Shooting a pistol accurately and precisely is simple but difficult. There are only a few basic parts that make up proper usage, however they are not easy to master. I suggest working on these few basics with many proper repetitions, and you will improve.
What do I mean by simple but difficult? Dunking a basketball is simple … but difficult. “All you have to do is” bend your knees and spring your body upward, right? Simple.
Ignoring a beautiful body walking by while with your significant other is simple but difficult. If you and your significant other have a monogamous relationship and they require that you shall not have wandering eyes, it is simple, right? Ha! Not so much.
The few things that make up the lion’s share of accurate pistol shooting are simple. I am ranking them by my feeling of importance. This assumes that sight picture is properly achieved and all other aspects are not done well.
- Press the trigger smoothly for a surprise break without disrupting sight picture.
- Visual focus should be on the front sight.
- Support hand should be gripping very strongly.
OK, I am simplifying but the point I am making is that if you do these three things well, you will shoot well. Heck, if you even do the first one really well, you will be great! Imagine for example that your stance is wrong. You are using your middle finger on the trigger rather than your index finger. You are breathing incorrectly.
In this example, you have proper sight picture, in other words, the tube is pointing at the target. If you make the gun go “pew” without disrupting where the tube is pointing, you will hit your target. It is just that simple. Even doing this one difficult thing will give you success.
When you focus on the front sight, you will have a better sight picture. It is tempting to look at the target, but focusing on the front sight is better. Imagine that your name was inscribed in very small font on the front sight and that you are trying to read it. This can help.
Why do I mention support hand grip being strong? This is really a second level trick to help you not disrupt the sight picture when you shoot. If you are holding it strongly, your trigger hand’s anticipation issues will be reduced. This is VERY difficult, even though it sounds simple.
These few things, though simple, are difficult to do consistently and well. They are even more difficult when a stress in introduced. It is really that simple to be better than average. There are many additional nuances that are necessary to be an expert, but becoming better than 99% of gun owners is simple.
by Shepard Humphries 
