by Chris Cerino
Whether it’s for self-defense, competition or plain fun, shooting well takes more than just knowledge of guns. It takes a solid understanding of the facts and fundamentals of marksmanship.
There are probably 20 different renditions of the fundamentals available to any shooter. For years, I’ve used the following list of fundamentals. It’s proven simple to understand and successful for me and shooters I have trained. Here I define each. Each fundamental listed is important, but the importance is not based on where it falls in the list. It’s up to you to decide what is important and when. Eye opening, performance-increasing descriptions follow.
- Stance or Platform
- Grip
- Draw and/or Presentation
- Sight Alignment and Sight Picture
- Trigger Management
- Breathing
- Follow Through
- Recovery
Stance and/or Platform
Many instructors focus first on this because it’s simple. “Place your feet here and here so you can manage recoil and not get knocked around by the gun cycling.’ This has nothing to do with your low left hits. I refer to this fundamental as “stance or platform” because you don’t always fire the gun in a shooting “stance.” This fundamental encompasses all positions from standing to kneeling to prone, as well as all of those unconventional positions you may have to shoot from. Focusing on stance is not a mission for me. Weight forward, gun in front of eyes. Enough said.
Grip
This can apply to long guns as much as it does to handguns. How you hold a gun has everything to do with your ability to manage the recoil. Likewise, your ability to quickly fire, multiple well aimed shots, has everything to do with how well you manage recoil. An entire column could be devoted to grip alone. Suffice to say that if you’re not using muscular and skeletal alignment in your grip, you aren’t operating to your greatest potential.
Draw and/or Presentation
Not just drawing, but presenting because the pistol may be out of the holster already or you may be shooting a long gun, the two go hand in hand. The entire idea behind this fundamental is to get the weapon into the plane of vision, between your eyes and the target, as quickly and efficiently as possible. Draw and presentation encompass how you initially grip your weapon, as well as how you deal with retention devices on holsters. Not the most important fundamental, but encompassing much more than just pointing a gun at a target. Economy of motion is the key here.
Sight Alignment & Sight Picture
For years I have combined the two because properly aligned sights mean nothing if you don’t know how to place them on a target. Simply defined, sight alignment is the front sight viewed through the rear sight with them (iron pistol sights) equally spaced and even across the top. Sight picture is those properly aligned sights placed properly on the intended target. Know the sights. Know what you need to see and watch it while firing.
Trigger Management
Sometimes called trigger press or trigger control, it is defined as applying steady pressure directly rearward in such a fashion so as to not disturb the sight alignment or sight picture before the round fires. It doesn’t matter if you do it fast or slow; manage the trigger based on target size and distance. Which one is most important Trigger or Sights? It’s a toss-up.
Breathing
Breathing has very little to do with action style shooting. Most important in action shooting is to “Breathe to reduce your stress and focus on the task”. Reminding yourself of this can go a long way to help. Precision shooting requires a little more. The old military “BRASS F” (Breathe, Relax, Aim, Squeeze, Shoot, Follow Through). Holding your breath at any time is bad for performance. Oxygen deprivation can affect your most delicate organs in as little as 4 seconds and that certainly includes your eyes. Ever get blurred up while aiming?
Follow Through
One of the most important and least adhered to; follow through means maintaining all of the fundamentals through the break of the round: Staying with the sight picture and back to the sight picture after recoil. Follow through is easiest when you have a solid platform, good grip and an understanding of the importance of sight alignment and sight picture. Most people skip follow through and quickly look at their target to see how they did. They usually shoot low, and then wonder why.
Recovery
Recovery is what you do after the shooting is over. Breathing, scanning your environment and returning to sling or your holster are part of it. Working safeties can also be a part of recovery. This fundamental can save your life or someone else’s as it is about situational awareness. Know your environment and the potential threat it can present to you. This includes those around you at the local shooting range. Fundamentals crash course: Any of these could fill pages with details of application. Don’t get wrapped around the axel with the order. If you do, you may be worrying about the one which has little effect on bad shots while neglecting the real cause of the trouble. The way I start is from the grip back, not from the feet up.
Watch for specific details to come on these fundamentals. As I have said for years, “The only difference between a good shooter and a great shooter are the details.” Until next time!
Chris Cerino is a firearms instructor, competitor and TV personality who’s been training law enforcement officers and military for more than 18 years. Literally immersed in training for years, his skills are founded in real life experience. Chris is the director of training for Chris Cerino Training Group LLC, and teaches in a “do as I do” fashion. His website: chriscerinotraininggroup.com, email address: info@cerinotraininggroup.com; phone: 330-608-6415.
