Target focus shooting

[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.