Nature vs. Nurture?

[mortablunt]

I guess that maybe 10% of gun skill is nature. Some people have weapons in their natural affinities and others do not. Of course, talent only gets you so far. IF you want more, then you have to practice practice practice...

 

[Manco]

I have heard that women are suppose to be naturally better shooters than men due to physiological advantages they have. They use both sides of their brains more than we do.

Virtually everybody uses both hemispheres of their brain for whatever is needed. While it is true that there is a consistently higher degree of coordination between the hemispheres of female human brains, I don't see what that has to do with shooting. Men and women do process things a bit differently in general, no doubt, but I don't think that we can draw such arbitrary conclusions. Fortunately, all we have to do is observe the results, which is what we've already done in this thread.

Also, we know that trigger control is an important element to good shooting.

Women have more sensitive hands and therefore trigger squeezing is easier and more natural to them. Again, I don't know if this is true, but my wife's shooting as always amazed me.

I don't know whether that's true, either, at least for light triggers, but I'm pretty sure that raw strength, conversely, plays some role with heavier triggers (e.g. DA revolvers).

<snip>

I guess maybe women are naturally better shooters then men.

Without a doubt some women are exceptionally skilled shooters who can out-shoot most men, but on the average I have not noticed a significant advantage for either gender with regard to innate ability, with the aforementioned exception of the top level of competition (at least for defensive pistol shooting, where strength is a factor).

Eye sight is a big factor i believe. Since my middle age eyes showed up, i really have to concentrate harder to make good shots and i have had to increase my practice to stay a decent shot.

I think this depends on what kind of shooting you're talking about, maximum accuracy or speed with acceptable accuracy.

I think some of those novice - great shooters have an advantage - they don't tend to overthink shooting - they aim - and fire.

Speaking only for myself, I was a pretty decent shooter right from the start (better than most shooters you'll find at a public range), even when I didn't know some of the finer details of shooting, but these days I actually think a lot LESS than I did before when it comes to defensive pistol shooting. Whereas I used to concentrate really hard on lining up the sights (with one eye shut) and squeeeeeezing the trigger, I can get the same or better accuracy and consistency (good enough for combat) now without even properly lining up the sights--I focus on the target instead (with both eyes open), hold the pistol slightly below eye level, and then I just sort of "know" when I'm on target based on the geometry of the gun, the sights (in my peripheral vision), and the target (including range). The vast majority of my thinking is then devoted to the adversaries and tactics (maneuvering and finding cover) rather than aiming and shooting.

On the other hand, when I'm trying to maximize accuracy, I find that I concentrate harder than I used to, and am more patient with my shots. While I may be thinking a lot more about each shot, I'm still able to achieve significantly better accuracy than before because I'm applying what I've learned since then. My natural abilities are pretty good (especially reflexes and spatial reasoning, which tested in the top 1% according to cognitive research that I participated in while in college), but it still took a lot of hard work to develop them further into usable skills.

My point is that this is a very complex subject with no single answer as to why different people start out with different levels of skill and progress differently. All I know is that no matter how talented you may be, it takes plenty of good nurture to fulfill the potential of one's nature.

So if it is so much nurture then someone that shoots regularly should shoot better!!

Not if they don't get the right nurture.

I think that what most of us are thinking when we say 95% of shooting is nurture is that 95% of what can be achieved by people with regard to shooting skills can be developed in almost anybody through training. Now, to be sure, some people require more training and practice than others to reach that 95% level that just about anybody can potentially attain, but that is a whole other matter that depends on each individual (not a single number that we can estimate).