Smart Move: Economy of Movement for the Shooting Sports 9781092415675

Table of contents :
This book explains efficient movement with a firearm for the practical shooting sports. If you want to be faster, this is the lowest hanging fruit to cut down your times. There are plenty of illustrations and drills included by world-class movement coach Kita Busse.

Citation preview

ECONOMY OF MOTION FOR THE SHOOTING SPORTS

Smart Move: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

By: Kita Busse

Copyright © 2019 by Kita Busse ISBN-13: 978-1-09-241567-5 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted In any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Contact the author by emailing: [email protected].

In handling a firearm, you are responsible for you own safety and the safety of those around you. Please follow and respect firearm safety rules at all times. The author of this book is not responsible for your safety, and you are taking the risk upon yourself that comes along with handling a firearm. The following is a good example of firearm safety from Jeff Cooper's Four Rules (Morrison & Cooper, 1991): 1. All guns are always loaded. 2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. 3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target. 4. Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

Table of Contents Acknowledgments Foreword

iii

Introduction

V

Chapter 1:

Movement in the 3rd Dimension

2

Chapter 2:

Energy Leaks

24

Chapter 3:

Grip Training

35

Chapter 4:

Resistance Training for Explosive Movement

46

Chapter 5:

The Quiet Eye

64

Chapter 6:

Resistance Training for Transitions

81

Chapter 7:

Explosive Movement

105

Chapter 8:

Accelerating and Decelerating Steps/Moving Around Obstacles

159

Chapter 9:

Leaving/Entering a Position

173

Chapter 10:

Perpetual Motion and Stage Planning

208

Chapter 11:

Training Techniques

243

Conclusion

267

Drill Index

268

Contribution Index

269

Bibliography

270

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Contributions and Permissions: Maria Gushchina, Ljubisa Momcilovic, Jorge Ballesteros, Eduardo de Cobos Abreu, Simon JJ Racaza, Dave Sevigny, Saul Kirsch, Scott Greene, Josh Froelich, Tim Yackley, Ron Avery, Daan van Etten (thank you for also editing!), Paul Hagiantoniou, Hwansik Kim, Tim Herron, Brannon Le Bouef, Craig Osborne, James DeLambert. A special thanks to all of you for sharing your expertise with others through this book. Cover Design: Jessica Hook Front Cover Photo: Bee Silva Photography Back Cover Photo: Candi Lee Photography Photographs: Bee Silva Photography, Candi Lee Photography and Beyond Photography Photography: See text for additional photo credits. Diagrams: Kate Forner and Ryan McNamara Inspiration: I have learned so much from watching great shooters, asking questions and testing my theories on them. There would not be a movement book if it wasn't for a long list of them including but not limited to the shooters listed above and also: Robin Sebo, Ben Stoeger, Mason Lane, Joel Park, Jared Fox, Alexandre Berdat, Pavel Torgashov, Matt Hopkins, Max Leograndis, Edcel Gino, and many more. Support: Thank you to the amazing companies who showed me support through the process of writing this book!

A..,...•A

Gofllau..A 5flOfll75

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

•i·•·····---. ::::c -�- --

Energy Leaks in Perform ing Reloads Energy leaks are not confined to being contained within our body. They can also come from articulations between our bodies and inanimate objects... like a gun or a magazine. Think about the articulation between your non-dominant hand and the magazine you grab off the belt to reload. Do you have an energy leak in your reload? Many shooters will grab the magazine out of the pouch by placing the middle to upper (distal) area of their palm on the base pad and pulling it out with their fingers. They find that the magazine easily gets bumped to the side or knocked out of their hand when trying to insert it. It may fly out of their hand immediately after pulling it out of the pouch. It may not get seated all the way and fall out of the gun.

30

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

This happens because there is an energy leak between your hand and the magazine. This creates a lack of control over the reload due to a poor articulation. There is a lack of contact between your hand and the magazine, and it easily moves out of alignment with your hand, and ultimately with the magwell. To overcome this energy leak, grab the base pad farther down where the meat of your palm is. Your fingers will come up much higher on the magazine, creating more contact and giving you more control over its movements. This will allow more force to travel from your hand to the magazine as you seat it in the gun. The magazine will be much more difficult to knock out of alignment or to drop. Another external articulation that can have an energy leak is in gripping the gun. This is an energy leak that most shooters are familiar with and understand well. Shooters refer to this as "limp-wristing''. Limp-wristing a gun means that you are not gripping hard enough for the gun to function properly. The gun needs force to cycle, and if the joint between the gun and your hand/arm is weak, the energy will escape from there rather than going back into the gun. This weak grip can induce a malfunction. When the gun is functioning despite limp-wristing it, the shooting part takes longer. If the articulation between the gun and body is weak, it will take longer to get a sight picture after recoil. There will be more sight movement during the recoil, first up and then down, and maybe even side to side in addition. Gripping the gun harder and locking the wrists helps return the sights faster and in a more predictable manner so that you can shoot again sooner. History of Injuries Using joints in the most efficient way they were meant to be used is also beneficial for those who have had hip, back or knee surgeries. It uses your bone structure for support rather than putting strain on tendons and ligaments. Lateral movement is more likely to cause further injury because there is less support from the skeleton ( Brewer, 2017). To further understand this concept, let's go retro for a minute. Imagine Jessica Rabbit sauntering down a hallway swaying her hips back and forth. Now, imagine the Terminator stalking down the hall. What is the difference? Jessica has energy leaks. Arnold Schwarzenegger locks his hips in place, aligns his joints, has a forward weight bias and moves with his quads and glutes in the most efficient manner. Jessica Rabbit, on the other hand, leads with her hips instead of her shoulders. She depends on her joints, tendons and ligaments to support her as they move in and out of alignment rather than depending on her bone structure to do its job.

31

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motionfor the Shooting Sports

DON'T DO THIS

h

When you let your hips relax and drop from one side to the next as you run, 1, it creates an energy leak and can lead to injury over time. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

Instead, lock your hips. This keeps the F energy focused in the direction you 1, wish to move.

If you drop one hip down when running, you can injure yourself by putting stress on your joints and ligaments. On the other hand, by locking your hips in place, your muscles will be able to function much more explosively, because you are reducing energy leaks. Using my earlier analogy, the dropped hip acts as the bendy part of a straw, and the locked hips act as a straight straw (Joyce & Lewindon, 2014). The energy travels back up into your body until it finds an unstable location where it dissipates. It can be an

32

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

injury waiting to happen. Although you can still perform a task normally while energy leaks out of a weak point in your body, over time it will create many tiny little painless injuries that ultimately lead to a painful injury. This can be from a lack of coordinated timing in the movement of a joint, or simply a lack in musculature surrounding the joint to support it. Other examples of energy leaks to watch out for would be rotating the knees inward when you run. This directs the force inward rather than upward into the rest of the body. Slouching is another energy leak that takes away from using your body like a rigid spring, and the energy leaks out of the upper back. Striking your heel on the ground first when you run transfers the energy to the ground in a way that it can't be recovered and leads to back pain. Through exercise and proper joint alignment, energy leaks from the body can be reduced. Rather than fighting an uphill battle, explosive movement will feel much easier. These are considered to be three­ dimensional movements and are nearly imperceptible. They do, however, have an effect on your time. Allowing your hips to sway to the side may not be an added step with your foot, but it is the equivalent of adding an intangible step to your stage.

Our joints move most efficiently front to back. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

Although our joints can move in many directions besides front to back, they do tend to cause energy leaks and can lead to injury over time. A general rule is to point your hips in the direction you want to move. There is, however, application for these other movements in shooting.

33

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

CHAPTER 2 OVERVIEW: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Use joints at efficient angles in proper alignment Move your body using its most powerful muscles Keep your lower legs stiff to jab at the ground for explosive movement Find the energy leaks and eliminate them Open up your hips to the direction you wish to move If you can be Jessica Rabbit or the Terminator, always be the Terminator

34

Chapter 3 GRIP TRAINING

Why do shooters care about grip strength so much? It's important in shooting because we use it to overcome the things that make us inaccurate, such as recoil or not pulling the trigger straight. The theory is that the more grip strength we have, the easier it is to control the gun so that we can shoot faster and more accurately. Think about when you first started shooting... you probably were not yet gripping the gun hard enough. It's not that the hand/forearm muscles were not there, it's just that you simply were not using them as much as you could. In order to be functional at life, you have to have developed some level of grip strength to have the ability to lift and move things (Aston, 2011). How does my grip work? Our fingers are all controlled by the same muscles (generally speaking... it's actually very complex), so if you are gripping the gun hard with your dominant hand, all of your fingers are going to curl. You can see how this could be problematic if your trigger finger curls with the rest of your fingers. Instead, try simply holding the gun with your dominant hand rather than crushing it. This allows you to access the separate muscles that control your index finger, which are isolated from the muscles that control the other fingers (Hirt, et. al., 2017). How hard should I grip the gun? There are many schools of thought on how to grip the gun, so I will share with you the foundation these ideas are based off of. Crushing the gun with your dominant hand overpowers the muscles that isolate your trigger finger. This can cause you to push the trigger with your whole hand, moving the entire gun rather than moving only the trigger. 35

SMART MOVE: Economy ofMotion for the Shooting Sports

One method is to back off the crush grip until you are able to move your finger freely in isolation. Then, crush grip with your support hand instead. Here is something many shooters like to try: grip the gun so hard with your non-dominant hand that you begin to shake, then back off just until the shaking stops. Grip the gun that hard every time you shoot or dry fire without letting your grip relax as the stage goes on. (Hirt, et. al., 2017). Another school of thought is to do the opposite. Some shooters like to grip the gun with as little hand strength as necessary to prevent muscle fatigue. These shooters depend more on angles of leverage and locking their wrists and grip the gun harder and harder until the recoil is under control. Hwansik Kim of Team Walther has created excellent educational material on grip, and he is in this camp. His video is available for purchase at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/recoilmanagementseries. Shooting instructor Ron Avery explained to me that he encouraged his students to keep the palm soft to create a more grippy surface, like chewing gum. If the big muscle going from your thumb to your palm is too tense, it can create a more slippery surface in contact with the gun, like sliding it on an ice cube. It may be beneficial to separate the forearm muscle from the hand muscle for that reason. Grip Test Before a training session, a world-class open shooter told me to hold out my hand, palm down, fingers together. I had no idea what he was looking for. He said, "That's good! That means you work a lot with your hands." He explained that he was checking for a certain muscle that is an indicator of your ability to grip the gun. The test he did was simple. To see how developed your hand muscles are, hold your hand flat, palm down, and close all of your fingers and thumb. What you are looking for is called the interossei muscle. The interossei muscle is the bump between your thumb and first finger. It is both the first muscle to atrophy (waste away) if there is a problem with your grip strength, and also the first muscle you can see if your hand grip is strong. That is how he knew I would be strong enough to grip the gun hard without even seeing me shoot. Your grip is also made up of your forearm muscles, which you can see by doing a reverse curl of your wrists (Leftchick et al.).

36

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

The interossei muscle is an indicator of grip strength.

The muscles you do not want to be using to crush the gun are in your upper arms and shoulders. Instead, use more of your bone structure than upper arm muscles to hold up the gun. A world-class PCC shooter demonstrated this for me by holding a push-up position supported by his arm muscles and contrasted it by supporting the position with his skeleton only. Crush the grip with only your hands and forearms. Relaxed shoulders will make transitioning between targets a lot easier and conserve energy (Leftchick et al.). The knuckles may be white from gripping with your hands. The forearm muscles should be tense with wrists locked, but the skeleton holds up your arms with minimal upper arm tension rather than gripping the gun with your whole arm.

..

Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

Grip is very subjective, and there are many schools of thought on what the best method. Play around

37

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

with it and find what works for you. It's one of those things that you will probably always revisit and make adjustments to. A grip that works on one gun may not work on another gun. Relaxed Shoulder/Crush Grip Test A test you can do for this is to relax your arms and have someone else lift your shoulders into a shrug, then let go. Your shoulders should drop freely. Next, sit at a table and crush grip the edge of it using your hands and forearms only. You should be able to have someone shrug up your shoulders and let go, and your shoulders should be able to drop freely while maintaining a crush grip on the edge of the table. Separating the neuropathways that activate these muscles can be challenging but can be done with practice. This is something you can work on while driving. Grip the steering wheel hard and simultaneously relax your shoulders. When you first started focusing on gripping the gun hard, you had to train yourself to use a higher percentage of your available grip strength by simply deciding to recruit those muscles and by consciously gripping as hard as you could without shaking. Then, over time, you built up additional strength. What you were doing was creating neuropathways in those muscles to recruit them more efficiently, along with building muscle strength (Aagard, et. al., 2002).

Grip Contribution by: Paul Hagiantoniou, Eight-Time IPSC Australia n National Champion Photo Credits: Glen Lazaroo, Ambert Xie, and Paul Hagia ntoniou

Every time the timer goes off, you have to either draw your gun or pick it up off some surface. It's the start of the stage, and like your sta nce and positioning, your grip on the gun sets you up to engage the array of targets you're confronted with. Get your grip wrong a n d you lose your natural point of aim, accuracy goes down, it takes longer to aim, and depending on the stage and amount of shots needed, you will probably have to adjust your purchase on the gun to continue shooting. This wastes valuable time. Consistency is the key here. Burn this in during dry fire with confirmation on

38

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

the range in live fire. There are really only two ways to draw: there's the snatch (which a few shooters do well like Saul Kirsh), and there's the common and safe draw where you get a good grip on the gun by grabbing it in an overhand draw. The Snatch Draw To do the snatch draw, you come up to draw from under the grip and snatch the gun out rather than bringing your hand above and back down on the grip. This is also referred to as a "scoop draw" by many shooters. There is a risk using the snatch draw. It's certainly quicker, but there's no room for error. With a standard draw, you would raise your strong hand above the grip of the gun, and then come down on it acquiring the grip. There is a momentary push down into the holster (take care not to accentuate the push down on the gun and waste valuable time). With the snatch, there is no raising of your hand above the grip. As you raise your hand from your sides, three fingers come up under the grip and snatch the gun out of the holster without coming down on it. The grip is finalised almost in mid-air. I have only ever seen two people be consistent in using this very advanced technique successfully. The Overhand Draw To do the overhand draw, bring your hand up over the grip from the side of the gun. Slide the web of your hand into the space below the beaver tail. You have to get the draw right in order to get a proper grip on the gun. This draw is safer because your hand is coming up above the grip of the gun and then briefly driving down into the holster. The feedback you get from this draw you will not get from the snatch. It's confirmation that you've got the gun in a good firing grip.

39

There is a lot of information available on the actual two-handed grip. Try different techniques and see what works for you. Ultimately, what you're after is a draw and grip that align the sights when you close your eyes. With closed eyes, draw and acquire your grip, then extend your arms forward. Your front sight should be in the notch of the rear sight, correct in elevation and windage (left and right alignment) when you open your eyes. If your sights don't align quite right, you will need to make very small adjustments to your grip. Very small corrections, either a little less pressure in the strong or weak hand or a little more. It could also just be your weak hand fingers that need to press harder or softer against your strong hand knuckles. You will be surprised at how much movement in the alignment of the sights there w1ii oe. cxµe, i1 1 1 e 1 1 l with this, be patient when you open your eyes, and notice the sights are not spot on. Don't be tempted to instantly move your head to get alignment. You will find that the changes required to bring the sights into alignment are very subtle and tiny. Most shooters try to apply sideways pressure to the grip panels of the gun. They squeeze with the hollows of their hands in this area to get a solid grip. This applies inward pressure to the gun from the left and right. Think about using an app where you can draw lines on a video of you standing still and rapid firing on a single target. Imagine if you drew a straight horizontal line right to left through the centre of the grip panels. The line would extend right through the gun, simulating where you apply sideways pressure with your hands. When you hit play and watch the gun recoil in comparison to the line, it would rotate on this axis like a hinge. Recoil would raise the muzzle significantly. No matter how hard you pressed in sideways on the grip panels, the gun would naturally want to rotate up and down. It is a pivot point, or fulcrum. Instead, apply more pressure on the front and back-strap of the gun. Do this by pulling in toward you with your weak hand and pushing out toward the targets with your strong hand. This technique effectively neutralizes the inward and outward pressure on the gun. This is not excessive pressure; again, experiment. If you now push a rod through the back strap and out the front strap of the gun's grip, you can see how, during recoil, the muzzle would not rise as much on this axis. It can certainly rotate left and right, but the physics make it harder for the movement to be vertical. The force you are trying to overcome is vertical, not side to side.

40

We can "manage" recoil, we can't stop it. What we're after is for the front sight to return back into the notch of the rear sight consistently and quickly. When this happens properly, it requires less correction and input from you, which means it takes less time. We are not all as strong as each other. Applying 100 % of your strength to manage recoil will absolutely kill the dexterity in your trigger finger. This can affect accuracy and splits, and then trigger freeze will become an issue when trying to shoot fast. I'm not going to suggest a percentage of grip pressure for each hand but will state that I use more in my weak hand than my strong hand. This is to preserve my trigger fingers' flexibility and speed. Finally, I have to talk about the weak hand wrist. This will change your recoil management considerably if done right and is the one major error in peoples' grip. The weak hand needs to be rotated forward on the grip of the gun. This locks the wrist. If you don't do this, the muzzle rise of the gun firing will be very noticeable and excessive.

'

Australian IPSC Cham pion Paul Hagiantoniou rotates his non­ dominant hand forward to lock the wrist and counter recoil.

The points to check you are rotating your weak hand forward correctly are as follows: 1. Grip your gun and extend your arms into the shooting position. If you release your four weak hand fingers, they should point down toward the ground at 45-degrees. If they do not, you need to rotate the weak hand more. 41

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Australian IPSC Champion Paul Hagiantoniou points his fingers toward the ground to com bat the vertical movement of the gun in recoil.

2. There should be a straight line between the joint of your wrist and hand. If there's a noticeable angle between your weak hand and forearm at the wrist, you're not rotating your weak hand enough. Done correctly, it will feel awkward at first and will change your index. Burn it in during dry fire, and it will not take long for it to be natural.

I would like to thank Kita for her friendship and help over the years. I'm truly honoured to have some input here and wish her all the best in her shooting and training career.

42

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

To quote Todd Jarrett, "The more I practice the luckier I get. " Make your own luck. I wish you all fun times on and off the range, stay safe, see you soon.

Thank you,

Paul Hagiantoniou

Strength Training Once using all of your current grip strength becomes subconscious, then it may be worthwhile to train for additional grip strength. Take care not to do too many repetitions as this will easily cause injury, and as a shooter, your hands can only do so much. If you have a decent grip, it may be better to save your hands for the shooting part rather than further fatigue them outside of shooting... especially if you must also reload ammo on a press with a handle! The safest way to train your grip without injuring yourself is by doing pull-ups, gripping a bar to lift weights, monkey bars, wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, farmer carry weights, etc. This forces you to use all of the different gripping muscles rather than creating strain with a one-dimensional workout. Two grip training sessions per week are plenty to make gains (Brown, 2004). Injury Prevention and Treatment Epicondylitis is a very common injury among competitive shooters, and physical therapist Chad Reilly refers to it as "shooter's elbow" (2014). Depending on whether the pain is on the inside or outside of your elbows, it is similar to "tennis elbow" or "golf elbow". This is not typically a problem with inflammation, rather it is caused by repetitive motion or use, but can be accompanied by inflammation in newer cases (Finestone & Rabinovitch, 2008). This injury can often be both prevented and treated using an exercise program, which has been found to be the most effective treatment. If you have not experienced pain in your elbows from shooting, and train regularly; start prevention now. There are a few effective exercises to strengthen the wrist extensor muscles, which takes some of the load off the tendon. It also creates sort of a scar where the muscle and tendon meet, which is more difficult to damage and is not painful (Finestone & Rabinovitch, 2008).

43

Exercise Program The exercises focus on eccentric (lengthening) and concentric (shortening) of the wrist extensor muscles. I will give you two examples, but there are more exercises available. If you have shooter's elbow, this is going to hurt for probably about six weeks. Loosen things up a bit first by doing a few bicep curls with each arm. Do 15 reps, three sets of each exercise daily until it doesn't hurt, then increase the weight (Reilly et al., 2014). One exercise is the concentric wrist curl. You can either sit next to a table or use your thigh to rest your elbow on (bent 90-degrees) with your wrist hanging over the edge, palm up. Lift a hand-held dumbbell by bending your wrist back as far as you can, moving the back of your hand toward the ground. Let the weight roll all the way down to your fingertips. Next, curl the palm of your hand toward you slowly as far as you can (Finestone & Rabinovitch, 2008). Another exercise is the eccentric wrist curl, or reverse curl. Sit next to a table with your arm laid on it, elbow straight. Keep your palm down, wrist hanging over the edge. Lift a hand-held dumbbell by bending your wrist down and letting the weight drop to your fingertips, then curling the back of your hand toward you slowly as far as you can. You may have to start lighter (five pounds) for this exercise (Finestone & Rabinovitch, 2008). According to physical therapist Chad Reilly, 2014, you can either do this for injury prevention or treatment. For prevention, do the exercises twice a week, 3 sets of 15. Start with 5 pounds for the first set, then 8, then 15. Increase weight as you are able. You can do both hands at the same time, one on each knee. Switch to the reverse exercise with elbows on knees for one set before going back to the first exercise and continue alternating. He recommends a bent elbow for the eccentric wrist curl. See the video at spinalflowyoga.com/shooters-elbow/ for more information. If you need to treat a current injury, you should be practicing treatment once per day, 3 sets of 15 reps. Start with 5 pounds, then 8, then 15, with increasing weight for each set. If you already have an injury, this is going to hurt. According to Chad Reilly, this will straighten out the fibers, but you need a heavy enough weight to make that happen. It is normal to feel pain during the exercise, but if you do not feel immediate relief afterward, you are not lifting heavy enough to straighten the fibers (2014). These exercises will help keep you in the game when you are using a consistent crush grip every time you touch the gun. There are many different ways to grip a gun, and there is a lot of information out there on various techniques. Find whatever works for you, and you will probably continue to make adjustments to your technique as your shooting progresses. These are ideas that have worked for many and may or may not work for you.

44

CHAPTER 3 OVERVIEW: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Grip the gun hard Don't grip so hard with your dominant that you can't isolate your trigger finger Grip with your hands and forearms, not your upper arms and shoulders Resistance training is okay, but too many reps can cause injury Do injury prevention/treatment exercises regularly_

45

Ohapter 4

RESISTANCE TRAINING FOR EXPLOSIVE MOVEMENT Pay close attention to this chapter. This is not the most important thing to learn in shooting, but it is the lowest hanging fruit for the general population of competitive shooters to reduce their times. These techniques can take full seconds off of your stage runs if utilized properly.

You don't have to get fit to be faster. Efficient movement is not necessarily about how fit you are or how big your muscles are... it's how you use them. Cliche, I know. Although being fit certainly helps, it is not the end all be all. Whatever level of fitness you are at currently, you can physically move faster without having to gain any muscle or endurance first. You are not moving as fast as you can for your current physical condition. These techniques can help you reach maximum potential for whatever physical state you are in. FYI, if you have a keg instead of a six-pack, you can still use it to your advantage ... see the chapter on perpetual motion. "Research indicates that humans are incapable of voluntarily producing maximal muscle force, but repeated exposure to resistance training enhances this ability" (Schoenfeld, 2016, p. 5). What this means is that you can decide to move fast, but you cannot simply decide to move to your maximum potential. Resistance training is what allows you to move as fast as you are physically capable of.

First, make the conscious decision to run as fast as you can run. Making the conscious decision to move as fast as you physically can will create substantial gains. These gains, however, will never be as much as adding resistance to your training. You should see the difference immediately.

46

Resistance Training Just like deciding to grip the gun hard enough, it is important to make the decision to move as fast as you can move. However, we cannot simply decide that we are going move explosively to our maximum potential. It has to be trained. Resistance training helps with explosive movement, but how do we train with resistance in the shooting sports? Every other sport I can think of that involves movement already uses resistance training techniques. In practice this has already been proven with good results. Even horse trainers use resistance bands to teach show horses how to high step. The research has already been done! So why is it not commonly used in the shooting sports? Compared to many other sports, competitive shooting is in its infancy. Although the research is there, we have to figure out which aspects apply to shooting, which ones don't matter either way, and which ones are detrimental. In other sports that have been researched such as tennis, basketball and football, none of them involve carrying a loaded gun. It changes the way you are forced to move for safety purposes. Since 2010, I have been testing various proven techniques from other sports on elite shooters to establish what works and what doesn't. There are some techniques that apply to one situation and not to another! It has been a series of trial and error, and I am always learning more. This chapter is one of the biggest gaps in training for our sport. Resistance training can instantly take full seconds off your long field courses in practice, but you have to keep it up to see it translate over to a match. Once you try this, it is an eye-opening experience.

Using A Weight Vest If you don't have a weight vest or plate carrier, get one. Typically, 20 pounds are suitable, but if you have a history of injuries, start very light...even 5 pounds are better than nothing. If you are very fit already, you may need a 40+ pound vest to see a difference. Use whatever weight you are comfortable with, that will push you without causing injury. What does the weight vest do? 1. It will show you what you are doing wrong. It will demonstrate how you are moving incorrectly by exaggerating your inefficient movements. It is a teaching tool. 2. It will add resistance and trick your brain into moving your body faster when that resistance is removed. 3. Continued use can significantly increase the speed of your baseline movement. It can change your 47

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

current "fast" to a new level of fast. According to Pucci, et. al. (2006), the increase is approximately 2% in the first three weeks.

How does the weight vest demonstrate what you are doing wrong? The Fire Hydrant Have you ever tried to move out of a shooting position, found yourself stuck with one foot in the air and had to muscle out of it using your back and core? I've even seen guys take that leg and arc it through the air to try pulling themselves out of the position. I call this "the fire hydrant" because there is a strong resemblance to the stance of a dog lifting its leg to urinate. That is an example of leading with your hips rather than your shoulders. Your center of gravity is positioned opposite from the direction you wish to move, and it is an inefficient movement.

48

DON'T DO THIS The Fire Hydrant

This may look like an over-exaggeration, but I've actually seen shooters do this. They try to muscle their way out of position with their core rather than using a drop-step, for example, to move with their quads. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

,

� .· · · Ji ·- : � .

I I

49

-

•-

!✓•

l/ll

r.:

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Now, imagine doing that with a weight vest on. The weight vest exaggerates your movements and makes it more obvious what you're doing wrong. Anytime you are off balance, you will feel it more dramatically than without the added weight.

DON'T DO THIS

"The Fire Hydrant" with a weight vest.

The weight vest will point out when you set up in an unstable position because you will be even more off balance. It works as a training tool to help point out unstable positions and inefficient movements. It helps force your body to move more efficiently. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

Another time that shooters find themselves off balance is falling out of position. It is usually better to lower your center of gravity and shift to the side at the hips and knees with both feet planted than to tip sideways with one foot in the air. It will both provide a steady base to shoot from and make it easier to exit the position if you need to move the opposite direction next. The weight vest will help alert you to this...maybe even by toppling you over!

.. ; ...

� I � 50

It is easier to shoot accurately if you take the time to set up in a low, wide, steady base, and shift at the hips and knees until the target becomes visible. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

When you shoot a target at five yards, and all of the hits go into the A-zone, does that mean you did everything perfectly? Maybe... maybe not. If you back up to 20 yards, you will still be making the same mistakes. The difference is that you will actually be able to see them. This is one of the things the weight vest does for you. It exaggerates what you are doing wrong in your movement, so you are more likely to notice it.

How do you trick your brain into moving your body faster? Try this: stand in a narrow doorway and press the back of your hands against the frame as hard as you can for 30 seconds. What happens when you step out of the doorway? Your arms almost seem to float away; they go from unmoving to moving effortlessly. This trick works instantaneously to recruit our muscle fibers more efficiently. Just like taking away the resistance of pushing your arms on the doorframe, taking off a weight vest after running around for 30 seconds will trick your brain into recruiting your muscle fibers more efficiently. You will feel like you are floating when you take the vest off. The same movements that took hard work before will seem effortless now (for a brief time).

51

Resistance Drlll for EQloslVe Movement What you will need: • Seven targets • Three sticks to mark shooting positions on the ground • About 350-400 rounds • A 20-pound weight vest Purpose This drill is to help you notice inefficiencies in your movement, and to help point out extraneous movement. It trains your brain to recruit your muscle fibers more efficiently, and over time builds strength and endurance. It tricks your body into moving more explosively out of positions, which you can then replicate. Setup Set up three shooting positions about five yards apart. Place two targets i n front of position one, three targets in front of position two, and two targets in front of position three. Place the targets at various distances/d ifficulties. Move through the positions from one through three engaging the targets once you cross the stick on the ground that marks the shooting position.

• · . ". .-.-..1.ift . •

,

�,

,

'

lffll

52

X 2 2

S yards

Posftlon 1

Poshfon 2

z

P'ositlon l

Shoot targeb tabe.led 1 from posltfOn 1, targets labeled from po$ftion 2, and tarweb 1.abeled a from position 3.

53

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Execution Here's the trick for shooters. It's 30 seconds of misery, but you will be amazed at the results if done properly. Shoot the drill in live fire and establish an average personal best time with A's and close C's and write that down. You should feel as though that's probably what you would be able to do it in a match. Put on the weight vest and dry fire the drill. According to Stoeger's (2017) recommendation for getting feedback from the sights, do not pull the trigger. Simply see the sight picture you need on every target (see chapter on eliminating variables). You are watching to see how smoothly your sights are moving onto the target, because that gives you feedback on your movement. Once you reach the end of the drill do not re-holster, simply get back to the start position quickly for your next rep, pointing the gun in a safe direction. If you are doing the drill in both directions, continue back and forth without getting back to the start position. Whatever you do, keep it consistent so that you are not comparing apples to oranges so to speak. Run as fast and explosively as you can through as many reps of the drill as you can fit into 30 seconds. When the 30 seconds is up, remove the vest, rest, drink water. The rest period should be approximately five minutes, it could be longer for smokers or those who are not as fit. Heavy breathing should have subsided, legs should no longer feel wobbly, and the feeling of lightness from removing the vest should still slightly be there. If you are not fully rested, the drill will not be effective due to a buildup of lactic acid in your blood stream (Hakkinen & Kraemer, 2000). When shooters try the drill again too soon after removing the vest, everything falls apart. They forget their plan, can't hit the targets, overrun positions, etc. Nothing goes right. There is not yet enough oxygen going to the brain and muscles due to the buildup of lactic acid. If that happens, rest for another couple of minutes and try again. Once you are fully recovered, and no longer out of breath, try the drill again in dry fire first at full speed. Your body won't be moving the way you expect it to, so it's best not to live fire the first run. Do not go hot until you've caught your breath and your legs no longer feel wobbly. Next, perform the drill live, and compare your times. If you did it right, you should see a significant improvement in your time. Each time you practice this drill, the goal is to increase the number of repetitions you can fit into that 30 seconds. Once you've plateaued and can no longer increase the number of reps, add more weight. That 30 seconds is really going to suck, but it's worth it. It's a good idea to set up a standard drill to measure your progress. There should be at least five yards between shooting positions, two to three targets per position, two to three positions. Measure it out like a classifier if you want to have a true standard to compare with. You can still do the resistance drill on any

54

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

drill or stage, but this sta ndardized drill would be a way to go back a nd test your progress a nd determine whether or not to add more weight.

RESISTANCE DRILL OVERVIEW: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Establish your personal best on a movement drill Repeat the drill with a dry gun with the weight vest on as ma ny times as you can fit into 30 seconds Remove the vest, rest a nd drink some water Dry fire the drill without the vest, then catch your breath Shoot the drill live a nd compare times

Another interesting variation is to compare only your movement between positions. Establish your personal best time from the last shot in position one to the first shot in position two. Follow all the same steps but compare the before a nd after shot-to-shot times. This concept can be a pplied to any movement drill and can be done in dry fire as well. We do move differently when live ammo is involved, so it is good to check yourself in live fire. One 30-second drill per dry fire or live fire session is probably all you will be able to do per practice.

How do we create a new basel ine fast? Remember the trick that makes your arms float upward? The doorway created resistance a nd tricked your brain/muscles into a positive acceleration. Performing the above drill, you may have taken a second or two off of your time immediately. The problem with being faster after removing resista nce is that it doesn't stick. It has to be maintained. After moving through that drill until you didn't think you could possibly move a ny faster, a nd maybe the wheels were falling off a little bit, you added resista nce and suddenly could move faster once it was removed. Not only were you moving faster, but it probably felt more effortless... like you were more in control rather than the wheels falling off. This shows that your baseline "fast" is not as fast as you can possibly move. According to Brewer (2017), resista nce trains you to recruit the muscles more efficiently. To keep that new level of fast as your baseline, you must continue to train with resista nce. This can be maintained with one or two sessions per week. However, to see the greatest improvement, it is best to start out at three sessions per week that include resistance for six weeks (Fleck & Kraemer, 2014). It is not a good idea to use the weight vest on match day, because you will need your endurance to make it through the match. Using the weight vest regularly will make your movements feel more effortless because you are training your muscle fibers to be recruited more efficiently. It is also a n excellent teaching tool to point out what you are doing wrong in your movements without having someone else watch you. 55

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Inefficient movements won't feel right because they will be more challenging than they need to be, and your body will naturally find a more efficient way to move to conserve energy. Resistance training will help reduce the amount of time spent not shooting... it reduces the dead time.

Shooting Mode vs. Moving Mode Contribution By: Ljubisa Momcilovik, Serbian I PSC Production Champion

I have spent many years looking for answers as to what could help me be more successful in my sport; how to be a better competitor and shooter, to be faster and more accurate. In my search for answers, I found myself surrounded by a collection of failed experiments, lost time and money. I think that many shooters struggle through a similar process to find what works, oftentimes by first discovering what doesn't. Our passion and love for this sport (I PSC, USPSA) drives us to spend more time, money, effort, pain, and 56

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

sacrifice to get better. Sometimes we manage to do that successfully (more or less) and sometimes not. In this article, I will try to bring you closer to both understanding and solving the problems on our road to greater success in this sport. You will be surprised at how simple many of the solutions are. The answers are found all around us and within us. The biggest problem is in our own heads, in our mentality. If we understand how our brain works, the solutions are actually very simple. Simple but not easy to do! Why is it so difficult for us to do this? Because some solutions go against our natural human behavior. Our sport involves two things that are the opposite of each other: speed and accuracy. Those elements in real life are always fighting. Speed doesn't support accuracy and accuracy doesn't like speed, yet our sport is a combination of those two elements. We must find a way to make them work in conjunction with one another. Balancing speed and accuracy is the greatest challenge. Whoever manages to balance both speed and accuracy will be a successful competitor, having a chance at being the winner on the podium. The rest of the competitors are always searching for some special tricks, pills and shortcuts to win ning. They are looking for some magical answer as they wander down the road of hopes, excuses, luck, and waiting for the win to happen to them, waiting for it to be their turn. When someone wishes me luck at a competition, my answer is usually: I don't need luck. I'm ready for the match thanks to my training program. I know what I have to do and I know how I will do it. I have created my Shooting and Moving Module. As I have said many times, Shooting is so simple, all you have to do is shoot A's and run fast between the targets. That is all we have to do. It is simple, but not easy to do! That self-confidence is not only visualized in my mind, but it also comes from the procedures that I have downloaded in my brain. I do this by using a proper training program so that I can fall back to what have taught myself to do during each training day leading up to the match. It is similar to downloading a program to our PC hard drive. It is a list of procedures and movements for each part of our body, what each muscle has to do in a specific situation. The program is downloaded to our brain by doing targeted exercises; by performing multiple repetitions of each of them. Those exercises must be practiced in order, from basic to more advanced, and they must contain the right elements needed to develop and build our skills. How can we activate the specific program we need during a competition? Our brain interprets information from our surroundings as it is relayed by our senses. The most important sense we use in our sport is vision, because our eyes relay crucial information to the brain. Our eyes are the most vital part of activating the proper program to execute our stage plan. They are the trigger to 57

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

activate subconscious execution of the shooting program during the stage. It is natural, built into our DNA, that our body follows our eyes. How do we walk down the street? How do we turn while we are walking? How do we touch --� r,;',A $ , something in front of us? We always look at what we have to do, and the brain recognizes the image received. It immediately activates procedures for whatever image that may be, whether it's making a turn on the street or touching something with your hand. This is how our body and mind work together naturally. This leads to the question: why is it that some shooters do the exact opposite of this during their training and competition shooting? Why are they adopting procedures that are not how our bodies and minds naturally work together?

Our shooting performance consists of two main parts: Shooting Mode and Moving Mode. Moving Mode is also called "dead time" because it takes place during a period of time that you do not collect points. My definition of IPSC/USPSA shooting is: collecting as many points in as little time possible. During movement you do not get points, but the timer is still running. Because of that, the moving time should be as short as possible. Of course, a lot of factors are involved in our personal speed of movement, such as age, weight, height, and level of fitness. Our goal is to speed up our movements as much as possible within these constraints. How many times while shooting a stage have you caught yourself looking at the targets between positions, rather than where you are going? How many times have you stopped short of your shooting position and had to take one more step to see your targets? How many times have you caught yourself running in a zigzag into and out of positions rather than following the most direct path through a stage? Why is that happening ? Why can't you use 100% of your muscle strength? The answer is very simple; it is because your brain is in a state of confusion. It doesn't know what to do. Why is the brain in a state of confusion? 58

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Because you didn't create the proper procedure program (during your training) for the exact situation you are faced with, or at least something similar to draw from. Either that, or your brain doesn't have any program at all for the situation in front of you. What is the solution? The solution is very simple; you have to organize your training to develop specific procedures, based on natural human behavior programs that are written in our DNA. Upgrade it and use it in shooting sessions. To put it simply, we need to train our eyes to lead our body and our body to follow our eyes. I have separated the mystery of shooting into two major parts. These two parts need to remain separate; do not mix them together during the execution of each individual part within a stage. They can be repeated many times within a stage, depending on how many shooting positions there are. When you are doing one part, you must give that part 100%. When you've finished running that part, the next one begins, and you give that one 100%. You can only give 100% to one thing at a time. Those two parts are Shooting Mode and Moving Mode. Each of those Modes contain specific criteria determining the procedures and the necessary actions. The focus of this book is Moving Mode, so I will focus on that here. As I have mentioned above, moving is in our DNA. Every day whether we are walking or running, we are activating that program. Why is it that when we put a gun in our hands, our movement looks different? Our steps are not fluent, we step toe-to-heel, sometimes we walk like a robot toy and move as though we are powered by Chinese batteries. Well, shooting is a stressful, high adrenaline sport. This means that our body starts producing specific chemical elements during shooting, which change our behavior in some way. It is well known that during shooting there are three main elements that begin to fail us: our ability to talk, walk and to breathe. How many times have you noticed this? Have you ever tried to talk between shots? How many times have you held your breath while shooting? How many times have you noticed your hands sweating and breathing rate increase before the timer beeps? How many times have you watched a video of your shooting and found that your movement on the stage looks so slow, clumsy, with erratic steps? Why does this happen? This is the natural response of our body during high stress situations. We know that shooting is a stressful situation for our body, yet we consciously put ourselves in that same situation. We crave it. We continue to pick up a gun and start shooting. We push our body to do it.

59

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Keep in mind that everybody feels this. It is the natural response. We can't avoid it; we can only familiarize ourselves with it and continue to execute our shooting program despite that stress. We control it until it is at an acceptable level for perfect stage execution. If someone tells you that they don't feel any stress during weapon handling and shooting, there are only two possibilities - either they are lying, or they have some psychological disorder. As you can see, stress is involved in the moving process, too. That is one more reason why all the movement techniques and procedures we practice should be natural and easy to understand. We need to be able to naturally apply them in high stress moments, on the clock. Many competitors often compare moving with walking or running. Moving is actually shifting your center of gravity from one position to another, with or without steps in between.

Inside Leg and Outside Leg

(Kita calls it the trailing foot and leading foot in this book) In our everyday life we have a left and right leg. In IPSC/USPSA training and competition life we have an Inside and Outside leg. The difference is which direction we are entering the shooting position from and what direction we are leaving the position in relation to the direction of the targets. Those titles of Inside Leg and Outside Leg are interchangeable depending on the direction of movement. For fast movement within a stage, it is crucial to remember the orientation of the inside leg for each position we have to shoot from. Memorizing those inside leg positions will give us opportunity to run fast and directly to proper position without losing time in between positions. How can we properly determine those positions and how can we memorize them? This is done during the stage walkthrough. A proper run during the walkthrough is almost a 100%

60

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

guarantee you will shoot that stage perfectly. That will give you lot of self-confidence before you step up to the line. The Moving Mode has three phases: leaving the shooting position, between shooting positions, and entering the shooting positions.

Leaving a shooting position Have you ever started to turn or change direction in some new environment without even glancing in that direction first? How many times have you started moving within a stage with your eyes still looking at the targets? So, what is wrong in this picture? As I have mentioned above, while we are shooting, we are in a high-stress environment. Now we are doing something what is not natural behavior for our body (looking in one direction and moving in another direction). Our brain is already trying to solve one problem, and we are giving it another one! We should be trying to make things easier, not more complicated! If we want to leave a position fast, we have to start that process with our eyes. It starts when last shot is fired, during the moment of recoil. How you know whether you have done it properly? The test is very simple. I shoot with a CZ Shadow 2 pistol, and I have tested it only with that gun. You fire one shot on a steel target, move laterally to the right 2 steps and engage the steel with one more shot from that position on the right. If you have left the position properly, you will pass your most recently extracted brass before it touches the ground. A condition of perfectly exiting a position is the ability to call your last shot fired before taking off. The shot-calling technique is part of the Shooting Mode program, which we will not go into here. As we have said, leaving a position starts with the eyes. When we look in the direction we want to go, the body will follow the eyes. How do we start moving the body in a more efficient way? In the last 20 years of shooting, I have seen and listened to a few theories on techniques for the first step of movement, a lot of bla, bla, bla. But the answer is so simple... it is all around us every day. I'm a passionate hunter and spend a lot of my free time in nature. In the last few years, my new challenge has been bow-hunting. It is much more challenging than hunting with rifles. Do you know why you have to aim little bit low when you hunt with a bow ?

61

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

The first thing that the animal notices when the arrow is fired is the sound. What is the reaction of the animal after that audible warning? How do they leave their position? They move, and at the same time, their center of gravity drops low and in the direction of escape. So why we are doing something else that is strange and new? We know when our position exit will start (during the recoil of the last shot), and we know what direction we want to go (toward the next shooting position), so all we have to do is to look with our eyes where we want to be and our brain will move our center of gravity low and in the direction of the next position. That is what I work on when I train. I put my attention on the center of gravity and how it moves when leaving a position. There is one more really interesting thing I have discovered with bow hunting. The last two years I have been using a totally different grip technique than what I was using before. I have noticed some interesting things while bow training. Do you know how to hold the bow for the best accuracy? It is amazing how efficient that technique is in IPSC shooting, it brings everything together all at once, building speed, accuracy and self-confidence. It is an amazing breakthrough when it happens (again, part of the Shooting Mode).

Moving between positions There is no calculation for speed between shooting positions. It's simple, run as fast as possible because in that moment we are in "dead time", time without points. If you want to run fast, you must always keep your eyes focused on the direction of the next shooting position and the position of the inside leg before you step into the next position. This gives your brain one single clear task to focus on, to take the body where it needs to go to position that inside leg properly. Keeping it simple makes it faster. Another thing to keep in mind is that targets have "magical powers" especially during the Moving Mode. They are always calling to competitors saying, "look at me, look at me, look at me!" Don't do that! If you start looking at targets while in Moving Mode, your speed goes down, and the brain gets confused about whether to run or to shoot. Your performance will look as though you are lost in space. Looking at the targets is part of the Shooting Mode; don't mix it together with the Moving Mode!

Getti ng into position Preparation for getting into the shooting position starts far before it's time to shoot. It starts during the walkthrough. That is when we have to determine our shooting positions and where we must place our inside and outside leg for each position. It is crucial for perfect stage execution to find and remember inside leg positions. That will give us the opportunity to move fast into that position and to be directly in front of targets we are looking to shoot.

62

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Between shooting positions, we have to run as fast as possible and two to three steps before reaching the inside leg position, the "getting into position" program begins. This program includes decelerating, re­ forming the grip on the gun, and raising up your eyes to the first target you must engage. While getting into position (those last two-three steps), your center of gravity should drop slightly to help with braking, especially if you have to turn 90-180 degrees at the same time. Once you've gotten the inside leg into its position, you've brought the gun up to the target, and you've gotten into the proper stance, then the Moving Mode program is finished. Now starts the Shooting Mode which has his own procedures and techniques. When the last shot is fired from that shooting position, the Shooting Mode will end and then the Moving Mode will immediately start again with all the elements listed above. So, how should we shoot each IPSC stage? It is so simple ... you have to run the Shooting Mode for each target in front of you, and switch to the Moving Mode in between them. When you allow your program to run, you don't need luck in competitions. You have programmed your Shooting Mode and Moving Mode. Be safe! Train bani, tnln smarL. or don, train at all.. www.loadmakeready.com

CHAPTER 4 OVERVIEW:

1. Resistance training teaches you to recruit your muscle fibers more efficiently so you can move faster and more explosively 2. To establish a new, faster baseline speed, do the resistance drill three times a week for six weeks 3. To maintain that new baseline of fast, do the resistance drill one to two times a week 4. Use a weight vest as a training tool to give you feedback on your movement 5 . Be careful to select a weight that challenges you without causing injury

63

Chapter5 THE QUIET EYE

Before we move on to the next portion of resistance training, a technique called "The Quiet Eye" warrants discussion. A big part of shooting is learning to see faster (see more in less time). Training your eyes is just as important, if not more important than training your muscles. M u lti-Gun Champion Scott G reene focuses his vision and eliminates distraction. Photo Credit: Andy van Rose

During a stage walkthrough, it is common practice to pre program where your feet will be by picking the spot and practicing positioning yourself there. It is extremely

64

Shooting Is Visual Contribution By: Scott Greene, USPSA Multi-Gun Multiple Time National Champion

The one thing I think is most important for shooters to understand is that shooting is about 70% vision, 20% manipulations, afid 10% movement. I learned this from pouring over videos of great shooters Jike Jerry Miculek a nd wondering what it was they were seeing. I listened to podcasts and paid c1ose attention to what I was seeing in live fire until one day, after a bout a year of struggling, it just dicked for me. People,need to focus more on vision rather than how fast they can reload a ,gun.

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Multi-Gun Cham pion Scott Greene knows the exact cadence for each gun to return to zero for various target distance and difficulty.

important to do the same thing with your eyes. Why? Because, as they say in racing, you go where you look. A common mistake amongst shooters is to walk through a stage looking at the location of each target. They will think to themselves, "shoot this target from here, this one from here, don't hit that no-shoot, and shoot this target from here." What did they just program their eyes to do?

First of all, they are visually taking in the target as a whole, rather than picking a spot on the target. When their eyes land on that target, the focal point could be anywhere, because they did not program their eyes to go to a particular location on that target. They chose their foot position, but not their eye position. Second of all, they looked at the no-shoot and said, "don't hit the no-shoot". They effectively just programmed their eyes to go to the no-shoot. Instead, pick the spot on the target you actually want to engage, and program your eyes to go directly to that spot as though the no-shoot doesn't even exist. When you choose a very particular foot placement on a stage, you are programming your eyes to look, let's say, from a target, to a reload, to that spot on the fault line. You look at that spot until you know your foot is going to land there, then get your eyes up immediately on your next target. Look, and your body simply responds.

65

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

If you were to balance a broom stick vertically on you r hand, a n d look at you r hand, i t wou ld b e very d ifficu lt to predict how you r body needs to move to maintai n that balance, and it wou ld fa ll. However, if you pick a spot on the other end that's in the air, and keep you r eye focused on it, you r body will sim ply respond. Your hand and your body will move around in response without conscious thought, because of the feedback your eyes are sending. Normal ly, our eyes sh ift consta ntly between different foca l points and genera l ly stay in motion. When aimi ng, top shooters are not sim ply looking at a ta rget, or their eyes wou ld be darting a round between multiple focal poi nts on that whole ta rget...and their gun wou ld fol low. That's what is sometimes referred to by shooters as "looking for brown". I nstead, they a re h aving a moment of perfect visual focus on a very pa rticu lar spot on the ta rget. Their eyes become very sti l l very quickly on that spot. Their eyes a re sti l l ju mping between m u ltiple focal poi nts, but within a much smaller a rea. This ma kes their eyes appear to be more sti l l, or qu iet .

•

•

I

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

I

•

•

• • •

•

• •

• •

• • •

..

•

• •

,

• •

Our eyes take in an image by darting around between multiple focal points. This is what "looking for brown" looks like.

•

66

Vlsion and Focus Contribution By: Scott Greene, USPSA Multi-Gun M ultiple Time National Champion My practice typically consists of two shots on one to two targets so that I can get a couple of splits and transitions in, then I do a reload and repeat. I don't even own a timer; I focus more on honesty with myself. I practice the manipulations, but my main focus is on vision. I have an intense focus on what I'm seeing and see it quickly. In live fire, I put a super focus Qn tracking the sight for about 40 rounds, and that is my practice s�sslon'. I watch the sights carefully as they move through recoil and adjust my grip and stance with that particular gun t1ntil they move In a predictable manner. I fine tune those things around making the dot as simple as possible to follow. Then I practice splits with various target difficulties a� various distances until I get a rhythm in my head of how fast I can shoot each one and consistently get good hits. I push the trigger speed as fast as I can, and then dial it back to get the hits. Again, I don't use a timer, I just know when I look at a target on a stage walkthrough what it should sound like when I engage that target based on its distance and difficulty ... as long as"everything goes according to plan.

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

During a moment of perfect visual focus, your eyes appear more still because the focal points they are jumping between are very close together.

Dave Sevigny Multiple-Time National and World Champion Learning visual skills and what I needed in a sight picture was a process . . . Where to focus, how to lead, how to change up (distance) etc. It's important to have a sight picture you can pick up fast on the presentation and throughout follow up shots. The sights I prefer have a deep wide rear notch for generous light around the front sight. Sight info and product can be found at: www .sevignyperformance.com

Kinesiologist Joan Vickers (2007), coined the term "the q uiet eye" to describe what top ath letes do while a iming. A top shooter can pick a spot on a ta rget the size of their fist and get thei r eyes there faste r than a less experienced shooter. They keep their eyes more still and in perfect focus on that spot slightly longer, and they move their eyes off that spot faster than a less experienced shooter. They become hyper-focused with their eyes and have the a bility to completely elimi nate any distraction. It's al most like noth ing else exists but that one spot on that one target u ntil they engage it (Vickers, 2007).

67

This ability to eliminate distraction with eye focus helps top shooters maintain an in ner calmness, or perceived control, to deal with stressful situations. It gives them something that they can control within seeming chaos. The quiet eye not only makes the gun subconsciously go where you want it to, but it enhances your mental game by distractions eliminating (Vickers, 2007). Eliminating Distractions with the Quiet Eye and Thought Sequencing Have you ever had a fly la nd on a target that you were currently engaging? They never la nd on the A-zone! If your eyes are properly focused on "the spot", then the distraction of a fly on the D-zone will not pull your eye away. That is because the place the fly la nds is not one of the focal points included in your

focus.

Another common distraction is the line of contrast between a brown paper target and a white no-shoot. Have you ever noticed how many pasters there. are along that line? Usually a lot! The line of contrasting colors pulls your eye away from the spot on the target you actually want to hit, and you shoot where you look... the wrong spot. The quiet eye trains the eyes to narrow your focus and eliminate these types of distractions.

68

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Scott Greene, Multi-Gun Champion, shredding targets and letting his vision direct his shooting.

Many athletes' eyes will visibly narrow before they begin their round, shot, or whatever their sport entails. This is the way the quiet eye tends to manifest itself; squinting is sort of a symptom of utilizing the quiet are They eye. blocking out all distraction and hyper-focusing on one thing at a time, their sequencing thoughts.

In shooting, if you do not sequence your thoughts properly and focus intensely ... on one thing at a time in order, it can lead to making mistakes. If you do make a mistake, the best thing to do is let it go and get back on your plan. Move on to whatever is next and don't let anything negative take up your mental energy. It's already done, so all you can do now is get back on your plan and back to sequencing your thoughts and actions. If you had a bad stage, you can't make up for it by shooting faster for the next one. Remember that everyone else has to face the same challenges as you, and everyone else will make mistakes, too. The best thing to do is stay consistent and take only calculated risks... don't go all out trying to make up for lost time, then you may lose your focus completely and it will all fall apart. The same holds true for the positive variant. If you completely shredded a far popper or burned down a part of the stage, don't let that influence your mental energy. As soon as you think, "Ooh, I'm going one for one on the steel!" you are directing your attention to what you've done instead of what you are doing and will begin to miss. As Bruce Lee said, be like water. Let it happen; observe but don't judge.

69

Thought Sequencing and Mindset Contribution By: Craig Osborne, New Zealand IPSC Champion Photo Credit: Mon lllana and Kyle Scott

When it comes to match day mindset, a lot of people come at it the wrong way in my opinion. When you arrive at the range and are sure you won't do well at stage one, don't decide to go extra fast on stage two to make up for it! I n doing this, you are already making the whole match harder for yourself before you've even started.

Instead, you need to look for every area you can excel at with your current skill set, use your strengths to your advantage to save time and points on every stage. Don't wait for that one stage that caters to you personally. Sure, you might do extremely well, but it doesn't help you if you have given up points on every other area of the match simply because, "This isn't my kind of stage; I know I won't do well at it".

Likely as not, most matches will have a part that you won't enjoy, most majors in my region have a Weak Hand Only stage, something I have never particularly liked. But instead of seeing this stage as a write off, I see it as an opportunity to pick up easy points, as many others in my division are already telling themselves that they won't do well - it's only 50 points, right? 70

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

I know from my practice sessions that I can shoot weak hand just fine, but I need to be much more deliberate in aiming and pulling the trigger. On the buzzer I concentrate on getting a good grip and feeling

the trigger coming straight back while looking for a solid sight picture for every shot.

Afterward, I will check my targets, clean and top off my mags and move to the next stage. Whether the result was good or bad, that stage is done and no amount of thinking about it will change it. This applies during stages, too. As soon as you have fired those shots, there is no taking them back. If you hit a penalty target, stopping and thinking about how bad it is will only compound the problem.

I had a situation like this at the 2017 IPSC World Shoot, stage six. I had worked out that if I was able to get

71

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

into the perfect spot, I could take three targets through one low port, eliminating the need to get down low again for the second port. Of course, I didn't get my position exactly right, and my first two shots on the awkward target were both low into the no-shoot. Upon realizing this, I was able to make it up with two alphas and continue the stage as planned. I couldn't fix the problem, but I was able to mitigate the damage, and then move on to the next stage for a fresh start.

The Quiet Eye Exercises

There are ways that you can train "the quiet eye" outside of shooting. They are basically hand-eye coordination drills, and easy to look up on the internet. For example, fast-paced constantly changing workouts. Writing different letters on baseballs, and you must verbally identify which letter ball is being thrown at you before you catch it. Try tracing your eyes along the line where a wall meets the ceiling. You will feel them trying to jump around between multiple focal points. Focus on keeping them still the whole way across. Try tracing your eyes along the two lines below without allowing them to jump around between focal points.

72

If that was easy, then try tracing your eyes along these shapes without allowing them to be pulled away.

73

Still not frustrated? Try these eye training donuts. Look from one white spot in the center to the next, taking only the most direct path. Do not allow your eyes to stray from the path or to jump away from the white spot while you're focusing on it. Now only look at the big ones. Now only the small ones. Now do the same, but vertically, then horizontally, then diagonally, around the outside in, and whatever else you can think of.

O o O O O"o o O o o O O O oo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0. 0· 0" - 0· . . 0 , 0 0· 0 o o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0,-0 000

0 0 0 0,0-0 0

o O o O O O o O 'O 0

The Ace of Heans Drill Something you can do in shooting is set up a wide array of targets so that some of them are in your peripheral vision. Place several playing cards on each target (at least 10) in a random order. Before you begin, without looking at the targets before the beep, decide which cards you will engage. For example, all of the spades. It could be all of the red cards. It could be all of a particular suit in order of value.

At a randomized beep, open your eyes, find the cards you chose and engage them with one round each in the order you chose to. Do this as quickly as you can and keep track of your time for each challenge so that you can work to beat it.

This teaches your eyes to pick out small details very quickly and focus your quiet eye. It helps you pick up 74

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

details more quickly from your peripheral vision as well. You will see cards that it is not yet time to engage and need to keep their location in the back of your mind for later. If you pick one up from your peripheral vision while engaging another, it can pull your eye, and you may even find yourself shooting at a space between two cards, because you want to shoot them both! This is a challenging and frustrating drill. This drill can also be done in dry fire. Attach a deck of cards to the wall. You can put them at odd angles with random sized gaps between them. Dart your eyes from one to the next in the chosen order. Standing closer to the wall and/or spreading them farther apart will train your peripheral vision and increase transition angles. You can also snap your eyes from one card to the next without using a gun at all to simply train your eyes.

The Quiet he Drlll What you will need: • Five classic targets { IPSC-style), feel free to add no-shoots and hard cover • One target stick to mark the ground • At least 25 rounds Purpose The purpose of this drill is to train your eyes where to go rather than training your arms in muscle memory. The goal at first is to become aware of the feeling when your eyes are trying to jump around between multiple focal points rather than remaining fully focused on a small spot on the target. By the final string, the goal is to have pre-programmed your eyes to subconsciously go to a particular spot on each target and become still and fully focused on that spot. Setup Set up the five target stands in an approximate semi-circle; some should be spaced closer together and some spaced further apart than others to vary transitions. Place a target stick on the ground to mark the place you will stand. There should be at least one target stand in your peripheral vision without breaking the 180. This is to train your eyes to begin picking up a "spot" from your periphery immediately after breaking your shot on the previous target. Each target should be placed in a randomized orientation so that the perforated letter A is in a different location for each target. Some can be upside down, right side up, sideways or diagonal. The target heights should also vary. Using targets that are shot up and pasted is a desirable difficulty (more on this later). The pasters will try to draw your eye from the spot you are trying to shoot. Don't draw a circle on the target to find your "spot" 75

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

because you won't have a circle on your target to look to in a match.

The Quiet Eye Drill Use classic targets at all different hei1hts and orientations. Ensure at least one target is in your peripheral vision. Do not dry fire It, program the spot with your eyes only. No air gun. Choose a different order everytime. As you advance, add no-shoots, hard cover, harder transitions, and Increase the distance.

76

Execution Do not dry fire or air gun it, program the spot with your eyes only. It may help to keep your hands in your pockets or behind your back. Using your arms will incorporate muscle memory, and the focus of this drill is to train the eyes, not the- arm muscles. LOOK Locate the perforated letter A on each individual target. You may have to approach the target in order to see it. Stand straddling your stick and locate a spot the size of your fist where you know the perforated letter A is located on each target. Focus your eyes on that spot on each target until you feel that they are no longer trying to jump around, then quickly snap your eyes to the next spot. Keep in mind that if you are using no-shoots or hard cover that cover up the letter A, you will have to choose a different focal point within the A-zone. Your "spot" may need to get smaller depending upon the available target area. The size of your spot will vary based on skill level, and whether you are shooting major or minor. A more advanced shooter will risk getting a bit closer to the no-shoot to guarantee an alpha. A less experienced shooter will usually aim farther from the no-shoot, because they would rather have a miss than both a miss and a no-shoot. Remember to keep the offset in mind if you are shooting a PCC. Because the dot is mounted on top of the gun, it is a couple of inches or so higher than the muzzle. If your gun is zeroed for 18 yards, then you will need to change your point of aim at extremely close distances. Some shooters like to point the finger of their nondominant hand on the handguard at the spot they want to hit on a target, or simply shoot where they look without using the dot at all. However, if there is a no-shoot, you will need to know the offset of your dot.

77

PCC Offset Con:tributi, on By: Scott G reene, USPSA Multi-Gun Multiple Time. National Champion If the target is at two to five yards, I f;?Oint shoot. If it's from tne start, I may engage a target that close from the hip or before completely shouldering the gun. However, even if the target is only at five yards, it's treated differently if tpere's a.no­ shoot. For example, if there's only half of a head shot . available on - � target at five yards with a no-shoot, the hold will be an inch or two above the spot you want to hit. You need to know what your offset is from live fire practice, so y1s>u know where to aim.

'

.)"-

I zero my PCC at 17 yards because most of the targets I shoot are between 7 and 25 yards. A lot of shooters do this differently because they don't like the idea of having to hold a couple inches low at 50 yards. For me, it hits one to two inches low at five yards, and about ½ an inch low at 10 yards. Beyond 10 yards, I aim right on. Usually if there's a SO-yard target, it tends to be open, so it works out ok for me.

SHOOT You will shoot five strings of five rounds for a total of 25 rounds. At the beep, engage the targets with one round each and then stop. This is not a speed drill! Ensure that your eyes become very still and focused on your spot on the target and don't take the shot if you feel them jumping around. Once you've taken the shot, transition off immediately to the next target. Get your eyes to the next spot as quickly as you can and allow your sights to enter into your line of vision as your eyes focus intensely on your spot. It should be a quick snap of the head/eyes in between spots. Ensure the gun is taking the most direct path. If there was a string tied tightly from one perforated letter A to the next, that is the path the gun should take. No overswinging, arcing over or under, no stopping short, because you programmed the spot the gun needs to go to. If your eyes follow the most direct path, so will the gun, just like looking at the top of the balancing broom stick referenced earlier.

The Distractor Drill Another variation on the q uiet eye drill is to set up a single target and stand on the same line as another shooter. While you concentrate on your spot and the q uiet eye, they will be engaging your target with charlies and deltas. See if you can eliminate the distraction and maintain focus. Do this for eight rounds per string.

CHANGE THE ORDER To avoid depending on muscle memory of the arms, change the target sequence from one string to the next. Take the time to program the spots in the new order between each string without using your hands to air gun. Shoot a different order every time so that you are programming your eyes to locate a very particular spot and take the most direct path to get there. Make it as challenging of an order as you like but note that your times will not be comparable to one another. Again, this is not a speed drill. DO NOT PASTE Do not paste between strings. You should be hitting all alphas anyway but being able to look at the grouping at the end of five strings will give you valuable feedback on what mistakes you are consistently making. If you notice that you overswung the target once, no big deal. It happens. However, if you notice a pattern of overswinging after not pasting for five runs, then it is probably a problem that you need to address (Stoeger, 2018). Another benefit of the holes in the targets is that they become the type of distraction that the quiet eye is supposed to combat. Much like the fly on the target, if you shoot a charlie by mistake, that bullet hole can draw your eye and you may shoot another charlie in the same spot. Eliminate that distraction by narrowing 78

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

your focus to exclude it. You should be aware of what is in your peripheral vision without giving it your attention. JUST SHOOT On the 5th and final string, the hope is that you have programmed your eyes to locate that particular spot on each target. Program your eyes one more time for a different target order. This time, don't try to do anything special, just shoot at match pace and see what happens. If you are subconsciously using the quiet eye, it should feel effortless to hit A's and close C's on every target despite their odd orientation and locations.

THE QU IET EYE DRILL OVERVIEW: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Set up five classic targets with random placement and orientation Find your spot on each target and keep your eyes still on that spot, no air gun or dry fire Engage each target with one round, then choose a different order for each string The 5th string is at match pace

EYEWEAR I don't believe that gear makes a better shooter. If a world champion was wearing scratched up $2 plastic protective glasses, he may still win the World Shoot. Every shooter should wear protective glasses when shooting, but there can be a quality difference.

That being said, if you are uncomfortable in your eyewear, it can contribute to fatigue. If your lenses fog up or are scratched, or you have to keep changing lenses during a match, it can be distracting, which is one more distraction you need to eliminate during the match. If you are wearing protective eyewear that you really like, it can actually boost your confidence and make you feel better.

It won't make you a world champion, but I think it is worth finding glasses that you like. There are a lot of good ones out there, but recently I have been most impressed with the science behind Hunter's HD Gold lenses. I feel that there is a correlation between these lenses and the quiet eye.

They allow you to see more easily, because they add contrast between your target and its background. This means you can locate the spot you wish to engage on the target sooner and begin picking up that spot from your peripheral vision sooner. This type of lens can facilitate the use of "The Quiet Eye" based on Joan Vickers' research on aiming for elite athletes (2007).

79

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

CHAPTER 5 OVERVIEW:

1. Preprogram where your eyes will go during a stage 2. Choose a spot about the size of your fist on every target (un less target difficulty and skill level require a smaller spot) 3. Keep your eyes still and focused on that spot, and eliminate any distractions 4. Transition off that spot immediately after engaging, picking up the next target from your peripheral vision 5. Eliminate the distractions that can come with eyewear such as changing lenses, scratches, fogging, reflections, and poor contrast

80

Chapter& RESISTANCE TRAINING FOR TRANSITIONS The quiet eye needed to be discussed before getting into more about resistance training. Earlier, we talked about making your baseline fast run faster by using a weight vest. Another movement that can have its baseline speed increased through resistance is the transition, which also requires the quiet eye. Resistance training for transitions does the same thing as the weight vest in that it exaggerates any extraneous movements, but it also points out the muscles you need to engage to move efficiently and tricks your brain into moving them faster. What are some transition movement errors that the additional weight might point out to you?

Transition Movement Fai ls Overswinging

The most common transition error is overswinging. This happens when one is trying to muscle the gun and drives it past the target. This takes additional time, because you move the gun past the target and then have to come back for it. You may also have to make up a miss or a delta if you took a shot before you got all the way back onto the target. This is the equivalent of adding an intangible step to your stage... but with your arms rather than your legs. Arcing Over

Another issue is lifting the gun in an upward arcing motion, and then moving back down onto the next target. This is like in chapter one when you decided to take a straight line from point A to point B rather than running within the S-shaped stage. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Arcing over adds an intangible step to the stage.

81

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Arcing U nder Arcing under is when you shoot one target, drop the gun down, then bring it back up to the next target. A lot of tactically trained guys will do some form of this because they are so used to returning to the low ready position or bringing the gun all the way in between targets. Again, this adds intangible steps to the stage. Bringing In the Gun for Every Transition Some shooters have the habit of bringing the gun in closer to their body between nearly every target. This may be because you are used to standing with the gun that way or are getting back to a comfortable stance between targets, and then realize you have more shooting to do. I often see it from newer shooters who have to think their way through the entire stage. In the practical shooting sports this is an extraneous movement and is something completely different than bringing in the gun in for a wide transition. There is a common situation where some shooters will bring the gun in and push it out again. The theory is that it is a more efficient path for wide transitions. If the transition is a full 120 to 180-degrees or so, then the theory is that the path the gun travels in is a straight line by bending the arms to bring in the gun across their body, then push it out onto the next target. In contrast, if you swing your arms in an arc, the gun is taking a longer path. You then must stop the weight of the gun in a sideways motion by engaging your core muscles rather than bringing it to a stop as it moves directly away from your body and forward toward the target. Some shooters are very proficient at this, but it can be difficult to execute well. The risk is not having the gun presented in time to shoot the next target. By not presented in time, I mean that your eyes are on the next target, but you've left the gun behind. The eyes are always going to be faster, but you have to learn which method has the smallest

82

Transitions and Splits with a Pistol Caliber Carbine Contribution By: Scott Greene, USPSA M u lti-Gun M u ltiple Time National Champion I n transitioni ng from one target to another with PCC, there is no recoil to ride like with a pistol. It is easier to overswing or under­ swing the target due to the weight of the gun. Since there isn't real ly a ny recoil, there is no need to get a second sight picture ... simply pull the trigger twiee. The problem is that if you look to the wrong spot on your target, it is easier to get two bad hits. With a pistol, if you have a bad hit, you correct for it on the second shot. With a PCC, it is more likely that you will end up with two deltas, two charlies or two m ikes. For this reason, it is very important to look to the exact spot on the target you wish to engage. I like to lean more toward speed with a PCC. Of cou rse, accuracy is also very important, but with the dot and no recoil, it's a speed game. The splits are faster due to the lack of recoil, and it's easier to take make up shots. I have 40 to GO-round mags, so I real ly don't have to worry about running out of ammo. I definitely tend to shoot that gun with a speed bias.

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

gap between the two for you as an individual. This really comes down to personal preference, but it is good to revisit bringing in the gun as your skill level advances.

Wide Transitions and Pulling the Gun In Contribution By: Tim Herron, USPSA Grand Master

Risks and benefits of keeping your arms extended vs. pulling in during wide transitions: When transitioning a wide target array, say a 180-degree swing, often the question comes up whether it is best to pull in the gun or leave it extended while swinging. My answer is "it depends". It's generally best to keep the gun extended and move the gun aggressively from one target to the next. However, sometimes there can be an obstacle (wall, barricade, prop, etc.) that prohibits you from accomplishing that. Therefore, pulling in the gun would be necessary. This is sort of a give and take, though. Keeping the gun extended during a wide transition results in a slightly slower swing, and it also means you're using a lot of energy to stop the gun on the next target. Pulling in the gun during that huge swing allows the shooter to move faster (think how a figure skater pulls their arms into their body when spinning to spin faster), but the shooter also has to "re-present" the gun to the next target. The transition may be faster; however, it can be hampered by slow or lazy presentation if not worked on during practice.

www. ti m herro nshooti ng. com Controlling Accuracy and the Elements of Aiming in the Practical Shooting Sports: Dynamic Visual Acuity Training Contribution By: Eduardo de Cobos Abreu, Spanish National Champion, European IPSC Champion In order to control accuracy, we need to be able to align the four elements that constitute it: the eye, the rear sight, the front sight post, and the target. Proper control of the aiming elements, from the beginning to the end of a course of fire, will give us a better score. If you have control over these elements, it will also take less time to aim and take a good shot. The direct result is a greater hit factor. For this reason, sight alignment is one of the most important aspects of shooting practice, both for novice shooters and professional shooters. Regardless of their discipline, this is something that requires daily practice and specific exercises that focus on visual control of the aiming elements. This sport demands the

83

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

ability to control those elements at speed. I refer to training for this at speed as training for the development of dynamic visual acuity. Obviously, modern electronic optics make this process much easier. Optics are faster and more efficient, so

instead we will focus on the traditional elements of aiming - centering the front sight post within the rear sight notch and keeping the top of the rear sight flush with the top of the front sight. That is what we call the perfect sight picture. At the same time, we must align the sights with our vision, and also the center of the area that we want to impact. The target difficulty will determine how much alignment is necessary to be able to get good hits. During a drill, and even more so during a competition, it is important to be aware of the impact the "stress factor" has on the visual skills needed to perform the task of aiming at speed and its effect on trigger 84

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

control. The stress factor is d i rectly l i n ked to the evolution of the human being and its adaptation to su rvive i n the environ ment. Without a dou bt we can say that we a re designed for a world that no longer exists. Our development and s u rvival for thousands of generations has created in us an adva nced ca pacity to direct our vision and our focus of attention towa rd the ta rget; towa rd the objective . Like the rest of the natu ral predators that popu late the planet, this is one of the skills that evolution has given us. The hormones that we secrete during the stress response prod uced by a com petition or a simple shooting exercise is also what makes the sport of Practica l Shooting an addictive and exciting activity. This disch arge of adrenaline is part of the process that makes it more difficult to ma intain focus on the elements of aiming while under pressu re. This is why we must train ou rselves to have an i ndex and make our sight picture a su bconscious habit through repetition . As with any act ivity that is not intu itive to the human being, this is a skill that must be tra ined. Hand-eye coordination skills a re the backbone of the Practical Shooting Sports. Practicing them should be the core of our training. It is a very good gymnastic exercise for our eyes to change visu al focus during dry fire and learn to pick u p details from our periphera l vision . Accu racy sta rts by picking u p the next ta rget from our visual periphery, and then directing our sight to the elements of aiming. The amount of sight pictu re needed to be accurate is dependent u pon two basic factors: distance and the size of the exposed a rea of the ta rget. Fi rst, we must understa nd that we a re not i nterested in all of the exposed a rea of the target. We want to choose a spot on the target that will provide us with the h ighest score ... not only in points, but in poi nts d ivided by time. The amount of sight picture control we need to im pact a particular area of a target dictates ouir rate of fire (s hooting cadence). The aspect of speed is directly related to the d ista nce and the available a rea on the target. One of the characteristics of practical shooting is the abil ity to switch you r focus and attention between ta rgets at different distances. That is what ma kes vision in shooting a dynamic activity. Our eyes will a lways be faster than our ability to move the weapon with our hands towa rds the target. The speed at wh ich we are able to red irect our vision and focus, and how well we do it will dictate our time and points. These a re 85

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

the elements that control the equation of scoring in the practical shooting sports.

86

Targets from 3-6 meters When we have targets between 3 and 6 meters with a large available area, our focus should be split between the sights and the area that we want to impact. We should be aware of the elements of aiming, but our main focus is on the spot on the target that we wish to engage. The ability to direct the shots with the body is of vital importance. The core, spine, and especially the shoulders will make this task easier, more intuitive and faster. Aligning all of the elements of aiming is time consuming. I nstead, we should put 80% of our focus on close easy targets, and 20% of our focus on the sights. Although these targets are close and easy, we tend to miss them because we want to go fast. There are several reasons that we miss these close targets with a large available area: 1Anticipating the first shot. The shooter is looking at the target, but the shot is taken before the gun is lined up in front of it. In some cases, if the shooter has a good index, the shot will still hit the target. 2-

Taking the second shot before the gun returns to the target from recoil.

3Transitioning off one target to the next before pulling the trigger for the second shot. When the transition speed is higher than the trigger speed, the shot gets lost in the path of the trajectory line from one target to the next. All these mistakes that can make us lose one or even the two hits on the target are compounded when we add movement of either ourselves or the targets to the equation. At this distance, shooting on the move is relatively easy for a fairly experienced shooter. Targets from 6-12 meters When engaging targets from 6-12 meters, aligning the elements of aiming becomes more important. It is also still important to keep the weapon aligned with the body to index intuitively, but accuracy and speed will be dependent upon skill level and how much training has gone into the index for various target difficulties. Missing at this distance tends to be a result of anticipating the transition to the target or away from it. For this reason, 60-70% of our focus must be on aligning the elements of aiming, and 30-40% of our focus should be on the spot we wish to engage on the target. It is tempting at this distance to trust our index only because the targets are close, but we know from our practice how long it should take us to engage these medium difficulty targets. There needs to be a good balance between our index and what we know our cadence should sound like in order to get our hits.

87

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Targets from 12-14 meters This distance is the one that separates expert competitors from the newer competitors. In level 4 and 5 competitions, where the target distances are more challenging and variable, a 32-round stage with 15 charlies can either give you the gold medal in a World Shoot or keep you off the podium. The capture and control of the aiming elements must be perfect, and we must maintain total control over the sights. 90% of the good shots usually do not happen by chance, and the bad shots or penalty shots are usually a result of lowering the quality in sight picture control. Targets at more than 25 meters These targets demand the most attention to controlling the elements of aiming for accurate hits. The visual focus should be on the sights, creating a sharp and clear sight picture. The target should be perceived in a secondary plane. This clear focus on sight alignment together with proper trigger control, index, and balance will give us the assurance that we have hit the target correctly. It is advisable to take an additional shot on a difficult target in order to make sure we have a scoring hit. We must put 100% of our focus on perfectly controlling the sights and be in a stable shooting position so that our shots will not just hit the target but get the best available score. In all of these scenarios, we must take into account the value of time. The amount of time we take to aim varies depending on the target distance and difficulty to get the best score. It is not simply about getting the best possible points on a given target, but how long it takes to get those points. It may be a better score to hit a lesser scoring zorie with a faster time because of putting less attention on aligning the sights. This value is what we call hit factor - we must remember that this sport consists of not only speed, but points on the target. It is a sport of precision and aiming against the clock.

88

Ta rget Transition Fails Overswinging

Arcing Over

Arcing Under

89

Tnnsmon Movement Drill What you will need: • Two cardboard targets • At least 20 rounds • One 10-15 pound dumbbell hand weight (two for PCC) For most people, a 10-pound hand weight will work. Again, if you have a history of injuries, start light, but ensure the weight is heavier than your gun with a loaded magazine inserted. Use whatever weight challenges you without injuring yourself. I like the dumbbell hand weights better than wrist weights, because it simultaneously helps with grip strengthening. Varying the bar thickness can also add another dimension to grip strengthening by working the muscles at a different length of contraction. Purpose The purpose of this drill is to eliminate any extraneous movement from your transitions. It trains your eyes to move more efficiently as well. Over time, this drill will cause you to gain strength and create neuropathways to recruit muscle fibers more efficiently that can make your baseline fast even faster. The movement should eventually feel effortless, and you should (theoretically) be able to shoot as fast as you can look. Setup Set up two targets with a wide transition, at least 90-degrees apart. Shoot each target with only one shot to eliminate variables and keep it simple. When shooting, always choose the same direction so that the data is consistent. It's a good idea to incorporate a piece of steel into this drill as a variation, because we shoot steel differently than paper. It's good to have to change gears from paper to steel, and back to paper again. Execution Exposition Only look at the split times that are the target transitions; draw time doesn't matter. One string is one shot per target for a total of two shots. Shoot it as many times as you like until you have established your average transition time with all A's and close C's. Throw out any outlier times that are crazy high or low compared with the rest of your transition times. Establish your baseline "fast". Apply the quiet eye to the transition movement drill The first part of the drill is shooting the array with one shot per target a few times until you establish a baseline. The next part involves first applying Vickers' quiet eye, then applying resistance. The quiet eye 90

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

eliminates extraneous movement, because your body will automatically respond to where you look and point the gun there, just like balancing the broom stick referenced earlier. Dots If your gun has a dot, look to the target and not the dot. Keeping the dot in focus and tracking it between targets is like looking at the end of the broom stick in your hand rather than the end in the air. Instead, look where you want to go, and the dot will enter your vision automatically and effortlessly as long as you have developed an index. Pick Your Spot When shooting the drill, pick a spot on each target in the center of the scoring zone. You are not looking for brown, you are looking for a specific spot on the brown about the size of your fist (generally speaking). If you shoot as soon as you see brown, what is the first scoring zone you come to? Yup, it's a delta. If you anticipate it, then it's a mike. Instead, be patient and complete the trigger press the instant your gun begins to enter "the spot". Your eyes need to go directly to that spot so that you can break the trigger the instant the sights enter your vision, which is centered on that spot. You will then have the whole distance across the rest of that spot for the second shot. This is an advanced skill. Steel For the steel, you are not simply looking for steel. You are looking for a spot on the steel. For a stage, preprogram your eyes to go to that spot during the walkthrough and while pasting targets. Thought Sequencing Based on Vickers' research, while aiming at a target, elite competitive shooters are not thinking of the next target and dragging their shots across from one spot to the next. Instead, they sequence their thoughts and their eyes one "spot" at a time in order. However, they are aware of the next target in their peripheral vision once the shot breaks and immediately snap their eyes to it. If it's a moving target, they are able to predict the change in the location where their eye stillness needs to be and compensate for it in fractions of a second (Vickers, 2007). Driving the Gun It is ok to drive the gun off the target for a wide transition as long as you control the entry. If you don't push, and simply look and allow the gun to appear like you would for a narrow transition, you will be slow. If your shoulders are relaxed, it will be easier to transition, so be sure you are gripping the gun with your

91

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

hands and forearms rather than your whole arm. Use the hand weight to help train your body to automatically recruit the muscle fibers needed to drive the gun and control its entry without tensing up your shoulders. Execution Step One Practice snapping your eyes from one spot on the target to the next with your hands relaxed at your sides; allow your eyes to become still on that spot. If this is difficult, it may help to talk yourself through it. It will bring an intense focus to that spot by talking out loud about where your eyes are focused and what details you see. Once you get used to focusing with still eyes on that exact spot, add the speed factor back in and snap your eyes to it quickly. Whenever you are working on one particular thing, it is best to eliminate as many other variables as possible. Here, we will slowly add them back in. In dry fire, snap your eyes to your spot on each target, allowing the sights to enter into your line of vision.

There should not be a noticeable time lag between your eyes and the gun getting to the next target. If there is, you are thinking too hard about getting your eyes there before the gun. Instead, your eyes snap to the target, and your body simply responds. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

92

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Index Shooters commonly will use some variation of this test to see how well they have developed an index. Close your eyes and draw the gun to a close target. If you open them, and your sights are lined up on the target without moving anything, you have an index. Your gun should, at the very least, be in front of the target. This is muscle memory. The index is developed slowly over time every time you handle your gun and draw or transition to a target. The more you shoot and dry fire, the better index you will develop. The gun will go wherever you look for better or worse. What to Watch Out for Weight Drop Be sure you are not dropping your weight onto one leg as you transition. Your weight should be evenly distributed between both legs as you point your hips and knees equally toward your target. The habit of dropping your weight onto one leg makes it more challenging to move into and out of position. Unfortunately, it's a difficult habit to break. Shooters who do this drop their weight into their left knee when they are transitioning left to right. When transitioning to the left, they drop their weight onto their right leg. It can make the transition speed slightly faster, and PCC shooters will often do this to keep their shoulder behind the gun. The problem is this: if you are transitioning left to right through an array, which way are you probably going to move next? To the right, usually. Where did you just shift all your weight? To the left! This makes it impossible to shift your weight through a position.

93

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

..

DON'T DO THIS Dropping your weight into one leg adds extraneous movement to your transitions.

It also loads your weight onto the wrong leg for movement into the next position if you are moving in the direction of your transition. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

If you transition left to right, often times you will be moving to the right to get to the next position. Dropping your weight into the left knee to transition will impede that movement. i

;�

. •'

94

Keeping your weight evenly distributed during a transition eliminates extraneous movement. It also sets you up so that you can more easily move in any direction. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

95

..

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Tra nsitioning with weight even ly d istributed. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

96

Locked Feet Locking your feet into the ground causes the transition to come from your back rather than your legs. This happens when you plant your feet and transition only from the torso like the turret on a tank. This puts strain on your back and can, over time, cause an injury. The back and core are not the strongest muscles in your body; that is why the transition should come from the legs whenever possible. For a wide transition, especially during the resistance drill, there shou ld be some rotational movement in your feet to save your back. This is an exaggeration but think of the foot movement as doing "The Twist" dance. The feet stay in contact with the ground but rotate to point the toes toward the target. Execution Step three Next, it's time to add resistance. Set a timer for 30 seconds. Hold up the hand weight as though it were your gun and look to the spot on each target as quickly as you can without overswinging. Think of snapping your eyes immediately to the second target after finding your spot on the first target. Be sure to control the entry. Be sure to keep your shoulders forward of your hips. Do not lean back to support the weight! For PCC shooters, hold one weight in each hand as you would a rifle. Fit in as many reps as you can of transitioning the weight between targets back and forth.

97

Keep your shoulders forward of your hips to support the dumbbell.

DON'T DO THIS Do not lean back to support the dumbbell. It creates energy leaks and extraneous movement. You will not get as much out of the drill this way, and it could lead to an injury. If the weight becomes too heavy during the drill, simply bring it in a bit closer to your body. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

You will feel the core muscles engage. These muscles initiate the movement and also bring the "gun" smoothly onto the target at the end of the transition. Pay attention to how the use of these muscles helps to eliminate extraneous movement, like the sights bobbling around or swinging past the target. You should 98

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

begin to have an awareness of what it feels like to transition using the most direct path.

Fit as many target transitions as you can into 30 seconds with the dumbbell. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

Once the 30 seconds is up, set down the weight, rest for around three to five minutes, and drink water. Any heavy breathing or wobbly "Jell-O" arms from lactic acid build-up should have subsided, but the arms should still feel light from removing the weight. Make sure you are fully recovered before continuing, or it won't be effective. Execution Step five Once you are recovered, go back to dry fire in order to get used to the weight of the gun. If you did it right, it should feel like a little plastic squirt gun in your hands compared with the weight. Do a couple of runs through with just a sight picture. No trigger pull - simply watch the sight movement to be sure you aren't overswinging the target. Again, look for that spot on the target, and make sure your sights move onto the target smoothly. Any time you use resistance, always dry fire at least once before going hot. Your body may not behave in the way you are expecting it to, and you don't want to find that out with live ammo.

99

Execution Step six Finally, load up and shoot one shot per target, snapping your eyes to that spot on the target. Remember to choose the same direction as when you established a baseline, whether it was left to right or right to left. When testing yourself, you shouldn't have to think about anything at all. Just shoot. It should all be stored in your muscle memory and be subconscious from practicing it. Do at least five strings of one shot per target, always in the same direction. Check the transition times and compare to your baseline. Take note of your hits; they need to be A's and close C's, or they don't count. Each time you perform this drill, the goal is to increase the number of repetitions you can do with the weight in that 30 seconds. When you plateau and cannot increase reps, add more weight. You can use the weight on any transition drill, but have one measured out that you can always come back to and check if you need to increase the weight.

Variations Be sure to use the weight for transitions in every direction: up and down, left and right, and diagonally. This drill can also be done strong hand only and weak hand only, but lighter weight may be needed. Another use for this drill is to go through the motions of a draw to strengthen those muscles and recruit the muscle fibers more efficiently... it should feel easier and not rushed.

Concluding Thoughts Adding resistance to your training will make your movements feel more effortless. You should begin to see an improvement in transition times without trying so hard. Preprogramming your eyes will make your body movements more efficient, because your body will respond automatically to the visual feedback. As you practice this drill, you should be able to recruit those muscles more efficiently, and they will also become stronger over time. Immediately look to what is next, and your muscles will be trained to get you there quickly and efficiently... your body will simply respond. This is how you can get both faster and more accurate.

1 00

Variation: strong hand only/weak hand only

TRANSITION MOVEMENT DRILL OVERVIEW:

1. Set up two targets with a wide transition, one shot per target. Establish an average transition time with good hits 2. Pick a spot on each target and snap your eyes to it - quickly allow them to become still. As soon as they're still and focused, snap them to the next target in the same man ner 3. Dry fire one sight picture per spot on the target, no trigger pull. Ensure your eyes become still on the spot 4. Drive the gun off target one for a wide transition, keeping the shoulders relaxed. Control the entry onto target two without overswinging 5. Transition between the spot on the targets with a hand weight (10 pounds is good), as many reps as you can fit into 30 seconds 6. Rest 7. Dry fire, sight picture only 8. Live fire one shot per target 9. Compare average transition times and hits. Draw time is irrelevant

101

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Transition Movement Drill: Dry Fire Variation This drill can also be done in dry fire by fitting as many transitions as possible with the weight into 30 seconds. Be sure to incorporate transitions in every direction. When you plateau, add more weight. Do this three-times per week for six weeks to create a new baseline fast. Maintain that new baseline with one to two times per week for 30 seconds each. According to the previously mentioned studies, doing this more than three times per week does not add any benefit. If you want to measure your progress, take measurements of target placement and use the same exact set up when you test yourself intermittently. You do not need to use the same set up every time you train on this drill; only when you want to measure results to see if it's time to increase weight. When doing this drill in dry fire only, one example is setting up two paper targets on adjacent walls, so they are at least 90degrees apart.

1 02

One paper target on each adjacent wall 90° apart.

It's good to practice this drill with variable target spacing up to 180-degrees and various target difficulty. Snap your eyes immediately to the second target after indexing on the first. Ensure the gun is moving smoothly and controlled onto the spot on the target. Adding resistance to your training not only has the ability to make you faster immediately, but it can 1 03

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

jumpstart your training. Consider all the skills in shooting that resistance can be used for. If you've plateaued in your shooting, seeing these time differences will get you excited about training again. It's like new girlfriend syndrome for your practice sessions. Another application for the transition movement drill is drawing the gun. Remember, a draw is also a transition, and resistance training can help improve that as well. You will feel the muscles that engage in the very last part of your draw that make the gun move smoothly onto the target. Just like the transitions, it should be very smooth in the last instant. Even if you don't think your draw can get any faster, building up those muscles can make it feel more effortless.

CHAPTER 6 OVERVIEW:

1. Ensure you are taking the most direct path from one target to the next 2. Avoid extraneous movement such as shifting your weight onto one leg during a transition 3. Use the resistance transition drill three times per week for six weeks to make your baseline fast faster 4. Maintain faster transitions by using resistance one to two times per week 5. Immediately snap your eyes to the next target 6. Simply look and allow the gun to appear for narrow transitions 7. Use the quiet eye technique on the transition drill

1 04

Chapter J

EXPLOSIVE MOVEMENT Moving immediately and explosively from one position to the next is very important. Anything less is time added to your stage. I'm sure you've heard the saying that any time not spent shooting is dead time, so if you're not shooting you better be moving! Simply moving is not enough; it needs to be aggressive. EXPLOSIVE MOVEMENT AND RELOADING If you are moving more than about four or five steps, put your initial focus on exploding out of position. Then, immediately shift your focus to whatever is next, such as reloading, or entering your next position smoothly. This is one of those instances where the research from other sports applies in some situations and not others. If you only have two steps to reload, then your initial focus needs to be on the reload. There are many options for prioritizing your focus... some shooters like to put their initial focus on the reload in their first couple of steps, and some prefer the last couple of steps. You may have heard of this referred to as reloading in the first 10% or the last 10%. S0me like to focus on pushing out of position explosively and let the reload sort itself out along the way for a longer run. There are pros and cons to all of these, and often times you will find yourself using more than one in a match depending on the scenario. For example, if there is a door in a stage with a short move before it and longer move after it, it can be awkward trying to fit in a reload and also open the door. It may flow better to move quickly to the door and open it, then switch your focus to the reload during the longer move. Find what works best for you through experimentation. Any time you find a technique that works for you, remember that it might change as your skill level increases. Revisiting the method you use to execute a skill as your skill grows is not a bad thing, and if you keep pushing, you may be capable of techniques that didn't work for you in the past. 1 05

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Risk vs. Benefit Reloading in the first few steps: The risk that comes with reloading in the first few steps is that you may be so focused on the reload that you don't push explosively out of position. Some shooters will even grab the magazine off their belt at a standstill before ever taking a step. This is probably not their intent, but it's what ends up happening. The benefit, once you get the timing down, is that it can be easier to reload before you reach full acceleration. The reload takes place during the accelerating steps before reaching a full­ on run. Reloading in the last few steps: The risk that comes with reloading in the last few steps is that you may not have the reload completed in time. By this, I mean that you may be in position to engage the next target, but you are not yet finished with the reload, so shooting is delayed as a result. The benefit is that it can be easier to reload after the aggressive movement is done; do it while you are taking decelerating steps. This can also be beneficial in moving laterally to your non-dominant side or in moving up-range to prevent breaking the 180. Reloading at a full run: When the wheels in your head are turning, the feet tend to slow down. That is one reason it can be beneficial to get that first push off the ground if the situation allows, and then switch your focus to the reload. If you are thinking first about the reload, it can potentially slow down your feet and cause a delay.

PCC Reloads Contribution By: Scott Greene, USPSA Multi­ Gun Multiple Time Nationa l Champion A lot of guys drop the gun down to reload it. Instead, keep the PCC in place in your shoulder pocket and rotate it about 10-20 degrees so that the magwell ls pointed toward your mag pouch. Take your wea k hand off the hand guard to grab the magazine and reload it. Be sure to drop the spent mag before rotating the gun so that gravity helps it drop free. This technique saves about 3/10ths of a second on reloads.

The risk is that the faster you are running, the harder it can be to reload. This works best for a longer run where there is plenty of time to sort out the reload along the way. You should know from your practice whether or not it will work out in your favor and where that line is for you at your skill level. In practical shooting, although we all have our preferences, it is good to be able to do everything. Some shooters will use each of these techniques in various situations. One of the Canadian National Champions likes to practice reloads at a full run and compare times to the same run with no reload. Whatever technique you choose, this is a good way to test whether or not it is working for you. Be sure to do multiple

1 06

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

runs to check for consistency and make adjustments as needed. Tim Yackley, US

Champion performs a rifle reload.

1 07

Reloads Contribution By: Paul Hagiantoniou, Eight-Time IPSC Australian National Champion The importance of being able to reload your firearm in the shortest amount of time possible is often underestimated. When we talk about the time it takes, there are a few variables. You may be required to load from the belt, off of a surface where your magazine is placed, on the move, static, or load the gun at the beep for an unloaded start position. In some countries like Australia and Canada there are restrictions to magazine capacity, which means more reloads are required for a given stage, regardless of division. This amounts to more time reloading and less time shooting. For this article on reloads, I'm focusing on the actions taken whilst moving through the course of fire. It's important to know what your number is, meaning, the time it actually takes you to complete a reload. Armed with this information, you can make better decisions about when and where to replenish your gun with ammunition. Finding out that time is easy. If you're practicing loading the gun off a table, your load time is from the beep to the first shot. Loading the gun from the belt would be measured from the last shot on the timer before the reload to your first shot after the reload. Write these times down and keep a record. While walking through a stage, many shooters believe that the time they have to do a reload is the entire time between two shooting positions. These positions are the one they are leaving and the position they will be entering. This distance may be 10 meters or more. The time saving trick is to not use that entire distance to reload your firearm. As much as we like to multi-task, we can't move efficien tly and reload at the same time. To run hard, you need to swing both arms and look at where you are going. To reload, you need to glance at the magwell of the gun and consider safety angles that may require your body to rotate in a way that is not efficient for run ning hard. One solution is to get the reload done within the first step out of the shooting position. This way, as you lift your leg to step out, you can focus on seeing your magwell and looking the magazine into the gun. Once it's home, you are already starting to move, and can now shift your focus to run ning hard to your next shooting position. Trying to reload and move aggressively at the same time is awkward, and neither the load nor the run will be as quick or efficient as it could be.

1 08

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Another complication to reloading the gun is the safety angle. If you dry fire a reload in the first step while moving to your non-dominant side, see where your muzzle points during the reload. It is easy to break the 90 as you rotate your body in the direction you need to run. There is a real risk of being disqualified as you rotate the pistol up to complete the reload depending on the angle of movement. Here is one solution. If you observe one of the top pistol shooters in the world reloading during a lateral movement toward his non-dominant side, he uses a different technique than getting it done in the first step. This particular shooter does half of his reload upon exit, and the other half when he enters the next position. After firing your last shot at the position you're leaving, eject the magazine. Rotate your body toward the direction you intend to move, and leave the gun pointing in the direction of the target you've just engaged. During this time, you've also drawn a fresh magazine. Run to the next position and bring the gun closer to your body by cocking your elbow upward. Rotate your body as your first foot lands in the position and insert the magazine while setting down the second foot. It's a very technical procedure and needs practice. It's slightly slower than reloading in the first step, but it allows you to remain in the match without awkwardly crabbing to remain safe and trying to reload sideways.

Reload Movemem Drill What you will need: • Four cardboard targets • Two sticks to mark the ground • At least 80 rounds Purpose The purpose of this drill is to learn how to absorb the time it takes to reload into movement without slowing down. The faster you are running, the harder it can be to reload, because the mag-well becomes more of a moving target. Pushing the footpace at which you are consistently able to reload until the wheels fall off (in practice) can make you better at reloading. Be sure to find the line (your speed limit) in practice, not at a match! Setup Place the sticks on the ground at least five yards apart. Set up two targets at various distances/difficulties

1 09

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

in front of position A, and the same in front of position B. Add no-shoots/hardcover if you like.

Reload Movement Drill

B

•

A

S yards

1 10

•

B

Execution Step One Engage two targets from position A, run to position B and engage the remaining two targets. Do this enough times (four to five or so) to establish a baseline wit_ h all A's and close C's. Find an average run time and throw out any outliers. You can also compare shot to shot times from the last shot in position A to the first shot in position B for a more exact evaluation (time between shots four and five). If you are doing this in dry fire, simply establish a par time. Step Two Add a reload between positions A and B. Everything else stays the same. Find your average run time with the reload and compare this to your run with no reload. They should be very similar times. Again, for a more exact evaluation, compare the split time between shots four and five. If you are doing this in dry fire, try to make the same par time as the one you set with no reload. Evaluation This drill is a good place to experiment with the three basic types of moving reload techniques. Video is a valuable tool for feedback on this drill. Some things to make sure you are doing: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Eliminate extraneous movement and keep your body as stable as possible when reloading; do not lean away from the magazine pouch when you grab the mag Lead with your shoulders instead of your hips Lead movement with the gun, do not leave the gun behind Immediately eject and grab the next magazine while you start moving, make sure you do not delay movement Punch the magazine release button hard Keep the gun in a position where gravity assists in the mag dropping freely Glance at the mag-well at the instant of insertion Glance at a spot in the mag-well rather than looking at the incoming magazine... you go where you look, and this can lead to a fumble Take a hand off the gun for a longer move to increase mobility Pump your arms Get a strong firing grip on the gun after the reload Have the gun up and ready to shoot immediately after the reload if it's done in the last 10% In dry fire, always use dummy rounds to keep the weight of the magazine consistent; load to your division's capacity. Do not reload an empty magazine into the gun. Also, a dummy round at the top

1IJ

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

•

of the magazine makes it more curved rather than trying to shove two sharp pieces of metal into your gun. In dry fire, alternate between ejecting empty and partially loaded magazines (with dummy rounds), because that is what happens in a match. Do not always drop a mag out of the gun that is filled to capacity with dummy rounds.

Eliminate Extraneous Movement If you have a large girth that requires you to lean away from your mag pouches to access the magazine, it works okay only if you are leaning in the direction you wish to move. However, if you are moving the other direction, this forces you to lead with your hips rather than your shoulders and will be slower. You may be doing the same thing when you draw the gun out of the holster. One way to counteract it is to point your hips more in the direction you are moving, even if it's a generally sideways move. This will move your torso out of the way forward rather than sideways. Check that your shirt is not in the way so that you are not leaning to ensure you clear it. Just as some shooters like to find the most direct path for their draw by re-holstering, it can be helpful to do a reversed reload. This is where you follow the path from the gun to your belt and place the magazine back in the pouch. If you can do that with minimal movement, try mimicking the same movement by reversing back toward the gun again for a reload. Sometimes changing the motion to reverse can help shooters be a lot more deliberate in their movements.

Video is a great tool for feedback on your movement for reloads. Invest in a simple tripod and a holder for your phone, put it in selfie mode and record yourself. Without turning the phone, you can immediately review the footage and make adjustments. Record yourself as you reach for the magazine. Try to find an angle where you can grab it while leading with your shoulders as you move in every direction. Minimize the extraneous movement as much as possible. Have a buddy watch you and give you feedback. If you can't lead with your shoulders while moving to your non-dominant side, then take a look at your gear. There may be some adjustments you can make, such as rotating the bullet direction, placing the magazine pouch at a different angle, or maybe even a different type of pouch. Move Immediately Without Delay To test if you are delaying movement for the reload, pay attention to where the ejected magazine lands on the ground. If it is at the start stick, then you are probably reloading before you move. The magazine

1 12

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

should be at least a couple of steps from the start stick. Look in the Reload Although you can probably reload without looking, it adds consistency to quickly glance it in. Don't let the movement of the fresh magazine draw your eye from the mag-well or you may fumble or try to insert at the wrong angle. Remember to have a "quiet eye" when inserting your magazine. Pick a small spot on the inside edge of the magwell to put your full visual focus on just in the instant of inserting the mag. I've heard of some shooters marking that spot with whiteout for dry fire practice until they learn to look to that spot. You go where you look, and your eyes need to be still in the place you want to go next. Get your eyes there quickly, focus intensely for an instant, then immediately shift your eyes to whatever is next. Have the Gun Up and Ready To test if you are allowing enough time after the reload to get the gun up and ready, check where the ejected magazine lands on the ground. This is for reloading in the last 10% of movement. If it takes you approximately four small steps to get your grip back on the gun and have the gun up and aimed at the next target, then that's how far back from the stop stick the mag should be laying on the ground. Variations There are infinite variations of this drill. You can try reloading in the first 10%, and the ejected magazine should land on the ground closer to the start stick. Reloading at a full run should leave the magazine on the ground somewhere around the middle. Reloading in the last 10% should leave the magazine on the ground closer to the stop stick. You can try it with a careful exit that has more difficult targets from the start stick. An aggressive exit would have closer, open, easier targets from the start. Other options would be a careful entry with hard targets, aggressive entry with easy targets, use of a visual barricade, a port, or change the distance between positions. You can also change directions such as up-range, downrange, lateral, diagonal, around an obstacle, or anything else you can possibly imagine. Be sure to practice this with two to three step reloads as well... especially with a sideways movement. That is when you will tend to shift your weight in the wrong direction to grab a mag off your belt, especially when moving toward your support side. You may have to take 30-second rest periods between runs to continue moving explosively. This drill should help you eliminate wasted movement. It should push you to find the limit of how fast you can run wile reloading consistently. Pushing to reload at a faster run is a risk vs. reward situation. 1 13

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

For farther runs, you can put the initial focus on pushing off explosively, then shift your focus to the reload. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

RELOAD ON THE MOVE DRILL OVERVIEW:

1. Set up two paper targets separated by at least five yards from two more paper targets, establish a personal best with two shots per target 2. Shoot the same drill, but add a reload between positions... the times should be comparable 3. Review video for extraneous movement, do not delay movement for the reload

Creeping In the previous section, we talked about leading with the shoulders rather than leaning away from the direction you wish to move. That is not only . to eliminate extraneous movement, but also to create momentum that will always be making gains toward that final destination. Eliminate energy leaks and focus all of that energy toward the direction you wish to go so that your movement appears effortless. Stop fighting yourself!

1 14

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

You may be familiar with Newton's First Law of Motion. "Every body remains in a state of rest or uniform motion (constant velocity) unless it is acted upon by an external unbalanced force" (Gomez and Livingston, 2016, p. 5). This means that if our body isn't already moving then it doesn't want to start. It's going to be far easier to keep moving than to play red light/green light with the shooting positions. If you're driving in traffic coming up to a light that's about to turn green, are you going to get in the lane behind the car that is still coasting or stay in the lane with the car that's been sitting completely stopped at the light for a while? We will talk later about maintaining "perpetual motion" throughout a stage.

Why is Movement •. Different In 3-Gun? Scott G reene, USPSA Multi­ Gun Multiple Time National Champion comments: When shooting 3-Gun, I use a much looser acceptable sight picture. The nature of the sport allows me to be more aggressive with my movements and target acquisitions. I tend to shoot on the move more.

Newton's Second Law of Motion is probably also familiar: "A body of mass m subject to a force F undergoes an acceleration a that has the same direction as the force and a magnitude that is directly proportional to the force and inversely proportional to the mass, i.e., F = ma" (Gomez and Livingston, 2016, p. 5).

This means that the bigger/taller you are, the harder it's going to be to get moving, and the harder it's going to be to stop or change directions. Bigger shooters can still be fast by throwing their weight (or length) around a stage in a controlled manner and continuing their momentum as much as possible. Although their center of gravity continues to move, the sights stay very still on each target as they engage it. What about when you are not moving? If you are standing still, you are in equilibrium. If you want to move, you need to unbalance the forces applied to your body. This is mobility vs. stability. The more stable you are, the closer you are to equilibrium: "The necessary and sufficient conditions for a particle to be in mechanical equilibrium is that the net force acting upon the particle is zero" (Gomez and Livingston, 2016, p. 14). Have you seen that cat video where it pushes the remote closer and closer to the edge of a table a few inches at a time? Her owner scolds, "NO!" The cat glances up at the owner mischievously and pushes it a bit further. The woman warns it again, "No!" The cat glances at her again and stubbornly pushes it a bit more. The remote sitting on the table is in equilibrium and isn't falling, so why is the cat's owner getting upset? The closer it gets to the edge after each push, the closer it is to having kinetic energy... and the cat seems to know this! 1 15

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018), kinetic energy is defined: "energy associated with motion". The cat rearranges the relationship between the remote, the table and the floor. The closer the remote gets to the edge, the closer it is to being in motion, or having kinetic energy. The remote reaches the edge of the table and tips, then it falls. In preparation to get moving out of a position quickly, we need to "rearrange our parts" in much the same way. How do we do that? like the remote tipping off the edge of the table, it helps to shift your center of gravity in the direction you wish to move while engaging the last target in an array. That way you have charged your body and you can explode out of position immediately after the last shot. Not every target scenario (or skill level) allows for this, and others allow you to shift through the entire position. Figure out in practice what you know you can do consistently before trying this in a match.

•

1 16

Equilibrium

The torso is directly over the hips, which are directly over the feet. This picture shows equilibrium and stability. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

Shifting your weight through a position "rearranges your parts" to make moving out of that position easier.

Although the feet haven't moved, the forces have been unbalanced by the torque of the hips and shoulders moving out from over the top of the feet. Even with planted feet, you can see the potential for movement.

117

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Difficult or disappearing targets force you to remain still and exit carefully. However, if you are able to shift even 5% of your body mass in the di rection you wish to move while engaging your last target, then you will only have 95% of your body mass to overcome. Even that little bit will be faster than pushing off 100%, as long as the target difficulty and your skill level allow for it. This is a major contributing factor to how bigger guys who are not fit win. They never stop their momentum. They are so skilled at engaging difficult targets while shifti ng their weight that they never seem to stop moving. They continue to push the envelope on the target difficulty they can get good hits on consistently while shifting or movi ng. This an advanced skill.

1 18

F

B D

Disappear·ng Target

If yo shift your we11ht out of position on target A, 1t wdl disappear from view.

1 19

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

D E

D

A

If you finish the left position on target A, you can shift out of position while engaging it. A more advanced shooter may even start shifting out on target B, and shoot target A while backing up.

1 20

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

According to McGin nis (2013), when you run, you should think of it as a series of falling and catching yourself. "Minimize stability to increase mobility" (p. 158). This is "rearranging your parts" so that your torso is no longer directly over your feet, and, thus, no longer in equilibrium. This creates torque. If you let go, the torque (potential energy) goes away and is converted into motion.

121

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

In equilibrium, you are applying force to the ground, which is applying force back to you. Since you are 1n a stable position, the net force Is zero, so you are not moving� It Is not easy to move out of equilibrium, because you must overcome these forces. To move, you must unbalance them. I

By shifting your weight, you unbalance the forces. This makes it easier to move because the weight of your torso is no longer directly above the force the ground was applying to your body� Rearranging your parts allows you to overcome that force.

1 22

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018) defines torque as, "a force that produces or tends to produce rotation or torsion". This is a force we can use to help us move more explosively. The bigger you are, the more torque you will need to get yourself moving and to slow yourself down. Also, the bigger you are, the more torque you can generate. That is done by shifting your center of gravity out from over your feet while moving into and out of position (Burkett, 2010). Shifting weight through a position uses gravity to your advantage. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

THE CROSSOVER STEP The crossover step is great for shifting your weight out of a position and continuing your momentum. It allows you to keep your hips pointed toward closer, easier targets and engage them as you shift, then it rotates your hips for you in the direction you wish to move. This is for a longer run, because it's so difficult to stop the momentum. How to Do It If you are already shifting your weight out of position and are taking more than about three steps in a lateral direction, place your knee directly above your toes and dig the toes of your leading foot into the ground to pull yourself forward. The first step, however, will be taken with the trailing foot. It will not be 1 23

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

a stable shooting position, so it is target difficulty and shooting skill dependent, but you will have far more mobility (Brungradt and Romanov, 2014). Stepping with your trailing foot first and crossing it over your leading foot while "falling" out of position will open up your hips to the direction you wish to move. This is a good thing, because your quads are the most powerful muscles in your body and will move you the most forcefully and explosively. Miami Heat coach Bill Foran (2001) calls this "the crossover" step (p. 149). "The Crossover Step" opens up your hips to the direction you wish to move. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

The crossover step will continue your momentum falling out of position in the direction you wish to move. lift the knee of your trailing foot high over the 1·eading foot and then drive it into the ground to push off explosively. Continue allowing your weight to shift in the direction of your destination as you accelerate (Brungradt and Romanov, 2014). If your weight begins to shift out of the shooting position, and you haven't finished engaging all the targets yet, use the trailing crossover leg as a counterbalance to hold you there. Rather than falling out of position 1 24

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

before you are finished shooting, hold the trailing leg back and do not allow it to cross the center line of your body until you are ready to go. This will keep your hips pointed toward the targets and prevent you from either having to take a hand off the gun to finish engaging the targets, falling out of position and having to come back to make up shots, or from accepting the penalties and continuing to run. Adaptation for History of Injuries If you have a history of knee injuries, be sure to rotate your leading toes in the direction you wish to move prior to crossing over with your trailing foot. This may be slightly slower but will align your joints in a more controlled manner. That way there won't be so much sideways force on your leading knee... it will be more front to back instead. This is more of a weight shift as opposed to falling sideways and catching yourself; less risk for further injury. When to Use It The crossover step is a bit risky because it is a less steady base to shoot from, and once you start, you are committed to that movement. It is much more difficult to come back for a popper that didn't fall, or if you didn't get your last hit on the target as you were shifting out of that position. You will more than likely already be gone by the time you realize you missed it. The time it would take to come back for it may not be worth the points. It is also more difficult to decelerate into the next position if it's not a far run. Use the Crossover Step for: 1.

Aggressive Exits

This step works well for close and easy targets that you can exit aggressively on. It does not work well on targets that disappear behind a wall as you move, or a far mini popper. Practice shifting your weight while shooting targets of various difficulty to learn where your limits are and always continue to push those limits in practice. When you walk up to a stage, you should know whether or not you can consistently get your hits on a particular target while shifting your weight, and how aggressively you can shift your weight on that target. 2.

Long Runs

This step also works well for longer runs. It will aid in reaching full acceleration quickly, which means it is harder to control on the other end. A longer distance run will allow more time for deceleration. If it's too short of a move, you may find yourself jarring the sights as you abruptly decelerate or overrun the next position. It's risk vs. reward to give up a stable shooting position for increased mobility. The shots must be carefully timed, and there is more risk of dropping points if you are doing this step while engaging a target. Stability 1 25

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

vs. mobility is the battle in movement, and in knowing which one you need more at which times. It is a calculated risk. PIVOT-PUSH A more stable and careful position exit would be stepping with your leading foot first. If you were to have a foot race, this is probably how you would naturally take off running, so don't overthink it! Your weight is more evenly distributed, so you can easily move in any direction. How to Do It Pivot on the ball of your trailing foot to point your hips in the direction you wish to move, and simultaneously push off with that same foot by digging those toes into the ground. The first step is taken with the foot that is already in front, or the leading foot. Don't think of it as pivoting and then pushing off. Instead, it should be one fluid motion of rotating your hips toward your destination and pushing off the ground with your trailing foot. History of Injuries If you have a history of injuries such as to the hips, knees or ankles, this is going to be your go-to move. This movement aligns your joints in an efficient manner so that they are being used front to back rather than side to side. You can still shift your weight through a position as target difficulty and skill level allow but be sure to rotate your joints to point in the direction of movement before pushing off. When to Use It 1.

Careful Exits

The pivot-push is great for exiting on harder targets that require greater care. While shooting, you have a low, wide, steady base to shoot from. This makes it easier to engage more difficult targets accurately. This step gives up mobility for stability. 2.

Direction Changes

This step can help with the popper dance. Let's say you have a popper that activates a swinger later in the stage ... if you miss it, you HAVE to come back for it. Using this step, your weight is evenly distributed, not only making it easier to hit it accurately in the first place, but also making it easy to move in any direction. If you started shifting out and have to come back for that popper, it will be far easier to change directions. You are not falling out of position like with the crossover step, so there is less momentum built up to fight against in deceleration.

1 26

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

3.

Shorter Runs

This step works well for shorter distance moves between positions. It is a much more controlled exit, which makes it easier, in turn, to control the entry. Although you can shift your weight through a position using this step, it's not as aggressive as the crossover step. This technique will not continue momentum through the shooting position and will close your body off from moving a longer distance. It requires a hard and explosive push off the ground to overcome the opposing forces and get yourself moving using this step. However, if you are immediately moving into another shooting position, it will allow for a more controlled entry. For less than three or four steps, even if you are shifting out of position, step with the leading foot first for this reason. This makes it easier to catch your weight on the inside foot before gently setting down your final (outside) foot on position entry. This helps keep your sights steady so that you can start shooting sooner.

1 27

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

One option for a smooth position entry is to catch your weight on the inside foot as you enter a position.

You can already start shooting from one foot if the sights allow for it. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

After catching your weight on the first foot, you can gently set down the second foot in a low, wide base without disturbing the sights.

1 28

THE SIDEWAYS SHUFFLE Sometimes there are target arrays that require you to move laterally between them in only a couple of steps. Remember the example in chapter one of two ports on one wall? If you do a two-step reload between those ports, the focus needs to be more on the reload than the movement. In the same way, during a two-step lateral move, the focus needs to be on the shooting over the moving. This means keeping your hips directed toward your next target rather than pointed in the direction you wish to move. It also means keeping the gun up and snapping it directly to the next target in the next array, aiming through any visual barriers. Stay low and smooth and shock absorb your sights with your legs. This is not an efficient step for covering long distances more than four steps or so. How to Do It To push out of position, point your hips in the direction of your next target. Simultaneously dig the inside sole of your trailing foot into the ground to push off. You may find that you gain a little more boost by turning the knee of your trailing foot inward to help apply force to the ground. This is done without pivoting the foot, but by using the inside edge of the shoe as a wedge to push off of. Rotating the knee slightly inward to push off the ground can help give a little extra leverage. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

Any short lateral move you see shooters execute will be derived from two basic options: the sideways cross step or the sideways shuffle. It doesn't matter a whole lot which option you choose, and you may choose a different technique based on the situation. The key is to stay low and smooth, take tiny fast steps, and maintain a consistent shoulder elevation. No hopping! The Sideways Cross Step It is easier to stay low and smooth for many people when using this step over the side shuffle. It also works well for entering on a more difficult target because it is more controlled. Simply stay low and smooth, and alternate crossing one foot in front of or behind the other while moving sideways. Set up with a low wide base. 1 29

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

This step is helpful for a very positional stage. It is easier to measure out exactly where you need to land for a difficult-to-find spot, but it is a less aggressive movement. Be sure to do this at full speed in the walkthrough to see whether it is the right step to use for the situation, and how to pace out the steps to land in the proper place. Some people don't like this step because they are afraid of tripping over their own feet or getting caught off-balance. That is a risk, but if you practice the step and are comfortable with it, you will know what you can and cannot consistently do. Everyone is built differently and has a different level of athletic ability, but it is always good to try new things. You may or may not like it, and it may or may not work for you. The Sideways Cross Step

I,,.

Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

The Side Shuffle Step It tends to be more difficult for shooters to stay low using this step over the sideways cross step. After the initial push with the trailing foot, step with the leading foot. Pull with the leading foot until the trailing foot catches up to it, and then push off again with the trailing foot. Continuously push sideways with one foot, then pull yourself in the same direction with the other. It's a sideways shuffle in which your feet never cross over one another. The steps are tiny, fast and explosive, and you must stay low. The temptation is to push off with the toes and use the calf muscle front-to-back. This lea9s to hopping up and down between positions. Instead, remember to create the wedge to push off with the inside edge of your foot. This is a more aggressive movement, and it can be more difficult to find a very positional spot. It can also be more difficult to enter the position smoothly, and it can take a lot of practice to use this step on a hard entry. The entry is controlled by catching your weight on one foot and then gently setting down the other.

1 30

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

The Side Shuffle Step Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

History of I njuries If you have a history of ankle, knee or hip injuries, you may not be able to perform this step. The sideways cross step will be less jarring than the sideways shuffle, but it still involves using the joints side-to-side rather than front to back. Use caution when trying out this step. If it doesn't cause pain, you may be able to use it, but keep in mind the potential for injury if you do. If you are unable to perform lateral movement without causing injury, try splitting the difference between pointing your hips in the direction of your movement and the direction of the targets (see the section on "drifting"). If you are moving along the 180 toward the side berm, but your targets are directly downrange, there is a 90-degree angle between the direction of movement and the direction of the targets. Split the difference by pointing your hips at a 45-degree angle. In this way, you will be able to slightly rotate your torso to have the gun on target while your joints don't have to bear the strain of a full sideways movement. There will also be less rotation required to square up to the targets when you settle into the next shooting position. Do not rotate the torso toward the targets while your hips point another direction if you have issues with your back. This can create back strain if there is an injury there.

131

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

�l

I Target directior

�

Hips at a 45-degree angle When to Use It Short Lateral Moves If you are taking about three to four steps or less in a lateral direction, use the sideways cross step or the sideways shuffle step. This keeps your hips pointed in the direction of the next target and makes it easier to have the gun up and ready to shoot sooner. Use whichever step you prefer. This is not a good step to use for medium to long distance moves. It does not open up your hips to the direction of movement. You are not using your muscles and joints in the way they work the most efficiently and explosively. It is reserved only for short lateral moves for this reason. The main focus is not on movement; it's on acquiring the next target. ACCELERATING STEPS Once you've taken that first step, whether it's a crossover or pivot-push, what comes after that initial push­ off is acceleration. There are several factors that contribute to being explosive out of position and accelerating quickly. Many of those factors are overlooked or even scoffed at by many shooters. You may feel silly trying some of these, but if it works for other sports, why miss out on a potential advantage? According to Foran (2001), the very first step when you exit a position should be a short, quick, "jab" step in which your foot remains under your hips (p. 148). Taking a longer step takes, well, too long! Accelerating steps are short and have little dwell time on the ground. If it is a short distance lateral movement (one or two steps), push off with the inside sole of your trailing foot while taking a jab step with your leading foot.

1 32

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Remember to stay low!

Wedge off the ground with the inside sole of the trailing (left) foot. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

The "jab" step happens in this lateral movement with the right foot as it makes a very quick contact with the ground to pull the left foot along.

Aside from short lateral moves, use your muscles and joints front to back when possible, because that is the way they work most efficiently. It also decreases chance of injury. The goal is to push off the ground as close to that 45-degree angle of efficiency as you can, although things don't always go according to plan!

The Fred Flintstone Have you ever seen a shooter take steps without covering any ground? This makes it tough to take accelerating steps! They look like Fred Flintstone trying to get his car moving, shifting their feet around in place before actually taking off. This tends to happen when you don't have any momentum built up. Maybe you aren't sure which foot you're going to push off with. It also happens if you are not sequencing your thoughts and are trying to do everything all at once, or you're thinking, "Go faster!" This is a mental block, not a physical issue. Often it will happen in a start position where you must be standing upright with your feet together. Another time I see this is on a close, open, easy array of targets

1 33

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

where your feet are telling you it's time to go, but you haven't finished engaging the targets yet. It helps to do a full speed walkthrough, focusing on the sequence of your thoughts one at a time in order... including which foot you will step off with first (see the section on leaving a position). Make it your rule of thumb to dig the toes of your trailing foot into the ground, and step first with your leading foot for short movements (three to four steps or less) or for more difficult targets. For longer movements or easier targets, put your leading knee over your leading toes to pull with. Step first with your trailing foot, executing the crossover step discussed previously. Simply having this thought and deciding which foot to step with first during your walkthrough should help eliminate this problem.

r

DON'T DO THIS. The Fred Flintstone

Note how the right foot in the photo moves up and down once before the actual first step is taken by the left foot. It may seem redundant but decide which foot you wil l step with first before the timer goes off! Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

�

1 34

I

I,

Zipping U p Your Core Another thing many shooters neglect to do before they move is zipping up their core. You can tighten the core to move your body as a unit by leading with your shoulders. This eliminates energy leaks from your core, and back (Willardson, 2014). If you lead with your hips, you may feel the sensation of getting stuck with one foot slightly in the air and having to muscle your way out of it...remember "the fire hydrant"? Why zip up your core muscles? What do paramedics do when they move an unconscious person from the ground into the ambulance? They put them on a transfer board. Why do they do this? It is far easier to move something rigid than someone that's flopping all around. The same concept applies to moving your body quickly. Your shoulders need to be relaxed while shooting, but as soon as it's time to move, zip up that core and drive! Consciously thinking about tightening up your core muscles can tense up your shoulders, and you don't want that, so instead, put your focus on leading with your shoulders when you push out of position and your core should tighten in response. Your body should move as a single unit, not in sections (legs, then mid-section, then shoulders). It helps to throw your arm in the direction you want to move when you push off, keeping your lats tight.

135

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

DON'T DO THIS. Do not lead with your hips to exit a position. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

�

THROW THE GU N Remember when we talked about rearranging your parts to unbalance forces? There is an extra mass available to you that can be manipulated to unbalance the forces and create torque to get yourself moving. Any guess what that might be? That extra mass is the gun in your hand! Throw the gun in the direction you wish to move to help propel yourself. Be sure the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction. Depending on your background and past experiences, the terminology "throwing" the gun may not work for you. Everyone learns differently because they have developed different neuropathways, and adults tend to learn new things by building on existing pathways based on their experiences. For example, if you were a pitcher and hear "throw" the gun, you will wind up first before straightening your arm. This is not what is meant by throwing the gun.

1 36

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

By throwing the gun, I mean that you should use its mass to pull you out of position. Some shooters like to think of it as a swimmer pulling water toward them to propel themselves forward. Other shooters like to think of it as transitioning the gun strong hand only to the far corner of the bay (between downrange and the 180). Still others think of it as making the first arm pump be with the gun arm. It should be a fluid motion, not overexaggerated. For a lateral move, the direction of the muzzle depends on your skill and comfort level. The higher the competitive level During lateral movement you are at, the toward the dominant side, more calculated one option is to point the risks you may have pistol directly downrange. to take in order to It is less likely that you will be competitive. The break the 180 using this less match technique, but take care not you experience to sweep your pumping arm. have, the more you Photo Credit: Beyond Photography need to play it safe. newer a For shooter, when you throw the gun, point the muzzle directly downrange. Running laterally toward your dominant side, the gun arm will be across your chest so that you can pump your non-dominant arm without sweeping yourself. Running to your non-dominant side, on the other hand, your dominant elbow will be bent behind you sort of like a chicken wing with the gun at chest level so that you can pump your non-dominant arm freely.For an advanced shooter, you will get to the point where you may choose to game the 180 to gain as much mobility as possible without breaking any rules. It's a risk vs. reward, and you may decide you never want to take that risk. Many of the top shooters will take that risk to be more competitive as long as it's risking breaking a rule as opposed to doing something unsafe. For maximum mobility while moving to your dominant side, if the gun is pointed directly on the 180, simply break your wrist toward the rear berm. This will give you maximum mobility to pump both arms. Practice dry first to ensure you don't sweep yourself or break the 180.

137

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Movement to Dominant Side with a Pistol

Rotating the pistol toward the rear berm at the wrist rather than the elbow increases mobility. Photo Credit: Cole Mickelson

An advanced shooter moving to their non­ dominant side wil l often do the same thing as running toward their dominant side. They will pump their arms on the 180, but break their wrist toward the rear berm. If they don't game it, their elbows will be forced to move at awkward angles in response to the orientation of the gun.

Bending at the elbow with the arm across the body to point the gun downrange is less mobile. Photo Credit: Cole Mickelson

1 38

Movement to Non­ Dominant Side with a Pistol Rotating the pistol toward the rear berm at the wrist rather than the elbow increases mobility. Photo Credit: Cole Mickelson

Movement to Non-Dominant Side with a Pistol

Rotating the pistol directly toward the rear berm by raising the bent elbow and pumping your arm like a broken chicken wing is a safe direction, but less mobile. Photo Credit: Cole Mickelson

:,

How does gaming the 180 increase mobility? You are able to pump your arms more naturally in the direction of movement. Any time your elbows are moving in any direction that is not the direction you wish to move, they are sending energy the wrong way and slowing you down. Energy is sent in the direction

1 39

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

of the arm pump, and if that is not your destination, then you have an energy leak. The goal is to have your elbows only move in the direction you wish to go, pumping directly forward and backward, or whatever the case may be (Blazevich, 2017). PCC If you are shooting a pistol caliber carbine, exiting a position explosively is a bit different. If you have the upper body strength to throw the gun with one arm, that will put you at a significant advantage to explode out of position. Even if you have to hook the gun under your dominant forearm for extra support, it will still be an advantage. For runs more than four steps or so, even if you only have time for one arm pump, throwing the gun will propel you far more dramatically with a PCC than a pistol. If you do not have the upper body strength to throw the gun with one arm, you can still use the gun to propel yourself by using its weight to help shift you out of position. You can also throw the gun with both hands on it, but it won't go as far. Then pump your arms with both hands still on the gun. For a lateral move, you can't throw the gun one-handed in the direction you wish to move, because it would be on the 180 with a long barrel. The gun is usually too long and bulky to break your wrist toward the rear berm like you would with a pistol. It slows you down to have the gun pointed directly downrange, because it can send energy in that direction.

PCC Lateral Movement to Weak Side Contribution By: Scott Greene, USPSA Multi-Gun Multiple Time National Champion For moves that are less than about 10 yards, I run with my strong hand on the pistol grip so that I can pump my arms. If it's more than about 10 yards, I slide my weak hand up the hand guard toward the mag-well, take my strong hand off, and hold the gun across my body. This gives me the most mobility while keeping the muzzle pointed downrange.

Instead, split the difference. Throw the gun at the 45-degree angle between the 180 and downrange to propel yourself. You may have to get your other hand back on the gun immediately after that initial throw. Be sure you are not winding up for the throw by bringing the gun back under or over your arm first. The gun should move directly from the target you are engaging out toward that 45-degree angle. If you don't have the upper body strength to throw the gun with one hand, it should still look as though you are being led around the stage by the gun. Don't forget to pump your arms!

1 40

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

PCC Up-Range Movement to Weak Side Contribution By: Scott G reene, USPSA M u lti-Gun M ultiple Time National Champion When I'm running directly u p-range and my first target is· on my weak side, I like to take my weak hand off the gun and roll it upside down as I turn around with my strong hand on the pistol grip. I sort of drag it behind me as I run with the barrel pointing downra nge, then bring the gun back up as I turn my body around. This is the same way I would run up-range to my weak side with a pistol.

Up-Range Movement to Strong Side When I'm running directly u p-range to a target on my strong side, I grab the gun overhand with my weak hand. I grab the top of the hand guard near the receiver. As I turn my body around to get back on target, I get my strong hand back on the pistol grip a nd slide my weak hand forward.

When pushing out of a position, throw the gun and use it to slice through the air. Lead with the shoulders, zip up the core, and grunt ! Pictured: World and US Champion JJ Racaza moving explosively out of position. Note that the angle of the gun is rotated beyond the 180 at the wrist for maximum mobility, and he uses it to slice through the air. Photo Credit: Ryan Chu

141

Grunt ! Have you ever seen a shooter run a 30-second stage and notice that their face keeps getting redder and redder and redder? Why is that? They have been holding their breath for the entire stage! This may seem silly to some of you, but grunting will force you to take a breath and subconsciously remind you to keep breathing. If you force the air out of your lungs all at once, they respond by automatically refilling with air. Grunting has many benefits. It forces you to zip up your core when you move, because it engages your diaphragm muscle. It forces you to breathe, which increases the amount of oxygen flowing to your eyes and muscles, making you more alert and stronger. You can see your targets more clearly. It spikes your adrenaline and gives you an extra push (Berg et al., 2014, pp. 1915-19 19). Tennis players, karate black belts and many other athletes use grunting to enhance their performance and release tension. Why? Because it works. It changes their body chemistry. For longer runs, grunt initially. Then, just when you think you've reached your full acceleration, grunt again ! You will find a little extra push of acceleration that you probably didn't think was in you. You may feel like an idiot, but you'll be a faster idiot. Drive It is not often that we reach a flat out run in this sport. We are usually accelerating or decelerating, moving around obstacles and changing directions. However, if there is a longer run, be sure to preprogram for it during the walkthrough. Also, pre-program pumping your arms and how soon to get your hand back on the gun. All of these things need to be subconscious. When running, keep your lower legs rigid to get back the force you put into the ground. You should feel the sensation of driving your knees up and minimizing contact with the ground. It should be a piston-like action that starts with tiny fast steps to increase the number of contacts with the ground and get yourself moving. Some shooters even like to lift their knees high during the walkthrough, preprogramming that as their primary focus during the long run so that it will be subconscious (Fitzgerald, 2007) . For longer distances it should feel as though you're running with your legs behind you. Try to push off as close to horizontal as you can (without falling over !). Remember, your shins should ideally be at a 45degree angle to the ground.

1 42

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Marco Cabahug of Magnus Sports USA pushes off horizontally so that his shin is at a 45-degree angle to the ground. Marco refers to the arm pump as "slicing through the air" with the gun. Photo Credit: Ryan Chu

Pump Pump your arms in the direction you wish to move. It will help propel your body and aid in gaining momentum. If you are having trouble doing this during a stage, preprogram this during the walk-through. Oftentimes, shooters will hold the gun still as they run for fear of breaking a safety angle. This is a fear that needs to be overcome if you want to move faster. Get outside your comfort zone and get used to the idea of pumping the gun at a safe angle. The entire reason to take one hand off the gun when you move is so that you can pump your arms. Throw the gun hand initially to get yourself moving and use it to slice through the air. For a shorter distance movement, maintain your grip with the gun up in front of your chest, but throw your elbow to get moving. Move your elbows side to side to pump your arms without breaking your grip (Blazevich, 2017).

1 43

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

The entire reason to take a hand off the gun is so that you can pump your arms to propel yourself. This is for movements that are longer than about three to four steps or so. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

1 44

to

[,

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Jorge Ballesteros, IPSC European Champion and World Champion of Open Division keeps both hands on the. gun for a short move.

Jorge throws his right elbow to propel himself without breaking his grip on the gun.

Here he pumps with his left elbow, being sure to keep the arm movement pointed back and forth only in the direction he wishes to move.

1:-

I

One last pump with the right elbow before bringing the gun up on target. Notice he keeps his gun high so that it is close to eye level to get back on target more easily. Photo Credit: Ryan Chu

If you are having trouble breaking your footwork down into tiny, fast, accelerating steps, it may help to focus on pumping your arms hard and fast instead. It is much simpler to focus on pumping your arms and

145

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

preprogram where that will take place during the walkthrough than it is to think about what your feet are doing for many people. If you are pumping your arms fast, your feet should automatically match that pace with tiny fast steps. Another option is to use a resistance band around your ankles when dry firing a short distance movement drill. This won't allow you to take large steps. This is only to help break the habit if you are really struggling. Using resistance bands around your ankles for lateral movement as an agility drill (no gun required) will help you move more explosively on those short distance lateral moves. Remember to stay low! You wil l know that you are suddenly moving explosively when you start having trouble controlling it on the other end. You may overrun your position, be off balance, or not be ready to shoot as soon as you normally would be when you arrive at your next position. This is a good thing. That means you did it! You moved so explosively that you didn't know how to control the entry. That can be fixed!

Flexibility Flexibility can be beneficial in the shooting sports and is often times overlooked. It is a commonly accepted theory that increased range of motion decreases the risk for injury. Being more flexible also makes it easier to get into and out of awkward shooting positions and can aid in explosive movement. Increased Ability to Avoid Injury? Although current studies demonstrate no statistically significant difference in injury rates between those who stretch and those who don't, according to MacAuley & Best, (2008), it is a very difficult correlation to prove. When I wasn't stretching regularly, I squatted down to look through a low port three times during the walkthrough on a stage and pulled my hamstring. Now that I regularly stretch, I never feel as though I'm on the verge of pulling a muscle from an awkward position. Just because reliable studies have not been done to support it, that doesn't mean that flexibility does not contribute to injury prevention. Call on your own life experiences to draw your own conclusions on correlations between flexibility, strains and sprains. I may be right, or I may be wrong, but I believe stretching plays an important role in keeping your body mobile and fluid to prevent injury. According to Alter & Alter, (2004), flexibility also aids in relaxation and stress reduction. That is very important in the shooting sports since relaxed shoulders are better for transitions and other movements that need to be smooth and efficient. Stressful conditions are par for the course in shooting sports, so if stretching can help counteract the effects, it would certainly be beneficial to the mental aspect of the game.

1 46

Explosive Movement Dynamic Stretching Within an hour before a match, I like dynamic stretches, but not to the point of fatigue. This is when you repeatedly move your joints and muscles through their full range of motion. This warms up your muscles and prepares the body for activity. For example, arm circles, walking lunges and jump squats. According to Joyce & Lewindon, (2016), it immediately improves explosiveness with power and agility, and enhances performance. It is important to regulate breathing during dynamic stretching before a match. According to Frederick & Frederick, (2017), the nervous system can be upregulated for a match by breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth using the diaphragm (belly breathing). Exhale without forcing it during the muscle stretch. This gets the blood pumping, oxygenates the muscles and "increases focus and alertness of the mind and body" (p. 5). Static Stretching After a match or a workout is the best time for static stretches because your muscles are already warmed up. This is when you hold a muscle at full stretch for 20-30 seconds and then repeat as needed. Examples would be using one arm to hold the other across your chest or pulling your leg up behind you to stretch your thigh. This is not the type of stretching to do before a match, because it lengthens the muscle. We want our muscles to have all of their spring and elasticity so that we can move explosively! When done regularly over time, according to Joyce & Lewindon, (2016), static stretching increases the force and speed of muscle contraction, which enhances performance. Just make sure you do it regularly after matches and workouts rather than before! Awkward Shooting Positions According to Alter & Alter, (2004), flexibility also increases efficiency of movement. The body will take the path of least resistance, so if you need to squat down for a low port and your hip flexors are not flexible, you may end up bending forward more with your back. This creates an energy leak and can also lead to injury.

1 47

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Flexibility makes it easier to get into awkward positions. If you are more flexible in the sides, you can lean farther more easily around a wall than someone who is not, and they may have to shoot strong hand only. You may be able to take a seated hurdle position or a low knee with one foot forward for a low port rather than going prone to save time and gain stability/recoil control. Flexibility also makes it easier to get out of awkward positions. We often use our joints as levers, and the farther we can pull back those levers, the more explosive the movement will be when we let loose... like a slingshot. For example, the more lengthened your Achilles tendon is when using your ankle as a lever, the more explosive the movement will be. The more flexible you are, the further you will be able to stretch it. If you are using your ankles like a springboard to push out of a seated start, the closer you are able to get your toes to your shin, the more explosive the movement can be. Clothing Pants/Shorts Be sure that your pants or shorts are more flexible than you are. Pants can get caught on your knees when getting into awkward positions and restrict movement, but they offer more protection from the elements and contact with the ground or other obstacles than shorts. If the pants are made out of really flexible material, they will be far less likely to impede mobility. Shirt A long or bulky shirt can get in the way of your draw and reloads. It can get caught on obstacles during a stage and rip or slow you down. If you have a long shirt, be sure it is tucked in really well so that it does not inhibit your movement. Compression shirts are great for maximizing mobility and blood flow. They are more fitted around the neck opening, which helps prevent brass from entering the shirt. They don't get in the way of the draw or reload, and they can be slimming. Be sure to get a breathable sweat-wicking material.

1 48

Tight Obstacles and Rifle Offset...A Three­ Gun Perspective Contribution By: Scott Greene, USPSA Multi-Gun M u ltiple Time National Champion One thing I make sure to practice all the time is awkward positions. I do this at home aiming between the legs of a chair or under a table. I practice shooting horizontal ly and know the offset from my live fire. I practice getting at different weird angles and use the offset in dry fire that I know my gun has for each particular angle. I know exactly where it is from what i figured out in live fire practice. Especially with .223, a nything beyond 100ya rds is going to be completely different. For Pistol Caliber Carbine: Zero both dots at the same distance so you don't have to deal with d ifferent holds. Roll the gun and keep the same cheek-weld for awkward positions.

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Gloves Wearing gloves when shooting a pistol can also impede mobility and flexibility in addition to creating a barrier between the surface area of the gun and your skin. It can also impair the feedback you get from the sensation in your hands. If you observe any elite shooter in the pistol sports, none of them wear gloves, and that is why. There are uses for gloves in shooting, such as the weak · hand on a shotgun or protection for tactical purposes. If you must use a glove for your particular form of shooting, be sure to keep it consistent. It will impact your shooting to switch back and forth. Hat Most shooters will wear a hat, because it helps protect your eyes and skin from the sun, flying brass, and shrapnel. It also helps keep your flowing locks contained so that it doesn't get in the way of your vision. It can be used to hold a damp rag in place to fight the heat, pads against hitting your head or holding a door for a vertically opening port. Compression Sleeves for Arms and Legs These help to protect your skin from the sun and improves blood flow, which can help with stamina. They help your muscles recover more quickly from activity and limit swelling. It adds an extra layer of protection from scrapes, bumps and bruises. It allows you to wear shorts and short sleeves on cooler days, and also keeps you cooler in the heat. Some shooters have found that it helps with the shakes on the first stage of the day as well. Socks Wool socks are great for preventing blisters and also help with odor because they are moisture wicking. They add an extra layer of cushioning and help keep dirt off your feet. Be sure your socks cover any area that your skin comes into contact with your shoe. When getting into and out of an awkward position, you might scoop dirt into the side of your shoe, and this will help prevent the distraction of sand between your toes when you're running. Shoes Your movement is only as good as the shoes on your feet. If you don't have good tread, then you better be flexible, because you might end up in the splits! Everyone's body is different, and everyone has different needs when it comes to shoes. The main thing is to find something that is comfortable for you personally, is light weight, and has a good versatile sole for various terrain. A softer rubber sole will be less slip pery on surfaces like wet wood, but they may wear down faster than a harder sole. Be sure there is a deep enough tread, and toe grips can be helpful for digging in your toes to exit a position aggressively. 1 49

SMART MOVE: Economy ofMotion for the Shooting Sports

If you will be shooting in rain and standing water, waterproof shoes won't help you if the water pours in over the top of the shoe. A waterproof low-cut boot is better in this situation. I like a waterproof, lightweight, low cut boot that is also breathable. They also provide extra support for a history of ankle injuries. There are plenty of companies who make good shoes, but don't skimp on this part of the investment into your shooting... poor support or wet feet will quickly sap your energy at a long match.

FLEXIBILITY OVERVIEW: Why does flexibility matter in the shooting sports? 1. Injury avoidance 2. Aids in explosive movement, relaxation, alertness and enhances performance 3. Helps with getting into and out of awkward shooting positions

Chai r Start Sometimes, our explosive movement needs to be from a chair. I used to watch videos of the best shooters in the world to imitate their chair starts. If allowed, they would start at the edge of the chair with one glute touching. They would have one foot back and the other forward. Until I saw Jennifer Kroll, a weight-lifting gal from Texas, do a chair start ... and what an impressive chair start it was!

1 50

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

DON'T DO THIS. A very common way shooters like to perform chair starts is with one leg back and one leg forward. This makes one leg work harder than the other. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

Jennifer used the box squat technique to get out of the chair, and it was the fastest I've ever seen ! A box squat is when you put your weight in your heels, and squat until your glutes make contact with a box, then power out of the squat with both legs equally. That shooter's video inspired me to research a new technique.

151

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Example of a box squat.

Your buttocks will make contact with the chair without exerting pressure on it.

Weight is evenly distributed among both legs. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

Think about what percentage of your quads are engaged in each leg when you start with one leg forward and the other back. Many shooters do this so they can push up with the rear leg and step with the forward leg simultaneously. One leg is carrying a much greater load than the other. Also, you cannot always start at the edge of the chair. Sometimes your back is required to touch the back of the chair. Now, think about doing a box squat. The load is shared equally between the quads and other muscle groups of both legs. This enables you to recruit muscle fibers more powerfully and efficiently (Scheoenfeld, 2016). Sit down and place your feet back behind you. If you are able to place your feet directly under your center of gravity, you will be stable and supporting your weight more easily as you power out of that position. If you put your feet behind you even further than your center of gravity, you will be slightly less stable, but more mobile. Placing your ankles in this "coiled" position creates a sort of springboard effect (Jeffreys &

1 52

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Moody, 2016). Imagine sitting on a low stool and think about how you would stand. Your feet would be directly under your center of gravity, and you would simply stand straight up. This is similar to the box squat technique but may help you better visualize where your feet need to be placed relative to your body. If the chair allows, create a lever with the position of your feet and power out of the seated position with both legs equally. You can also roll your body forward simultaneously to have gravity help you out of the chair. You may think, "but I can't take a step at the same time with the forward foot". Remember that running is a series of falls and catches. You must catch yourself by quickly moving one foot forward after the initial push. For a "back touching back of chair" requirement, you will probably have to scoot your backside forward a bit to prevent the magazines from catching on the chair back. This creates an energy leak in your back since you may even have to arch a bit to reach the back of the chair. It is not optimal but may be unavoidable. In this case, zip up your core before the beep and power straight up and out with the quadricep muscles in your thighs and glutes, using your ankles as levers. Remember to think of how you would stand from a stool. Your feet will have to be back further because your center of gravity will be back further. You may need to throw your arms forward at the same time to help you stand if you are moving before you shoot (don't do this with a race holster... or lock your holster). If you must draw right away and shoot from there, simply lean forward and stand straight up, absorbing the draw time into the movement (Jeffreys & Moody, 2016). With a PCC, it's fastest for most people to use the gun as a counterweight to get out of the chair. Use the same technique, pushing off with both legs equally, but use the weight of the gun to your advantage. Pushing the gun off the chair or off your knees tends to be slower, because you are sending energy backward to push yourself forward. Pushing off your knees pushes your knees down when you want them to be moving forward. In throwing the gun as a counterweight, all of your energy is going in the direction you wish to move.

1 53

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

In a proper chair start, both legs bear the load equally. The feet are placed beneath your center of gravity and ankles are used as a springboard.

1-

Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

If you try this and don't care for it, that's ok. Test the time of this chair start from beep to first shot vs. the way you would normally get out of the chair. Everyone's body is different and moves differently, and the same techniques aren't going to work for every single person. Find what works best for you on an individual basis. Should I shoot while seated? Shooting from the chair is usually a bad idea. Here's why: how often do you practice shooting while sitting in a chair? Probably not much if at all for the majority of practical shooters. We usually shoot standing or moving around, so it will be much more comfortable for you to shoot from a standing position. Sitting in a chair also changes the location of your gun. It can be very difficult to draw from a seated position ... another thing we don't typically practice. How long does it take you to draw the gun in a match? About one second. How long does it take you to stand from a chair? Probably about one second. It is far easier to draw the gun as you stand than from staying seated in a chair. Standing shouldn't really add any extra time; the movement gets absorbed into the draw time.

1 54

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Am I doing it right? One way to tell that you are NOT doing it right is if your feet come up off the ground. That means you are rocking your weight back, and then forward again to propel yourself out of the chair. Similar to misuse of the drop-step, or winding up to throw the gun, it is often better to have a weight bias in the direction you wish to move than to move in the opposite direction in order to gain momentum. No matter what technique you choose to use for chair starts based on your body type, your feet should never come up off the ground to get out of the chair. Try it with a weight vest. The weight vest will exaggerate your movements, and you will feel if what you are doing that is inefficient. Try a drill in which you power out of the chair for as many reps as you can fit into thirty seconds, rest until you are no longer out of breath, then try the chair start again with no vest. If you go hot and time yourself from the beep to the first shot, you should notice a reduction in your time as your body adapts to the more efficient movement and recruits your muscle fibers more efficiently.

DON'T DO THIS. If your feet lose contact with the ground before you stand, you are doing it wrong. Photo Credit: Beyond Photography

Using these techniques will take time to get used to and may feel awkward at first because you don't naturally move that way. It's a constant battle between mobility for explosive movement and stability for accuracy. Once you are able to start putting the movements all together seamlessly, you will find yourself flowing through a stage more effortlessly.

1 55

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Which of these chair starts looks the best? Which one looks the worst? Without peeking at the next page, see if you can guess which one is which ...

=···2

1 56

� ':.:2'.

�

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motionfor the Shooting Sports

How did you do?

A.

Getting out of the chair after lifting the feet up off the ground. C.

B.

Getting out of the chair from a staggered leg stance.

Getting out of the chair with weight evenly distributed.

In comparing all three chair starts, which one appears to have the most explosive movement out of the chair? 8.

Legs even and under your center of gravity, without allowing them to rise off the ground before standing.

•

1 57

•'

,,

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

CHAPTER 7 OVERVI EW:

1. Put your initial focus on exploding out of position for longer runs 2. Shift your weight through a position/out of position while shooting if target difficulty and skill level allow 3. Point your hips in the direction you wish to move 4. Crossover step out of position on easier targets/longer runs 5. Pivot-push out of position on more difficult targets/shorter runs (safer for those with injuries) 6. Side shuffle step or sideways cross step for short lateral moves 7. Accelerating and decelerating steps are tiny, fast and controlled.. .feet mostly under your body 8. Decide in the walkthrough which foot to step with first 9. Lead with your shoulders 10. Grunt for explosive movement and additional acceleration 11. Throw the gun to propel yourself 12. Pump your arms in the direction of movement 13. In a chair start, feet should stay in contact with the ground 14. Don't shoot from a chair if you don't have to

1 58

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

CHAPTER S ACCELERATING AND DECELERATING STEPS/MOVING AROUND OBSTACLES Now that you know how to push out of position explosively, we need to talk about what comes next. We've briefly touched on accelerating and decelerating steps. How are these steps different than any other steps in a stage? These are the steps that take place in-between a static position and a flat out run.

Have you ever seen a really tall shooter move through a stage taking the steps of a giant? One of their steps may be equivalent to three of yours! You may think, "Wow, it must be so easy for them to move through the stage fast because they cover so much ground!"

Maybe you are that tall shooter and moving through a stage feels like a being an ogre in a doll house or a bull in a china shop. Maybe you think, this would be way less awkward if I was shorter! You probably feel like it makes sense to take big steps and cover more ground, but have trouble controlling position entrances.

The reason tall shooters often look like a bull in a china shop crashing into walls, overrunning positions and struggling to control their movements is that the steps they are taking are too big. Shooters of any height can fall into this trap, thinking they are covering more ground. Some very tall shooters move quickly and effortlessly through a stage. I will share with you what they have figured out! Try This

Try taking a step as big as you can. It probably feels awkward, off balance, and difficult to control because your legs are so far out from under your body. Now, break that up into two or three small steps. They feel much more controlled, right?

The closer your feet are to being directly under your center of gravity, the closer to equilibrium you are, and, thus, more stable. Now, take those two or three small steps while moving your feet fast... that's the

1 59

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

key. Move your feet fast like in the footwork and agility drills that football and soccer players do. Remember, toes are the gas and heels are the brakes! Tiny, fast steps

Whether you are accelerating, decelerating, or moving around obstacles, take tiny fast steps. What does this do? It increases contact with the ground, allowing you to accelerate and decelerate quickly while maintaining stability. It's usually only the first two to four steps and the last two to four steps of a sprint, depending on your speed and build (Mero, 1988). If you increase the number of times your foot con'tacts the ground over a given distance (until you reach a flat out run), it won't There are usually two or three tiny, take as long to fast accelerating steps to match a accelerate or decelerate as if you were to make less frequent contact with the ground. You will be pushing off the ground more times, and with more coiled muscles than if you were taking big steps with your full at muscles stretch.

■

Taking smaller steps also causes less strain and is less likely to result in injury. It increases stability by keeping your feet more under your body. You will be less likely to fall the closer you are to equilibrium.

1 60

SMART MOVE: Economy of Motion for the Shooting Sports

Decelerating steps are tiny and fast compared to a full stride. Photo Cr.edit; Beyond Photography

Think about the wheels on a race car... why are they so much wider than on regular cars? This increases surface area, which increases contact with the ground so the car can both accelerate and brake quickly. It also helps keep the tires from breaking loose as it rounds the apex of a turn. We can think of footwork in shooting a stage much like the racing line of a race car. Race cars have wide wheels to increase surface area for quick braking and acceleration.

Braking Point

Continuing with the car analogy, when moving around an obstacle, the Photo Credit: Bee Silva braking point is when you break up your stride into tiny, fast steps to decelerate. If you are musically inclined, think about the sound of your footsteps changing from quarter notes to sixteenth notes. It often sounds like the shooter is stomping their feet as they enter the position or as they decelerate around an obstacle. Turn-in Point

You must shift your weight back in the direction you came from. The turn-in point is when you begin to rotate your hips toward the obstacle. This could be a barrel stack or a wall section that you must move around.

161

Racing Line ,,. -­

C I'--

......

_.A _.,A

_ ..,.., - - -

�ccelerate

Apex � ft ._ Barrels / I

I l

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

Fault lines

I

l

• Turn-in Point I

• Braking Point

Glossary:

Braking Point: tiny, fast, decelerating steps shift weight back Tum-In point: begin rotating your hips towards the obstacle Apex: wedge step or take tiny fast steps to change direction and shift weight in the direction you wish to move Accelerate: tiny, fast, accelerating steps

1 62

Apex

At the apex, you can either do a wedge step to change direction or continue using tiny fast steps to round the corner; that's up to personal preference. Remember, the wedge step is where you create a wedge between the ground and the outside edge of the foot you are using to change your direction.

Movement around an obstacle with a wedge step. The werght remains shifted back from deceleration while the baay rotates around -and it becomes a