Training the New Sequence

Nobody comes out of the womb predisposed to be able to shoot a shotgun at moving targets without experiencing confusion. We’re talking about the confusion of looking at a target and getting the gun muzzle in front of it while matching speed and taking the shot.

Everything about hitting a moving target with a shotgun is so counterintuitive, but when it is described to you for the first time it seems logical and easy to learn and reproduce.

Well, let’s cut to the chase: other than hitting a major league fastball, hitting a moving target with a shotgun is the most visually confusing thing you can learn to do. In the beginning, it’s extremely confusing because you’re focused on the target and the gun is pointed ahead of the target in the periphery.

Our brains all have a sequence that began when we were six months old and began to point at what we were looking at. This sequence is automatized at an extremely high level. When we ask our brain to look at the target and point the gun ahead it, our pointing sequence crashes and the brain is confused (regardless of eye dominance in the beginning).

So, through repetition, you must train a new sequence in your brain that will enable it to look at an object and allow your hands to point in front of the target, wherever that might be. This is best accomplished on still objects first. Once the brain begins to understand the new sequence of looking at one object while pointing your gun somewhere else, you can begin to try it on moving objects.

This is the most confusing thing you will try to learn because of the visual confusion in the beginning. But believe us when we say that accomplishing the understanding of what the sight pictures really look like in the beginning will accelerate your learning and enjoyment.