One goal of practical shooting is to get the most amount of points per second, available with your current level of skill. Lately I have been thinking about the rhythm that I shoot and how that relates to my performance.
Think about the firing cycle of a handgun. The shot fires, the muzzle and sights lift, the slide returns, and it can be fired again. Each shooter has their own rhythm when they shoot a particular pistol. By rhythm, I mean how the gun behaves between shots. Factors that influence a shooter’s individual rhythm, are the particular pistol, the caliber and particular load, their stance and grip, their trigger technique and control, and the overall consistency of their technique. The rhythm of the gun, when shot by Robert Vogel, for example, is a lot different than the same pistol and load shot by an inexperienced shooter.
I have come to believe that shooting at my natural rhythm, with a particular gun, gives me the best combination of points per second. When I rush my natural rhythm, my points usually go down, and sometimes my time even goes up. When I slow my natural rhythm, time goes up, and unless I slow to precision speed, my accuracy can degrade, as I am shooting off rhythm of the natural movement of the sights. So what do I mean by shooting at my “natural rhythm?” I mean that during recoil, I reset the trigger, and fire the shot as the sights or dot cross back into your desired scoring zone. Upsetting the natural rhythm, by either forcing it quicker, or delaying it, results in a worse result for me.
To improve my natural rhythm, I often work on grip and stance to minimize movement of the sights, and shoot the Stoeger doubles drill to test those changes.