TRAINING TIP TUESDAY: MANIPULATIONS MAKE MISSES
No, this isn’t a reference to a way of living (though…). It’s something I’ve come to learn after years of teaching people to shoot.
When we are shooting and are interrupted by the need to manipulate the gun, whether that is to conduct a magazine change or fix something that has gone wrong… more often than not the next shot (or shots) are misses. At best, they are less accurate than we’d like.
what causes this?
I have a theory that I refer to as the “performance/processing lag.” In essence, what it means is that our performance (especially rote skill) can outperform our ability to process what is actually happening. Consider your phone. Have you ever intended to open an app or chase a thought only to land on something entirely different because you unthinkingly pressed an icon that you knew on closer inspection wasn’t what you wanted to use?
I do it all the time.
My hands are moving faster than my brain (in essence). My mental model to the unwanted app was working on “autopilot.” This same thing happens with the pace of operations during manipulations. We train these processes at panic speed and retain it during re-engagement. The target processing takes more capacity than the practiced movements of a magazine change. So… we miss.
The fix is threefold.
First, we should practice manipulations slowly. Get them perfect. As I have written here many times before, speed will come. The benefit is that if we build a “slow down” in our process it will always be there. We will have a natural guard against outrunning our ability to think.
Second, we have to simplify our processes. The last thing we want to have to do when a gun has malfunctioned or has been run “dry” is… negotiate complex thinking. Most of us can’t.
Lastly, we have to actually train to these scenarios accurately. We have to focus on the critical components and less on simple, error inducing, blinding speed. We should train ourselves to increase focus, execute accurately and control our speed as opposed to being controlled by it.
Manipulations make misses but they don’t have to. Be smart about it. Slow down, get it perfect… and don’t miss.
Until next time, train smart (and slow down).
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Author Bio
Duane “Buck” Buckner
After spending 25 years in the USCG, Duane “Buck” Buckner is now the U.S. Director of Training for Aimpoint. The Aimpoint Training Division conducts training courses for military and law enforcement agencies up to the Federal level as well as for the prepared civilian. Buck is widely known for his emphasis on brain psychology as it relates to combat and survival.
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