Accept your hold - definition

While looking 208s pictures, I found this deep down in my files from 3 of the 4 great forum minds:


It is just as important to keep the same thought process during every shot delivery as it is do the same mechanical actuation.
If we keep the sights aligned with the eye then all we have to do is keep moving the dot or front sight towards the middle, as the trigger moves. Salyer 2006


Having perfect alignment is not the difficulty many shooters face.  The trouble is in recognizing it.  Perfect alignment has to be thought of as a dynamic range of acceptability instead of a static picture.  IOW, the perfection needed to fire tens all day has a tolerance to it.  Just as there is a window of velocity for our ammo to perform best and tolerance to allow the slide to function, there is a tolerance to the aspects of the sight picture.  Anything within that tolerance is perfect for our needs.  The recognition of that perfection is often described as "accepting your hold."  Sound familiar?  For many shooters, the moment they start accepting their hold and operating the trigger without the hesitation from (perceived) imperfect sighting, they see a dramatic increase in scores.
Try increasing the tolerance in your definition of perfect alignment. Take Care, Ed Hall 2006



Ed, an excellent way of expressing the concept. The idea of "accepting your hold" is not new, but your idea of expressing it as a tolerance factor is entirely new and revolutionary. An excellent idea and I plan to use it in my clinics. Thank you. My best regards, Fred Mackaman 2006

Still looking for the 208 pix

“Perfect alignment has to be thought of as a dynamic range of acceptability instead of a static picture. ”

Yay. Yes. I’ve been shooting a lot of service rifle lately (too much, according to some, and just the right amount, if you ask others), and this statement sums up bullseye, and slow fire standing in high power rifle. 

Thanks, Jack, for the reminder, and Ed, for the articulate expression.

X-ring tolerance is a good way to think about where you are at in your general skill level and also how you are shooting that day.

It fits right in with the sayings you hear in Bullseye, such as, “On the paper, in the rings, on the center, in the black”, “Shoot the first ten you see”, and “Get yer X count up!”

The better shooters have developed the physical and mental tooling they need to consistently achieve tighter tolerances with higher scores as the product.

I am not good enough to treat my X count as an important part of my score, but if the holes are all in the black, then I am shooting within my tolerances for my current skill level.

For me, focusing on shooting X’s only led to frustration as it is not possible to do consistently with the tolerances I can work within.  Shrinking the 60-shot group on the cardboard backer after our weekly 600 match has worked well.  It has been more effective to observe that shooting X’s is nice, but NOT making the errors that lead to shooting 5-ring, then 6-ring, and on to 7-ring shot, etc. as my skills improve is going well. I am working on eliminating the causes of poor shots and the group size is taking care of itself, one ring at a time.  

I remember reading in a woodworking book that the only difference between a master and apprentice is that the master does not make as many mistakes.  

Thanks to all the high level shooters for sharing what they have learned and digging up lost treasures from their own paper archives.  You are helping make this site better every day.

willnewton wrote:

It fits right in with the sayings you hear in Bullseye, such as, “On the paper, in the rings, on the center, in the black”, “Shoot the first ten you see”, and “Get yer X count up!”

I remember reading in a woodworking book that the only difference between a master and apprentice is that the master does not make as many mistakes.  

Thanks to all the high level shooters for sharing what they have learned ...

In my experience, a master recognizes the mistake because he’s seen it before and knows how to fix it.

At my age and skill level, my sight alignment tolerance is “barely perceptible up and down; half the gap left and right”. If I put that mess perceptively in the ten ring there’s a good chance it’ll be a ten. I’m still trying to shoot irons in CF and 45...tho I don’t know why. On a dot, alignment isn’t as critical but I like to have the dot in the ten ring when the trigger is pulled. These visual clues are individualized as you’ll see the sights/ dot differently.

The Master or HM shoots a 9, 10 or X the same way that others do. Their gun and ammo have the capability, they align sights or dot, centered in an area of the target, and then allow the gun to fire, while applying constant, slightly increasing pressure on the trigger until the gun fires while maintaining the hold area. In my words, they let the gun shoot, rather than make it shoot.

Most often, the champion is determined by the fewest number of worse shots, not the greatest  number of best shots. It is all about a process, of learning what to accept. Keep all hits somewhat centered on the target. Then keep all hits somewhat centered no worse than 6. Then no worse than a 7, then no worse than an 8, a 9..... . It is a progression. The trigger is the key to the secret, of reducing those worst shots. Reduce then, eliminate those worst shots whatever they may be. Then reduce of eliminate the next level of worst shots, understanding and accepting that an occasional one will occur. Forget that one. You already "let it go", now really let it go.

Once you really learn, I mean really learn the trigger, you will be amazed at how much your wobble suddenly shrunk.

I'll respectfully disagree with parts of the previous three posts.

You can't not shoot bad shots. You can shoot more good shots.

Focus on process. X-count (or 10-count, etc., depending on your skill level) is an indicator of how often you are executing a perfect shot. The group size and score will take care of itself.