Accuracy vs Speed

Some people here have said that in shooting accuracy is the most important factor. In the classes I've taken we've been taught that accuracy is important but you also need speed. The third factor is power which depends in the weapon and ammo you're using. Now, in terms of speed and accuracy when it comes to hitting the target, what I've been taught is you want the shots on your target to be roughly far enough apart so that you can cover them with your hand but not any further. If your shots are further than that you want to slow down and take your time with your shots to improve your accuracy. If your shots are really close together, if they're right on top of each other, than you want to speed up and sacrifice some accuracy in order to shoot faster. All the accuracy in the world won't be that good if your opponent shoots you first.

 

If you throw a fake jab at your opponent's face, since you know that 99% of the time, your opponent will either dodge it or block it, your accuracy and power won't be important there. Speed is the only thing you need at that moment.

 

If he sees it coming, it was fake and slow.

 

Sorry! My fault! Didn't notice this thread belong to "The Firing Range (Firearms). Just ignore what I have just said.

 

Anyways, there are about seven types of speed: Mental, Physical, perceptual, etc,, and they all play a role n the over-all thing we call speed.

 

And you wont get in that one shot if you get shot first.

I wasn't asking any questions I was pointing out what I had been taught.

 

If my shot to the deltoid hits first would you still be able to hit me between the 4th and 5th ribs? Being hit in the shoulder can really ruin your accuracy.

What I've been taught at the multiple shooting classes I've taken is that you want your shots to be roughly a handspan apart in distance, that should be adequate accuracy. If you disagree with that you can argue with FrontSight.

 

How about this, lets say you're accurate enough that you can place your shots within a handspan and you're really fast. The perpetrator is accurate enough to place all his shots within the bullseye one right on top of the other but to do so he has to take a few extra seconds to concentrate. Who would win?

 

As a general rule, whether we're talking about martial arts or defense shooting, you should strive to be efficient and effective; not "fast." If you chase speed in your training, you'll be neither fast nor effective.

Handguns are notoriously difficult to shoot, and lacking in stopping power regardless of caliber. Couple that with the fact that accuracy plummets in high-stress situations, and you'll be lucky if you land any of your shots if you're not making a conscious, ingrained, trained effort to be accurate and deliver well-placed rounds. Nothing short of those one or two well-placed rounds will incapacitate your opponent and ensure your safety. If your efforts are elsewhere, you might as well be flailing your arms around -- or better yet, simply running in the other direction and taking a reasonable bet that your assailant is as inaccurate as you strive to be.

 

I was about to post some very accurate quick draw vids, but I will just say that much of what we think of as speed is perceptual. It looks fast but it is actually a series of well trained habits. Plus hours and hours of shooting, of course.

 

Yep -- exactly. People who are fast are fast because they train to be efficient, rather than quick. What's the old saying? Fast is slow; slow is smooth; smooth is fast.

 

If you can place 3 rounds touching in 30 seconds... You need to speed up. If you hit a limb with one out of 3 shoots in 1 second...you need to slow down.

I know I know...we all heard the old saw that "smooth is fast". Yes.

However that doesn't mean what most people think it means. I can be smooth AND SLOW. You need to shoot as fast as you " smoothly " can.

Professional shooters use shot timers for a reason. You need to balance speed and accuracy with a smooth presentation/gun handling.

 

What's been taught in my classes is that you need to balance speed with accuracy. If you were to put your hand on the bullseye you would want all your shots to land within the area covered by your hand, that's the accuracy you need. If any of your shots are falling outside that area you want to slow down and improve your accuracy. If your shots are right on top of each other you want to speed up a bit but not so fast that your shots land outside the area that your hand would cover. Another words, you want to be as fast as you can be while still keeping your shots within an area roughly the size of a hand. So obviously if you're shooting Center of Mass COM and you hit the shoulder you're shooting too fast and you need to slow down and have better accuracy. You need to balance speed and accuracy. Power also does play a role when you consider factors such as if the perpetrator is wearing body armor, if he's on drugs, and/or if he's particularly determined. As far as accuracy plummeting in a high-stress situation, what they teach is that generally in a high-stress situation your shots will be about twice as far apart as they are in a non high-stress situation, so that is partially why they emphasize being able to land all your shots within a hand's area.

 

I would just move in, so that one of us can't miss. 123