02-09-2016, 10:01 PM
Vasux86 Wrote:Well thank you for your service and for continuing to share your wealth of knowledge and experience with the regular Joe's, like myself. I have learned more about shooting from experienced shooters than I have from any other source.
That being said, I wonder if a part of this discussion is a matter of semantics. What is commonly known as muscle memory, you might view as "what success is, looks like, and how it is quantified or qualified," and I might view as a motor plan or some learning experience. I'm not sure how different these are in practice, without getting into the weeds of things.
Vas:
More a motor plan as you theorized.
This whole thing started because I experienced far too many guys blaming poor performance (either themselves or someone else) on 'muscle memory'. It was a cop out, just like the typical blaming of poor marksmanship on 'breathing', or because of how someone put their finger on the trigger. Although breath control and trigger finger placement may be part of a problem, they are rarely if ever a primary problem and most of the time they are not a problem at all.
Not sure what the current excuse is for a failure in marksmanship but when the CQB stuff had its hold on the Army, the leadership used the false notion of muscles having a memory to force their Joes to endure hours of 'Ready - Up's with absolutely no way of getting a bit of feedback in terms of their ability to ID a threat, safely bring the rifle to bear, see a good enough sight picture, flip off the safety, pull the trigger well enough for success, then recover safely.
So, when someone started the 'Muscle Memory' stuff, I started having them prove it worked. After letting them dry fire at a full E Sil at 10 meters for as long as they wanted, and without having them move their feet, I would blindfold them and let them do a couple of controlled pairs with live ammo. I stood right next to them to ensure the barrel remained pointed in a safe direction. I let them do four or five controlled pairs. Of course, they missed the entire silhouette almost every single time. Any hit was pure luck. So much for Muscle Memory playing such a key role in marksmanship. Can't do real well if you can't see. So, what is better to train for a marksman? Seeing (a good enough sight picture) and moving the finger well enough for success or focusing training on the false notion that 'muscle memory' is the key to success.
No, I didn't ignore position but I also knew that position would be a natural outcome of efficiently bringing a rifle or carbine to the eye, pointing it well enough for success, and pulling a trigger without pointing it somewhere else.
It is funny that with all the muscle memory stuff, all the time spent getting into a text book position for Snipers, DM's, or just the average Rifleman, not once can I recall any of them telling me they actually got into such a position when they had to shoot back at someone. It all came down to seeing a good enough sight picture and pulling a trigger while keeping that 'good enough' sight picture.
So, that is why this whole thing started a few years ago.
LR55