Re: Fundamentals of Marksmanship.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BattleAxe</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Good thread. One thing I didn't see mentioned that is likely my biggest obstacle is to simply slowwwwwwwwww downnnnnnnnnn. I shoot several times per week but I'm always under an artificially self-imposed time crunch to get in and out of the range.
When I slow down and think of nothing except a good day of shooting everything comes together and I've got game. When I bring the rest of my life to the range with me, not so much. Shooting is a lot like golf in many regards...its a lot more mental than people think. When I screw up the mechanics, it's not because I don't know or understand them, its because I allow other factors to cause me to forget to apply them.</div></div>
For some, just getting into position, it seems, will get their adrenaline going to such an extent that it precludes any sort of useful thought on the matters of marksmanship. And, no doubt, for a shooter just coming out of a class on marksmanship and onto the range, an anxious state can make it difficult putting it all together, especially if they've allowed themselves to become overwhelmed by it all. This is the reason for mental management, a procedure/process to keep the shooter from just shooting to get it over with.
My MM is pretty simple. First, there's sight alignment, followed by adjustment of NPA, and then, focus on the sight, followed by smooth trigger control, and follow through. That's it, with only the order of events being critical to success. And, when the MM process/procedure has become habit, phrases like "slow down" are no longer part of the lexicon, since slowing down is no longer a viable concept. That's good, since good shooting should not depend, or require a shooter to slow down. In fact, in certain scenarios, fast and good simultaneously is essential.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BattleAxe</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Good thread. One thing I didn't see mentioned that is likely my biggest obstacle is to simply slowwwwwwwwww downnnnnnnnnn. I shoot several times per week but I'm always under an artificially self-imposed time crunch to get in and out of the range.
When I slow down and think of nothing except a good day of shooting everything comes together and I've got game. When I bring the rest of my life to the range with me, not so much. Shooting is a lot like golf in many regards...its a lot more mental than people think. When I screw up the mechanics, it's not because I don't know or understand them, its because I allow other factors to cause me to forget to apply them.</div></div>
For some, just getting into position, it seems, will get their adrenaline going to such an extent that it precludes any sort of useful thought on the matters of marksmanship. And, no doubt, for a shooter just coming out of a class on marksmanship and onto the range, an anxious state can make it difficult putting it all together, especially if they've allowed themselves to become overwhelmed by it all. This is the reason for mental management, a procedure/process to keep the shooter from just shooting to get it over with.
My MM is pretty simple. First, there's sight alignment, followed by adjustment of NPA, and then, focus on the sight, followed by smooth trigger control, and follow through. That's it, with only the order of events being critical to success. And, when the MM process/procedure has become habit, phrases like "slow down" are no longer part of the lexicon, since slowing down is no longer a viable concept. That's good, since good shooting should not depend, or require a shooter to slow down. In fact, in certain scenarios, fast and good simultaneously is essential.
