Why are some shots easy 10's and some are just awful?

I am a casual bullseye shooter, I am only able to get to the range about 3 times a month.  One of the many things I am trying to figure out is why is it that sometimes I can raise the pistol from the bench and the sights (irons) line up perfectly and the sight picture is perfect and I will shoot several X's in a row then the next shot I seem to be fighting everything including sight picture and wobble and am lucky to shoot an 8.  I have been shooting for many years now and am 61 years old. Is it just age or just a lack of mindfulness?

Bruce Martindale of this forum recently released a book titled Feeling Center

First thing to consider is that you have all the answers right there with you each time you shoot a 10 / X.

Age is not usually a factor but physical conditions or issues can be obstacles to overcome. Mindfulness is an outcome of learning how to really observe and see everything as it happens. 

Every time you shoot an X during training, what do you do next?  Do you just fire off another shot, hoping it will be an X as well?   

Or do you take the time to review the shot, reliving what you saw, felt, smelled, heard, etc.?  Do you make notes on EXACTLY what you did from gripping the gun and raising to the target, to what the wobble pattern looked liked, and even what you saw when watching the dot / sights rise in recoil and come back down into the aiming area again? (And making notes again and again as it takes repetition, even in note taking, to achieve a complete range of all the inputs and observations so we can process everything outside of actually shooting a shot.)

One of those options is thinking (maybe even hoping) repetition will generate consistency and improvement.  

The other option is actively developing a platform and mental / physical process to achieve consistency and improvement. 

By the way, a really good bullseye shooter once said.  "You know you're doing what you  need to do when the only gun you hear on the line is yours."

CR

PS (Thanks for giving me something to think about while waiting out another potential hurricane for us....)

SingleActionAndrew wrote:Bruce Martindale of this forum recently released a book titled Feeling Center

I had my suspicions he was the problem all along.

Thanks CR, I will try thinking about what just happened when I shoot that X, I know mindfulness and not getting distracted is always a challenge for me, especially if some where down the firing line there is some guy who's only chance to talk to another person is at the range and has to explain to somebody next to him in infinite detail why this that or the other thing is so critical.  Of course then there are the shots I take that felt good but ended up as a 7, I would think most of those are jerking the trigger.  Oh well if it was easy I would be shooting 100's all the time.

You're welcome.  

But if I may emphasize again, I would suggest one do a little more than think about what happened. 

One of the major benefits of "putting it down on paper" is that we have to think about "it" in detail (which includes visualization) in order to find and choose the words we want to put on paper.  And this process uses more of our mental ability, which in turn, enables us to better remember and ingrain those thoughts and feelings in our memory.  

Thinking generally incorporates "short term" types of memory; while ordering thoughts, choosing words, putting them on paper and generally making it a longer process can provide a pathway to "longer term" memory (feelings).

Another fun way to approach a complex and personal topic is to imagine you're writing it for a 10-year old. It really focuses you on putting the important parts out there clearly and succinctly, and they really stick in your own mind when you get them "right".

I’m a beginner - so I may be off base and hope someone will correct me if I am, but I write down what I (me, myself) did right. Just a bit of a different take than “what just happened” which to my ear sounds like something external, luck rather than applying a skill. And if something wasn’t going right, I write corrections in a positive way: e.g., maintain a consistent grip (rather than “I loosened my grip”).


These are great discussions. Thanks to everyone who poses questions and the

I think the operative assumption is that if you produced a 10 or x on call, then you probably did everything you needed to do to produce an acceptable shot ( maybe even more than you needed to, but that's what the notes over time will eventually let you know).

My book explains this.

Hey Bruce where is your book available?

Thanks

The book

https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t20122-book-review-feeling-center-the-art-and-science-of