.

pax

Let's look at how humans learn a physical skill.

1. 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.
   
   
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, and soon 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.
   
   
6. And as you proceed from conscious competence to unconscious competence you will be able to go faster without a deterioration of result. But to make the most of your increased skill, you will need to push yourself.
   
   
7. In other words, as your facility at a task increases you will be able to do it faster. But to really get faster you must work at it and push yourself.
   
   
8. pax' "speed-up drill" is very good for that purpose.