Aim at what?

[Marcel]

I'm shooting in a sportsclub with an airpistol. As I'm a complete rookie I was wondering why everybody is telling me not to aim at the centre of the card but instead in the middle of the bottom of the circle and the bottom of the card. (around the bottom 3). If asking why, the answer is always 'it is the best place, you will see'.
Why is this?

mbx00060-at-pophost.eunet.be.45698.0

[RML]

I assume that you are shooting at the normal international air pistol target, white with black center rings.
You have been told to aim at the white part of the target, below the center black. This is called a rolling aim, because the black circle is "rolling" on top of the front sight.
There are two main reasons:
- The black pistol sights are easier to see against the white part of the target. If you aim at the black, it may be more difficult to line up the front and back sights because the black part of the target is disturbing your view.
- When aiming at the black center of the target, or to close to it, you see the movement of the pistol much better (the black is "jumping around"), and you concentrate to much on keeping the pistol still. By aiming well below the black, you will be able to concentrate better on lining up the sights of the pistol. That is the most important part of aiming.
Remember: When aiming, you should focus on the front sight, and not on the target. The black part of the target should be blured during the whole sighting process, while the front sight should bee seen completely sharp all the time. You will still be able to hold the pistol towards the right part of the target. The important part of pistol shooting is to line up your front and back sights, keep them lined up while pulling the trigger, and ignore the fact that you cannot hold the pistol completely without movement.
RML
.45703.45698

[marcel]

: Remember: When aiming, you should focus on the front sight, and not on the target.
Do I understand this well : As I need glasses to read but I can see the target sharp, you claim I should wear my glasses to see my pistol sharp and only that shadow-blur of the target is enough to shoot at the center of it ??
mbx00060-at-pophost.eunet.be.45704.45703

[Mako]

Correct ... front sight needs to be sharp, out of focus target helps you concentrate on the front sight.
Sight ALIGNMENT is what is important. If your sights are aligned, your natural wobble should still get you at least a nine ... a ten once you have your technique down and have developed a strong grip,wrist, shoulder.
If your sights aren't aligned ... the Angular Displacement will send the shot wide ...
Another common name for the HOLD that has been recommended to you ... is called the Sub Six hold.
A Six O'Clock hold ... where you hold your front sight directly under the six ring ... is not good for many people because you spend too much time trying to decide if your front sight is correctly aligned with the six ring.
Some shooters ... especially those that shoot rapid and timed fire events also ... use a Center hold ... sometimes with a white or orange (translucent) front sight ... which stands out against the black bull.
Even with a Sub Six hold ... a white dot place a bit under the top of the front sight ... gives one something to concentrate on ...

makofoto-at-earthlink.net.45705.45704

[PETE]

Which hold or aim point you use is not critical. There are successful shooters using a center hold and there are successful shooters using the sub-six hold. What is critical is that your focus and attention are on the alignment of the front and rear sight. If you see the front sight moving on your target, you are not paying attention to the front and rear sight alignment. You merely see the silhoutte of the front and rear. But if you see the front, in sharp focus,within the rear sight and are trying to detect the very slight misalignments,you are doing the right technique. You only have to have the vague perception of your target, and where you are on the target. If you try to hold an exact point below the black bullseye, you can not know what is happeninig with your sights.
Turn the target such that you see just the white back side, concentrate your attention on the sight alignment. You will probably do better!

: I'm shooting in a sportsclub with an airpistol. As I'm a complete rookie I was wondering why everybody is telling me not to aim at the centre of the card but instead in the middle of the bottom of the circle and the bottom of the card. (around the bottom 3). If asking why, the answer is always 'it is the best place, you will see'.
: Why is this?

.45709.45698

[RML]

Yes, and no(!). It may be that your reading glasses are to strong, making the target almost invisible, but some people shoot very well with their reading glasses.
But the principle is correct. Special shooting glasses are made so that the target is blured and impossible to focus on, while the sights are seen sharp.
One of the main problems of pistolshooting is to be able to focus on the front sight, and thereby the sightalignment, and not let your focus drift over to the target. At the moment you loose focus on the sights, your sightalignment will be disturbed, and you make a bad shoot. The problem is that our eyes are made mostly to look for objects at a distance, and it is more natural to us.
If you want to go into the details behind why the sight alignment is more important than pointing the pistol at one exact point on the target, you may do so by some simple mathematics and angular versus distance calculation. But I will not go into that here.
As Mako points out, it is also common to use a center hold when shooting rapid fire. But for air-pistol it is not that common.
RML
.45711.45704

[yana]

I'm trying to leave a white part when aiming, but I
feel it's hard to have exactly the same amount of white
every time
is there a solution 4 this?
hwtyger-at-hotmail.com.46152.45705