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Thread: The Accuracy trap

  1. #1

    The Accuracy trap

    I frequently read posts, by people I respect, that suggest to me that they have fallen under the spell of “the Accuracy trap.”

    If you want to work towards your potential as a shooter, you obviously need to own speed and accuracy. Preoccupation with either speed or accuracy is likely to retard your development. Personally, I find accuracy easier than speed, and I need to regularly challenge myself to go all out on speed, to keep developing. I see many solid shooters, who clearly have become comfortable with accuracy and have given insufficient attention to developing their speed.

    One approach to developing speed, is to go one baby step at a time, trying to develop speed without sacrificing accuracy. If that is your approach, you better start young, as this will take lots of time. Another approach is to go big, with the knowledge that until you do something once, you can’t repeat it. This can be messy, but I think it is ultimately a better approach at getting big gains, with less time.
    Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.

  2. #2
    I wrestle with this, too. I think that you've described the problem accurately--it's a constant tug-of-war between speed and accuracy.

    I've been off the range a lot more than I like in the last year and am now a lot slower than I like. It will be interesting to see how things develop as I try to win back the speed.


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  3. #3
    Site Supporter
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    To quote Rob Leatham: "You'll never be as fast and accurate as you want to be...it's always a balancing act"
    Regional Government Sales Manager for Aimpoint, Inc. USA
    Co-owner Hardwired Tactical Shooting (HiTS)

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Dobbs View Post
    To quote Rob Leatham: "You'll never be as fast and accurate as you want to be...it's always a balancing act"
    Robbie’s parting words to me at our last tutorial were — “you need to go do the work on your own, and spend most of your practice time in the gray.”
    Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.

  5. #5
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    We had an officer who was having a hard time qualifying. I noticed she kept adjusting her grip after every shot. Turns out she was getting frustrated because she couldn't put every shot in the same hole. I asked her how large the human heart is and she said about the size of a fist. I told her if she's making a hole the size of a fist, it'll take out the heart and stop the threat. That's what you're looking for, doesn't all have to be in the same hole, just has to be in the right area fast enough to sto them.

  6. #6
    Site Supporter ST911's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AZgunguy View Post
    We had an officer who was having a hard time qualifying. I noticed she kept adjusting her grip after every shot. Turns out she was getting frustrated because she couldn't put every shot in the same hole. I asked her how large the human heart is and she said about the size of a fist. I told her if she's making a hole the size of a fist, it'll take out the heart and stop the threat. That's what you're looking for, doesn't all have to be in the same hole, just has to be in the right area fast enough to sto them.
    The B8 bull is such a great target for this.
    الدهون القاع الفتيات لك جعل العالم هزاز جولة الذهاب

  7. #7
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    Agree George. I would add that speed can be a trap of its own. The proper balance changes based on environment, target size and need.

    I do believe that our best gains come from working at the point where the wheels are close to falling off. We need to know what we can do, what we can do with a bit of luck, and what we can’t do without help from God. Pushing is the only way to know, and then move the boundaries.

    I like to end most practice sessions with an accuracy drill, especially if I pushed speed in that session.

  8. #8
    Member JHC's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GJM View Post
    Robbie’s parting words to me at our last tutorial were — “you need to go do the work on your own, and spend most of your practice time in the gray.”
    And the gray is the running faster than your accuracy correct?

    I think training frequency may be a bigger factor than round count in training.

    How many live fires a week are needed for this training approach? My hunch would be several +.

    After taking 3 weeks off pistols for hunting from Thanksgiving, my accuracy dropped off more dramatically than my F2S for example.

    For me, the pursuit of accuracy under contextual time pressure is like 80% of my objective with the balance being pure accuracy because that is the most fun to me. On one live fire a week and 100-150 rds.
    “Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by JHC View Post
    And the gray is the running faster than your accuracy correct?

    I think training frequency may be a bigger factor than round count in training.

    How many live fires a week are needed for this training approach? My hunch would be several +.

    After taking 3 weeks off pistols for hunting from Thanksgiving, my accuracy dropped off more dramatically than my F2S for example.

    For me, the pursuit of accuracy under contextual time pressure is like 80% of my objective with the balance being pure accuracy because that is the most fun to me. On one live fire a week and 100-150 rds.
    In the “gray” is where you are shooting faster than you are currently comfortable, but achieving results greater than shooting within your comfort zone. The idea is to keep stretching your ability, so when you back off to your comfort zone, it is far higher than your previous comfort zone.

    I think most people are wired to be either fast or accurate, and their default is to do however they are wired. Joe, it sounds like you are wired to be accurate, so your biggest gains are likely to come from pushing speed. Others tend toward speed, and their opportunity is to increase accuracy. People who are wired to be accurate can sometimes preach accuracy in a moralistic way, but their opportunity is as great as the speed demon.
    Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.

  10. #10
    Hammertime
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    I have been surprised how sometimes, when pushing speed lately, I have found very little reduction in accuracy. Of course there is always a point where the wheels fall off, but it is faster than I realized sometimes.

    Anyway, it is good to fail trying. That is the learning zone.

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