TargetTalk

Every time I move from an established foot position I re-establish it by aligning my sights on the target with my eyes closed, then open them and shift my back foot round 'till everything is in line - Correct?

OK - when I do this I find my body's long axis pointing about 15 degrees to the left of the target.

Why should I NOT be striving to keep both axes (the one passing through my shoulders (what I have called my body's long-axis) and the one passing down my shooting arm) in parallel (which seems to make more sense in theory?).

By the way, despite a lack of hands-on coaching (all I get is from reading this web-site) my average is still climbing: 84 - 88 in the last 3 months. I must be doing something right, or is that the kind of change you would expect by just putting in the time?

Mike S-J wrote:Why should I NOT be striving to keep both axes (the one passing through my shoulders (what I have called my body's long-axis) and the one passing down my shooting arm) in parallel (which seems to make more sense in theory?).

The question I have for you is "Why SHOULD you be striving to keep both axes............etc".

Everbody is built differently and the perfect stance for one person may not be perfect for someone else. The important thing is that the gun should settle naturally in your aiming area every time you raise it. How you stand to achieve that is of secondary importance providing that you are not putting undue strain anywhere or twisting your head so much that it reduces the blood supply.

Many people try to make shooting too complicated. Comfortable and natural is better than forced and strained.

Hear, Hear!

The key word in the phrase "natural point of aim" is, well, "natural."

Even if it isn't truly "optimal" in the sense of giving you the absolutely smallest wobble area, the NPA is a pretty darned good baseline- and has the advantage of being adaptive and easy to establish.

And many would even argue the "optimally smallest wobble area" point.

Your NPA will change in absolute terms over the course of a match and/or your shooting career but will always remain exactly the same in relative terms.

Steve Swartz