"Tacticool" Head Turning When Pistol Shooting

[otisrush]

[I'm diggin' this Lounge....as some might tell from the postings I'm putting up.....]

OK: I've been watching a bunch of YouTube videos on pistol shooting steel targets. I don't have plans to get into that per se (such as Steel Challenge specifically) but I love shooting steel and I've been really into shooting my 9mm recently - especially since I got into reloading. Anyway........

What is this with the 180 degree head sweep after a string is done? On the one hand I get it - but on the other hand it is done so slowly it seems not only pointless - but possibly even a bad habit. I just don't get how, if one is supposedly trying to simulate taking care of yourself and others in a bad situation, that doing a slow head turn (I assume to check for other threats) is practical.

Can someone educate me? I'm figuring there is something I don't understand....in addition to the fact I just find the action odd.

Thx.

OR

 

[BigBoy99]

You are correct. Once the threat has been stopped, the area is scanned for any other potential threats. If none are observed, then the pistol is holstered. If more are detected, then evasion action is taken to counter the new threat.

Perhaps the slow head turn is part of the requirement for the shooting program. Shooters make it slow and deliberate so the judge will see it and they will not get dinged for not doing it.

 

[BB57]

I understand the advantages of a slow and careful scan when patrolling, although it would be continuous and broken into shorter segments with a priority given to an assigned area.

But yes, the very slow and dorky looking scan seems to be more of an effort to demonstrate that you're making a good, solid, tacti-cool slow and deliberate scan of the area.

In the real world you're probably going to treat it a little differently.

It might help to think of what a well trained defensive driver does crossing a busy intersection. First, you'll look left as that is the first lane you're crossing and the most imminent threat, then you'll look right as that's the second lane crossed and the one that will take the most time, then you'll look left again just before proceeding to make sure it's still clear and that you didn't miss anything on the first look, as it is again still the most imminent threat. You're not going to do a single slow and deliberate scan as it will allow too much time for the situation to change in the first area you scanned. The same principle will apply after a shoot.

In an actual shoot, when the primary threat is down;

- you're going to quickly scan the most likely direction of any other threat(s);
- then you're going to scan the rest of the area, and you're most likely not going to stop at 180 degrees either, but rather do a whole 360 sweep as most likely no one is going to be assigned to cover your 6 o'clock; and
- you're not going to do it in a painfully slow deliberate action as you're not going to want to take your eyes off the threat you've just downed for that long unless it is spectacularly obvious that he's dead.

 

[Smoke]

What is this with the 180 degree head sweep after a string is done? On the one hand I get it - but on the other hand it is done so slowly it seems not only pointless - but possibly even a bad habit. I just don't get how, if one is supposedly trying to simulate taking care of yourself and others in a bad situation, that doing a slow head turn (I assume to check for other threats) is practical.

I was taught to do it to overcome the natural tendency to go tunnel vision.

 

[otisrush]

I was taught to do it to overcome the natural tendency to go tunnel vision.

This I can get my mind wrapped around. If you look at the recent Unintended Discharge thread the stories often focus on some high-energy event distracting us from our normal thought process. I told two stories in that thread. In one case I was tired and lazy and let my guard down. In the other I was more focused on watching my son have fun rather than paying enough attention to the real details of how he was handling the firearm.

Thx!

OR

 

[NYlakesider]

If you understand anything about martial arts those moves are sort of a '' Kata''. A practiced methodical maneuver that done often enough becomes locked in.

 

[307-Niner]

I was taught to do it to overcome the natural tendency to go tunnel vision.

^^^This, need to break the tunnel vision.

 

[Malpasowildlifer]

bad guys travel in groups

 

[Muss Muggins]

Always check your six before you put your pistol away . . .

[I'm diggin' this Lounge....as some might tell from the postings I'm putting up.....]

OK: I've been watching a bunch of YouTube videos on pistol shooting steel targets. I don't have plans to get into that per se (such as Steel Challenge specifically) but I love shooting steel and I've been really into shooting my 9mm recently - especially since I got into reloading. Anyway........

What is this with the 180 degree head sweep after a string is done? On the one hand I get it - but on the other hand it is done so slowly it seems not only pointless - but possibly even a bad habit. I just don't get how, if one is supposedly trying to simulate taking care of yourself and others in a bad situation, that doing a slow head turn (I assume to check for other threats) is practical.

Can someone educate me? I'm figuring there is something I don't understand....in addition to the fact I just find the action odd.

Thx.

OR

 

[snake803]

"QUOTE:
It might help to think of what a well trained defensive driver does crossing a busy intersection. First, you'll look left as that is the first lane you're crossing and the most imminent threat, then you'll look right as that's the second lane crossed and the one that will take the most time, then you'll look left again just before proceeding to make sure it's still clear and that you didn't miss anything on the first look, as it is again still the most imminent threat. "

That is why many Americans are hit by cars in England...They drive on the wrong side of the street... Look left, look right, look left again.. step off the curb and get hit from the right!!!!!!!
JIM...............

 

[SuperMan]

It is good in theory but in real life it will never happen. Having been in LE for 30 years and instructing for 25 the instructors I have seen teaching this theory haven't been there and done that.

I have seen this taught in all the schools, the NRA PPIH and PPOH and LE academies. If you want proof that it doesn't work just go over to YouTube or LiveLeak and watch the LE shooting videos. NO ONE takes their eyes off the threat until the weapon has been moved from the reach of the bad guy and he is secured.

Focus on the problem at hand, your peripheral vision and circumstances of the situation will take care of the rest...and do you really think that some bad guys partner is going to be hanging around after the shooting starts. 99% of these guys are cowards and are long gone before the shell casings hit the ground.

Bob

 

[hangnoose]

DO I DO THAT?

Now you have me wondering. In steel challenge at my club anyway that is not required, nor do I feel any threat coming from a few steel plates. Checking to see if everything is safe around you, before moving the muzzle makes sense. A rapid head movement like you describe might cause my vertigo to kick in. I see nothing tacticool about being aware of ones surroundings.
Maybe in more "serious" run N gun, real life emulating contests
like ASPCA, that would be more commonplace.

 

[BAM-BAM]

LOL ....... it's got it's place "on the street"...... but I've got to admit .......watching some guys do it on the range ..... and the look on their face....... is like watching them ........going

"I'm cool....I'm Tacticool!"

makes me want to


Not to mention ...... on the range with a drawn weapon....... you can't really safely check your "six" without making an RO at least nervous

 

[otisrush]

Now you have me wondering. In steel challenge at my club anyway that is not required, nor do I feel any threat coming from a few steel plates. Checking to see if everything is safe around you, before moving the muzzle makes sense. A rapid head movement like you describe might cause my vertigo to kick in. I see nothing tacticool about being aware of ones surroundings.
Maybe in more "serious" run N gun, real life emulating contests
like ASPCA, that would be more commonplace.

And now that you mention it.....I didn't mean to imply or state this movement was required or even done in Steel Challenge specifically. I don't know that it is (and I don't know that it isn't).

On the one hand one can find tons of videos out there where people do this movement. I haven't researched enough to understand whether that is required for certain types of competitions and/or it has become part of the informal "culture" of people who are practicing their defensive pistol skills.

 

[Harrison]

Simple answer: it is thought to be tacticool and it is what is known in some circles as "match theatrics" . Sort of like at the end of a stage when the RO says unload and show clear, the shooters ejects the round in the chamber and catches it in mid-air with his strong hand. When doing the 9 and 3 gaze, it is important that one have an expression of both intense concentration/focus and anticipation on ones face. It adds to the affect.

 

[imashooter2]

Is this PSA style knockdown steel or Steel Challenge speed steel? For knockdown steel, some of us who are not in the top 25% find it useful to look over the field and make sure nothing is still standing that we thought we knocked down...

Of course without seeing the videos that you are talking about, it's all just guesses.