From John Tate
>> In the 70s, I was a bullseye pistol shooter. Not good, but that’s what I shot … as opposed to rifle. In the mid-80s the Navy needed a commissioned officer to be captain of that year’s rifle team. I got drafted! So I became a rifleman. ((Some day I’ll tell you the history of being trained by the best the USMC had to offer.))
[Editor’s note: You should write this up as well as I’m sure it’s a great story!]
>> Now, what you’ve got to understand is: I’ve never actually shot a proper “double tap.” My ordered pairs, controlled pairs, whatever you want to call them, they are both shot about the same – aim, sight picture, squeeze. Fast enough to pass a qual shoot (draw, then two shots center mass in 2 seconds), but not truly fast.
>> > Now, as Travis Tomasie suggests in this video:
>> So here’s my question: Is this the essence of controlled pairs: good stance, firm grip, good sight picture for first shot; now let the pistol recoil and recover, and just pull the trigger again.
I never liked terms such as “double tap” or “hammers” or the like. Just shoot two (or one or three or five or whatever) shots on the target as needed. Speed is dictated by shooter skill and target size/distance.
Before competing in conventional disciplines with the Army Reserve Marksmanship Program, I held Master classifications from USPSA and IDPA.
Bill Drills (draw and fire six shots at seven yards) were a staple exercise, with the goal of shooting all six shots inside target center (eight inch circle) in under two seconds. Shooting Rapid Fire in the pistol National Match Course requires two second splits (ten seconds for five shots) while the Bill Drill is ten times faster (0.2 second splits with a draw under one second is about two total seconds.) Of course the Bill Drill is shot on a 114 MOA target while the bull (nine ring) on the 25 yard B-8 target is 22 MOA and shot with one hand.
To gain increased shot-to-shot speed, the shooter must eventually start hauling the gun back down from recoil. Solid and consistent grip and stance is critical and a developed shooting platform will have the firearm returning on its own, sort of like Natural Point of Aim. To increase beyond some rate of speed, however, the shooter will have to help the gun down from recoil. Conventional shooters don’t because there’s nothing gained for them going faster than one shot every two seconds.
Here’s where bullseye shooters get hung up: This hauling from recoil can appear to be a flinch or trigger jerk.
A flinch/trigger jerk is better called a pre-ignition push; the shooter muscled the gun while the shot was fired. Recoil control at speed is a post-ignition push; the shooter brought the gun down from recoil immediately AFTER the shot was fired. The time difference is a few hundredths of a second. Yes really, as training time spent with a shot timer will reveal.
These videos with Rob Leatham are good demonstrations:
>> Also, on the referenced video, Tomasie says first move your eyes to the target, then your sights to your eyes. In fact, I just discovered this (sufficient to articulate it) in the last year or so. FLETC has a shotgun drill where you shoot reactive targets, alternating from side to side. What I found is if you move the sights and eyes to the next target, you’ll overswing and have to come back. If you move your eyes to the next target THEN move the sights, you’ll not overswing. My point here is Tomasie is right (DUH!), but he doesn’t explain why the other option produces sub-par results.
In target transitions, I feel as if I’m presenting the gun to each target, not swinging through the targets. Leading with the eyes helps this.
Rob Leatham demonstrates this here:
++++++++
In the 70s, I was a bullseye pistol shooter. Not good, but that’s what I shot … as opposed to rifle. In the mid-80s the Navy needed a commissioned officer to be captain of that year’s rifle team. I got drafted! So I became a rifleman. ((Some day I’ll tell you the history of being trained by the best the USMC had to offer.))
When I retired from the Navy (Jan ’96), I started working with police. That sent me back to the handgun and a new skill: double tap. Now, what you’ve got to understand is: I’ve never actually shot a proper “double tap.” My ordered pairs, controlled pairs, whatever you want to call them, they are both shot about the same – aim, sight picture, squeeze. Fast enough to pass a qual shoot (draw, then two shots center mass in 2 seconds), but not truly fast.
BREAK
Now, as Travis Tomasie suggests in this video:
With a good stance and grip, after the first shot, the pistol will pretty much settle back to the same position. ((I see by your photo that you are double distinguished, so I’m sure you know how this works with a good sitting or prone position in highpower rifle.))
And, as a quick demo for students, I have them extend horizontally a relaxed hand, and then thump one of their fingers. Sure enough, it goes back to where it was.
OK – BACK TO DOUBLE TAP
So here’s my question: Is this the essence of controlled pairs: good stance, firm grip, good sight picture for first shot; now let the pistol recoil and recover, and just pull the trigger again.
———————–
Footnote: On the referenced video, Tomasie says first move your eyes to the target, then your sights to your eyes. In fact, I just discovered this (sufficient to articulate it) in the last year or so. FLETC has a shotgun drill where you shoot reactive targets, alternating from side to side. What I found is if you move the sights and eyes to the next target, you’ll overswing and have to come back. If you move your eyes to the next target THEN move the sights, you’ll not overswing. My point here is Tomasie is right (DUH!), but he doesn’t explain why the other option produces sub-par results.
Colorado Pete
Nov 08, 2014 @ 01:57:01
Great stuff, thanks for posting. I’ve seen the Leatham ones before but not the Tomasie.
I’m somewhat gratified to see that a shooter of Tomasie’s skill level (waaayyy above mine) came to the same conclusion I did: high-end shooting is high-speed controlled pairs.
This question:
“So here’s my question: Is this the essence of controlled pairs: good stance, firm grip, good sight picture for first shot; now let the pistol recoil and recover, and just pull the trigger again.”
I would answer by modifying the last few words: “…now let the pistol recoil and recover, see your sights, judge the sight picture, and if it’s good, pull the trigger again.”
I believe the question as asked defines a dedicated pair; that is, the second shot is fired however the pistol recovers from the first shot, without visual assessment or correction if necessary. As I modified the last bit, I believe that defines a controlled pair: seeing, deciding, and correcting if necessary.
Your eyes and mind can be trained to function at such a high rate of speed that while you may first learn to shoot faster splits using dedicated pairs, your ability to see (with your eye) and perceive (with your mind) the recoil recovery can become so fast as to allow the control on the second shot with no meaningful time lag.
At least, that’s been my experience.
I was interested to see that these guys can actually put in a Post-Ignition-Push at the speeds they shoot. My technique has allowed for splits in the .l7 to .25 (depending on distance) range simply by letting the gun recover itself without any deliberate act from me. I guess that’s why those guys are champions and I’m still a bum.
LikeLike
John M. Buol Jr.
Nov 08, 2014 @ 09:53:51
>> I was interested to see that these guys can actually put in a Post-Ignition-Push at the speeds they shoot. My technique has allowed for splits in the .l7 to .25 (depending on distance) range simply by letting the gun recover itself without any deliberate act from me.
Perhaps without a conscious act from you, but I suspect getting good hits at that sort of speed requires more than letting the gun recover itself. You’re feeling as if the gun recovers itself and centered hits indicate there’s no pre-ignition push but you may be subconsciously hauling the gun out of recoil to “let” recoil recovery happen.
Try several strings with splits in the .l7 to .25 range having a few dummy rounds randomly mixed in and see what happens. Any movement of the gun on the click of a dummy round is from you, obviously. If hits are good, that movement is likely post-ignition push needed to haul the gun back down from recoil and realign with the target to get the next hit(s) at speed.
LikeLike
Colorado Pete
Nov 08, 2014 @ 11:55:10
Hmmm. I have never “felt” that I was doing anything, and I’m pretty sensitized to what my muscles are doing (I can feel a flinch starting before the trigger breaks). Worth a try to see what is really going on though. I use a particular different grip strength and squeeze direction with each hand to get those results, and have always thought that “rubber band wrists” did it all.
Still working my way through your book. ;-)
LikeLike