BlueOvalBruin Wrote:The index is basically your hand-eye coordination, your ability to accurately point the gun (not aiming). The index is especially important with engaging targets (draws, after reloads, picking up targets coming into a position) and transitions. Point your gun at a target and look at a different target, then close your eyes and swing the gun over to the target you were looking at. If your index is good the gun should be pointing right at the A zone.

Sight tracking is watching the sights lift and settle with each shot. It’s different than aiming in that aiming is waiting till you have an acceptable sight picture and breaking the shot. Sight tracking is more like observation, you’re watching the sights and calling the shots while shooting but not necessarily waiting for a particular sight picture.

The shot calling aspect of sight tracking lets me know if I need to make up a shot. I can normally tell if I get a bad hit or a miss and sometimes I’ll shoot another one to make it up (if the rules allow it). Sight tracking is very helpful with shooting steel quickly. If you break a shot on a popper and wait to hear the ding and watch it start to fall before you move on you’re going to waste a lot of time. Instead, break the shot, then based on what your sight picture was, either shoot again or move on.

Sight tracking improves my index because pure point shooting isn’t precise enough for me. I can probably point shoot A’s out to about 4-5 yards but past that without visual feedback my hits will be all over the place. I can rip quick splits and transitions out to about 10 yards if I track the sights because I can adjust my index. If I draw down on a target and I see 2 shots go left I can adjust for a makeup shot and for future targets. I guess you can say it’s a form of aiming but not in the traditional sense. I try not to point shoot though because I’m not exactly a Grand Master and feel I will develop bad habits if don’t watch the sights at all times.