Follow-Through: The Shooting Fundamental That Isn’t
Starting very early in my pistol training as a young man, “follow-through” was listed as a fundamental, along with grip, sight alignment, sight picture, and trigger control. Initially, the concept made sense the same way focusing on the front sight made sense. But when I revisit the fundamentals as I had learned them in the context of lived experience, some of the teachings fall apart. I believe as a training community, we focus on higher-level knowledge and miss out on critically analyzing the basic tenets being emphasized to new shooters.
When we collectively accept our early indoctrination and don’t adapt our thinking to accommodate the truths we have found further down the road, we allow these myths to be perpetuated in new shooters. This causes them to follow the same path we took. If we changed the way we defined fundamentals, we could shortcut their learning process.
In a conversation with my friend and Master class USPSA competitor Riley Bowman, we were discussing the time lost allowing your sights to return to a target that has already successfully been engaged. This is what is traditionally taught as follow-through.
However, advanced shooters are able to shot call in real time and drive the eyes and gun to the next target as soon as the sights lift from their last shot, which is far more efficient. While this is a very challenging skill to execute, especially when shooting at speed, it illustrates very clearly the fact that follow-through is not fundamental to shooting pistols well.
Words have meanings, and it bothers me deeply when we apply words like “fundamental” to subjects and activities that are anything but.
Fundamental:
adjective:
1. serving as, or being an essential part of, a foundation or basis; basic; underlying
2. of, relating to, or affecting the foundation or basis
3. being an original or primary source
noun:
1. a basic principle, rule, law, or the like, that serves as the groundwork of a system; essential part
If follow-through was a fundamental, that would mean good shooting could not exist without it.
The NRA defines “follow-through”:
“the 5th fundamental of marksmanship, defined as maintaining proper sight alignment, hold control, breath control, and trigger control after the shot is fired. It involves keeping the eye on the front sight, not shifting position, and holding the trigger to the rear for 2 seconds to ensure accuracy and prevent anticipation of recoil.”
The USMC pistol shooting manual MCRP 3-01B says:
“follow-through is defined as the continued application of the fundamentals of marksmanship until the round has exited the barrel”
Followed by:
“• Continued Application: The shooter must maintain their grip, stance, breath control, and sight picture throughout the recoil.
• Two Sight Pictures: For every shot fired, there are two sight pictures—the one before the shot and the one maintained after. The second, held after the gun recoils, is the core of follow-through.
• Recoil Management: Follow-through involves bringing the pistol sights back on target immediately after the gun discharges, allowing for faster follow-on shots.
I vehemently disagree with including follow-through as a fundamental. It’s a scaffolding teaching technique or a tactic,nothing more.
As a scaffolding instructional tool, it has some utility. Scaffolding techniques are temporary, structured support in the form of either tools or techniques to help students grasp a concept or ability. The purpose of follow-through is to get the student to fire a shot without disturbing the sight’s relationship with the intended target and get the sights to return after recoil. All of this is geared toward getting the gun to behave predictably prior to ignition and during recoil in any shooting sequence.
In all reality, once the sights start to move in recoil, the bullet’s trajectory is unaffected by anything you do. Scaffolding techniques have a place early in the learning cycle of any skill. They are the “training wheels” of skill development.
As a tactic, follow-through can be important. In a defensive or law enforcement context, shooting a person requires some follow-through in that as the lawful user of deadly force, youmust evaluate the behavior of the person you shot or shot at in order to justify shooting again or making the decision to cease shooting. The phrase “shooting until they change behavior or change shape” requires ongoing evaluation, which is a form of follow-through.
Follow-through can absolutely be important to learn in a shooter’s journey, but it’s not a fundamental.
-Dan Brady
