AIMING IS USELESS! 3 Secrets To Great Shooting | Rob Leatham 6x IPSC World Champion!

[george burns]

Rob Leatham1 year ago
It is curious the things people think are being said here. This has nothing to do with sights or red dots. Those are just tools use to aim. And until you can make aiming meaningful and useful, focusing on it as the priority simply will not help your shooting except to slow down the inevitable poor shot that follows. Don't read in to this. Don't try to adapt what I said to comply with your understanding. If what I say disagrees with your beliefs, question why... If you want to learn and improve, watch it again and try to understand. It is simple enough, but since it disagrees with popular opinion and dogma it may be hard to accept. The world is not flat...

 

[huntsman]

Makes sense to me, but then I always try to pull the trigger fast.

 

[WrongHanded]

It seems to me that if a novice is not aiming, it may be harder for them to tell whether or not they are holding the gun and pulling the trigger correctly. Sure, they may be hitting the target, but is POI at POA? Hard to tell when not actually aiming.

 

[Walkalong]

I have seen this before, and it is the first thing I was taught ages ago, pull the trigger without moving the gun.

 

[readyeddy]

It's a good message for beginners to first focus on pulling the trigger while not moving the gun. Many new shooters don't realize why they are missing the target, thinking they need to concentrate harder on aligning the sights on target.

 

[22250Rem]

Good video with good advice from a real champion. I should watch it a few more times: I need all the help I can get.

 

[Sauer Grapes]

I've used this recently with a couple new shooters. At 5 yards I've had them point the gun, hold it still and think about nothing but squeeze the trigger. They went from a 6 inch group to about 3 inches if you hold the gun still. I think new shooters tend to worry about sights way too much and forget about anything else.

 

[Walkalong]

I get them to dry fire a few times, and naturally they can do this with minimum gun movement. Then I get them to imagine they are dry firing when they shoot live ammo. They flinch due to expected recoil. We have to completely wipe the thought of recoil from our minds, just like we were dry firing the gun. If we are thinking of recoil, we are so much more likely to react to anticipated recoil and flinch.

 

[George Dickel]

Years back when I took basic training the DI would place a penny or dime on the front sights of our M14 while we dry fired. The object was to not have the coin fall off the sight. It wasn't easy.

 

[Louca]

Many new shooters don't realize why they are missing the target, thinking they need to concentrate harder on aligning the sights on target.

On aligning the sights, on stance, on grip, on trigger control, and maybe on some others. The poor new student has to concentrate on so many things at the same time that are taught as "equally important" that they fail to really concentrate on any of them very much. I like what Letham said about practicing trigger pull without even really shooting, dry firing with emphasis on no gun movement.

But I do not like the vibe he gives that "everything else is bleep [hogwash]." Maybe for IPSC, sight alignment is secondarily important to a good trigger pull; maybe to him everything else is secondary to trigger pull. But there are shooting situations where it is important. So my opinion is there should be an order of working on the important elements, not trying to work on all of them at the same time.

 

[Sarge7402]

From a self defense stand point you'd better not tell any one that you were't aiming at the bad guy when you stoked him. That mean that you'd accidentally shot him and the civil liability case will eat you alive.

Another thing that needs to be emphaisied is that it takes a lot of practice (over 500 repititions) to build up muscle memory so that when you draw you automatically index the weapon on the target you are aiming at.

Lastly you need to build up the muscles in your hand - strength building - to allow you to pull not jerk the trigger and to maintain control over the weapon during the firing process.

 

[CoalTrain49]

I got a lot out of that video. I move the pistol before I fire. Consequently I can't shoot very well. I used to blame it on the sights but I've had a suspicion that it was movement for awhile now. I'll be working on that in the future.

This kind of thing is a lot more apparent with a scoped rifle at 100 yards. Easier to control also. Pistols have always been a challenge for me. Rifles and shotguns not so much.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

So my opinion is there should be an order of working on the important elements, not trying to work on all of them at the same time.

I think that's all he was really saying, and I agree with him.

I have been teaching my girlfriend to shoot. I made the exact mistake he described. I had her paying attention to her stance, her grip, her sight alignment, and her trigger squeeze all at the same time. It's too much for some new shooters.

So I had her just pop off a few magazines while I watched. I realized her stance was ok, her grip technique was fine, and her sight alignment were all good. What was not ok was her trigger control. She was letting off the trigger immediately after firing, she was trying to fire too quickly, and she was jerking the gun around anticipating recoil.

So I told her this:

"The first thing I need you to do is slow down. I want you to count to 3 in your head at the minimum before firing the next shot. Next, I want you to focus on only moving your trigger finger when taking your shot. The gun needs to remain stationery, and after you fire, KEEP THE TRIGGER PULLED until you are back on target."

Once I told her that, she started hitting her target consistently. Poor groups for sure, but she was hitting the target. She has a long ways to go, but at least she is hitting her target now.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I wear XL gloves, but my fingers are boney, and as a result I don't have the strongest grip. I have found this to be a problem for accuracy, because the tendency is that when I squeeze the trigger, my entire hand flexes. This moves the gun, and it has taken me years to deal with my pre-programed hand flex.

I have it pretty well under control now, but sometimes I slip and pull my shots. Then I get frustrated and it gets worse. In those circumstances I have to put the gun down, reset calmly, and then focus on trigger technique again.

It takes constant maintenance and repetition, and a heck of a lot of dry fire practice. It is the one undeniably good use of lasers for training, as you can see very clearly if you are moving the gun during dry fire practice.

 

[JeffG]

 

[ATLDave]

I am very familiar with this video and love it.

One of the best lines is "it's not jerking the trigger.... you shoot fast, you're going to jerk the trigger. So learn to jerk the trigger without moving the gun." That stupid pie chart is irrelevant garbage for modern, two-handed pistol shooting.

The overwhelming majority of the obstacle to shooting reasonably accurately with a pistol is flinching - moving the whole gun in anticipation of recoil. And the overwhelming majority of flinching starts with the eyes. If shooters can keep their eyes open throughout the firing process, they can self-correct very well.

 

[ATLDave]

While we don't "aim" to spray insecticide on the spider on the garage wall, or aim the water stream to get the cigarette butt off the sidewalk, shooting fundamentals should be trained first. Instinctive, point or third eye shooting can, in my opinion, come later.

You either didn't watch the video or missed the point. The title is a little click-bait-y.

 

[Walkalong]

Folks bombard new shooters with too much info, just concentrate on basics and make sure they have fun. Same thing for hitting a baseball etc. Start off simple.

You don't start with Graduate level Calculus, you start with Grade school math, like 2 plus 2.

 

[Danoobie]

This works. I realized this a little while before I saw the video, and there has been a
major leap in my accuracy. When you pull the trigger, the pistol usually moves.

POI is now POA, and what was wide patterns are now
becoming ragged holes.

 

[bgw45]

At my age it doesn't matter if I hold my pistol really firm or really tight my point is a float ( meaning I can't hold the xring at 45'). So, I must accept the float and concentrate on the trigger as trigger release is in fact the only thing I can control. When I finally accepted this my shooting began to steadily improve. That's really cool for an old guy. I'm having fun.

 

[Walkalong]

or an old guy

I took me awhile to learn how to shoot fuzzy sights when my close vision started going, and went, South. And even young, on days I wasn't steady, I had to learn to fire the gun when the sights floated over the target.

 

[CoalTrain49]

At my age it doesn't matter if I hold my pistol really firm or really tight my point is a float ( meaning I can't hold the xring at 45'). So, I must accept the float and concentrate on the trigger as trigger release is in fact the only thing I can control. When I finally accepted this my shooting began to steadily improve. That's really cool for an old guy. I'm having fun.

That's exactly how one shoots birds or clays with a shotgun. Instead of not moving the gun, the gun is always in motion. The method I learned shooting skeet was a movement to and thru the target and trigger control. That's probably why I'm still learning the shills most pistol shooters learned a long time ago.

I gave up clays awhile back and took up pistol and rifle shooting. I've never had any problems with a rifle but pistol for me is a challenge. I still enjoy it however and I shoot almost every week. Nothing comes easy for most of us.

 

[jhansman]

His point is well taken. My first 10 shots today at the range (15') were low-left. Stopped and asked myself, "Self, what are you doing wrong?" Had a pretty good idea, but checked everything else (grip, stance, breathing, etc.) and dry-fired a couple. Sure enough, I could see the muzzle move from the trigger jerk. "Stop it!" I said, and did. Next 10 were on target, but not really grouped. Now I have a better sense of what to do, and what not to do. With practice, I will become a better shot, but consistency is what I'm after. Muscle memory is a real thing, and letting your body do what it knows how to is one of the secrets of repeatable performance. Thanks, OP.

 

[RecoilRob]

And....remember that shooting at a moving target is WAY different for most people than at a stationary one. You MUST be able to release the shot quickly when the gun is pointing at the target and this pretty much involves jerking the trigger. The 'target squeeze and being surprised when the shot goes off' just doesn't work if the target is moving.

At a range that permits such things, a cardboard disc affixed to the center of an old tire which is then rolled across the firing line makes for some fun practice hitting while moving. Good video from Mr Leatham.

 

[Hangingrock]

Instructors tend to bring perspective from their experience thus background. Examples being Competition, Law Enforcement and Military. Their background influences what is taught and how the instructor teaches the subject matter. Tom Givens recently touched on that subject. I think he is correct.