Aiming mindset

[tarkka]

Hello,

I have been practicing 10m ap shooting for two weeks now.

This may be hard to explain but let's try.

When aiming, my thinking has been the following: line up the sights and try to hit the middle, which I think has worked quite well so far. I hit rarely on white and I can regularly shoot more than 90 score per target. Here are today's 60 shots. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bIxhM2 ... p=drivesdk

After 60 shots, I thought of trying a different way of thinking and shot a couple of targets so that I aligned the sights and focused only on the sights and fired without thinking at all about hitting the middle because the hit shouldn't matter, just hold and shoot without focusing on the black (in the same style as I do in dry shooting). It went very well for the first 9 shots but the last one went white when I started thinking about hitting the middle because the result was going to be good. For the second target, I tried the same way again, but I again noticed that I was paying more attention to hitting the middle, and grouping wasn't any good. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bHa3FK ... p=drivesdk

If I have understood correctly, this is probably the right aiming and shooting mindset, the way to achieve the best results in the long run? How to get the mindset turned to this with every shot and ignore hitting the black/center?

I know I'm a beginner and with practice you improve, but I believe that some may have experienced the same thing when they started.

[David M]

The big mistake was thinking. The shot process should be like a computer program, once started it just happens.
Try taking away the urge to hit the middle, shoot on the back of the target (blank target) to train the process.

[Gwhite]

Can you call your shots accurately? That should allow you to separate aiming errors from other technique problems. It will also let you know when you have lost focus on your sights, because it's impossible to call your shots if you aren't focused on sight alignment.

You shouldn't be thinking about the results ("hitting the middle") at all. Your concentration should be on the portions of your shot process that will result in a good shot. Once you've got the basic down (which it looks like you do), that usually reduces to keeping your sights aligned, and releasing the shot without disturbing the sight alignment (trigger control).

Ideally, eventually you want both activities to be committed to "muscle memory", and you won't need to think about them at all. Most shooters find that they can largely commit sight alignment or trigger control to muscle memory, and that need to apply some concentration to executing the the other properly.

[tarkka]

^^
I've read about shooting at an blank target but I feel like there's nothing to aim for, so how can you get a good grouping, so thats why I haven't tried it. But i will try it next time.

^
I can't see individual shots accurately because I don't have spotting scope or similar, so I can't call shots accurately. Usually I call "good shot", "bad shot" good ones hit at least 9 but also bad ones might be really good hits or they are sevens.

There will always be a slight natural movement when aiming. Should you be aiming on the "aiming area" or "aiming point"? If I try to aim at a certain point that I know will hit the middle, I often lose focus because I start chasing this point, but the hit may be still quite good most of the time.
If I aim at the aiming area then I allow a little movement and the shot feels better, the focus is better but there are clearly worse ones among the good hits. I feel that I can call these shots accurately but can't be sure because I don't see the hits.

[Gwhite]

IF you have a spotting scope, you can learn something from EVERY shot. Without knowing which shots are on-call, and which ones aren't, you are handicapping yourself a LOT.

There are all sorts of inexpensive options, including an old webcam.

[bowright]

You grouping looks quite good, which means the process is suitable for you, arc of movement is quite small. 1 target of more scattering does not mean the process is not good.
Another thing matters here is duration, how long do you take to aim on usually? How long is the trigger pull time?

[Ramon OP]

It is an aiming area, not a spot. Nobody can hold the pistol perfectly still. Watch the video highlights of the ISSF and Olympic games and look at the muzzles.

Trying to shoot when you reach a certain point will often lead to jerking and snatching. Your connection between the brain and the finger is not immediate. It will take about 0.2 seconds, and guns move a lot in that time.

It is hard to let go of the illusion of control, but your triggering and your scores will improve.

A good shot does not depend on the score, but on your perception of your shot process. You have to practice calling the score after releasing the shot. If it does not match your appreciation it could mean you were distracted.

[atomicgale]

When aiming, my thinking has been the following:

Correlate "Aiming" to the kinetic action of someone who types 80+ words-per-minute on a keyboard.

As you type, you don't "think" about which keys to hit; it just "happens."

The "Kineto-graphic-memory" of the physical action of "Aiming," the process then the scoring shot simply occurs.

Recall the movie line from the recent TOP GUN:
"Don't Think."
"Just Do."