that uniformity in assuming body stance and positions is not destroyed. The angle at which the body is turned from the target and the relative position of the feet should not change. In order that the rest interval be most effective, it is a good idea to assume a posture which will make it possible for the muscles to relax and rebuild their strength. The best way is to put the pistol down on the table and sit down in a chair without moving the feet. You can mark the position of the feet with chalk if you are afraid the exact position of the feet cannot be duplicated. It is necessary, when shooting in gusty winds, to rest while standing, with the pistol in a slightly relaxed grip. The shooter must be prepared to assume the firing position quickly, to shoot between gusts, and during the best periods for firing.
D. COMMON POINTS OF DEFICIENCY IN CONTROL
There are a multitude of causes for bad shots. Listed below are those most frequently found. It is not intended to be a complete list nor is it intended to provide the shooter with a convenient list of bad habits. It is, however, intended to assist the shooter in finding the source of his trouble.
1. Jerk or Heel: The abrupt application of pressure either with the trigger finger alone or in the case of heeling, pushing with the heel of the hand at the same time.
2. Vacillation: Lack of know-how and skill causes constant changing of technique. The end result is usually that you hope to get a good shot.
3. Anxiety: You work and work on a shot, meanwhile building up in your mind a doubt about being able to fire the shot while your control is optimum. Impatience sets in. Finally you shoot just to get rid of that particular round so you may work on others.
4. Not Looking At the Sights: This is listed frequently as “looking at the target”. A shooter may be focusing his eye on neither the sights nor the target, but since he does not see the target in clear focus he assumes he is looking at the sights. Concentrate on sight alignment.
5. Loss of Concentration: The concentration will shift between sight alignment and the relative position of the sights to the target if good sight picture is the objective. Concentrate only on attaining perfect sight alignment with minimum movement and the application of positive trigger pressure comes much easier and is almost involuntary.
6. Holding Too Long: Adverse conditions that disturb a shooter’s ability to “hold” will cause him to delay his positive application of trigger pressure while waiting for conditions to become better. The disturbing factor about this is that you will do it sometimes when you have your normal minimum arc of movement, therefore, you must try to freeze all arc of movement momentarily to get off a perfect shot quickly before any movement is resumed.
7. Control: Maintaining control of your shooting is a continuous battle. The battle builds tension. Tension tightens the muscles and finally the abrupt motions made in compensation for errors cause the shooter to go beyond the desired area and deliver shots in exactly the opposite place from where the error was causing him to shoot originally. Smooth coordinated actions are best assured by the relaxed, confident and carefully planned approach.
8. Lack of Follow Through: Follow through is the conscious attempt to keep all control factors applied through the break of the shot. For example, you are continuing to maintain concentration on sight alignment even after the shot is on the way. This is accomplished by having a surprise shot break and no reflexes of anticipation to disturb sight alignment. Follow through is not to be confused with recovery. Merely recovering from recoil and reestablishing the hold and sight alignment after the shot is fired is no indication that you are following through.
9. Match Pressure: (See Chapter VII — Mental Discipline) If there are 200 competitors in a match, rest assured that there are 200 shooters suffering from match pressure. You should exert all your mental energy toward planning and executing the fundamentals correctly.
E. WIND SHOOTING AND ADVERSE CONDITIONS
In a shooting day the weather is apt to change drastically but not necessarily very often. This means that a shooter must be able to react to all changes taking place around him and to change his method of shooting accordingly.
A shooter should also be guided by the rule that shooting should not be rushed when the weather conditions are changing frequently. He should be particularly attentive and carefully analyze any weather condition. After making a decision to shoot under a certain condition, adopt the appropriate method, and shoot only under that condition, time permitting.
1. The Wind not only causes a bullet to drift to one side while shooting, but it reduces accuracy by increasing the sway of both the shooter’s body and his pistol. The shooter should try to determine a proper compensating sight change if there is a constant side wind. If there is a head wind, take care that the wind is deflected away from the eyes by shooting glasses. Powder fragments and acrid fumes blown back into the face cause smarting and watering of the eyes. Body sway can be minimized by a concerted effort to resist the wind pressure. A slight increase in general muscular tension is necessary.
a. Wind shooting is conducive to jerking the trigger because as the arc of movement increases, the shooter develops a tendency to relax his positive trigger pressure. Usually the shooter is waiting for a more stable sight picture. His concentration on sight alignment will diminish and he will make an effort to set the shot off on the move as the sights pass the vicinity of the aiming point.
b. The obvious answer is to first wait for a lull in the wind; next, concentrate as one normally does on sight alignment. When the smallest arc of movement that is possible to obtain under existing conditions is achieved, positive pressure is applied to the trigger.
c. Do not continue the hold during extreme gusts. Always take advantage of a chance to rest. Each subsequent attempt to fire a shot should be made with a firm resolve to align the sights and to apply constantly increasing trigger pressure until the shot is fired.
d. The surprise shot continues to be the indicator, even under these conditions, of whether you are applying the fundamentals correctly. Your shot group will be somewhat larger as a result of the wind disturbance increasing the arc of movement, but the wild shots resulting from faulty sight alignment, flinching, jerking and over correction will be minimized.
e. Extensive practice under wind conditions is not recommended, but enough firing should be conducted under those conditions to familiarize the shooter with the technique and method best for him.
f. Changing of Wind: When shooting at 50 yards and the whole air mass is moving approximately the same velocity in one direction, fairly accurate sight corrections can be made for wind. When doing this, however, it is not wise to think an all-purpose correction has been made. The changing nature of the wind must be taken into account. The grass and weeds, etc., should be watched attentively while shooting to detect a change in the force and direction. A shot should be made only when wind conditions have been accurately determined.
g. Sometimes the necessity to shoot when the wind is gusty requires a shooter to shoot accurately in a very short time, say within two seconds. The successful firing of an accurate shot under such conditions will be achieved only if a shooter has remained in the firing position in the intervals between lulls. When shooting under such conditions, he should figure out the most advantageous posture for himself in which he can wait out the gusts of wind. As soon as there is a lull he will be able to take aim quickly and fire his shot.
h. To aid accurate shooting when a gusty wind is blowing and when the wind is changing, a shooter must alter his tempo of shooting. Sometimes he must shoot rapidly, sometimes shooting twice when the wind is quiet or when the lighting is right, sometimes taking fairly long breaks. Wait out the unfavorable conditions for making a shot; but watch your time!
i. In order to manage the difficulties arising during windy conditions a shooter should be prepared beforehand to change both the tempo of his shooting and alter his system of control as the situation in which he finds himself changes.
