Muscle Memory?

[Blowmax10]

I'm I wrong in my thinking that shooting is at least 85% developing muscle memory?

I'm training my new GF that has zero experience shooting and it seems like all the problems she has is lack of muscle memory

I keep telling her that I need her to just do things over and over again but she gets tired of it quickly

Any of you guys have ideas how to keep things fun for someone that really isn't into shooting? I'm thinking that the .22 spinner targets would be a good start to keep her into it - something to keep her shooting and having fun

[Matt In Oklahoma]

When we train the NRA Women on Target they get to select what they liked best at the end. It is always something that moves, falls or is destroyed. The visual reference stimulates the mind as well as teaches a healthy respect for the power without the fear quite often induced by the manly horror stories of the awesome power weilded by braggarts. It's why shooting steel, pins and movers is so popular in the various disciplines and they are rapidly growing and in our discipline that I shoot the women and girls are joining monthly.
Take your time with her though and don't push. Allow the fun, don't push the "kill shots" and encourage everything even if it isn't gun magazine writer approved. Incorporate range time with a good meal/conversation and maybe a trip to a store for the end to a good day.

[Bull]

We just had a former Navy SEAL on our boat for about a week, who was going over efficiency, safety, and these types of things. He works for a consulting firm that helps with briefing, planning, and all. At one point he was talking about memory, and was using shooting as an example, and we talked about shooting a bit afterwords. Anyway, when you actually perform a task, like shooting, the part of the brain that is working is what goes to long term memory, as apposed to short term memory if you are just taking in info from listening. So he said that it takes around 5000 repetitions of an activity for it to become long term memory, and stick. And after that, you will lose it, if you don't use it. So I guess the point is that muscle memory(even though your brain is also working) is a huge part. He said to dry fire a lot, to save money on ammo, and still build the muscle memory. So I don't know a percentage, but according to this guy, it plays a huge part. There are videos out there, of scenarios where a bad guy will show up, and you will have to decide whether or not to draw your weapon and shoot. This is one of the things we had to do in the Coast Guard, for periodic training. Anyway, maybe something like that would be more interesting for her, and you could do that at home sometimes, and save ammo, and be more convenient than going to the range. I guess any video like that would work for the purpose. Everything Matt said sounds like a good idea.

[Klayton]

Do you want to see true muscle memory?

Unsnap your 3 year old out her car seat when she is dead asleep.
Watch those arms instinctively slip through the straps and she put her arms up in the air for Daddy to pick her up, and still stone cold asleep.

That is true muscle memory my friend. So instinctive you can do it asleep. ;)

[Bearman202]

People get tired of punching holes in paper pretty quickly. Toss out an empty water bottle or something and they will shoot at it for hours. Seeing it flipping up into the air is a rush. Getting it to move up the back of the berm is a bit of a rush too. It gives you a visual on where you're shooting. Keep in mind also that it's been proven that people who shoot at silhouette targets are a lot more likely to drop the hammer on a human that those who only shoot at the bullseye-type targets too. For some reason, if we get it into our heads that shooting at something with the shape of a human is okay, we're more likely to actually do it if it comes down to it. Weird, but apparently true. A good mix would be my approach, and usually the way I do it with new shooters.

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

Toss out an empty water bottle or something and they will shoot at it for hours.

Or a Full water bottle exploding works well too.

[Klayton]

People get tired of punching holes in paper pretty quickly. Toss out an empty water bottle or something and they will shoot at it for hours. Seeing it flipping up into the air is a rush. Getting it to move up the back of the berm is a bit of a rush too. It gives you a visual on where you're shooting. Keep in mind also that it's been proven that people who shoot at silhouette targets are a lot more likely to drop the hammer on a human that those who only shoot at the bullseye-type targets too. For some reason, if we get it into our heads that shooting at something with the shape of a human is okay, we're more likely to actually do it if it comes down to it. Weird, but apparently true. A good mix would be my approach, and usually the way I do it with new shooters.

We make exploding targets out of both food dyed ice cubes with popsicles sticks to support them up in the air (way cool pink mist when hit), tried several times to make sugar targets (think rock candy)(these work about 50% of the time) heat up some water and keep adding sugar (and food dye) until the simmering water wont hold any more sugar, set out a bunch of dinner plates and pour your sugar solution onto the plates and allow them to harden when they cool. These are VERY fragile so transporting a long distance away from home is not recommended. But to see those sugar plates burst is a good visual for kids learning to shoot. :)