Natural Point of Aim vs Point of Impact

In a perfect world every shooter would hit their target dead center no problem, every shot.  Unfortunately, shooting accurately is much harder than people think and where they were aiming is not the place in which the bullet actually hits.  While shooting technique is the cause of this mismatch it is important to first understand the journey the bullet takes, where it started out being aimed and where it actually ended up impacting.  To understand this we use two terms, point of aim and point of impact.

Point Of Aim, Make It Natural

The point of aim is where the sights are lined up on target, this is where we intend to hit. Unfortunately that aim is always slightly moving and as we press the trigger, it can move even more causing that mismatch in where the bullet actually lands.

However, we can use our bodies to help us mitigate that mismatch.  Natural point of aim takes advantage of our bodies orientation and uses skeletal alignment to get accurate shots on target quickly.  Our vision is then used to confirm our aim rather than drive it.

Having a good stance should give good skeletal alignment and make it easy to naturally aim at the target.  Good skeletal alignment means hips and shoulders are square to the target, and the spine and nose are aligned with the center of the target.  Don’t be twisting and fighting the tension while shooting, be aligned behind the gun.

Point of Impact

The point of impact is where the bullet actually punches a hole in the target, once the trigger is pressed the point of impact is set.  Remember, the trajectory of the bullet and where the point of aim was will deviate more as the distance grows sending the point of impact way off.

Using a natural point of aim can help to influence where the point of impact is, here’s how.

Incorporating Natural Point Of Aim Into Stance

By using a natural point of aim when getting into a shooting stance this helps ensure the body is fully aligned with the target, this gives us the opportunity to aim faster.  By knowing the body is already accurately aiming at the target the eyes can then come in to confirm and refine if necessary.  

The goal is to have very little if any clean up when the firearm is presented, less finding the sights and adjusting means faster shooting.  Everyone has a natural point of aim, learn where it is, use it as an advantage and adjust so this becomes the automatic stance which creates consistency and efficiency.

Finding Natural Point of Aim

Since everyone has a natural point of aim, shooters can find where it is and then use the new information to adjust their shooting stance, trying to fight where the body naturally wants to go creates tension and expends unnecessary energy.   

A simple exercise can be used to find the natural point of aim, then it is just a matter of ingraining and internalizing what that body position is.

First, get into a shooting stance with hips and shoulders squared up to the target, then present an unloaded gun onto the precise target, like the bullseye.  

With the gun still presented, close your eyes and move the upper body like a tank turret left and right a few times, stop at the center and open the eyes to see where the sights are lined up on target.

Assess where the sights landed compared to the bullseye, it likely is off, and that’s ok because now the natural point of aim has been revealed, and where the body ended up is where it naturally wants to be.

Stay presented out and make micro adjustments to shuffle the feet, squaring up hips, adjusting the strong side knee until sights are dead on target.  Now body position in relation to target is found, repeat this until landing the sights on the bullseye is consistent. 

The whole body is now aiming accurately at the target and the eyes can then use the sights to make it precise.  Working with our body instead of against it can lead to faster and more accurate shots making that point of impact just where it was aimed.

Train Natural Point of Aim

After a natural point of aim has been found through the exercise it is important to continue to incorporate it and step up that skill level.  Being able to get into a good shooting stance is more than talking oneself through it at the range, it should be automatic at any time, even from in motion or with a turn.  

This is easy enough to train by increasing the difficulty of the exercise used to find the natural point of aim in the first place.

Instead of starting out static in stance already, take a step into the stance, close your eyes, present out and see where that point of aim landed, adjust and repeat.  Over the course of several repetitions it should be easier to have that point of aim locked in.

Once stepping into the stance has been made consistent, try the exercise again but by taking several steps or a burst into the stance instead of a single step.  More movement and momentum came into the stance initially but with an internalized natural point of aim being accurate on target should come easily.

After learning to be in stance from a quick movement, exchange it out for another variation.  Start out perpendicular to the target, look at the target and close the eyes, then turn and present to the target and open the eyes to see if the point of aim lined up with the intended point of impact on the target.

Learning to internalize a natural point of aim that is automatically guiding the body to aim at the target helps the gun get on target faster but also helps with a more accurate point of impact.

Perform these drills on your own using Laser Academy or step into the Training Journey where each exercise here is a guided drill.

Aiming Doesn’t Stop at Point of Aim

Having the point of aim and point of impact coincide with each other isn’t the only factor in hitting the target.  The other fundamentals, like trigger press, also come into play.  Learn to press the trigger straight back to avoid causing the point of aim to move when firing.  Using the MantisX reveals what movement is actually happening in the press and gives actionable insights to improve shot placement.

If optics are mounted to the firearm, knowing the zero and how to create a hold over also plays into aligning the point of aim and the point of impact.  The gun, ammo and the distance to the target are also factors to consider.  

It takes many skills applied cohesively to be a well rounded shooter, but each skill can be understood and worked on individually.  A little bit of practice each day or week goes a long way, so watch a video, dry fire, or take a class and chip away at it every day until shots are landing exactly where they were meant to.