Have any of you heard the old technique of shooting cross eyed?
My father was a crack shot. He was unbelievable with a rifle. His father was a rifleman and taught him to shoot when he was very small. He was raised during the depression in rural west Texas hunting for what he ate. He was a rifleman in the Korean war and then a “sniper” in the early days of Viet Nam. He was well trained. He hunted every big game animal in the west and a bunch in SE Asia. He guided hunts in Wyoming for years. When he spoke about shooting I listened.
He said that whenever he shot offhand he shot cross eyed. He was trained to do that with iron sights in the military. He would focus on the front bead with both eyes open until his eyes crossed and then “time slowed down”. His movements seemed slower and he could easily time the trigger with his wobble. “It’s as easy as shooting basketballs when your eyes are crossed”.
He said he did the same thing in a scope. But he focused on the target so hard that time slowed. His crosshairs floating in the foreground were more controllable and his trigger timing was better.
I mastered the scope technique pretty quickly. At least to some extent. I wasn’t crosseyed. But in the scope its easy to get an altered state going. An intense target focus will improve trigger timing for sure. I didn’t realize how effective it was until I applied it to iron sights.
Over the years I have shot very little with iron sights. Mainly pistol. And I never really tried focusing that hard on the bead. But when I couldn’t keep a scope on a cheap air rifle I decided to experiment with iron sights. Of course I thought of my father. And immediately wanted to learn how to “shoot cross eyed”.
After some practice and research I can tell you that there IS something to it. There is a point where depth drops away, the entire world is a blur and the only thing in your consciousness is the front post and a blur of the target beyond. Time slows down. As you come across your target in your wobble you have lots of time to initiate the shot.
It really is like basketball. You look for an opening, time your jump and fling the ball. It is MUCH easier to hit your target especially when a lot of movement is involved. I’m convinced this is how some guys hit targets thrown in the air with a rifle.
My observation is that when all your external input is focused on the bead your brain has more time to process movements. It isn’t busy with depth, surroundings, things like that. It processes input faster because it has less to do. Things seem “slower”. You are simply focusing all your brain power on the task at hand by limiting visual input.
We all know how poorly we shoot when we have internal and external input bombarding us. It makes sense if you get rid of ALL input by “crossing your eyes” and intensely focusing its going to help. Especially with chaos around you.
My father didn’t rationalize it much. He just listened to his training and practiced it. And tried to teach it to me. I’m just beginning to understand those lessons.
I understand some guys teach this in combat pistol training. You practice until you come on target “cross eyed” and focusing on the bead. Your target is blurry in the background.
It’s just eye exercises mainly. You could learn it sitting in front of the television and never fire a shot. I believe it would vastly improve accuracy with a revolver.
I still can’t do it “at will”. I struggle to get that focus point sometimes. Sometimes I can’t maintain it through the shot. I’m getting better at it though. If I was 16 again I could probably master it in an hour.
If I do it too much my eyes are hard to get back in focus. My eyeballs are old and lop sided. They probably have all the tread worn off the back from rubbing against my head. I don’t want to push it too hard or I might have a flat.
When things are just right I can shoot more accurately than I could ever imagine. I am absolutely stunned and amazed how effective this technique is.
I’m sure others employ this or some other similar techniques in their routine. Does anyone out there have a shortcut to a zen like state that allows them to time a shot better?
My father was a crack shot. He was unbelievable with a rifle. His father was a rifleman and taught him to shoot when he was very small. He was raised during the depression in rural west Texas hunting for what he ate. He was a rifleman in the Korean war and then a “sniper” in the early days of Viet Nam. He was well trained. He hunted every big game animal in the west and a bunch in SE Asia. He guided hunts in Wyoming for years. When he spoke about shooting I listened.
He said that whenever he shot offhand he shot cross eyed. He was trained to do that with iron sights in the military. He would focus on the front bead with both eyes open until his eyes crossed and then “time slowed down”. His movements seemed slower and he could easily time the trigger with his wobble. “It’s as easy as shooting basketballs when your eyes are crossed”.
He said he did the same thing in a scope. But he focused on the target so hard that time slowed. His crosshairs floating in the foreground were more controllable and his trigger timing was better.
I mastered the scope technique pretty quickly. At least to some extent. I wasn’t crosseyed. But in the scope its easy to get an altered state going. An intense target focus will improve trigger timing for sure. I didn’t realize how effective it was until I applied it to iron sights.
Over the years I have shot very little with iron sights. Mainly pistol. And I never really tried focusing that hard on the bead. But when I couldn’t keep a scope on a cheap air rifle I decided to experiment with iron sights. Of course I thought of my father. And immediately wanted to learn how to “shoot cross eyed”.
After some practice and research I can tell you that there IS something to it. There is a point where depth drops away, the entire world is a blur and the only thing in your consciousness is the front post and a blur of the target beyond. Time slows down. As you come across your target in your wobble you have lots of time to initiate the shot.
It really is like basketball. You look for an opening, time your jump and fling the ball. It is MUCH easier to hit your target especially when a lot of movement is involved. I’m convinced this is how some guys hit targets thrown in the air with a rifle.
My observation is that when all your external input is focused on the bead your brain has more time to process movements. It isn’t busy with depth, surroundings, things like that. It processes input faster because it has less to do. Things seem “slower”. You are simply focusing all your brain power on the task at hand by limiting visual input.
We all know how poorly we shoot when we have internal and external input bombarding us. It makes sense if you get rid of ALL input by “crossing your eyes” and intensely focusing its going to help. Especially with chaos around you.
My father didn’t rationalize it much. He just listened to his training and practiced it. And tried to teach it to me. I’m just beginning to understand those lessons.
I understand some guys teach this in combat pistol training. You practice until you come on target “cross eyed” and focusing on the bead. Your target is blurry in the background.
It’s just eye exercises mainly. You could learn it sitting in front of the television and never fire a shot. I believe it would vastly improve accuracy with a revolver.
I still can’t do it “at will”. I struggle to get that focus point sometimes. Sometimes I can’t maintain it through the shot. I’m getting better at it though. If I was 16 again I could probably master it in an hour.
If I do it too much my eyes are hard to get back in focus. My eyeballs are old and lop sided. They probably have all the tread worn off the back from rubbing against my head. I don’t want to push it too hard or I might have a flat.
When things are just right I can shoot more accurately than I could ever imagine. I am absolutely stunned and amazed how effective this technique is.
I’m sure others employ this or some other similar techniques in their routine. Does anyone out there have a shortcut to a zen like state that allows them to time a shot better?
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