Varminterror
Member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2016
- Messages
- 14,935
I instruct handgunners on a paradigm of “learn to shoot tight, then learn to shoot tight, faster.”
I have rarely, if ever, seen someone who started out shooting fast, actually learn to shoot fast, tighter. As they say - slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
The problem with benchrest, service rifle, bullseye, etc, is the requirement to go well beyond the skill of shooting tight if you want to be competitive. Anyone can learn how to shoot “tight enough,” then take that skill to an action shooting sport and learn how to shoot tight enough, faster. It’s easier, faster, and less expensive to learn how to shoot tight enough, faster, and have some modicum of success in action games than it is to learn how to shoot super duper tight for precision games. Equally, precision games only have ONE measure of success, where action games have both speed and hits/score. Just the nature of how people learn, how the games are played, and how people measure their own success. I know some guys feel great when they hit as many targets as the guy which won the match, even though their total time was a full minute slower. I also know guys who feel good about their time when they match that of the winners, even though they picked up penalties or misses which knocked them out of the top 10. It’s easier to find small personal victories in action games, without the burden of attaining some seemingly unattainable level of mastery of precision.
The bad news, of course, is the reality we live in - where to WIN in any shooting sport, an amazing level of mastery has to be achieved. The winners who shoot tight, fast, are just as skilled as the bullseye guys shooting ridiculously tight. But the average newbie doesn’t see that on the surface. They go slow and can shoot tight, then they can go fast, and feel like they can reach the winners sooner. They can’t, but they feel as though they can.
Precision should remain a fundamental foundation stone for any shooter, but the singular focus skills required to win in precision games are incredibly daunting.
And of course, the guys which go to matches just to be along for the ride will better find their entertainment in more dynamic games.
I have rarely, if ever, seen someone who started out shooting fast, actually learn to shoot fast, tighter. As they say - slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
The problem with benchrest, service rifle, bullseye, etc, is the requirement to go well beyond the skill of shooting tight if you want to be competitive. Anyone can learn how to shoot “tight enough,” then take that skill to an action shooting sport and learn how to shoot tight enough, faster. It’s easier, faster, and less expensive to learn how to shoot tight enough, faster, and have some modicum of success in action games than it is to learn how to shoot super duper tight for precision games. Equally, precision games only have ONE measure of success, where action games have both speed and hits/score. Just the nature of how people learn, how the games are played, and how people measure their own success. I know some guys feel great when they hit as many targets as the guy which won the match, even though their total time was a full minute slower. I also know guys who feel good about their time when they match that of the winners, even though they picked up penalties or misses which knocked them out of the top 10. It’s easier to find small personal victories in action games, without the burden of attaining some seemingly unattainable level of mastery of precision.
The bad news, of course, is the reality we live in - where to WIN in any shooting sport, an amazing level of mastery has to be achieved. The winners who shoot tight, fast, are just as skilled as the bullseye guys shooting ridiculously tight. But the average newbie doesn’t see that on the surface. They go slow and can shoot tight, then they can go fast, and feel like they can reach the winners sooner. They can’t, but they feel as though they can.
Precision should remain a fundamental foundation stone for any shooter, but the singular focus skills required to win in precision games are incredibly daunting.
And of course, the guys which go to matches just to be along for the ride will better find their entertainment in more dynamic games.
