Calling the shot with a perfect sight picture is indeed an important skill, however at speed, a perfect sight picture is rarely possible or necessary. Movement also complicates the process of getting a perfect sight picture.

In IPSC, given the size of the A zone, the range of sight pictures that would yield an acceptable shot (A zone hit) on the target is relatively large. The important thing to remember is that you only need to hit the A zone, not the actual A .

The question of the acceptable sight picture for a given target then comes up and becomes a critical part of calling the shot.

If you break a shot on the edge of the A zone with perfect alignment, will it be an A zone hit? What about if you break a shot with a centered sight picture and the front sight all the way to the left in the rear sight notch? What about the same mis-alignment at 10 yards and 20 yards? How about 50 yards?

The answers to the questions above are critical to developing the skills of calling shots at speed.

In order to learn the skills it is critical to experiment with slow fire using intentional mis-alignment, to learn the implications of breaking a shot with an imperfect sight picture at various distances. This will help develop the skill of calling the shot. As the skills improve, increase the speed and eventually it will become second nature.

The important thing to remember is that it is critical to know where a shot actually went, even if it didn’t go where you wanted it to go.

Everything we need to know can be learned by reading the sights at the instant that the shot breaks. We need to make sure we call every shot in practice, so that it becomes second nature to know exactly where every shot went, even if we didn’t see a perfect sight picture.

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.

It’s important to understand the difference between Sight Alignment and Sight Picture since it is critical to understanding the post below.

The greatest obstacle in shooting a pistol accurately offhand is produced by the movement of the gun in the hand (wobble) combined with the movement of the wobble on the target (hold). These all too observable visual inputs distract us from what is important, the aforementioned third fundamental of shooting – releasing the shot without disturbing the gun’s hold.

This can help: imagine your pistol is in a machine-rest even though you are holding it offhand. Now imagine the target is moving (in the same pattern/manner as your hold). Now, ask yourself – what can you do?

Knowing this, it’s best to begin by shooting from a bench rest, or other supported position. Bag your pistol so that it’s rock solid. Aim into the backstop and then direct ALL your attention to building the pressure on the trigger until the gun fires. After you become comfortable with the feeling of firing the gun with all your attention on the trigger while simply watching the sights lift in recoil, place a target at 25 yards and repeat the above procedure with the following addition: Use this “order” to fire the shot:

1. Align your sights in the center of the target.
2. Shift all your attention to your previous feeling of your finger building pressure on the trigger until the shot breaks.

During #2, you are still looking at the sights; however, you are looking in a detached manner. Which means: Your concern is not in trying to shoot a particular spot; you are simply looking with the intention of remembering where the sights were aligned at the moment the shot fires.

Only after you’ve mastered “bench rest calling,” begin shooting offhand. Again, begin by shooting into the backstop with no intention of hitting anything in particular. This will allow you to focus all your attention on what is important – “releasing” the shot without disturbing the gun’s hold. Relax your attention into the gun, look at the sights without staring, and then shift all your attention to the previously mastered feeling of your finger on the trigger; with great determination and purpose, increase pressure on the trigger until the gun fires – “FEEL” the shot off. At the moment the gun lifts, recall the sight alignment, again, this is what you must see and remember. After mastering this, when you put a target behind your sights, you simply recall the “sight picture” – (sight alignment plus their relationship to the target).

Now to shoot a “good shot” (one that actually goes where you intended it), you must combine the feeling of releasing a perfect shot with the feeling of “willing the gun still” as you build pressure on the trigger. Eventually, with training, this becomes ONE FEELING.

The following text is extracted from a post on Calling the Shot, but it applies here

Once reading the sights is firmly ingrained, practice to preserve this most important of all fundamental while increasing your shooting speed by projecting your attention into your sights as you shoot. When you master this, everything else will vanish – even “you.”

Since Brian tends to choose his words very carefully, the choice of the words “into your sights” as opposed to “onto your sights” is an interesting one. Brian’s response in another post provides the subtle difference.

I am suggesting a different meaning when I said into vs onto. Into implies a “deeper” level of attention in which the “self” (the self in this case meaning – “someone” seeing “something”) dissolves, and only awareness remains.

This Zen approach to shooting reminded me of the following Quote:

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

— Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

The removal of self from the equation removes or should remove ego from the equation. The removal of ego leads to the removal of conscious impulse to “control” what is happening.

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.

Trying or thinking of any kind impedes awareness. When one is, the other isn’t.

The post is talking about 2 distinct states of mind that need to be developed and you should only be in 1 state at a given time. Being an “observer” as opposed to a “tryer” during the execution of a high speed activity is more conducive to success. Wow!

This is very different from muscle memory where the objective is to “burn” the path of execution into the muscles through repetition until it becomes second nature.

The critical difference between the two from my understanding is the use of inputs during the execution of the task.

From my understanding muscle memory relates to simple execution where inputs are not considered in the execution, hence if things are not quite as expected, the execution fails. If everything as expected, things tend to be very smooth and fast.

In subconscious execution, the inputs and environmental conditions are taken into consideration while performing the task purely at a subconscious level.

An example that illustrates the difference would be the use of a clutch in a vehicle with a manual transmission.

If the activity of using the clutch were performed purely on a muscle memory level, you would only be able to drive the car that you had the execution path “burned” into your muscles smoothly for. Driving other cars would lead to burned out clutches and jerky rides.

People who have learned the activity on a subconscious level, have taught themselves to feel for the clutch engagement point and engage it smoothly. When this person steps into a different vehicle, they can generally drive it smoothly after a few rough/jerky starts.

The good news is that subconscious execution may be slower in specific cases than pure muscle memory, it can take into account environmental factors and probably end up being significantly faster in the average case.

The interesting question that deserves it’s own article is the inputs used during subconscious execution of a task.

A huge revelation for me (and maybe it shouldn’t have been) was the difference between technique and fundamentals. I listened to an interview with Brian Enos in which he described the fundamentals of shooting.

According to Brian the fundamentals of shooting are:

1. Acquire the target (visually or through other means)
2. Align the gun with the target
3. Discharge the shot without disturbing the alignment

Fundamental means essential and refers to something that cannot be left out in order to successfully complete a task. It is easy to see how one cannot shoot accurately and/or fast successfully without implementing these fundamentals.

The physical description of the body’s movements we use to execute the fundamentals comprise our techniques.

Different techniques can be applied based on context, however the fundamentals stay the same.