Shooting Fundamentals Series: The Importance of Fundamentals

Women’s Outdoor News and Avery Skipalis bring you a video about the importance of shooting fundamentals. Shooting fundamentals are the basic core competencies necessary for good marksmanship. Without these foundational skills, it is difficult to accurately and effectively shoot. Fully understanding shooting fundamentals, first contextually and then by physically practicing them, will assuredly make you a better shooter.       

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There are different types of shooting, but the goal of accuracy is a constant among them. Shooting fundamentals are the core competencies necessary to achieve effective marksmanship. Having a solid foundation in these fundamentals will ensure that you start on a good path in your shooting journey. The fundamentals are something you can always mentally reference while you are practicing, to ensure you are getting it right.

Breaking the fundamentals down into individual principles helps us isolate and focus on each aspect of shooting. This basic approach helps you concentrate and ensure you are getting it right. Applying these principles together will enable you to accurately and effectively engage your target. Repeating this fundamental sequence of events with practice will help train your body to get the accuracy you desire. 

Shooting Fundamentals, Explained

The fundamentals are broken down into these categories or basic actions required to effectively shoot:

StanceHow you stand or move with the firearm. Ensure that you have a steady platform.

Avery Skipalis demonstrating hold control

GripHow you hold the firearm. Ensure your grip is firm. Be careful to not over grip the firearm. 

Sight alignment and Sight picture

Sight Alignment / Sight PictureHow you aim the firearm. Line up the sights on your firearm and superimpose them onto your target.

Avery Skipalis demonstrating trigger control Shooting Fundamentals

Trigger ControlHow you press the trigger. Pull the trigger to the rear being careful to not jerk the jerk.

Breath ControlHow you breathe while shooting. Find what works for you, just ensure you’re not shooting and breathing at the same time. I prefer to breathe in, release my breathe and take my shot while holding my breath at my natural respiratory pause. 

Follow-throughHow consistently you repeat the process.    

Avery Skipalis grip Shooting Fundamentals

Importance of Mastery

These fundamentals are vital to be a good shooter. When mastered, they serve as a great resource for troubleshooting any issues you may experience on the range. If you are not getting the marksmanship results you desire, you can always refer back to your fundamentals to self-diagnose and resolve any issues while precision shooting.     

  • About Avery Skipalis

    Avery Skipalis is the owner of Skip’s Tactical Solutions, an organization that focuses on empowering women, men and children to make sure that no one else becomes a victim. She gained her firearms experience from the military where she’s been a military firearms instructor for 10.5 years. She’s also a certified NRA rifle and pistol instructor and Glock Advanced Armorer since 2015. She’s attended Sig Sauer Academy, FNH, Special Operations Command Armorers courses as well as multiple Advanced Shooting Schools across the United States. She resides in Florida with her husband and 2 kids. She’s currently serving in the United States Air Force and loves sharing her passion with others. She thinks it’s important that women also feel like they’re in control of their own safety.