Target focus shooting

[GJM]

I have historically shot iron sights with a front sight focus. As you get older, your eyes don’t shift focus as quickly between two distances like front sight and target, and where I used to be able to tell you how many serrations were on my Heinie front sight, I can no longer do that. A red dot allows me to keep a target focus and has been faster and more accurate than iron sights.

Two days ago, I went from shooting my Glock with a DP Pro to a G45 with iron sights. Without realizing it, I started shooting it with a target focus, and was surprisingly fast and accurate. That included shooting eight inch steel out to 20 yards.

Yesterday, after shooting the dot, I experimented with it it some more and continued to be impressed, with my times faster than my red dot times on a number of drills. Here is an example of such a drill.


https://youtu.be/ijZInPJt9Ys

Later, I was able to shoot Bill drills at 15 yards in the 2.20 range with just one C, which I haven’t been able to do with a dot. I have read that Ben Stoeger shoots target focused out to 25 yards.

Have you messed around with target focused shooting to further distances and what have you experienced?

[octagon]

I have always done most of my shooting inside 7-8 yards with target focus but with age and eyesight changes I have leaned towards doing so at farther distances. When I took the World Class pistol skills course with Robert Vogel he said he uses target focus out to 20+ yards depending on the target/speed/accuracy needs. For me now I shoot any target the size of a shet of paper out to 10 yards target focus. Smaller targets and farther targets I move back to front sight focus even if I can't see it as clearly as a few years ago.

[GJM]

I have always done most of my shooting inside 7-8 yards with target focus but with age and eyesight changes I have leaned towards doing so at farther distances. When I took the World Class pistol skills course with Robert Vogel he said he uses target focus out to 20+ yards depending on the target/speed/accuracy needs. For me now I shoot any target the size of a shet of paper out to 10 yards target focus. Smaller targets and farther targets I move back to front sight focus even if I can't see it as clearly as a few years ago.

Do you switch between target focused and front sight focused shooting at a conscious or subconscious level?

[cornstalker]

Following with extreme interest. My current path is in this direction due to being slightly farsighted. Just getting started though and have hit some setbacks with the optic. Never even thought of trying a target focus with irons.

[octagon]

Do you switch between target focused and front sight focused shooting at a conscious or subconscious level?

Mostly subconscious as I have to think back to it after shooting but when shooting slower it becomes conscious.

This also changes some depending on sights, gun, target and lighting. On a gun that is new to me or different enough from my regular guns I do less target focus. On guns with sights that are small or less visible, targets that are similar to the sights and or background or in lower light levels I tend to shoot even more target focused.

[spinmove_]

Very interesting. I’ve heard that Ben really started working the target focus out to 25yds really heavy this year and specifically mentioned that a fiber optic front REALLY helps facilitate that. He’s essentially looking at the target, seeing the dot, and pressing the shot. Given that I’m not old yet, but not exactly getting any younger, I may need to start incorporating this technique. Hopefully by the time I actually NEED it, it’ll be so second nature I won’t ever have to worry about it.


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[41magfan]

I learned a long time ago (while I still had great visual acuity) that I can be target focused to the degree the silhouette of my pistol's sights/slide appear smaller than my target. This continuum of sight focus vs target focus is obviously dependent on several factors, i.e. the distance and size of the target coupled with the shooter's natural or developed abilities.

This approach to orienting the muzzle has served me pretty well since I haven't seen a front sight clearly (w/o special shooting glasses) in about 15 years.


ETA: I teach this "continuum" approach to sight use in LE academy training, but I seldom teach anything but target focused shooting to folks I know will never pursue any other form of training or practice.

ETA again: I don't use or teach either/or when it comes to sight use. It's simply a matter of "how much" you're target focused versus sight focused in order to achieve adequate muzzle orientation.

[ubervic]

While this thread seems to turn conventional wisdom about iron-sight pistol shooting on its head, I'm hopeful that this technique holds merit for many and is not successful only for those with certain vision.

I'm in my mid-fifties and struggle to attain a sharp focus on the front sight. Still, I've been pushing myself to train my focus on the front sight and only the front sight, as emphasis on sight alignment (followed closely by sight picture) has been the mantra for higher-level ion-sight shooting for many years. I've actually been thinking a lot about moving to RMR, as doing so would facilitate target focus and essentially render iron sights backup status only. Maybe that's not necessary.......?

I'm going to experiment with the target focus this weekend and see what happens.

[David S.]

Removed. NM.

[NH Shooter]

Two days ago, I went from shooting my Glock with a DP Pro to a G45 with iron sights. Without realizing it, I started shooting it with a target focus, and was surprisingly fast and accurate. That included shooting eight inch steel out to 20 yards.

I've been near-sighted and have worn corrective lenses since I was seven years old. As I've grown older, I've also needed correction for up-close work such as reading.

Over the last five or so years (I'm now 64) these two vision issues have morphed in a good way for me - my distance vision has improved and without glasses the target is adequately clear, and the front sight even more so. When I bring the sights into my line of view, it takes a second but I can focus entirely on the target and still have a very useable sight picture, so I no longer have to force focus to the front sight. I'll take it!

Now, if only some of the other age disorders I suffer from could be fixed...

[GuanoLoco]

Ben Stoeger recently did a podcast on this: https://www.benstoeger.com/practicalshootingafterdark/2018/9/27/practical-shooting-after-dark-ep-16

6:45 starts talking about lenses
9:30 starts talking about shooting target focus all of the time

I'll be spending a LOT of time with Ben from perhaps today through Tuesday, so if you have any specific questions you would like me to ask, now is the time.

FYI, I'm testing a new change. I am normally near-sighted and can see my front sight well, but the target and rear sights are fuzzy (even if I use target focus),

The change is to use a single contact lens to correct my non-dominant eye for distance, leaving my dominant eye uncorrected with a front sight focus. When looking at a target I see the front sight clearly with my dominant eye, and the target (more) clearly with my non-dominant eye, oddly without changing focal depth.

I hope to try this out for real Sat-Tues, we will see if my brain can adapt and I can stick with it.

[lwt16]

I do target focus on speed shooting at steel and Q targets on a regular basis.

For informal 25 bullseye, I get better results with a front sight focus on a serrated, plain black front.

All of my carry guns have obnoxious orange front sights with tritium centers because it works for me well in speed shooting. I figure if I am in the crap, I'll be focused on the threat and what said threat is holding. I can keep focus on targets in training and trigger off rounds when I see that fuzzy orange show up in the sight picture.

Works well for me.

[Clusterfrack]

This is how my eyes are naturally: front sight crisp with my dominant eye and target in focus with my other eye.

Target focus for me is mostly a mental switch. Sometimes it’s more both front sight and target at the same time.

Ben’s class is awesome. Have fun dude. You’re going to learn a ton.


Ben Stoeger recently did a podcast on this: https://www.benstoeger.com/practicalshootingafterdark/2018/9/27/practical-shooting-after-dark-ep-16

6:45 starts talking about lenses
9:30 starts talking about shooting target focus all of the time

I'll be spending a LOT of time with Ben from perhaps today through Tuesday, so if you have any specific questions you would like me to ask, now is the time.

FYI, I'm testing a new change. I am normally near-sighted and can see my front sight well, but the target and rear sights are fuzzy (even if I use target focus),

The change is to use a single contact lens to correct my non-dominant eye for distance, leaving my dominant eye uncorrected with a front sight focus. When looking at a target I see the front sight clearly with my dominant eye, and the target (more) clearly with my non-dominant eye, oddly without changing focal depth.

I hope to try this out for real Sat-Tues, we will see if my brain can adapt and I can stick with it.

[P.E. Kelley]

Not for nothing...but we rarely miss a target because our sights are >visually< misaligned.
We misalign our sights during the trigger press.

I have several matches under my belt with podium finishes using guns without sights.

[41magfan]

Not for nothing...but we rarely miss a target because our sights are >visually< misaligned.
We misalign our sights during the trigger press.

I have several matches under my belt with podium finishes using guns without sights.

Indeed!

I have several drills that I do with students that CLEARLY demonstrates to them that their muzzle orientation is more than adequate and that trigger pull is where the magic takes place.

So simple - but not so easy.

[Robinson]

Not for nothing...but we rarely miss a target because our sights are >visually< misaligned.
We misalign our sights during the trigger press.

I have several matches under my belt with podium finishes using guns without sights.

I've noticed TGO says a similar thing, noting that it boils down to 70% grip and trigger press and 30% aiming.

But then again, considering the folks posting in this thread it may just be that the grip/trigger press are already squared away and the subject is honing that last 30%.

[Clusterfrack]

There are at least five reasons you miss:

1. Trigger mechanics: trigger pull moves sights off target
2. Recoil control: arms move sights off target in an attempt to control recoil
3. Timing: you attempt to time the recoil cycle of the gun, but press the trigger at the wrong time.
4. Transitions: you pull off the target before the gun is finished shooting it, or shoot before the gun has arrived on target.
5. Sights: your aim was off

[P.E. Kelley]

There are at least five reasons you miss:

1. Trigger mechanics: trigger pull moves sights off target
2. Recoil control: arms move sights off target in an attempt to control recoil
3. Timing: you attempt to time the recoil cycle of the gun, but press the trigger at the wrong time.
4. Transitions: you pull off the target before the gun is finished shooting it, or shoot before the gun has arrived on target.
5. Sights: your aim was off


#4 A lot!

[LSP552]

Yep, here is a thread I started some time ago.

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?28223-Target-focus-a-paradigm-shift

I wish my brain could adapt to the front sight dominant eye, Target in non-nom, but that hasn’t worked well on at least 2 occasions when I set up RX glasses that way. On advise from Bruce Gray, I set up a pair that is basically low power reader strength. It’s just brought to sharpen the front a bit and not overly blur the distant targets.

However, the majority of my range work now is pretty much target focus with blurry sights. Inside 25 yards, it doesn’t hurt me much for food court stuff.

I will be 63 this month. I will never have the vision I once had, but I’m hoping to keep the trigger control. Unless you are legally blind, trigger control will always be more important than vision for most targets and needs.

[YVK]

Ben Stoeger recently did a podcast on this: https://www.benstoeger.com/practicalshootingafterdark/2018/9/27/practical-shooting-after-dark-ep-16

6:45 starts talking about lenses
9:30 starts talking about shooting target focus all of the time

I'll be spending a LOT of time with Ben from perhaps today through Tuesday, so if you have any specific questions you would like me to ask, now is the time.




Ask him how his guns are zeroed, the tip of a front sight or the dot. If he is 100% front focused, does it mean that he doesn't zero his guns at a tip of the front sight?

[GJM]

There are at least five reasons you miss:

1. Trigger mechanics: trigger pull moves sights off target
2. Recoil control: arms move sights off target in an attempt to control recoil
3. Timing: you attempt to time the recoil cycle of the gun, but press the trigger at the wrong time.
4. Transitions: you pull off the target before the gun is finished shooting it, or shoot before the gun has arrived on target.
5. Sights: your aim was off

TPC addresses this with two steps of their reactive shooting cycle — isolate the trigger, and let recoil happen.

[Clusterfrack]

#4 A lot!

Yep. That’s by far my main reason for losing points or missing steel. I watched Ben’s video from Nats and he missed a popper that way. Follow through is hard when you’re pushing.

[feudist]

Would you start new shooters this way?

Maybe the sights are the way to develop an index that supports this?

Then at some point switch up?

"Overaiming"definitely contributes to trigger snatch.

I just got an RMR and holy cow my trigger pull is shameful!

The dot will sho'nuff hurt your feelings, even focused on the target.

[JustOneGun]

A couple things to consider.

1. Pushing the speed can cause a miss.
2. Doing it too far from the target(pushing your distance) can cause you to miss.
3. In a life or death encounter, most people tend to A. Shoot faster than they think they are. B. Think they are closer than they really are.

So for many a life and death lethal force encounter can lead to 1 and 2 both happening. One thing that most people who practice at multiple distances with humanoid type targets (at least some of the time) unconsciously do is calibrate their minds to shoot a certain speed depending on the relationship between the front sight width to the average human body. Long winded way of saying, the front sight gives a tremendous amount of feedback when seeing that flash front sight.

YMMV.

[GJM]

At the end of my dot practice, I pulled the G45 with iron sights out again. First, I shot three shots at ten yards at a one inch square, using target focus, and all hit the square. Then I shot a group at 20 yards using target focus, followed by a second group where I worked more on trigger. Pictures below — shows promise. As my buddy Talionis told me tonight, target focus gets him in the mood for a better trigger press.

31957

31958

[GuanoLoco]

Target focus inttrigues me because on occasion I feel like I have used i to tap into my subconscious in interesting ways. I may have mentioned this before, but more than once, at the end of a training session where the light was failing, I’ve run a set of head tarets, mybe 10-12 yards away, all wide transitions, 2 shots each at speed.

Checking the results I’d have stupid close pairs on the majority of the targets. It’s not unusual to see a close pair on occasion, but 3 close pairs in a 4 pair sequence? On more than one occasion?

I think there is something to this, I’m just not sure how to tap into it on demand.

[GJM]

Target focus inttrigues me because on occasion I feel like I have used i to tap into my subconscious in interesting ways. I may have mentioned this before, but more than once, at the end of a training session where the light was failing, I’ve run a set of head tarets, mybe 10-12 yards away, all wide transitions, 2 shots each at speed.

Checking the results I’d have stupid close pairs on the majority of the targets. It’s not unusual to see a close pair on occasion, but 3 close pairs in a 4 pair sequence? On more than one occasion?

I think there is something to this, I’m just not sure how to tap into it on demand.

I don’t know, but I think it is definitely worth exploring.

[Doc_Glock]

Target focus inttrigues me because on occasion I feel like I have used i to tap into my subconscious in interesting ways. I may have mentioned this before, but more than once, at the end of a training session where the light was failing, I’ve run a set of head tarets, mybe 10-12 yards away, all wide transitions, 2 shots each at speed.

Checking the results I’d have stupid close pairs on the majority of the targets. It’s not unusual to see a close pair on occasion, but 3 close pairs in a 4 pair sequence? On more than one occasion?

I think there is something to this, I’m just not sure how to tap into it on demand.

On the Garcia Dots, I have had some stupid tight groups when I was actually watching for impacts, which I generally consider a no no. I am going to experiment with this.

[Clobbersaurus]

I gave up on pure target focus when I really started to really focus on speed. I found out quickly that to get acceptable hits I did not have to see a crisp front sight as much as I had to make sure my sights were aligned and that I pressed the trigger correctly.

I still focus hard on the front sight with tight shots, but I think that is mostly due to shooting 25 B8’s at every range session.

[Surf]

This topic goes back to the discussion of "see what you need to see, to get the hits that you need to get." I will admit that I am having a harder time getting a good front sight focus as my vision changes as I get older.

When I am up close and doing say a dot torture, I must have consistent sight focus especially if I do it for speed (https://www.instagram.com/p/BpqTdm_An6v/). I cannot perform that drill nearly as well with target focus.

Now if I have a larger target with less need for precision then I can get away with target focus and use it often. In this example (https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpuye8sAwir/) I use target focus to 25 yards and switch to front sight focus from 35 to 50 yards. I kind of just do this automatically.

I would NOT teach a new shooter to do this. Strict front sight focus unless if they have eye issues that prevent it.

[Clobbersaurus]

I would NOT teach a new shooter to do this. Strict front sight focus unless if they have eye issues that prevent it.

I agree with this. There are many concepts best left unsaid to new shooters.

[BehindBlueI's]

Shoot it blind. Seriously.

You are a good shooter. You have figured out your natural point of aim and index. You've likely shot that exact drill bajillions of times. You don't need the sights for that shot any more than you need to look at your hands to guide a fork of food to your mouth or look at your car's turn signal lever to activate it. Your awareness of where your body is and what it's doing has progressed beyond the need for visual references in those tasks.

To check my index and natural point of aim, I'll shoot an 8" circle at 5y blind. It was actually my dry fire drill for today. Draw, then visually verify the sights are aligned on the circle. It's something I modified from rifle training where we were taught to verify our natural point of aim and just figured would probably work with a handgun as well.

Set up just like you did in the video, stance correct, etc. then shoot it with your eyes closed. Now shoot it with a "target focus" with your stance broken. One foot on a box like you are on stairs. Seated and slightly twisted like you're in a car shooting out, etc. Now shoot it with a front sight focus with the unorthodox stances.

I suspect what you'll find is that when you're able to make better hits then you'd think with zero visual reference, but also that once you can't "set up" and have the rest of your body mechanics how you want then you'll do worse with target focus then front sight focus. In Simunition courses I've definitely noticed I can get by with a target focus if I can "set up", even out to 25y. However front sight focus works more consistently over a variety of situations when I have to shoot from a "broken" stance.

[GJM]

Not sure. My dot failed, as in died, 2/3 of the way through the last stage at a USPSA match Saturday, and I shot with no dot or BUIS getting mostly A hits and perhaps one or two C hits. That was pure target focus.

[GJM]

Let me add to my comments above.

I think that index, which is a function of stance and grip, is foundational. Isolating the trigger, trigger control and allowing recoil to happen is where almost all shots are made or missed. Sight alignment and sight focus falls into the art part of shooting, and is a function of shooter experience, ability and technique.

Nobody is going to go wrong with hard front sight focus. However, target focus allows the potential for better speed, and may be more natural, since we want to look at what we are shooting at. After the steel match today, messing around with target focus, I shot Smoke and Hope in 2.01 which is really good for me.

[MGW]

Random thoughts about my vision and shooting.

I’ve screwed up a lot of trigger presses by focusing hard on the front sight. Waiting for a perfect sight picture creates a lot of tension and makes it easy to have now syndrome.

I have really struggled in the past shooting plate racks. Once in awhile everything will come together and I’ll have a really good run. What I realize when I’m done is that I wasn’t really focusing on the front sight but I was aware that it was there during each shot.

When I first started shooting bullseye with my dad as a kid I shot target focus. No one told me to focus on the front sight and this is what I thought I was supposed to do. It just made sense to me to have the target in clear focus because that’s where I wanted the bullets to go. I could shoot really good groups then. Much better than I can now.

My eye sight has deteriorated significantly over the last two years. I’ve always had 20/15 vision and now my eye doctor is suggesting I switch to bifocals. I still test 20/20 for distance vision but the correction I need for reading screws up my distance vision.

I’ve also noticed that I’m having a harder time tracking a thin fiber front sight regardless of where my focus is. In really bright sunlight I’m usually okay but struggle in lower light conditions. Orange Ameriglos work really well for me now. I’m faster with them but I give up a bit of precision because of the width. I would really like to experiment with some nonprescription glasses with different lense colors. I’m not ready to give up on fiber sights yet.

I know Stoeger talked about trying different lense colors and liked the results. Has anyone else tried this and if so what were your results? What color/coating was your favorite?

[GuanoLoco]

Ask him how his guns are zeroed, the tip of a front sight or the dot. If he is 100% front focused, does it mean that he doesn't zero his guns at a tip of the front sight?

FYI he thought he answered this in the podcast, and would be happy to get Q’s for his podcast.

Basically, all he did was stop dulling his fiber with a sharpie. He still uses the top of the front sight when useful, but is finding the somewhat blurry front (and rear) sigths adequate even for distance shots.

2 more days of classes to go - my knees are swelling but my sense of humor is excellent.

[TCFD273]

I have historically shot iron sights with a front sight focus. As you get older, your eyes don’t shift focus as quickly between two distances like front sight and target, and where I used to be able to tell you how many serrations were on my Heinie front sight, I can no longer do that. A red dot allows me to keep a target focus and has been faster and more accurate than iron sights.

Two days ago, I went from shooting my Glock with a DP Pro to a G45 with iron sights. Without realizing it, I started shooting it with a target focus, and was surprisingly fast and accurate. That included shooting eight inch steel out to 20 yards.

Yesterday, after shooting the dot, I experimented with it it some more and continued to be impressed, with my times faster than my red dot times on a number of drills. Here is an example of such a drill.


https://youtu.be/ijZInPJt9Ys

Later, I was able to shoot Bill drills at 15 yards in the 2.20 range with just one C, which I haven’t been able to do with a dot. I have read that Ben Stoeger shoots target focused out to 25 yards.

Have you messed around with target focused shooting to further distances and what have you experienced?

I grew up a serious bird hunter and regularly competed in Sporting Clays and FITASC. I still shoot clays 1-2 times a month, I attend 5-6 pigeon shoots a year, and an annual trip to Argentina for doves.

I have always shot pistols with target focus probably out to 25 or so because it’s so ingrained in my shooting. I’ve tried hard front sight focus, but it’s never worked for me.

This was 2/18. 3100 shells by the end of the day. This is what I mean by target focus being ingrained in my shooting. Haha
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181105/835873878c31ee179bdf02ee47903340.jpg



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[JHC]

I grew up a serious bird hunter and regularly competed in Sporting Clays and FITASC. I still shoot clays 1-2 times a month, I attend 5-6 pigeon shoots a year, and an annual trip to Argentina for doves.

I have always shot pistols with target focus probably out to 25 or so because it’s so ingrained in my shooting. I’ve tried hard front sight focus, but it’s never worked for me.

This was 2/18. 3100 shells by the end of the day. This is what I mean by target focus being ingrained in my shooting. Haha
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181105/835873878c31ee179bdf02ee47903340.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's incredible! What were you shooting at all day? Clays or live game?

[TCFD273]

That's incredible! What were you shooting at all day? Clays or live game?

That was Dove’s in Argentina. I’ve shot 4327 28ga shells in a single day in Argentina, I was definitely feeling it the next several days. Haha

I typically bring 2 guns and rotate through them. I have a video of this, rotating through guns, but I can’t figure out how to post it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[P.E. Kelley]

Shoot it blind. Seriously.

You are a good shooter. You have figured out your natural point of aim and index. You've likely shot that exact drill bajillions of times. You don't need the sights for that shot any more than you need to look at your hands to guide a fork of food to your mouth or look at your car's turn signal lever to activate it. Your awareness of where your body is and what it's doing has progressed beyond the need for visual references in those tasks.

To check my index and natural point of aim, I'll shoot an 8" circle at 5y blind. It was actually my dry fire drill for today. Draw, then visually verify the sights are aligned on the circle. It's something I modified from rifle training where we were taught to verify our natural point of aim and just figured would probably work with a handgun as well.

Set up just like you did in the video, stance correct, etc. then shoot it with your eyes closed. Now shoot it with a "target focus" with your stance broken. One foot on a box like you are on stairs. Seated and slightly twisted like you're in a car shooting out, etc. Now shoot it with a front sight focus with the unorthodox stances.

I suspect what you'll find is that when you're able to make better hits then you'd think with zero visual reference, but also that once you can't "set up" and have the rest of your body mechanics how you want then you'll do worse with target focus then front sight focus. In Simunition courses I've definitely noticed I can get by with a target focus if I can "set up", even out to 25y. However front sight focus works more consistently over a variety of situations when I have to shoot from a "broken" stance.

To your point sir,

Around the 4:00 mark.
https://youtu.be/iXNYJ3rDbz0

[John Hearne]

So, time for a confession.

I have always been a hard focus on the front sight for any work beyond two arms lengths. At Gabe's class, he was discussing his freakish, un-natural eyes and he mentioned that a lot of folks in USPSA are squinting eyes and shooting with target focus.

Due to age, I've noticed my eyes taking longer to transition my focus to the front sight. I didn't see how I could meet the Turbo pin standards for the Bill Drill with front sight focus based on my practice of that drill. When we started working on the Bill Drills, I figured I had nothing to lose. I sharp focused on the target and started practicing my Bill Drills. It seemed that I was running very quickly but I was throwing rounds just to the left of the A zone. I tried squinting my left eye and all of a sudden the group was centered on the target. Initially, I was using the entire 11" of height in the A zone but by the end of the class I was keeping my group in less than half of the 11".

This was my second run through Gabe's class and the Bill Drills are where I improved my performance the most. I dropped my average Bill Drills by 12% compared to 7% for Failure to Stop, 5% on Immediate Incapacitation, and 3% on the Split Bill. I credit the target focused shooting with the jump in the Bill Drill. Interestingly, I ran the Split Bill with target focus on the bodies and hard sight focus on the head and the improvement was minimal.

I credit my ability to shoot well with target focus to the extensive practice I've done with front sight focus. When I started prepping for Gabe's class, I was using a laser based cell phone app. My acceptable standard was a hit on the target's 10 ring with a 10X being preferred. On the target I was using, the 10 ring was under 2" and the 10X was only 7/8" in diameter. (Range was approximately 4 yards) This meant that I was developing a very strong kinesthetic index that presented the pistol to a particular spot in space with a high degree of precision. I was working as fast as I could and was able to hit 10X's with regularity in the 1.1-1.2 second range.

That kinesthetic index combined with a painted fiber optic front sight allowed me to see less than I thought I needed to in order to get the hits. Without the extensive dry work to get me the kinesthetic index, I don't think the target focused shooting would have been effective. I can see how target focused shooting may be a desired end state but you have to use a lot of front sight focused shooting to get there.

[GJM]

So, time for a confession.

I have always been a hard focus on the front sight for any work beyond two arms lengths. At Gabe's class, he was discussing his freakish, un-natural eyes and he mentioned that a lot of folks in USPSA are squinting eyes and shooting with target focus.

Due to age, I've noticed my eyes taking longer to transition my focus to the front sight. I didn't see how I could meet the Turbo pin standards for the Bill Drill with front sight focus based on my practice of that drill. When we started working on the Bill Drills, I figured I had nothing to lose. I sharp focused on the target and started practicing my Bill Drills. It seemed that I was running very quickly but I was throwing rounds just to the left of the A zone. I tried squinting my left eye and all of a sudden the group was centered on the target. Initially, I was using the entire 11" of height in the A zone but by the end of the class I was keeping my group in less than half of the 11".

This was my second run through Gabe's class and the Bill Drills are where I improved my performance the most. I dropped my average Bill Drills by 12% compared to 7% for Failure to Stop, 5% on Immediate Incapacitation, and 3% on the Split Bill. I credit the target focused shooting with the jump in the Bill Drill. Interestingly, I ran the Split Bill with target focus on the bodies and hard sight focus on the head and the improvement was minimal.

I credit my ability to shoot well with target focus to the extensive practice I've done with front sight focus. When I started prepping for Gabe's class, I was using a laser based cell phone app. My acceptable standard was a hit on the target's 10 ring with a 10X being preferred. On the target I was using, the 10 ring was under 2" and the 10X was only 7/8" in diameter. (Range was approximately 4 yards) This meant that I was developing a very strong kinesthetic index that presented the pistol to a particular spot in space with a high degree of precision. I was working as fast as I could and was able to hit 10X's with regularity in the 1.1-1.2 second range.

That kinesthetic index combined with a painted fiber optic front sight allowed me to see less than I thought I needed to in order to get the hits. Without the extensive dry work to get me the kinesthetic index, I don't think the target focused shooting would have been effective. I can see how target focused shooting may be a desired end state but you have to use a lot of front sight focused shooting to get there.


Either that, or take the short cut of learning on a RDS equipped pistol. That will force a great index and teach you how to target focus.

[MGW]

I have to squint my non-dominant eye. The double image I get when I don't is severe. For example, when I focus on the front sight while shooting a plate rack it looks like the target to the left of the one I'm aiming at falls. I can't make that work no matter how much I practice it.

[John Hearne]

Either that, or take the short cut of learning on a RDS equipped pistol. That will force a great index and teach you how to target focus.

I'm definitely dot curious. I have a factory P320RX slide to work with. I'm waiting to the "crash cage" to arrive and install before I zero it and start working with it.

[GJM]

I'm definitely dot curious. I have a factory P320RX slide to work with. I'm waiting to the "crash cage" to arrive and install before I zero it and start working with it.

John, a dot is like hiring a full time trigger control coach, because of the feedback it provides. It makes you even more visual and it is requires a perfect index.