鉄砲道 — teppoudo

Calling the shot is critical skills in accurate shooting at speed and refers to the skill of knowing exactly where the bullet is going to hit at the instant the shot breaks, before it gets to the target.

It is important to note that the call is simply visual awareness. Calling the shot tells you where the bullet went at the moment the shot broke and has nothing to do with where you wanted the shot to go.

This point is key.

Calling a shot is mentally identifying the exact location or orientation of the sight picture the moment the rifle fired.

— David Tubb

As described in the post on Mastering Fundamental #3, we are talking about a different state of mind.

Brian Enos describes it effectively in the following post on his forum:

It’s your will or intention that attempts to hit the “good part” of the target, but it’s your awareness of what is actually happening (in the moment) that calls the shot. They’re totally different mental states. Often, a poorly finished or executed shot results from leaving “too much attention” on trying (will) to hit the target in a particular place. During high-speed, coordinated activity it’s usually better to become an observer rather than a “tryer.”

First, we should clearly establish what we’d like to happen (in our mind before we shoot). Then, once the activity begins, it’s usually beneficial to turn our attention to simply witnessing what is actually happening, thereby allowing our body to manifest the training it has undergone.

I’ve noticed, from beginner to Master class, not knowing how to apply their mind in this manner (keeping the will and the witnessing separate) limits many competitors. This is what’s behind – “Trying to hit the target can be the greatest hindrance to doing so.” Once the activity begins, we’re usually better off to let our personal will go (trying to hit the target) by way of directing our attention to directly witness what is actually happening. You know, watch the magic unfold. Trying or thinking of any kind impedes awareness. When one is, the other isn’t.

When you get the hang of “calling,” you’ll see it has nothing to do with aiming.

Calling a shot using a pistol equipped with optics is significantly easier, since all you need to do is remember the position of the dot or cross-hairs on the target the moment the shot broke. With iron sights the principle is still the same, however you need to read the relationship between the sight alignment and sight picture at the moment of truth.

In order to train this skill, place an IPSC target downrange with either an X or a 2″ dot taped to the target. This target is simply a reference to help with remembering the position of the sights at the moment the shot broke and is not to be used for “aiming”.

• After establishing a hold on the target, trigger the shot with your attention on the sights.
• Try and remember the exact alignment of the sights and their position on the target.
• Using a spotting scope, check the difference between where the shot actually went and where you thought it went.

With practice you will be able to call the exact position of the shot.

It may be helpful to initially shoot the drill with the gun supported on sand bags, in order to take hold out of the picture.

Saul Kirsch wrote a great book called Perfect Practice that provides a number of drills to improve IPSC shooting in general. Drills 6-10 deal with Calling the Shot and are great practice.

It is important to note that the point of impact may vary from what the sights tell you because of distance. You need to know what the sight picture needs to look like at 50 yards to score an A and what it needs to look like at 10 yards to score an A. Practice the drill at various distances to get an accurate view of the point of impact based on point of aim.

Train by accepting your hold and developing the visual awareness to remember the position of your sights when the gun fires. The eyes are the lens and the brain is the film.

In summary, Calling the Shot is about knowing where the shot went, not where you wanted it to go.

Update (May 23, 2007): I’ve added part two of this post.

Update (May 30, 2007): I’ve added a post on followthrough that would be of interest in this context.