We've finished the two basic low light courses for 2013. Not
surprising, the two biggest challenges for the students were recognizing
the threat targets and then hitting the threats. The students in both
of these classes were generally very accomplished shooters, most have
extensive experience with IDPA or USPSA. These students have very little
difficultly hitting a target under normal lighting conditions.
So
what is posing a challenge for them under low lighting conditions?
Almost every student was shooting high on the target or (presumably)
over the target. This would indicate that students are not properly
aligning the sights and are subconsciously tilting the pistol up
slightly in order to see the front sight better in the low light. What
is the solution? Clearly, regardless of the lighting conditions you must
properly align the sights and then concentrate on the front sight while
simultaneously pressing the trigger. Hard to do under normal
circumstances with good light--more difficult to do under low lighting
conditions.
In February we will do our Intermediate Low Light
course. We have learned all of the different flashlight techniques
during the basic course and will now focus on effectively using those
techniques while concentrating on properly aligning the sights as we press off the shots. Of course, in the intermediate course the decision based scenarios will
become more challenging and proper target recognition even more
important.
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