Meaning of center hold

[seamaster]

Center hold means that big AREA hold in the center of paper target? Means shooting in the general center of that target paper, be there a black dot or not?

[Gwhite]

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Sub-6 is also referred to as an "area hold".

[seamaster]

Center hold is also an area hold, no? The whole square center area hold.

You don't care about that black target dot, do you?

[Gwhite]

It's an area hold if you let it be. One problem with a center hold is that the center is a precise point. Lots of people will try to too hard to get lined up at that spot, and will either hold too long trying to make it perfect, or yank on the trigger as it passes through the middle. It also tends to draw people's focus to the target, and not on their front sight & and keeping them aligned.

If you can resist all those temptations, AND you can see your front sight against the black of the target, it's quite possible to shoot just as well with a center hold as any other.

[john bickar]

Center hold means that big AREA hold in the center of paper target? Means shooting in the general center of that target paper, be there a black dot or not?

This is a really good way of putting it. It's an area hold that is centered around the middle of the target, regardless of the size of the black. Think about a 25M RF target.

[JamesHH]

This is what centre hold means for me.



Partly because thats where my fixed sight Hi Power put them, partly because it means I can't see .32 holes appearing which is distracting, partly because it works best for me - it means I look at the centre of the foresight, not darting between the top edge and the target.

[jliston48]

It's an area hold if you let it be. One problem with a center hold is that the center is a precise point. Lots of people will try to too hard to get lined up at that spot, and will either hold too long trying to make it perfect, or yank on the trigger as it passes through the middle. It also tends to draw people's focus to the target, and not on their front sight & and keeping them aligned.

If you can resist all those temptations, AND you can see your front sight against the black of the target, it's quite possible to shoot just as well with a center hold as any other.

You have made the point that I fully agree with - that centre holding is very much an acquired skill.

When someone presents to our club as a new shooter, we bombarded them with information - mainly safety stuff but also membership and licensing info as well as shooting times and club rules. When I give them their first shots, I tell them about loading, trigger control and aiming, using the centre hold principle (to save from data overload) with targets at about 15 metres/yards. In our club, new shooters must complete a minimum of three supervised shoots, mainly so we can assess their attitude to safety. After these three shoots, they elect to continue with membership or to walk away from the sport.

After this time, when they are feeling a bit more relaxed and they are shooting at 25 metres, I introduce the sub-six o'clock area aiming (between the bottom of the target and the 7-ring - equivalent to an 8-ring aiming area) - with the reasons. This is to teach them the fundamentals of area aiming. So from this point, they use this aiming method.

Then, once they understand the concept of area aiming, I tell them to try the centre hold while embracing the concept of area aiming and not trying to shoot at the centre point of the black. After that it is up them to try both and select the one they are more comfortable with - always with the knowledge that they can try the other method later if they wish.