Every time I see anybody say or write anything about point shooting it always turns into some crazy argument. I dug up several articles on it and they all try to say the same thing, but they all fail, near as I can tell. I'm about to say something radical and annoying and you can let me hear it in the comments, but here it is. Are you ready?
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS POINT SHOOTING.
There. I said it. Based on experiments I did with several of my colleagues, point shooting doesn't really exist. I should throw in one caveat. Taran Butler probably does it with his hip shooting. Aside from him, nobody is really doing it. What does exist is using the sighting systems of the gun to various degrees in order to get hits. Let me explain.
For those of you who have played with point shooting, did you do it with your eyes closed? If you didn't, then you were using your eyes and the relationship of the gun to the target to try and steer the gun. You may or may not have even been aware of the sights or dot or whatever, but I guarantee you that if your eyes were open, you were steering the gun by use of visual inputs. You may have been doing it in exceptionally coarse fashion, but, as I said before, you were still doing sighted shooting.
That experiment I mentioned before? I and several other shooters, including two national champions, shot some with our eyes completely closed. The results sucked. Hits were what I would call coincidental. Everybody was "in the neighborhood," but nobody was going to land hits that were even remotely close to what I would consider either competition or combat effective. In other words, true point shooting was a pretty solid failure for that round.
I have heard several people say that you won't use your sights under the stress of an actual encounter. What I think they mean to say is that THEY won't use their sights under stress. They have pre-decided, and therefore that matter is settled with them. I don't bother arguing or discussing the point with people like that. Much like me saying that I'm never going to go see Chief Keef perform live. Sure, I could, but I'm not going to. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate on The Chief. Love Sosa is really catchy, you should listen to it. But seriously, if somebody has firmly decided something, that is, as they say, is that. Now if you've already decided that you won't use your sights, then you'll certainly fail. The most powerful suggestion there is would be the one coming from your own mind. And let me tell you, I've seen a lot of shooters decide to not use their sights. In every case I've seen thus far, they've all failed to hit their targets. And I'm not talking about trying to get X ring hits, I'm talking about "trying to hit a cardboard backer" type of inaccuracy.
A completely different tale, as told by Annie Oakley's husband. Back in the day Annie told him that she didn't use her sights. He did the usual husband thing of going, "ummm hmmm," and said nothing else. Then when Annie wasn't looking, he moved the rear sight on one of her guns. The next practice session, Annie was missing all over the place and she was pissed. Hubbie told her what he did, they put the sights back correctly, and everything was fixed. She was operating at such a high level that her conscious mind wasn't moving as fast, and therefore wasn't comprehending what she was doing to get hits.
There are many lessons here. Firstly, anybody telling you that they're point shooting? Make them do it blindfolded. It is a true circus stunt. Secondly, you need to see what you need to see in order to get your hits. What that means at 1 yard and what that means at 25 yards are radically different things. If you have confusion on this, some practice is in order. If you want more help, we can get you there. Lastly, some pros do things at such a high level that they are sometimes not aware of what they are doing. I have found that in some instances it makes them unable to fully articulate their technique and how they got there. That isn't to say that all pros are in this boat. The exceptions that I've found would be people like Tim Herron and Gabe White. Those guys both shoot at a very high level, but they've also both picked apart what they do in terms of technique such that they can tell you exactly what they're doing. Also, they can tell you how you can do some of the same things. If an instructor can't get you some meaningful and measurable percentage of their ability, then taking a class with them is a waste of time and money. Don't get me wrong, some instructors are really entertaining, and if that's what you want, you should enjoy the entertrainment. But I do caution you to consider carefully how you spend your time and money. If greater skill and knowledge is what you want, pick your instructors appropriately.
Some links for further research:
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/are-pistol-sights-actually-useful-for-self-defense/
https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/front-sight-focus-or-point-shooting-which-is-better/
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