A Dry-Fire Regimen for Addressing the Visual Interrupt

What this regimen is for

This regimen targets a specific, extremely common bottleneck in intermediate-to-advanced handgun shooting:

The visual interrupt — the brain’s tendency to treat recoil as the end of a task, forcing a perceptual “reboot” between shots.

At slow cadence, this interrupt is cheap and often invisible. Under speed, higher round counts, or transitions, it becomes expensive: shooters feel rushed, disconnected, or “behind the gun.”

This is perceptual software work, not recoil management. It is designed to restore continuity of attention so that multiple shots and transitions remain part of one continuous visual event.

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What this regimen is not

• It is not speed training
• It is not recoil control training
• It is not trigger-speed training
• It is not a replacement for live fire

Used incorrectly, it can create false confidence. Used correctly, it makes live fire more honest.

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Core principle

Hands move. The world does not.

Every drill reinforces this rule.

A secondary principle:

Prediction is not permission.
Dry fire predicts. Live fire verifies.

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Equipment options

This work can be done with:

1. No firearm — thumb as surrogate front sight
2. Trigger clicker / fidget — adds a press without recoil
3. Unloaded firearm — optional, for later integration

Rule: If adding the gun increases cognitive load or encourages ritual, remove it.

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Known Failure Modes (Read This First)

This regimen deliberately removes recoil. That creates risk. The following failure modes are common if care is not taken:

1. Lazy Grip – visual success with physically inadequate tension
2. False Geometry – voluntary “returns” that don’t reflect recoil physics
3. Zombie Stare – eyes open but not processing
4. Trigger Mashing – “visual lock = slap the button”
5. Over-Lead – hands moving at “thumb speed,” not gun speed

Mitigation:
Grip must be engaged, vision must process detail, and this work must alternate with live fire.

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Drill 1: Visual Frame Preservation (Thumb Front Sight)

Purpose:
Teach the visual system to remain stable while motion occurs inside it.

Setup:

• Choose a small, fixed background detail (screw head, scratch, outlet plate).
• Hold thumb at extension as surrogate front sight.

Execution:

1. Maintain target focus on the background detail (thumb remains secondary).
2. Slowly lift the thumb upward.
3. Let it return.

Diagnostic question:
“Did the background stay still?”

Addresses:

• Head–eye coupling
• Involuntary nods or blinks
• Visual frame instability

Guardrail:
If your shoulders, forearms, or grip go slack, stop and reset.

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Drill 1a (Optional Diagnostic): VOR Check

Purpose:
Verify vestibulo-ocular reflex integrity.

Execution:

• Keep thumb still in space.
• Move head side-to-side or up-and-down.

Result:
If the thumb jumps or blurs, your eyes are riding the head instead of compensating.

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Drill 2: Predictive Return (No Trigger)

Purpose:
Build expectation of return without chasing motion.

Execution:

1. Decide exactly where the thumb will return.
2. Lift it.
3. Do not watch it come back — wait at the destination.

Addresses:

• Prediction vs tracking
• Visual anticipation

Guardrail:
Acknowledge explicitly: this is software training, not recoil validation.

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Drill 3: Two-Shot Intent Without Confirmation

Purpose:
Eliminate the visual reboot between shots.

Execution:

1. Establish visual reference.
2. Press once (clicker or dry press).
3. Reset without looking or re-aiming.
4. Press again.

Rule:
Eyes never leave the original reference. The reset is not punctuation.

Addresses:

• “Stop and check” behavior
• Editorial oversight mid-string

Guardrail:
Treat the press with respect. No slapping, no expressive finger motion.

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Drill 4: Slide Rack as Deliberate Disturbance (Optional Firearm)

Purpose:
Train visual continuity through large disruption.

Execution:

1. Press once.
2. Rack the slide while maintaining visual lock.
3. Press again without re-confirmation.

Reframe:
The slide rack is the world’s biggest recoil impulse.

Optional Diagnostic:
Film your eyes in slow motion. Blinking = data loss.

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Drill 5: Vision-Led Transitions (Two Targets)

Purpose:
Prevent the gun from dragging the eyes.

Execution:

1. Eyes snap to the new target.
2. Gun follows immediately as slack is taken up.
3. (Optional) Add presses.

Visualization:
Eyes and gun connected by a slack rope — eyes take up slack, gun is pulled behind.

Guardrail:
Respect inertia when reintroducing the gun. Thumb speed ≠ gun speed.

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Drill 6: String Commitment (Triples / Quads)

Purpose:
Prevent mid-string renegotiation.

Execution:

1. Decide string length in advance.
2. Execute continuously.
3. Finish the string even if degraded.
4. Diagnose afterward.

Addresses:

• Supervision vs interruption
• Duration-based attention

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Drill 7 (Optional): Blackout Press

Purpose:
Build proprioceptive trust and reduce target-checking.

Execution:

1. Align.
2. Close eyes.
3. Press.
4. Call the “shot” location.
5. Open eyes to verify alignment.

Use sparingly.
This builds confidence, not verification habits.

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Guardrails (Non-Negotiable)

1. Grip is mandatory, even without recoil.
2. Dry fire predicts; live fire verifies.
3. Visual continuity must include processing, not staring.
4. Do not stack perceptual reps indefinitely.
5. Alternate with recoil early and often.

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Frequency

• 10–15 minutes
• 2–4 times per week
• Stop when attention degrades

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Transfer Criteria (Live Fire)

You’ll know the work transferred when:

• Doubles feel like one event
• The second shot stops feeling rushed
• Transitions arrive aligned without correction
• You stop checking targets because you saw the sights move

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Final framing

This regimen does not make you faster.

It removes unnecessary perceptual resets so that speed doesn’t steal judgment.

These drills are scales, not music.
They are valuable precisely because they are incomplete.

Use them to build the visual pathway — then test that pathway honestly against recoil.

That loop is the discipline.