I just shot six shots; two shots in each target, all Alphas, in 2.37 seconds. The reason I was able to do this was because of the basic fundamentals which are stance, grip, sight alignment, and trigger control, which is what I am going to discuss in today’s pro tip.

The first one I will discuss is stance. Because I am a right handed shooter, my strong side foot is going to be offset about six inches to the rear. For you left handed shooters it will be just the opposite. Next you want to have a slight bend at the knees and a slight bend at the waist forward. You do not want to lock your elbows all the way out, because as you get into multiple shots it will begin rocking your upper body to the rear. So you want a slight bend in your elbows so they can act as shock absorbers. The stance will help you control your recoil with multiple shots on multiple targets. Because my elbows are slightly bent it allows the recoil to transfer into my shoulders, down my core, into my legs and to the ground allowing me to maintain a flat shooting gun for fast and accurate shooting on multiple targets.

The next fundamental element we are going to discuss today is the grip. The first thing I am going to do is place the webbing of my hand as high as I can on the back strap of the pistol. This is going to give me a point of contact with the middle finger knuckle under the trigger guard. Notice by keeping my thumb high I create a natural pocket for my support hand. The second point of contact I am going to have is my index finger knuckle also under the trigger guard. Once I have established this I am going to roll my support hand into the pocket I have created and drive my thumbs to the target.

In terms of grip pressure, I am applying about sixty percent to my support hand and forty percent to my strong hand. This is because I need to maintain dexterity with my strong hand to operate the trigger at high rates of speed.
 

The next critical fundamental we are going to discuss today is sight alignment. Regardless of how good your grip and stance are, if your sights aren’t aligned properly, you aren’t going to hit anything. The first thing you want to make sure of is that the top blade of your front sight is level with the top of your rear sight, with equal amounts of light on both sides. For you guys out there using a fiber optic front sight like myself, still use the top of the front sight and not the actual fiber optic itself.

The last fundamental element today is trigger control. When operating the trigger you want to make sure and place the pad of your finger on the trigger like this. By putting too much, or not enough, of your finger on the trigger can cause you to pull or push your shots. When you squeeze the trigger you want to make sure and squeeze it all the way to the rear in one smooth motion.

A quick dry fire drill to help you with this is to take an empty piece of brass and place it on the front of your slide. Aim at a target and with proper trigger control. You should be able to break the shot without the piece of brass falling.

 
Work on these four fundamental elements and I guarantee you, your shooting will improve, until next time stay Army strong.