Ok, I don't seem to be finding as much as I was hoping for on the whole two-eye vs. one-eye argument. I have an odd question that I'm sure people will find rehashed over and over (at least I'm not asking about 9mm vs. .45 )
The big problem is this: I've always been told that I should focus on the front sight and let the target be a big blotchy thing.
This is all fine and dandy for shooting paper that doesn't move, but last night in my apartment I thought about some posts I read here. I tried opening both my eyes, looking at the target itself (a bottle of fluorescent green Windex) and found that this felt much more natural than trying to walk around with the pistol real high up and one eye closed (therefore making me bump into a box I forgot I had put in the living room...and no, the gun was NOT loaded! )
By fixating at a point about 2/3rds between the target and the sights, I could maintain a semi-blurry "sight picture" and a completely clear "target picture". It was pretty easy to keep the 3-dot target located right at the nozzle/handle of the BG (windex bottle) even while moving around some (although I never tried dangling the bottle from a bungee cord and making it fly around my room...)
With a bit of practice it feels like it could be second nature to maintain a sight picture in the "back of my mind" while never losing concentration of the target. (I'm one of those drivers who could get obsessed with looking to my left when merging that I forget there's a car in front of me...)
So I figured it might be a good idea to practice in a way that if the situation ever were to arise I wouldn't get nervous and forget which thing to look at (BG or front sight) -- just stare at the BG and let the "background sight alignment" happen.
Somehow it seems a good deal more natural, and I figure, at 7-20 feet, hitting COM is not going to require such precision as required to hit a 1" circle at 50 feet, especially with repeat shots.
Furthermore, it seems to me that watching the target/BG would be better to predict sudden movements.
The only thing I would wonder is whether it's a lot harder to realign the sights for follow-up shots if one weren't fixating on the sights themselves?
I have no idea how this works, mind you -- just theorizing/babbling, so please don't get too irritated if this all goes to hell in a real situation. I was just thinking that I should get it right when I practice and not learn any bad habits -- some of which might include paper-positive, situation-negative habits (or is this an oxymoron? are all skills/habits learned by shooting paper equally extensible to a situation?)
Is this "point shooting" exactly? My impression is that point shooting didn't use the sights at all.
What do IPSC/IDPA/PPC type people advocate? Do they have to worry about peripheral threats/moving BG's? (I have never seen an IPSC/PPC type match...)
Is there anywhere in Northern New Jersey where I could learn/practice PPC style courses?
Thanks!
-Jon
keywords: both eyes open, two eyes, one eye, situational, point shooting, defense vs. target shooting, peripheral vision
The big problem is this: I've always been told that I should focus on the front sight and let the target be a big blotchy thing.
This is all fine and dandy for shooting paper that doesn't move, but last night in my apartment I thought about some posts I read here. I tried opening both my eyes, looking at the target itself (a bottle of fluorescent green Windex) and found that this felt much more natural than trying to walk around with the pistol real high up and one eye closed (therefore making me bump into a box I forgot I had put in the living room...and no, the gun was NOT loaded! )
By fixating at a point about 2/3rds between the target and the sights, I could maintain a semi-blurry "sight picture" and a completely clear "target picture". It was pretty easy to keep the 3-dot target located right at the nozzle/handle of the BG (windex bottle) even while moving around some (although I never tried dangling the bottle from a bungee cord and making it fly around my room...)
With a bit of practice it feels like it could be second nature to maintain a sight picture in the "back of my mind" while never losing concentration of the target. (I'm one of those drivers who could get obsessed with looking to my left when merging that I forget there's a car in front of me...)
So I figured it might be a good idea to practice in a way that if the situation ever were to arise I wouldn't get nervous and forget which thing to look at (BG or front sight) -- just stare at the BG and let the "background sight alignment" happen.
Somehow it seems a good deal more natural, and I figure, at 7-20 feet, hitting COM is not going to require such precision as required to hit a 1" circle at 50 feet, especially with repeat shots.
Furthermore, it seems to me that watching the target/BG would be better to predict sudden movements.
The only thing I would wonder is whether it's a lot harder to realign the sights for follow-up shots if one weren't fixating on the sights themselves?
I have no idea how this works, mind you -- just theorizing/babbling, so please don't get too irritated if this all goes to hell in a real situation. I was just thinking that I should get it right when I practice and not learn any bad habits -- some of which might include paper-positive, situation-negative habits (or is this an oxymoron? are all skills/habits learned by shooting paper equally extensible to a situation?)
Is this "point shooting" exactly? My impression is that point shooting didn't use the sights at all.
What do IPSC/IDPA/PPC type people advocate? Do they have to worry about peripheral threats/moving BG's? (I have never seen an IPSC/PPC type match...)
Is there anywhere in Northern New Jersey where I could learn/practice PPC style courses?
Thanks!
-Jon
keywords: both eyes open, two eyes, one eye, situational, point shooting, defense vs. target shooting, peripheral vision