Rapid Fire - 10 Seconds of Intensity

Rapid fire is all about time management and controlling your anxiety. With rapid fire you have 10 seconds to execute 5 shots which seems to indicate that you have 2 seconds per shot. However, you actually have 10 seconds for 4 shots provided that you get the first shot off at the starting buzzer. So, with careful time management, we can give ourselves 2.4 seconds per shot. So, in reality, you have 4 shots that have to be made rather quickly.

The anxiety level is increased because of the shortened amount of time we have to accurately shoot the 5 shots. This usually results in rushing to get the shot off and that leads to jerking the trigger. This desire to rush happens not only on the first shot, but all 5 shots. We panic at the buzzer, we panic to recover from the recoil, we panic because we think we took 3 seconds on a shot, we panic because the line went silent and we know we still have one shot to go.

While I will admit, I am anxious during rapid fire, I shoot a controlled sequence more often than not. I really work hard to maintain trust in my area of aim and allow my trigger finger to do its job. I rely much more heavily on the automated shot process wherein my subconscious controls most of the actions. In other words, I don’t actually think to myself that I need to pull the trigger or how to pull it, my finger is moving automatically. I don’t know how it happens or when it happens, but at some point along the way in training and practice, you no longer have to think through the fine details of an action, they just happen. I compare it to something like: blinking, ducking when something flies by your head, putting your hands up to block something from hitting you in the head, etc.

In normal activities of life, we develop reactionary moves (reflexes) to deal with a variety of situations. These reactionary movements are so instantaneous there isn’t time to think through the process, it just happens. If you are driving down the road and a deer runs out in front of the car, most probably you react without a thorough thought process. This is driven by instinct, the instinct to know you have to do something but in that brief millisecond of time you don’t analyze every single detail, rather you react.

Developing the instincts and training your body to react properly takes time. Think about a boxer, he has to train extensively to learn how to react to the many different punches that can be thrown at him. Do you believe he thinks through that reactionary process? A goalie in hockey has to react in a split second to put something in the way of that hockey puck flying in his direction. He couldn’t possibly have time to analyze every detail of what to do, rather, through instinct he reacts. In both of these examples, the athletes trained themselves to react properly and this was reinforced with lots of practice.

There is a lot we can do for rapid fire training that does not require live fire. The two second drill is a good universal tool that can be applied in both live and dry fire. The two second drill is the full process up to shooting the first shot. To do this, get an MP3 player and record the range commands for rapid fire, but instead of allowing 10 seconds between the starting and ending buzzer, only allow 2. This gives you instant feedback and a gauge as to how you perform. You obviously want the shot to go off at the buzzer, but it is critical that it goes off before the second buzzer. Doing this in dry fire allows you to really analyze your trigger control. You will see if your are changing your point of aim by jerking the trigger. Doing this exercise with both dry and live fire, will train your mind and body to react the way it must react to shoot a 10. You will develop that instinct to anticipate the buzzer and pull the trigger in a controlled manor so that the gun goes off and you don’t change your point of aim.

I don’t know about you folks, but when I am shooting rapid fire with the 45 (or any center fire), I simply do not have time to let the red dot settle perfectly in the X ring between shots. By the time I pull the gun back down and stop shaking to the point where I am satisfied with a point of aim, can be 4 seconds or longer. There simply isn’t enough time for me to do that and get all 5 shots off in 10 seconds.

This is where area aiming comes into play. Knowing that if I hit the black on a rapid fire target will result in either a 9 or 10, that is all I attempt to do. I trust in that if I pull the gun down from recoil so that the red dot is in the black, I have a very high probability the shot will be a 10 if I don’t jerk the trigger. If I try to achieve a point of aim within the 10 ring, or worse yet within the X ring, I am instinctively going to pull the trigger in that instant which will result in a jerked trigger pull and an 8, 7 or worse.

Here again we are talking about instinct. Our goal is to shoot all 10s or Xs, so our natural instinct is to pull the trigger the moment that the red dot is in the 10 ring. This instinct needs to be abandoned and a new instinct with a proper reaction has to be put in its place. Every shooter I have talked with knows that grabbing a 10 results in a jerk of the trigger and all the good shooters I talked with or read about, learned to replace that natural instinct to grab a 10.

Developing that trust in your area of aim and the trust in your trigger finger to pull the trigger without jerking it takes: time, effort, training, and practice. You can make substantial improvements with the 2 second drill with either live or dry fire. However, I believe that shooting the full rapid fire sting with live ammo is mandatory. This is where you will develop the rest of the elements required to shoot more 10s than 7s.

With the 2 second drill you will be developing the instinct and proper reaction to the sound of the buzzer or the turning of the targets. With the full, 10 second live fire process, you will develop the instincts and proper reactions to the entire shooting process.

You have to focus on recovering from recoil and getting that red dot on the black. This takes a substantial amount of effort and focus. If you are fortunate to have strong wrists, you may not have to deal with recovering your wrist angle while at the same time you are recovering your shoulder. Most people seem to be able to keep the elbow locked so that is one joint you may not have to concern yourself with. The majority of movement from recoil will be from the shoulder joint, luckily it is a pretty powerful muscle group that allows you to pull that gun back down efficiently. This whole recovery process dictates your cadence when shooting. From the point in time the gun goes bang, to the next time it goes bang is all recovery. You want that recovery time to be as short as possible to maximize the 10 seconds available for the string. Through enough practice, you can get these motions to be instinctive and reactionary. The gun will naturally return to very close proximity to where you are in the black.

After the end of recovery you should be in area aiming mode. The red dot should be in the black and the shakes should begin to settle. At the same time, your trigger finger should be pulling the trigger in a constant pull till the gun goes bang. It is most probably in this area where most shooters panic and stop the trigger if they think the point of aim is bad or jerk the trigger if they think the point of aim is perfect. Stopping and jerking are natural instincts that we must force ourselves to abandon. In this case, the natural instinct is bad and it is almost innate, something we didn’t develop through training but were born with the knowledge. At the most basic level, it seems to make sense, “Red dot in center of black dot, QUICKLY pull trigger before gun moves”, but the reality is much different. We must do everything we can to train ourselves that a continuous pull on the trigger is MUCH more accurate than a pull-stop-pull-stop method or a quick jerk. If you practice the area aiming with the constant pull enough times, your old instincts will start to fade and the new instinct with its associated reaction will take over.

WARNING! Do not try to practice rapid fire by dry firing and simulating the recoil of the gun! This will ultimately lead you down the path of dealing with anticipation and helping the gun recoil. The gun doesn’t need help in causing recoil and if you train yourself to cause this motion, you will be shooting high on the target and fighting another whole set of problems. Never go through the motion of simulated recoil or you may train yourself to help the gun recoil which will develop an instinct and reaction you don't want!