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Posting here first, it's a pretty small forum so would like to hear some feedback...
Short version:
1) Close your eyes, draw as you would to the usual acceptable sight picture using your usual par time, open your eyes, assess the sight alignment.
2) Same as (1) above, but pull the trigger with eyes closed, open, assess the situation.
Long version:
Thinking about predictive vs. reactive shooting concepts, where you pull the trigger on the second shot on a paper target without enough time to make a conscious decision about reading the sights before the pull (only observing them as the decision to shoot is already made), I wanted to see how well the predictive shooting concept works and whether I can test it in dry fire. The idea behind predictive shooting is that you *know* where the sights will end up (roughly) and you don't go through "confirm sights - shoot" loop, but instead use "know where the sights will be - shoot - confirm the sights" loop. You cannot simulate this on the second shot on a paper target, obviously, because there is no recoil.
But, if you think about it, you can analyze the predictive shooting concept during your draw. On fast and close targets, you make decision to fire that first shoot before the sights are fully aligned, the same as you do on the second shoot on a paper target. That is the only way to get super-fast draws. (It also happens to be in Enos' book as a concept, so I'm not crazy here.) With a draw, you don't have the recoil, but you do have indexing from a very far position (holster) with a lot of movement. Your index has to be good enough for close targets if you want to draw fast (and if you want to be fast on hosing targets, it's a type of target focus).
So, here's what I did - closed my eyes and started drawing at a blank wall on a timer. I am mentally making a decision about when the gun is in it's final position and it's easy to tell whether it beat the par time. After the second beep, I open my eyes and give a numeric score to the sight picture: 10 - if alignment is "equal light, equal height," 9 - if it's acceptable for an A hit at 10 yards, ..., 5 - if one of the vertical or horizontal alignment is decent but the other sucks, ..., 1 - if I can barely catch some small part of the front sight in the rear notch, and finally 0 - if no part of the front sight is in the notch.
It's very important to assess the specific score, not just look at the sights. You're analyzing what you're seeing so you can compare it from draw to draw. A scale gives you a way to measure what you're doing.
In part two, you also pull the trigger. Be aware of whether you beat the par time AND be aware of what the sight picture looks like when you open your eyes. This part adds the element of the trigger pull - if your trigger pull is not good enough, you'll have discrepancy between the two drills. If it's good enough, the pull won't affect the sight picture and your scores should be similar. A simple and good comparison will tell you a lot about your trigger pull.
Interestingly, with eyes closed, I was acutely aware of the quality of the grip on the gun and the feel of the final position of the hands and arms. Since there was nothing to see and distract, I was observing my own feeling and was correlating that feeling to what I see when I open my eyes. I was surprised how much information I could extract about the draw process once the visual input was removed as a distraction.
If you try it, let me know how it worked for you. If you think this is silly, let me know too...
Short version:
1) Close your eyes, draw as you would to the usual acceptable sight picture using your usual par time, open your eyes, assess the sight alignment.
2) Same as (1) above, but pull the trigger with eyes closed, open, assess the situation.
Long version:
Thinking about predictive vs. reactive shooting concepts, where you pull the trigger on the second shot on a paper target without enough time to make a conscious decision about reading the sights before the pull (only observing them as the decision to shoot is already made), I wanted to see how well the predictive shooting concept works and whether I can test it in dry fire. The idea behind predictive shooting is that you *know* where the sights will end up (roughly) and you don't go through "confirm sights - shoot" loop, but instead use "know where the sights will be - shoot - confirm the sights" loop. You cannot simulate this on the second shot on a paper target, obviously, because there is no recoil.
But, if you think about it, you can analyze the predictive shooting concept during your draw. On fast and close targets, you make decision to fire that first shoot before the sights are fully aligned, the same as you do on the second shoot on a paper target. That is the only way to get super-fast draws. (It also happens to be in Enos' book as a concept, so I'm not crazy here.) With a draw, you don't have the recoil, but you do have indexing from a very far position (holster) with a lot of movement. Your index has to be good enough for close targets if you want to draw fast (and if you want to be fast on hosing targets, it's a type of target focus).
So, here's what I did - closed my eyes and started drawing at a blank wall on a timer. I am mentally making a decision about when the gun is in it's final position and it's easy to tell whether it beat the par time. After the second beep, I open my eyes and give a numeric score to the sight picture: 10 - if alignment is "equal light, equal height," 9 - if it's acceptable for an A hit at 10 yards, ..., 5 - if one of the vertical or horizontal alignment is decent but the other sucks, ..., 1 - if I can barely catch some small part of the front sight in the rear notch, and finally 0 - if no part of the front sight is in the notch.
It's very important to assess the specific score, not just look at the sights. You're analyzing what you're seeing so you can compare it from draw to draw. A scale gives you a way to measure what you're doing.
In part two, you also pull the trigger. Be aware of whether you beat the par time AND be aware of what the sight picture looks like when you open your eyes. This part adds the element of the trigger pull - if your trigger pull is not good enough, you'll have discrepancy between the two drills. If it's good enough, the pull won't affect the sight picture and your scores should be similar. A simple and good comparison will tell you a lot about your trigger pull.
Interestingly, with eyes closed, I was acutely aware of the quality of the grip on the gun and the feel of the final position of the hands and arms. Since there was nothing to see and distract, I was observing my own feeling and was correlating that feeling to what I see when I open my eyes. I was surprised how much information I could extract about the draw process once the visual input was removed as a distraction.
If you try it, let me know how it worked for you. If you think this is silly, let me know too...
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