BE Mike said:
Some of the ideas put forth seem conflicting, such as the ideas on trigger manipulation. I also disagree with the steps starting with "freeze". I believe that sight alignment and trigger manipulation need to be considered as two functions taking place together. ...
I don't see those ideas so much as conflicts with themselves
as much as conflicts with the some of the many "received truths" of handgun training we've been exposed to over the years. The biggest thing I found appealing about that video was that it seemed to make to be much more focused on how the student might best learn rather than how to best teach the student what was on the list of training objectives.
There are a lot of experts out there and just about every expert seems to have his or her view of how things must be done and the best way to teach it, but darned few of them seem really focused on how the students might might most effectively learn what they are trying to teach.
Little things like how strongly you grip the gun when firing, doesn't seem to be consistently addressed across the board, nor does how to properly stroke the trigger and let it reset. Even how to manage a reload seems to vary from instructor to instructor, and whether to use the slide stop (or release) or some variation of a "sling shot" release is not uniformly presented. (There may be more consistency among NRA instructors on some of these points, but they're not the only ones out there teaching. Many instructors know how to present their topics, but far fewer of them are really teachers -- who are focused on the best way to teach their subject.
For me, that was the best part of the video -- its focus on the psychology of the learners. I think that was the reason for the video's recommendations to start non-shooters out with air pistols (particularly ones that look like the guns they'll eventually be shooting, and that makes great sense. If that's not easily done, then using .22s help. (And if you've got a .22 top end for the gun they'll later be shooting, so much the better!)
Managing the gun and the trigger remains relatively the same regardless of whether it's air-powered or powder-powered. What happens after the trigger is pulled is where differences really make themselves known -- but once the bullet or pellet is gone, that can be dealt with.
Sight alignment and trigger manipulation can be difficult -- and saying that you must do both at the same time is certainly true, but that TRUTH doesn't mean the two processes can't be mastered separately and then combined.
The Bullseye Pistol chart for Error Analysis and Correction was arguably created for folks who shoot with the strong hand only -- but most people who start into handguns seem to do that even when they use both hands.
But, then, so do many, many experienced shooters! Using the Bullseye problem chart still makes sense for many two-handed shooters. But you don't hear that truth addressed much.
As you see in the Bullseye chart, squeezing the gun's grip tightly with the strong hand while also squeezing the trigger with that same hand can mis-align the gun. (It's hard to squeeze 3 of your finger and your thumb heavily, while lightly pressing a trigger.) Trying to hold the grip less tightly while pressing the trigger while also using that hand to position the gun can also cause a new handgun shooter problems.
One of the technical resources I hold in high regard is retired Sgt. Major Kyle Lamb (the columnist for
Guns & Ammo ) who spent 15 (of his 21 Army) years in Delta Force. He was one of the Delta Force Operators on the ground in Mogadishu, the story told in the book and movie
Black Hawk Down, and he also fought in Desert Storm, saw duty in Bosnia, and Iraq.
Lamb recommends gun positioning (for target acquisition) be done mostly with the weak hand and trigger management be done with the strong hand. For positioning the gun he says that maybe as much as 70% of the work should be done with the strong hand, and only 30% be done with the weak hand -- but he also knows that a different ratio might work better for some folks. That leaves most of the strong hand free to be focused on properly releasing/pressing/pulling the trigger.
I had never heard that approach recommended until relatively, yet I think it makes great sense! When I've taken classes -- only a few, to be sure -- how to hold the gun with the strong hand was addressed, but not how to use that hand to do anything but stay out of the way!
