flinching drills

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TYLER M RUSSELL

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hello! so I have been instructing a friend for a few weeks. once per week we will get together and we will work on what he is having trouble with. he has come from putting 73/100 rounds on paper to punching keeping almost all of his shots inside of the 8 ring, a majority within the 10 at 10 yds. he is getting faster (recoil control is what we are working on now. he has a good understanding of the fundamentals, and can usually call his shot if he's off the mark). and is becoming an all around competent shooter.

with one problem. I can't get the guy to stop flinching. if he isn't "holding over" for his flinch he will make a nice grouping between the top of the 8 and the middle of the 7. he doesn't flinch in dry fire, though at the firing line he will dip the slightest bit. he knows that he's doing it, and we've tried alternating snap caps in the magazine, we've tried drills where he doesn't know if it's loaded, we've tried everything that I can think of. the only time that he doesn't anticipate is when we are doing super slow fire. sight sight sight, squeeze squeeze squeze, if the sights move, put them back.... etc... when he gets going he will regress to dropping rounds.

I've run out of ideas. does anyone have any insights to help my buddy?
 
One of the (many) tips I have heard is to "shoot the berm". Don't hang a target. Shoot the berm, as fast as you possibly can, while trying to keep your eyes open. One theory is that flinching is caused by your brain trying to protect your eyes, and you can't see the sights dip because your brain shuts your eyes. "Shooting the berm" is supposed to have your finger "outrun" your blink mechanism, to the point where your brain realizes that it does not need to close your eyes. Again, I am no expert, I have simply heard this, and have tried variations to work on my own flinching. Some days are better than others.
 
Are we talking about a handgun or rifle? Sounds like pistol but you didn't actually say that. Assuming it is, what caliber is he using? We had a student recently in our CHL class who had one of the worst flinches I've ever seen. As in, 18 inch groups a foot low left at 5 yards. He was using a Glock 17. I switched him to a full size M&P .22 and his group shrunk to 8 ish inches just slightly low. Certainly not great but a huge improvement. Might try that. Also, have him grip the gun harder if he isn't already.
 
I shoot revolvers primarily. I run the drills on my self by loading 5, closing the cylinder or loading gate with looking and start firing. I still find I’ll anticipate recoil if I’m not concentrating.
 
Just try to fight off the flinch on a 460 S&W Magnum! For me, it takes sheer will and firm determination...and practice. I find that shooting off of sticks or a rest helps mitigate the flinching. I'm getting much better, but I've still got a ways to go to completely be rid of this completely natural reaction when shooting offhand.
 
That’s why I don’t do well with heavy recoiling hand guns or rifles. So I avoid them. Back in the eighties when I acquired the big frame Smith in 44M I tried to master it, AKA Dirty Harry, just didn’t work. I can shoot em just not well. ;)
 
Try practicing with a lower noise gun. and double up on hearing protection. Alot of the flinch is the body response to the load noise and flash of the gun going off. If I have a student that has sever issues with a flinch I like to switch them to a 22 or even 38 special in a revolver with a long barrel.
 
My Dad said, "Don't worry about what the gun is doing to you, worry about what it is doing to your target!"

It might not be just a flinch in his case: There is a phenomenon called "the yips", which is a psychological aversion to pulling the trigger. (Or performing whatever action, it occurs in other sports also) It can have various causes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yips
Not that Wikipedia is the best source, but this will get you started. It is not uncommon with Trapshooters, though more so ones that have been shooting a long time. The cure (more like a Band-Aid) is using a release trigger.

More background would help us advise you. What type of gun? Caliber? His shooting experience level?
 
Thank you all! We are talking about pistol shooting. He does a little bit of rifle after drills for fun if I bring an AR.
He only shoots 9mm. Either out of his new m&p 2.0, or my Sig p250. Slow fire, the doa trigger on my p250 allows him to correct his flinch before he breaks the shot. Rapid fire the p250 tends to pattern a touch lower than the m&p.
He took his first shot in late January. He's fired... Maybe 700 rounds since then between lessons and going to the range on his own.
I figured I would give him a while longer to get used to the blast. He flinches when he's off the line due to the noise, so maybe some "exposure therapy" while we do other things? This coming weekend we are going to work transitions.

Thanks again all for the quick and helpful responses! If anyone needs, or what's more information just let me know!
 
Because I don't own a .22 pistol and the ranges rental was out of commission. If one had been available I would have started him with one.

Edit:
I think that at this point, it bears noting that I am not a professional instructor. He was a colleague at my last job, turned friend who had mentioned that he wanted to learn to shoot. I have some experience with firearms so I offered my services. I'm not paid for anything outside of him paying for range time, and lunch/dinner if we are hungry after. I would actually like to take a job instructing... But im not really sure how to get there.
 
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Take an NRA Instructor Course in the discipline you wish to teach. Excellent place to start. I got my start teaching 18-year-olds to not shoot up the whole range while in the Army. I also was a Certified Leader for 4-H Shooting Sports. The point is, get some certification, NRA Instructor courses are the Gold Standard.
 
Here's what I do for my classes and private lessons:

1. Dry fire. Get that muzzle/trigger control worked out.

Now go to live fire

2. When he presses the trigger, take it all the way to the rear and do not allow the trigger to reset until your sights are back on target. This should help ensure a good follow through on the trigger. Encourage him to let the gun recoil. Don't fight the recoil, simply let it happen.

after that it's focus and confidence.

One of the things i have noticed over the years is that shooters who focus on shooting their targets forget about the recoil and just shoot.
One of the reasons i recommend competitive shooting. They forget the gun is going to recoil because they are so focused on everything else.

Occasionally a student has the trigger worked out and just needs to apply GUSTO. Confident trigger presses. These are rarer case, IMO, but it can be what the student needs.


Be sure to report back, OP, I am always curious what helps folks.
 
TYLER M RUSSELL said:
hello! so I have been instructing a friend for a few weeks. once per week we will get together and we will work on what he is having trouble with. he has come from putting 73/100 rounds on paper to punching keeping almost all of his shots inside of the 8 ring, a majority within the 10 at 10 yds. he is getting faster (recoil control is what we are working on now. he has a good understanding of the fundamentals, and can usually call his shot if he's off the mark). and is becoming an all around competent shooter.
Click to expand...

I wrote a lengthy post, which turned into a nice thread, on this topic. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-sights-and-quit-missing-low-and-left.854242/

As I explained in that post, you have to understand that a blink is at the core of about 99% of handgun flinches.

If you want to stop the pre-ignition push, you will need him to keep his eyes open through the shot. My post (linked above) has a "bag of tricks" section for learning to do this. But until he gets that fixed, nothing else will really work in a permanent, fundamental way. Hint: take away the target and make seeing the gun go off the ONLY objective.
 
Does this person see or know you are loading blanks into the magazine/cylinder? It eliminates the purpose if they know they are coming. My brother would send me videos of him shooting and he was a horrendous flincher. I loaded dummy rounds into his magazines, sometimes as many as half or more of the magazine was dummy rounds. It took awhile but it cured his flinch.
 
One thing I find helpful is:
De-coupling SEEING the sights and trigger pull...by having the delinquent just aim the pistol and holding it with a solid twohanded grip.
BUT: Not the holder of the gun pulls the trigger, but the trainer does it...slowly and deliberately.
All the while the pupil is verbally guided to constantly watch the sights.
This will lead to a true surprise break for the pupil, enabling him to see the pistol go off.

Hope this helps.

Greetings
Carsten
 
TYLER M RUSSELL said:
hello! so I have been instructing a friend for a few weeks. once per week we will get together and we will work on what he is having trouble with. he has come from putting 73/100 rounds on paper to punching keeping almost all of his shots inside of the 8 ring, a majority within the 10 at 10 yds. he is getting faster (recoil control is what we are working on now. he has a good understanding of the fundamentals, and can usually call his shot if he's off the mark). and is becoming an all around competent shooter.

with one problem. I can't get the guy to stop flinching. if he isn't "holding over" for his flinch he will make a nice grouping between the top of the 8 and the middle of the 7. he doesn't flinch in dry fire, though at the firing line he will dip the slightest bit. he knows that he's doing it, and we've tried alternating snap caps in the magazine, we've tried drills where he doesn't know if it's loaded, we've tried everything that I can think of. the only time that he doesn't anticipate is when we are doing super slow fire. sight sight sight, squeeze squeeze squeze, if the sights move, put them back.... etc... when he gets going he will regress to dropping rounds.

I've run out of ideas. does anyone have any insights to help my buddy?
Click to expand...

Aside from being new to shooting, one of the the biggest causes of flinching in students I have worked with, is overthinking. A lot of shooter it seems are trying to do too many things at once; sight alignment,sight focus, grip, stance, trigger press...etc. Many shooters seem to never be comfortable with their firearm, they are not having fun. Somehow, reducing the negative consequence of a miss, or a flyer has to be reduced. As mentioned here, shooting the berm works well..."just go shoot a magazine at the berm, and come back, then we will do targets."
One technique that gave many of my students that "aha!" moment was point shooting or weapon occlusion shooting. It's my opinion the subconscious mind knows what a good target/firearm relationship looks like. The sights don't necessarily need to be in microscopic focus while you are pressing for a trigger break. You don't aim the sprayer on the garden hose, but your brain can easily calculate hits on a regular basis.
Take a bullseye target and reverse it. The bullseye is still visible, but the target is muted. Shoot at 3 yards; 9 feet. Look at the target, not the gun. Look at your sights, then look at the target. Without looking at your sights, point your pistol and press the trigger. See where the shot lands, adjust your point, shoot again.
Keep increasing the number of shots in a row, 2, 3, 4 until a group forms. Move the target out, repeat. At some point, reverse the target and use the sights for finer sight picture and smaller groups. The monkey comes off the shooter's back at some point, and flinching is diminished.
 
JeffG said:
You don't aim the sprayer on the garden hose, but your brain can easily calculate hits on a regular basis.
Click to expand...
Valid for full auto firing, (or rapid semi-auto) if you want to waste ammo. (and if you have surroundings around the target that allow feedback; dirt, etc.) Otherwise, not so much. You "aim" the sprayer on a hose by seeing where your "fire" is going, and adjusting fire while still firing. (walking fire onto a target) Doesn't work so well with guns, except as mentioned. I actually took the sights off of one of my pistols, they were causing low grouping. I also have removed beads off shotguns because of the tendency to focus on the bead, not the bird. But it still behooves one to learn how to shoot with sights as well as instinctive shooting, at least with rifles and pistols.
Another good technique is to start out close and with large targets, encourage then when they hit, then gradually go to smaller targets/farther back. Then it's time to introduce them to the maxim "Aim small, miss small."

JeffG said:
One technique that gave many of my students that "aha!" moment was point shooting or weapon occlusion shooting. It's my opinion the subconscious mind knows what a good target/firearm relationship looks like. The sights don't necessarily need to be in microscopic focus while you are pressing for a trigger break.
Click to expand...
I have noticed that too.
 
ATLDave said:
I wrote a lengthy post, which turned into a nice thread, on this topic. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-sights-and-quit-missing-low-and-left.854242/

As I explained in that post, you have to understand that a blink is at the core of about 99% of handgun flinches.
Click to expand...
As usual, great writing. :thumbup:

TYLER M RUSSELL said:
I have been instructing a friend for a few weeks ... one problem. I can't get the guy to stop flinching ... he doesn't flinch in dry fire, though at the firing line he will dip the slightest bit. he knows that he's doing it, and we've tried alternating snap caps in the magazine, we've tried drills where he doesn't know if it's loaded, we've tried everything that I can think of. the only time that he doesn't anticipate is when we are doing super slow fire. sight sight sight, squeeze squeeze squeze, if the sights move, put them back.... etc... when he gets going he will regress to dropping rounds.

I've run out of ideas. does anyone have any insights to help my buddy?
Click to expand...
If the friend is still flinching after few weeks of trying different things, it's time to do something even more different. As ATLDave wrote, you must disrupt the cause that maybe initiating the flinch.

Since dry fire practice didn't resolve the flinching, have the friend try this.
  • Using a clean cardboard backing or flipped target paper (So you can easily see the bullet hole), place a 1/2" dot in the center, about the height of the muzzle.
  • Place the cardboard/target paper with the dot at 5 yards
  • Have the friend draw and line up the sights on the dot
  • Then have the friend close eyes and fire until there is no flinching
  • Next, have the friend focus on the dot and fire until there is no flinching
If the friend is dropping the pistol due to muscle fatigue or adding input to the trigger/grip to move POI away from POA, have the friend try this - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ith-this-glock-22.861829/page-2#post-11354420
 
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Excellent! Thank you all so much for commenting! He and I are going out tomorrow to work on his flinch.
To ATL dave: that thread is a fascinating read! it explains something that an instructor of mine had me do when a number of years ago. I too had a small flinching problem. he drew an x on my slide, directly behind (in front?) of the front sight in silver sharpie and told me to stare at the x through the entire cycle of operations. after about 50 rounds I no longer flinched. I honestly thought that it was magic and didn't want to teach to something that I didn't understand.
the shoot the berm drill is definitely going to be on my list of things to do tomorrow.
the range that we usually go to doesn't allow "decoupling" I had wanted to do that a couple of weeks ago and got my hand slapped for "unsafe actions". we are already kind of stretching it with the range because they state that they don't allow instruction on their range outside of instructors employed BY the range operating a class. so i don't want to push anything.
if I read that correctly, we are talking about a variety of hard target focusing? I don't really have a lot of experience with that as I have never done it. I do believe that you can be accurate withing reasonable standards by target focusing, but it is better to train to front sight focus when developing muscle memory, especially presentation.
on that note, I don't really know how I feel about teaching point shooting in formative students. I do believe that point shooting is a useful skill, but without the ability to do much presentation work (again, the range threw a fit at me for practicing compressed ready presentations) to develop muscle memory for accurate first shot placement (does that make sense?) I'm not sure that now is the "right time" to teach point shooting?
His grip and trigger press is actually fairly impressive. I am a member of the Rob Leatham school of thought or trigger management. "smash it straight back and the sights won't move" this, of course, is used for what it is good for. a more deliberate press was taught for 20M shots ( indoor range with a maximum distance of 75 ft.) his grip, while not necessarily as I would like it, does its job. he doesn't like to break his support wrist as much as I want him to so I've begun to teach more of an Aaron Cowan style grip vs my more Bob Vogel style grip for him. either way, his recoil management is... functional. his grip does allow him some slop in the trigger without pushing or pulling off the target, so that's more than I figure that I can ask for with less than 1,000 rounds fired.

as far as becoming an actual instructor; what is the over/under on the NRA instructor course and the USCCA course? I've seen both advertized within a couple of hours of me. I think that I have to do NRA basic pistol before I can take the instructor course, is that right? I haven't taken any NRA classes. what should i expect when i go do a class like this?

thanks again to everyone who has responded!
 
TYLER M RUSSELL said:
I am a member of the Rob Leatham school of thought or trigger management. "smash it straight back and the sights won't move" this, of course, is used for what it is good for. a more deliberate press was taught for 20M shots
Click to expand...
Me too but if you are follower of Rob Leatham, you should note that he teaches what we do to produce accuracy at 7 yards should not change to produce accuracy at 10, 15 and 25 yards - So same trigger control should be used but perhaps with greater emphasis placed in maintaining sight alignment, which still involves trigger control but I found transferring grip work to steady the pistol/front sight to larger shoulder/back/chest muscles better steadies the pistol and specifically the front sight for longer distance targets as explained by Brian Zins in our in-depth "Trigger Control" discussion - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/trigger-control.834737/page-3#post-11255509

"You can hold sight alignment and sight picture on your pistol all day long. When does it change? When you move the trigger. Sights move. They are going to move. They have to move ... No matter how big your hands ... strong you are ... death grip ... as soon as you apply force ... on this pistol, it's going to move"
​
And I wrote, "The stance/grip/pistol together is in a state of dynamic motion to counteract/compensate for trigger pull/press to keep sight alignment on Point of Aim (POA) so Point of Impact (POI) will occur at the same spot, regardless whether using two hands, one strong/weak hand, two fingers, sighted/unsighted (point shooting), slow-fire bullseye, or rapid-fire action pistol.

If the shooter does not apply consistent trigger control, regardless of the stance/grip used, muzzle/front sight of the pistol will move just before the bullet exits the barrel and POI will deviate from POA (Which your friend apparently is doing either by "flinching" and/or by dipping/pushing to consciously or unconsciously compensate for recoil)

And minimizing muzzle/front sight movement on a consistent basis to produce smaller shot groups is accuracy."

TYLER M RUSSELL said:
I'm not sure that now is the "right time" to teach point shooting?
Click to expand...
To me, it's always "right time" to teach point shooting as I taught/shared defensive point shooting to hundreds of people and now introduce new shooters to point shooting with eyes closed (To establish natural shooting POA/POI synchronization) before transitioning to sighted shooting - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/trigger-control.834737/page-2#post-11244660

This is a listing of threads I compiled for a new member in H&R and perhaps will help your friend as well which includes step-by-step for point shooting - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/my-proposed-recipe-newbie-here.864640/#post-11414962
 
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TYLER M RUSSELL said:
as far as becoming an actual instructor; what is the over/under on the NRA instructor course and the USCCA course? I've seen both advertized within a couple of hours of me. I think that I have to do NRA basic pistol before I can take the instructor course, is that right? I haven't taken any NRA classes. what should i expect when i go do a class like this?
Click to expand...
I am an NRA certified pistol instructor. I do CCW, Advanced/Action pistol shooting, and carbine courses.

If I remember right you need BIT (basic instructor training) before you can take Basic Pistol instructor course or any of the others.
I have never taken NRA basic pistol as a student. And... come to think of it... I've never delivered an NRA Basic Pistol course...

One thing to remember is that anyone with a heartbeat can take BIT and these other courses and get certified. It does not make you a good instructor, IMO.

Professionalism, absence of ego, Presentation/Communication skills, experience, and knowledge are really what qualifies an instructor IMO.

If you are new to teaching people skills professionally, I highly recommend pursuing a reputable outfit's Instructor Development course.
The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Tactical Performance Center's course (based out of St. George Utah).

These kinds of courses are taught by recognized professionals at high levels of instruction.
 
LiveLife said:
Me too but if you are follower of Rob Leatham, you should note that he teaches what we do to produce accuracy at 7 yards should not change to produce accuracy at 10, 15 and 25 yards - So same trigger control should be used but perhaps with greater emphasis placed in maintaining sight alignment, which still involves trigger control but I found transferring grip work to steady the pistol/front sight to larger shoulder/back/chest muscles better steadies the pistol and specifically the front sight for longer distance targets as explained by Brian Zins in our in-depth "Trigger Control" discussion - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/trigger-control.834737/page-3#post-11255509

"You can hold sight alignment and sight picture on your pistol all day long. When does it change? When you move the trigger. Sights move. They are going to move. They have to move ... No matter how big your hands ... strong you are ... death grip ... as soon as you apply force ... on this pistol, it's going to move"
​
And I wrote, "The stance/grip/pistol together is in a state of dynamic motion to counteract/compensate for trigger pull/press to keep sight alignment on Point of Aim (POA) so Point of Impact (POI) will occur at the same spot, regardless whether using two hands, one strong/weak hand, two fingers, sighted/unsighted (point shooting), slow-fire bullseye, or rapid-fire action pistol.

If the shooter does not apply consistent trigger control, regardless of the stance/grip used, muzzle/front sight of the pistol will move just before the bullet exits the barrel and POI will deviate from POA (Which your friend apparently is doing either by "flinching" and/or by dipping/pushing to consciously or unconsciously compensate for recoil)

And minimizing muzzle/front sight movement on a consistent basis to produce smaller shot groups is accuracy."


To me, it's always "right time" to teach point shooting as I taught/shared defensive point shooting to hundreds of people and now introduce new shooters to point shooting with eyes closed (To establish natural shooting POA/POI synchronization) before transitioning to sighted shooting - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/trigger-control.834737/page-2#post-11244660

This is a listing of threads I compiled for a new member in H&R and perhaps will help your friend as well which includes step-by-step for point shooting - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/my-proposed-recipe-newbie-here.864640/#post-11414962
Click to expand...
Thank you, sir, for the well thought out response.
of course, any trigger manipulation that doesn't "move the sights" at 5 yards won't "move the sights" at 20, or 50 yards. one could also make the argument that Mr. Leatham was saying that your trigger press should be good enough under his method that it will achieve the same results at distance. I am very glad that I brought that up. pointing out my missteps as a coach, or instructor will do nothing but make me better!

as far as neutral grip, push-pull, death grip etc... I think that there are a bunch of ways to skin a cat even at the highest levels. Rob Leatham grips differently than Brian Enos, who grips differently than Jerry Miculek, who grips differently than Bob Vogel, who grips differently than Pat Mcnamara, and so on and so forth. now the differences in grip may be nuanced, but they are there. whatever allows a shooter the ability to make consistent hits while controlling recoil is what that shooter should use.

I happen to squeeze down on the sides of the pistol, camming my elbows up to increase my torque, and pushing in with my chest. I do a bit of pulling with my support hand by nature of breaking my wrist down, possibly similar to the amount that Mr Leatham had indicated. most of what I do is intended to lock the pistol into my frame, which will by structure be locked in place. the "path of least resistance" of the energy to take is directly back into my body where I can absorb the recoil and keep the firearm on target. but I am more than willing to teach another technique based more on a "push/pull" or driving the thumb forward to gain leverage on the bottom of the front strap and manage recoil that way.

to point shooting:
after understanding the detail from the threads that you posted, it seems that you are talking about both a "hard target focus" and point shooting.
after our trip to the range, today Jordan (he's given me permission to use his name in our discussion) ran out of ammo before we ran out of time. I took the opportunity to really analyze what I do. when shooting quickly, or doing transitions etc.. I target focus with both eyes open. painting a good sight picture onto the target that looks like it's "ghosted". if you've ever shot a magnified optic with a lit reticle at close distances you may be familiar with the Bindon aiming concept. my sights seem to operate kind of similar to that. Point shooting is a skill that I believe is best developed through creating muscle memory by performing repetitions using the sight so long as you are presenting and not "looking for the sight". I also believe that in the formative stages of shooting it is important to teach around the front sight "don't shoot until you see the front sight", pressing the trigger as soon as the sights have settled after recoil instead of waiting to release the trigger etc..



range report
Jordan and I arrived at the range at 9:30 today. he bought 200 rounds today and 2 hours worth of range time. before we had arrived I explained the goal of the day; to stop the flinch. there was steel in his eyes as we walked onto the range and set up. M&P loaded. 3 Mags ready. we hung a large target facing downrange and I told him to watch the pistol as he shoots. impassively observe the cycle of operation. following that magazine he shifted focus downrange. observing the flash with his peripheral vision. next mag back to the slide. after 5 mags we pulled the target in and switched it out with a new one, sending it out 7M he fired 10 rounds slow fire. his first impact became his target and his goal was to create the smallest possible group. his flinch had noticeably reduced at this point. his group was good. not a raged hole, but close enough that we both felt good about it. several drills, and 100 rds later, he had a solid grouping. still, a touch low, impacting between the outside 10 ring, and the 9 but significantly better. we did one more magazine of taking the sights out of the equation, then the last 10 rounds went to him having fun. all in all a good session! we both agreed that we had a good thing going with the fix for the flinch and after I took the last 15 minutes to figure out how i do and see things, we got some steak and shake and called it a day.

so again! thank you all for the help with Jordan's flinch! and with the support of becoming an instructor. would anyone, by chance, want to open a coaching development thread? something where we can talk about the how's and why's of what we do? I would like a little bit of help with structuring classes. it felt.... very random.t he way that I had taught the basics. how do you all teach basics? is it something like: safety, terminology (or should that be reversed?), what to expect, grip, stance, trigger manipulation, safety again, dry fire, safety, live fire?
 
TYLER M RUSSELL said:
as far as neutral grip, push-pull, death grip etc... I think that there are a bunch of ways to skin a cat even at the highest levels ... whatever allows a shooter the ability to make consistent hits while controlling recoil is what that shooter should use.
Click to expand...
That's why as I stated in my linked posts, whenever I am teaching/sharing defensive point shooting (Conventional sighted shooting basics is part of introduction), at the start of 4 hour instruction after going over shooting basics/safety, I demonstrate 2 finger grip, one hand strong/weak grip (Canted in like hands on steering wheel at 10/2 O'Clock), 2 hand Weaver/Modified Weaver/Isosceles and modified Isosceles (No extension at chest, partial to full extension) to sighted/unsighted (eyes closed) point shooting.

After I demonstrate each, I have every shooter do the same to "shatter" the lifelong shooting notions they may have picked up from Hollywood movies and from other people. Once they realize they can control various 9mm/40S&W/45ACP compacts to fullsize pistols to produce fast double taps at multiple targets at different distances, I have found they can better assimilate Rob Leatham/Jerry Miculek/Brian Zins' techniques to shoot without moving the front sight and produce holes (POI) on target (POA).

As to point shooting, for defensive application, I use target focused unsighted (Front sight not referenced) point shooting but for more precise match shooting (Action Pistol shooting like USPSA), I use "looking past the front sight" with blurry front sight on clear target to produce fast double taps at will, anywhere on target from 7 to 15 yards. All shooting is done with both eyes open or closed.

And the reason why I start off with eyes closed POI synchronization with POA for point shooting is I found, this is the fastest way for people to understand what the body is capable of doing and how our brain/visual distraction/imagination will deviate POI from POA. Most shooters are surprised to find that eyes closed point shooting can produce consistent shot groups on target. Because point shooting indexed to hand/fingers is a fine motor muscle activity we have mastered/practiced all of our lives like consistently hitting the light switch and inserting a tiny key into car ignition hole without looking. Most people are capable of pointing within an inch of any object inside the home/office and I empower this already mastered skill for point shooting.

So once eyes closed POI synchronization with POA is done (I recommend all shooters do this at the start of each range session), they are able to produce holes on target at will, anywhere which to me, is the "Zen of shooting" Brian Enos and Rob Leatham discussed in detail in many interviews and already documented in various match shooting and point shooting threads.

I am not an officially NRA trained instructor, just a retired ex Army medic who enjoyed shooting USPSA in the 90s mentored by a seasoned bullseye match shooter and taught point shooting by PD/SD Swat instructor who was range owner and USPSA RSO who allowed us full access to the range afterhours and at night to do point shooting of USPSA stages with our Glock front sights removed. And since have shared with hundreds of other match shooters and coworkers/friends/family/neighbors shooting basics, both sighted and unsighted.

I am still intrigued that your friend is flinching after all this time. If you PM me, I can provide you my cell number and do a brain dump of all that I know about shooting, at least what has worked for me, generously shared by other regional USPSA shooters.
 
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Brian Williams
Brian Williams
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T
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S
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D
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