I have likened MS shooting to shooting free throws and I find it to be very similar. Sadly, my performance is much the same in both situations. I can string together a half-dozen nice shots then follow up with a similar number of misses. In both cases, I know when a shot is good before it hits. When the trigger breaks at just the right time or the ball leaves on just the right trajectory, there is no question as to the result. I also find that making the shot is physical while missing the shot is more likely to be mental. When things are working well, alignment occurs and the trigger breaks right on time. Other times, alignment occurs and I wonder why I can't pull the trigger.
Like many of the members here, a great deal of my early off-hand training came in the form of "plinking" or hunting small game with a .22 and, later on, with a muzzle-loader. In my early twenties, I could manage pretty consistent hits on a 1.5 inch target at 50 yards with 45 caliber round balls and a gopher didn't stand a chance. Today, I can't see the sights!
Many of the members here can probably recall the training we received in "instinctive shooting" when we were in basic training. We shot a ton of BB's at ping pong balls with BB guns without sights; just point and shoot. I, like many of my fellows, soon got so I would rarely miss and was even pretty consistent on a thrown ping pong ball. Of course, we were nineteen and twenty year olds with good eyes and reflexes; quite unlike the pitiful specimen I am today! I still shoot the BB gun quite a lot but the hits are not nearly so consistent. GD
