26 replies to "Alpha Shooter – Day 7"

    • Robert Hankins

      OX,

      Ok I tried this today, first let me tell you that I am right handed and left eye dominant.

      Ok my eyes closed draw came up about 4” right every time but when I did the left side ear tap it was dead on
      but only for 1 draw then it went back to the right.

      So what do I do just keep practicing it until it works ?

      • Ox

        Hey Robert, I just got notified of your question and I apologize for the delay. You want to do the taps as well as the nod/tilt/turn drills. For some people, one time doing the drills will “stick” for weeks. Other people need to do it more often initially (a few times a day) until the integration becomes habituated.

    • Joseph Maranville

      Truly enjoying the simplicity and impactfullness of your card system Ox. I just happen to be left handed with a right dominate eye. Two days ago I got stuck by a branch across my right eyeball while walking through the woods. A little sore but all will be well.
      Tip #1 – Never walk too closely to the person in front of you in the woods!
      Thanks Ox

    • Ken Stanford

      Hey Ox, I was wondering if there’s any way to help with picking an imaginary spot in space to focus on when there’s nothing to really focus on until your sites get there. I’m not sure if I’m wording this question correctly. I can feel my eyes trying to find something to focus on in space, and then moving to meet the sites as they start to come into view. It then feels like there’s unnecessary movement trying to refocus and realign with the target. I don’t know if it makes a difference that I wear progressive lenses and suspect that that might be part of the problem as I have to move my head to adjust focus. Thx.

      • Ox

        yes 🙂 I can’t take a picture right now, but here are 2 ways to do it…

        1. Secure a yard stick to the back of a chair with rubber bands or a bungie. Stand so that your muzzle hits the yard stick (it can push it) at your final shooting position. As you’re getting ready to draw, focus on your target, as you start your presentation, shift your focus to the ruler.

        2. **MUCH MORE RISKY** the 2nd way that I use is to put a post-it note with something written on it on the glass door in our kitchen. You must Must MUST have a standoff distance between your muzzle and the glass and you must not move at too fast of a pace. < Do this at your own risk. It's very effective, but it's also more risky.

    • Lacy Sutton

      I have a huge grin on my face. I have been working on the first seven lessons combined with doing the “See quicker, shoot quicker” exercises and have found that my sight alignment off of my draw, even with speed, is spot on! I have been doing the draw stroke very slow for a few weeks now, something I learned from my old Chinese Tai Chi master, through slowness comes speed. I have been focusing on every aspect of my draw while going very slow and today, while working on lesson seven, I found my sights to be aligned with every draw. So I speeded up to see if I would still have sight alignment and “WOW”! I am amazed! With each draw stroke done at speed my sights were dead on and when I did it with eyes closed, same result, sight alignment was dead on! Thank you so much Mike you are making me a far better shooter then I thought possible. I am so excited to progress with the lessons after seeing such great results so far. Fantastic training!

      • Ox

        I’ve been on the road for most of the last month and I apologize for the delay…I got a huge grin on my face reading your note. That’s awesome! I’m really excited to hear how things keep progressing for you.

    • Matt McDermott

      This is a fun exercise! With the Cloth Targets we got from you we added a round of “Concentration” to the mix to make it even more fun. Shooter eyes open, looking at the targets. Spotter calls a target like: “Blue Square” or “#3”. Shooter see’s the target and closes her eyes. Shooter engages the target eyes closed and then opens to check alignment.

      Once we’d done a few rounds of that we’d start with our eyes closed and get the Spotter call and have to remember where to shoot. Super fun.

      • Ox

        That’s great to hear! If you want to crank up the intensity a little, try it with the “SwitchedOn” app 🙂

    • Eric Hill

      I found that bringing the gun with sights aligned and eyes open under my dominant eye, then running it out to extension (like the drill) five or six times, calibrated everything. Closed my eyes and worked it dead on every time. Waited a few hours and had to recalibrate again. After a few iterations of this, it seems to have cleared it up.

    • William Roberts

      I’m a Physician Assistant, and prior Navy EOD. I totally understand and appreciate the blind aim drill – but was a little iffy about the tapping “recalibration”. HOWEVER, I found I was aiming just a hair right every time, so I tried it. 5 taps to the left, and WOW! I had to literally laugh out loud. Being a healthcare provider, I was very doubtful. But now EVERY time I open my eyes, I’m dead center!

      • Ox

        Hey William, I agree that it is difficult to believe unless you see or experience it. What makes it even more complicated is that neurology is individual. Tapping works for some people, snapping works for others. A 100hz pulse through a bone conducting headset works for others. On some people, the effects are reversed. And, for some people, NONE of those things have any effect and I have to use a visual & vestibular aiming reset drill that I go over in Tactical Vision Training to get people’s natural aim lined up correctly.

    • Greg Heidel

      Hi Ox,

      I love this program overall, but I’m not sure what we’re doing here. We’re supposed to tap our zygomatic arch to disorient(?) one side of our vestibular system to get our vestibular system and eye focus aligned?

      One, it seems like tapping is just a very short term solution, and not a fix at all permanently to get those two in sync. I tried this technique to have my sights aligned in front of my eye, and I guess it worked-ish? Trying it again, 3 hours later and I’m just back to baseline. The front and rear sights are off alignment again when I open my eyes. Several days later, same thing. This doesn’t seem like a thing I want to do before a violent encounter. Obviously we’re not supposed to say to an attacker “Hold on a second and let me tap my cheek bone so I can have my cranial nerve impulses aligned before I draw on you.”

      Two, I’m just not understanding the physiology here. Do you have some sources for this, or the name of the technique so I can read more about it?

      Thanks for your help,
      Greg

      • Ox

        That’s an excellent question, Greg. I apologize that I didn’t see your question until now, but here goes…

        I need to start off by telling you that I’m not entirely satisfied with the answer that I have for you, but it is what it is.

        I’m going to explain this in a way that will be the most helpful for the most people…that means that it’s not going to be overly medical in nature.

        Let me try to unpack your comment/question one part at a time…

        1. The point of the drill is to get the visual and vestibular system agreeing on which direction is straight ahead AND for that direction to actually be straight ahead. If the eyes think that 12 o’clock is straight ahead and the vestibular system thinks that 1 o’clock is straight ahead, there’s going to be constant conflict in the brain as to which “gauge” to use for navigation. You can do this with tapping, with the visual and vestibular aiming system reset & calibration drills that I go into in Tactical Vision Training, by snapping your fingers outside of the ear, or with a bone conducting headset, using specific frequencies corresponding to the correct semi-circular canal on one side of the head.

        2. If your visual and vestibular aiming systems are not correct and in agreement, it’s going to take some time to overwrite the incorrect neural pathway with a correct one. Unfortunately, you’re correct…that means that it doesn’t “stick” real long at first. Depending on what you’ve got going on and the level of precision that you need, you may need to calibrate and synchronize a few times a day initially. If it doesn’t “stick” you probably want to get in touch with an integrative medicine specialist because you may need to ask them to test you for a methylation issue or other underlying issue that’s causing your visual and vestibular aiming systems to not be in agreement. For me, getting this figured out and fixed was one of the most dramatically life changing things I’ve ever done.

        3. On attackers…there’s a couple of things going on. First, when you identify and know that an issue affects you, you can get to where you can observe and fix it on the fly, subconsciously. Second, for you, it may help you explain why you need to limit unsighted shooting to MUCH closer distances than other people who are otherwise equal shooters. Third, what you’re ideally going to do is create a neural pathway of bringing the sights up into alignment between your dominant eye and the target, regardless of what your vestibular system is saying.

        4. On the physiology, I don’t have a name for it, and it doesn’t work for everyone. I’ve been using the technique for almost a decade and don’t remember how I figured it out, but in recent years I’ve found out that it’s an INCREDIBLY common technique that VA rehab counselors and TBI clinics use with people who have been concussed. Here’s a study that you might want to look into that went into the vestubulo-ocular reflex, the symptoms that it can cause, and some new findings as it relates to TBIs: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5398755/

    • Charles Hempfling

      How do you stop dipping the gun when you are shooting?

      • Ox

        Great question…dipping the gun is simply a conditioned response that your brain has created. It’s natural and will creep into most shooters’ technique repeatedly throughout their lives.

        What you need to do to stop it is create a new conditioned response for your brain to use that doesn’t involve dipping.

        1. Do a higher percentage of dry fire practice. You want to do it however slowly you need to in order to avoid dipping. It helps to avoid all distractions…possibly even holding your pistol at high compressed ready instead of focusing on sight alignment. What you are doing is lowering your overall cognitive load so that you have the bandwidth to pay attention to wrist movement during trigger press. Practice at whatever speed you need to so that you don’t flinch 9/10 or 19/20 reps. Make sure your last 10 reps don’t have a flinch.

        2. Each time you practice, find that maximum speed that you can run the trigger without flinching. When you get to the speed you want, do it while balancing on 1 leg, lunging, or stepping up and down on a step.

        3. Drop a caliber or two until you’ve eliminated the flinch…it’s better to practice perfectly with a .22 than to create a conditioned response of flinching.

        4. At the range, incorporate dry fire into your live fire to help your brain connect dry fire and live fire. Do 10 dry fire reps, then 1 live fire. Gradually increase the ratio of live fire if the flinch isn’t a problem. Try a slow, unsighted live fire rep from high compressed ready at a close target with a safe backstop and someone watching your muzzle alignment.

        5. Flinching, at it’s core, is a rational, but emotional response to an explosion happening 18″ from your face. Stress modulation training, like what I teach in http://UpgradedShooter.com and progressive relaxation and hypnosis like what’s taught in http://www.tacticalfirearmstrainingsecrets.com/insight-usb can both help you turn that stress response that’s causing the stress response off.

    • Howard Fuerst

      question! I have had lasik on both eyes. Dominant eye is right eye, so the right is for long distant seeing. My left eye is therefore used for short distant or reading. I went to a tactical class and tried to shoot at different target depths. Shot terrible! shot some missed many! Closing the left eye and using my right dominant eye.

      Was at steel target range and witched using the left eye and hit also most everything. Am I doing your training correctly? Long distant shooting with a scope I use my dominant eye or right eye and shoot 1000yds fine.

      Any suggestion?

      • Ox

        I apologize for the delay…I just saw your question.

        There are a couple of ways that you could have had Lasix done…it sounds like you have monovision. Is that correct?

        If you have monovision, it basically requires your brain to learn how to see/aim/shoot again. What I would suggest is to do the following…

        1. Get some driveway reflectors from your local hardware store. 2-3″ will work, but bigger (rarer) is better. Get both red and yellow. You only NEED 1 of each color to start with.
        2. Get either a laser sight ($100 or more) or a cheap laser bore sight ($10 or less) for your pistol. Get lots of backup batteries and make sure to take them out immediately when you’re done practicing.
        3. Practice your dry fire drawstroke with the laser, using the sights. Aim at the reflectors and try to pick up the “flash” with your peripheral vision. If the red laser reflecting off of the red reflector is too bright, switch to yellow. If yellow is too dim, switch to red. Laser bore sights are notoriously inaccurate for pistols, so don’t get hung up about the laser moving around or not lining up with your sights…it’s a feedback device, not a sighting tool.

        Think of the light reflecting off of the reflector as a reward for your eyes/brain for a job well done. By doing drills like this, you’ll quickly train your brain to recognize the sight picture that you’re looking for.

        You MAY shoot better using your left eye since it’s set to close-up. It’s a trick that many near-sighted shooters use to let the target be a blur and focus on the front sight–they simply don’t wear their corrective lenses so that they CAN’T shift clear focus to the target.

        Please let me know if that helps.

    • Dennis Collins

      OK, that was scary weird. First three times with my eyes shut and my aim was off to the right by two to three feet. Completely dumbfounded by how far off I was. Tapped on my left cheek ear bone several times and the next five time with my eyes shut – dead on. Wouldn’t have believed it if it hadn’t been so far off to begin with and so dead on after the left cheek bone taps. Thank you so much for the tip.

      • Ox

        No problem! Outside of elite athletes or people who have worked with very high end coaches, it’s rare to find people who believe that the neurological drills that I have them do are actually going to work–until they do 🙂 Nothing like a client having no belief that a drill is going to work, but having a drill work, to completely blow the placebo effect out of the water.

    • Jonathan A.Childs

      A quick Question on this drill. I practiced it today

      Are you lining your gun up with the bridge of your nose so it is between your eyes in reality or are you actually lining it up with your dominant eye which is my right.

      • Ox

        Great question. You want to line it up with your dominant eye.

    • George KOUTOUZOS

      The printed copy of this video:
      “If, when you open your eyes and you’re consistently aimed to the exact same spot, but it’s to the left of your target, tap on the bone ½”-1” in front of your ear canal, between your ear canal and your eye and right above your jaw muscle on the right side of your face and repeat the drill. You can also shut your eyes and snap your finger by your right ear, but I prefer tapping the bone. If you’re off to the left, simply tap the bone on the left side of your face.”

      Comment: the printed copy needs to correspond to the video with regards to … if tapping on the left mandible is not productive to correct aiming right of target, then tap right mandible.

      Apropos to PTSD, tapping, also known as Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), has been an effective (and relatively rapid treatment) when performed by a skilled practitioner. Demonstrations abound on YouTube, but I would recommend a skilled EFT practitioner.

      Thank you for developing the 21 day program. Slow and steady practice makes a difference. I appreciate your focus on mind/body relationship and its improvement to pistol performance and results.

      • Ox

        Thanks, George…I’m not sure why you saw that. It was supposed to be fixed several months ago.

        I went through EFT training as part of my disaster first responder training and have been using it for over 13 years. This specific technique isn’t an EFT technique, but a functional neurology technique designed to get your visual and vestibular systems working together so that when you THINK you’re bringing your sights up into alignment between your dominant eye and the target, you actually are.

    • Walter Biegacki

      This drill is not so easy, every time I think I have the drill down , I open my eyes or eye I am off to right or left, when I correct that, the next time I am either to low or to high. But I will keep trying.
      Wally

    • Roy Tornabene

      Another awesome drill that just boosted my skill level up! Taking my time and giving my brain time to re- calibrate itself to where everything is flowing properly. Best course/training I have ever had. (Neurological Hack) BRILLIANT! Thank you Ox!

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