12-10-2011, 03:37 AM
My experience has always been that if you can train yourself to perform the same act over and over again, you will develop muscle memory and a natural point of aim. This was very important when night shooting. You couldn't always get a perfect sight picture. But, if you were comfortable that you are on target by using your natural point of aim, then you can move on to positively identifying the target.
From my point of view, learning the basics and developing muscle memory allows you to "get" that sight picture easier. If you put your body and gun in the right position every time (if that is possible ... depending on circumstances), it will be right where you need it to be to get a good sight picture.
The process that LR1955 is describing is fine, I'm not disagreeing ...... but it appears that he is coaching shooters that already know how to shoot. I'm sure it is easier for bwaites to get that sight picture he needs than a new shooter with no expercience. bwaites already knows what feels right and when he is in a good shooting stance. That's half the game. If you already developed the ability to perform a given task (sighting in to shoot) with repitition, then you can move on to fine tuning the rest.
When I initially brought up "muscle memory" in the first thread, it was in response to a person asking how we shoulder our rifle. I assumed that person was a new shoooter (I could be wrong). I talked about how I would teach a person how to hold and operate the gun and then encourage them to practice the basics and try to develope muscle memory for those tasks. LRRPF52 asked what our deffinitions of muscle memory where, and the muscle memory threads were born. LR1955 is talking about visual memory which is a whole different animal. Muscle memory is teaching your mind/body to remember how to do a task by repeating that task over and over until it becomes a natural movement. I believe that LR1955 is talking about memorizing (visually) what a good sight picture is and shooting when you see what you have memorized ..... but I could be wrong. LR1955 says that by concentrating on the sight picture, the trigger pull will take care of itself. But, I stand on the concept that the trigger pull can only take care of itself if you teach your body to do it correctly. And, train your body to remember how to do it correctly by doing it over and over again. Muscle memory is just a term commonly used to describe this and shouldn't be confused with visual memory.
From my point of view, learning the basics and developing muscle memory allows you to "get" that sight picture easier. If you put your body and gun in the right position every time (if that is possible ... depending on circumstances), it will be right where you need it to be to get a good sight picture.
The process that LR1955 is describing is fine, I'm not disagreeing ...... but it appears that he is coaching shooters that already know how to shoot. I'm sure it is easier for bwaites to get that sight picture he needs than a new shooter with no expercience. bwaites already knows what feels right and when he is in a good shooting stance. That's half the game. If you already developed the ability to perform a given task (sighting in to shoot) with repitition, then you can move on to fine tuning the rest.
When I initially brought up "muscle memory" in the first thread, it was in response to a person asking how we shoulder our rifle. I assumed that person was a new shoooter (I could be wrong). I talked about how I would teach a person how to hold and operate the gun and then encourage them to practice the basics and try to develope muscle memory for those tasks. LRRPF52 asked what our deffinitions of muscle memory where, and the muscle memory threads were born. LR1955 is talking about visual memory which is a whole different animal. Muscle memory is teaching your mind/body to remember how to do a task by repeating that task over and over until it becomes a natural movement. I believe that LR1955 is talking about memorizing (visually) what a good sight picture is and shooting when you see what you have memorized ..... but I could be wrong. LR1955 says that by concentrating on the sight picture, the trigger pull will take care of itself. But, I stand on the concept that the trigger pull can only take care of itself if you teach your body to do it correctly. And, train your body to remember how to do it correctly by doing it over and over again. Muscle memory is just a term commonly used to describe this and shouldn't be confused with visual memory.