Bullseye-l FAQ Section 4 - Training and Competing

4 Training and Competing

4.1 What are the "Fundamentals of Bullseye?"

The funadmental thought of conventional pistol - indeed the fundamental thought of any precision shooting sport - may be stated in a single sentence:

Achieve proper sight alignment and sight picture, then release the shot without disturbing either one.

Simple...but not easy. Let's define some terms:

Sight alignment: The proper coordination of the front and rear sights. With the typical open pistol sights, this means that the top of the front sight is level with the top of the rear sight and the front sight is centered in the rear sight's notch. This has nothing to do with where the sights are on the target. You can have perfect sight alignment and have your point of aim somewhere in the 6-ring.
Sight picture: Properly aligned sights put on the correct area of the target. Every shooter has some natural wobble so your sights will never stay
(Good) Trigger control: Steadily increasing straight-back pressure on the trigger through the point of release.

These are the fundamental skills of bullseye. Everything else is in support of achieving good sight alignment, sight picture and trigger control. The following sections contain some thoughts on how to develop good fundamental skills.

4.2 What is the proper technique for slow fire?

Successful competitive shooting is all about consistency - the gun, ammunition and the shooter have to function the same way for each shot. Therefore the shooter must develop a process for slow fire, and follow this process for every shot. This process will assist the shooter in developing consistent technique.

Before diving into an example process we should review some basics.

Stance: Start with your feet about shoulder width apart. Right-handed shooters should start by facing slightly to the left of the target. The left (back) foot should be roughly parallel to the firing line, while the right foot should point off to the left of the target. Close your eyes and extend your right arm, letting it settle into a natural position. Open your eyes and observe the alignment of your arm with the target. If your arm is to the left of the target, slide your back foot to the left. If you're off to the right, slide your back foot right. Repeat until your arm falls naturally onto the target.
Some more tips: Don't lock your knees. Your back should be straight and your head should be in its normal erect position. Relax your neck and shoulders as much as possible. Do not lean away from the gun - your stance should be neutral or you should lean slightly into the gun.
Grip: Consistent grip pressure is very important - the shooter must grip the gun the same way every time. The grip should be firm enough to control the gun but not so tight that the gun shakes, or so loose that the gun moves in the hand during recoil.
Many shooters start by holding the gun by the barrel with the weak hand. Then they place the backstrap of the gun between the thumb and forefinger of the shooting hand, wrapping the fingers around the frontstrap. All the fingers grip the gun equally.
Sights: The shooter's optical focus must be on the front sight (or dot). Proper sight alignment is critical for accuracy. Focus on keeping the front sight perfectly positioned in the notch.
Trigger control: Trigger pressure should be positive - that is, strictly and steadily increasing. After obtaining proper sight alignment, the shooter should press the trigger as rapidly as possible without disturbing the sight alignment. Only the trigger finger moves - the other fingers gripping the gun should remain at constant pressure.

Here is a sample slow-fire process from Bill Blankenship, five-time national champion and Olympic medalist. He outlines his technique in the Pistol Shooter's Treasury, 2nd Ed.

Set up on the line, getting my scope on the right target.
Check the sights - set the correct zero - clean and blacken sights.
Check position and stance
Check my grip and extend a firm arm to check the natural alignment of weapon and sights.
Dry fire (after command to load and commence firing).
Check grip.
Extend the arm and rest gun on the bench (take deep breaths).
Take up the [trigger] slack on the bench.
Raise the arm from the bench above the bullseye.
Take a final deep breath.
Look at the target.
Exhale while arm is settling to your aiming area on the target.
Settle arm.
Bring focus of the eye ot the front sight.
Hold still.
Start trigger pressure.
concentrate on sight alignment and hold still until after shot breaks.

While this process worked for Blankenship, it may not work for you. It's up to you to develop a process that reminds you of the fundamentals and prepares you to deliver a perfect shot.

4.3 What is the proper technique for timed/rapid fire?

Sustained fire technique builds on slow fire technique. The elements mentioned above - proper stance, consistent grip, good sight alignment, and positive triger pressure - also apply in sustained fire. On top of all that, developing a rhythm is very important to good timed and rapid fire scores. One important aspect of rhythm is keeping the trigger in motion. For the first shot, you should start trigger pressure as soon as you hear the "ready on the firing line" command, in order to obtain a surprise break as soon as the target turns. Reset the trigger and start pressure again as the gun recoils, before you regain your sight alignment. Again, your mental concentration and optical focus should be on the front sight, or on the dot if you're using an electronic sight. Don't let the holes in the target distract you.

4.4 What is "Chicken Finger?"

Chicken Finger is a mental condition in which the shooter cannot break the shot. The shooter consciously or subconsciously fears a bad shot, therefore he cannot command the trigger finger to move.

There is no sure-fire cure for this condition. Some shooters will unload and dry-fire a couple of shots. Others will put the gun down, close their eyes and visualize breaking a good shot. The important point is to concentrate on the process rather than the results.If you follow a good process, you will likely shoot good shots. If you worry about shooting bad shots, you will shoot bad shots.

4.5 How do I train for bullseye competition?

As so many listmembers have pointed out, you should train, not practice, for bullseye. The distinction is very important. Training involves focusing on one specific area of technique for a session. Instead of going to the range and shooting three national match courses, pick one course of fire - slow fire, for instance. Then focus on one aspect of slow fire, such as trigger control or sight alignment or consistent grip. Concentrate primarily on that one element for the entire practice session. Evaluate each shot and note any mistakes that you made. As Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." Only by examining your performance and discovering mistakes will you improve your scores.

Live firing is just one aspect of bullseye training. Dry firing plays an important part in developing good technique. Dry firing allows you to concentrate on sight alignment and trigger control without having to worry about recoil. Many shooters recommend dry firing on a blank wall instead of a target. This forces you to focus your attention on sight alignment.

4.6 How often do I need to practice?

Remember, you're not practicing, you're training! Most serious bullseye shooters do some sort of training every day, or six days a week. Three of those days might include live-fire training sessions or matches. The alternate days would include dry firing, physical conditioning, and mental training.

Since each shooter has unique circumstances, it's hard to define a training schedule that works for everyone. In general it's best to train at the same time of day that you'll compete, but that's not always possible for everyone.

4.7 Do I need to lift weights, run, or do anything else?

Aerobic exercise isn't strictly necessary, but the benefits are obvious. 2700 matches are long, gruelling affairs, usually involving four or five hours spent "on the line." You will need a certain level of fitness to compete successfully.

Some shooters find hand, shoulder and forearm exercises useful. Spring-loaded grip exercisers seem to be very popular. Generally they're gripped with only the lower three fingers. Including the trigger finger tends to train the body to move all four fingers at the same time, which is a no-no. If you want to lift weights to improve your shooting, be sure to exercise the muscles in the shoulders, back and chest. Don't neglect the legs, either.

4.8 Does mental training really help?

It sounds like hogwash - improve your scores by just thinking about shooting! In fact, mental training is an accepted part of the training regimens of many sports, not just shooting. One of the most common techniques is visualization. This involves constructing a detailed mental picture of yourself shooting a perfect shot.

Several top bullseye shooters incorporate visualization in their training plans. The idea is to make the image as vivid and as detailed as possible. To practice visualization, find a quiet place away from any distractions. Close your eyes and picture yourself at a familiar range where you train or compete. Imagine assuming the proper stance and obtaining a good grip on the gun. Run through your entire shot process step by step, developing a detailed mental picture at each point. See the gun settle into the aiming area, and see the perfect sight alignment. Feel yourself apply positive pressure on the trigger, and see the shot break.

For an introduction to mental training, I recommend The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey. Yes, the title says tennis but the book is really about mental training, and the principles it teaches apply very well to shooting.

4.9 How good do I have to be to win on the local/regional/national level?

Put simply, you need to be very good to win. These days when a dozen shooters get together for a match it's rare for the winning score to be below 2600. State championships and regional matches usually require a score above 2620, with 2650 not uncommon at all. The winning score at the National Matches at Camp Perry is almost always above 2650, unless inclement weather interferes.

4.10 Will shooting bullseye help me with (IPSC/IDPA/High Power/Other)?

Probably. Bullseye helps develop the fundamental shooting skills - sight alignment and trigger control, for instance. These skills are relevant to all shooting sports. Listmember Dennis Wieand had this to say:

I've shot IPSC for quite a while now and have been shooting bullseye seriously now for a little over a year. I'm not qualified to say whether IPSC affects bullseye, but I can tell you how bullseye effects IPSC.

IPSC is 90% mental. A 25 yard A-zone between no-shoots can easily psych you out. But if you can tell yourself "I can do this easy enough with one hand, two should be no problem" the tight shots aren't intimidating.
You can get away with sloppy trigger control and sight pictures most of the time in IPSC, but it shows up in bullseye shooting, forcing you to become a more disciplined shooter.
You might think you don't need to shoot tight groups for IPSC, but think how many times you missed a target by an inch or were one inch into a no-shoot. If you tighten your groups up by 1" you just avoided that penalty.
Brian Enos, top IPSC shooter, states in his book Practical Shooting: Beyond Fundamentals,"learning to shoot accurately is directly related to most everything you need to do to become a succesful practical shooter" and Bullseye shooting is one of the best places to learn to shoot accurately.

4.11 Will shooting (IPSC/IDPA/High Power/Other) help or hurt my bullseye shooting?

Other shooting sports that emphasize accuracy, such as NRA high power rifle, NRA or UIT smallbore rifle, or any of the UIT pistol events, will probably help your bullseye shooting. These sports emphasize the same skills as bullseye. Some people find air pistol especially helpful, since it emphasizes a steady hold and good follow-through.

Action shooting sports - IPSC, IDPA, and Cowboy Action, for example - have become very popular in the USA in recent years. These sports place a lot of emphasis on speed shooting and moving while shooting. Their accuracy standards are not nearly as demanding as bullseye's. Because of these factors, participating in these sports probably will not improve your bullseye scores. They probably won't hurt your scores either, unless you spend most of your time practicing for IPSC (for example) instead of bullseye.