Book review Feeling Center The Art and Science of

Precision Pistol Shooting. By Bruce Martindale 


Review by Richard Evans



Bruce Martindale has written a book (~100 pages) on pistol shooting that provides new insights about acknowledged information concerning pistol shooting technique as well as new insights on previously ignored technique questions. He also provides a lot of info on how to succeed in competition and it isn’t all shooting.
 
Bruce admits that he was once a total failure at the sport of pistol shooting.  He is now a Master class Bullseye competitor and often finished top 10 in the Olympic Trials and International championships. This admission immediately tells the reader that pistol technique can be acquired and that it is not attainable by only a select few of naturally talented people.  You can read Gil Hebard’s well regarded A Pistol Shooter’s Treasury, and if you can decipher what these master shooters are saying, you can prosper.  But, if you are like me, a beginner, and you attempt to follow the advice of Bill Blankenship or Harry Reeves you will likely be sorely disappointed in your results.  
 
One of the many new concepts Bruce presents in his book is to distinguish “walking” from “running” as they apply to pistol shooting.  Reading Bill Blankenship is not only reading an account of shooting technique by one of the greatest precision pistol (bullseye) competitors, it is reading an account of high speed running.  This material was unintelligible to me even though I tried to apply his ideas for ten years.
 
Bruce provides the necessary information about the biomechanics of shooting regarding the details of stance, grip, triggering, etc in a way which is intelligible to anyone.  He presents his 6-step shot process with details on each step particularly on grip, trigger, and what most shooters need to focus on to succeed. Brian Zins perhaps the only shooter who has excelled more than Blankenship in bullseye shooting, loves to tell shooters in his clinics that all you have to do “is pick up the gun, shoot, and put it down.” He does this to accomplish two goals – one, is to show you what a true master shooter can do, and two to tell you, the learner what you cannot do. 
 
A good example of what Bruce does can be found in his discussion of “pointing and pulling”. The idea that pointing and pulling must occur simultaneously as opposed to serially can be found in many discussions of pistol shooting.  
Referring to Brian Zins again, he is great at emphasizing this notion and demonstrates on some NRA videos why these must occur simultaneously. Bruce reverses the process and focusses on the trigger pull with “good enough” sights and goes one step further and explains that trying to get a perfect hold on the target  or even trying to get the 10 you see is a loser every time with the occasional exception that can be attributed to the law of averages.
 
He also provides mental techniques, training tips, equipment and ammo comments and simplifies what you need to do to succeed at and enjoy this sport at any level 
 
Perhaps this book should be considered A Pistol Shooter’s Treasury revisited” With the greatest takeaways of learning to walk, and how to really point and pull

Where do we find this book?

I am about 25% into the book and will gladly second this endorsement.

Anyone who wants to get the book should reach out to Bruce directly. He is a member of the forum and, I am sure, will be glad to respond to Private Messages about the book.

Best Regards,
Oleg.

FYI, it's an eBook, a PDF that you can open in multiple formats including iBooks. It's only $10. Right now I'm emailing copies with PayPal donations. Reach me at. Kingsarcher2 at yahoo dot com.
I am working on a possible page header here as well as distribution through another major board member here. 

There's a good number of copies out there from my soft release and I'm getting good feedback and results. One relatively new shooter just put up a 97 SF at the Long Line. That's a big pop.

It took me a year to write this book and it's based on a class that I also developed integrating 5 disciplines of International as well as Conventional . With the price of ammo and gas, how can you lose?

Thanks

Thanks all. Please remember PayPal isn't your friend.

When using it, please give me your email address and nothing more than "Book"

Enjoy!

"Book" sent! Thank you for taking the time to share

Be sure to include your email please.

Friends and Family has no surcharge, if you use regular payments, please submit $10.30


Thanks

I believe, I was the first one hinting of the existence of Bruce's book in this post - https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t20075-flat-vs-arched-msh-and-perception-of-how-the-dot-responds-in-dry-fire  I was a lucky one being in the group of shooters who Bruce approached asking to review Revision 1, then 1A and provide him with comments and suggestions. 
The only comments I could offer were corrections of spelling of my last name where Bruce mentioned my products in the book.  Otherwise, I found answers to several of my questions, especially regarding wrist locking, grip and stance.  Bruce's TOTO concept I mentioned in the above post was an eye opening for me!  There is a lot of valuable information in the book.  And very importantly, this information is delivered in very simple terms and easy understandable form often complemented with graphs and drawings.  I also want to point out, that thanks to Bruce I have better understanding and appreciation of Jon Eulette's posts on fundamentals of precision shooting. 

I'm very happy to see Bruce now making book available to wider audience.  Highly recommend it!

AP

I'm still in the early part of the book, but I looked ahead a few times.  It's a very encouraging book, and while I don't expect it to make me any kind of expert, the book explains things in a way that anyone (even me) can understand.

I started to read it while I was overseas; now that I'm back, I just need to figure out the "PayPal" stuff.

The Pistol Shooter's Treasury is written very differently.  It had what seemed like a lot of valuable information, but as I was reading it the first time, I didn't know enough to really understand.  Bruce has a way of explaining things that the start to sound logical, easy to figure out what he is suggesting.  

Bruce, thank you for taking the time to do this!

I own and have read pretty much everything out there on precision shooting. Bruce's book is unique in its teaching method and will be a valuable asset to the aspiring shooter (myself included). The “walk before you run" theme is crucial and contradicts so much of the advice given (even though given with good intentions) and what's been written in the past.  I also particularly liked the "squirt the clown" phrase. It clarifies what I've been trying to do and explain to less experienced shooters.


Highly recommend!

I'm about half way through Bruce's book.  He's got a very interesting and new (to me) approach.  It's clear that he put a lot of thought and work into it.  Definitely worth reading and putting into practice.  Thanks Bruce!

I’ll put in another plug for Bruce’s book. He has a wealth of Bullseye experience. He is kind enough to share it in his book. It is a very worthwhile contribution to Bullseye literature.

Another plug for Bruce's book. I have been working on air pistol most recently. After gaining a better understanding of grip and trigger control fundamentals, especially the relationship of grip strength and trigger finger mobility, I have seen improvements from averaging around 510 with a best of 528 to now averaging around 535 with a best of 546. 
Now I have to learn to apply this to my .45

Please please please 

pay attention to PayPal details, say no more than "Book" and give me or send me your email. 

Comments on the title or nature of the book could get my account shut down.

Feel free to tell me how you're doing; l love success stories

Thanks

bruce martindale wrote:Please please please 

pay attention to PayPal details, say no more than "Book" and give me or send me your email. 

Comments on the title or nature of the book could get my account shut down.

Feel free to tell me how you're doing; l love success stories

Thanks

 Really Bruce, a buyer doesn't have to give any reason for the purchase when sending the money "Friends and Family" with PayPal. It's like wiring money home to "Momma" or some family member through Western Union. Anyway that's the way I did it, that way nobody pays PayPal a fee, and it's nobody's business what you or I are doing.
 Stan

chopper wrote: Really Bruce, a buyer doesn't have to give any reason for the purchase when sending the money "Friends and Family" with PayPal. It's like wiring money home to "Momma" or some family member through Western Union. Anyway that's the way I did it, that way nobody pays PayPal a fee, and it's nobody's business what you or I are doing.
 Stan

Yes, that is exactly the point that Bruce is trying to make - when sending F&F PP payment the sender don't need to say anything..... even a "book".  Because when one does, PayPal's (and so is eBay, Amazon, etc.) algorithms kick in and check for key words, that programmed on "restricted" items list.  Words "Pistol" and "Shooting" are both on that list, alone with thousands of others. 

My 2 cents.

AP

Bruce,
Please check PM…..thanks.

I am 69 yrs old and had stopped shooting pistol many years ago. I have started again and have been struggling to get decent scores in competition. I got Bruce's book last week and read some of it and went and did some Dry firing based on Bruce's thoughts. Shot my first Centre Fire precision this morning and my heart was racing, I was anxious and shaking. I shot 49, 48 and 47 for the first three series. ( let us not talk about the others) but the score was respectable. I owe this to Bruce. So thank you Bruce and I suggest that every serious pistol shooter reads this and implements what Bruce has to say.

I stumbled upon Bruce Martindale’s book 2 days ago at the forum, read all the positive previews and decided to get it.  In the back of my mind I said to myself “what else can the book tell me that I haven’t read or heard before, but at 10 bucks “what the heck” I’ll get it.” 
I read the book in one sitting. Was there some new earth-shattering information that I haven’t heard before-no, but, it JUST MADE EVERYTHING CLICK! It’s as if the proverbial switch got switched on! 
The title of the book is “Feeling Center”. Just think about it for a second - “Feeling Center”. This is exactly what it did for me. Every fundamental we are taught from Approach to Follow through just became real. 
I took my .22 and my .45 to the range that same day. It’s as if my bullets became magnetised to the center of the black. Out of 80 shots with the .22 and 60 shots with the .45 not a single shot was lower than an 8.
The book isn’t some kind of voodoo magic, but it put everything in very clear perspective in a no bullshit, real-to-life, real-world approach. The commentaries, dialogue and hints from top shooters was the icing on the cake.
If you truly want to advance and truly shoot better (not just shoot better scores, but SHOOT BETTER), get this book and really read it with the way it was written - from the heart. You won’t regret it.
Bruce, thank you for your great effort, taking the time to write it and sharing your knowledge, experience and expertise with us.

Bestdentist99 wrote:I read the book in one sitting. Was there some new earth-shattering information that I haven’t heard before-no, but, it JUST MADE EVERYTHING CLICK!

Snip

Unique concepts are ToTo, walking, the Big U, and trigger focus. I've never seen them discssed elsewhere. Might be a couple more.  Glad it helped you!

Bruce,

Sent paypal

Check your pm.

Adding my praise. I just barely started reading the book, but I cheated and did exactly what Bruce said not to do… I skipped forward to the appendices where I saw the commentary on an AMU video during rapid fire from the shooters viewpoint.  To a beginner level shooter, that commentary right there is worth ten times the price of admission. Pure gold.

With apologies for not following instructions… Thank you Bruce!

Received Bruce's book yesterday. Finished it this afternoon, well I should say finished it first time around.  His ability to write his experiences and knowledge in a clear relatable way will make this book shooters will go back to time and time again.

I've read many books on how to shoot, many of them are great but lose me when they get overly technical.

This book read like Bruce is a guy I know, who happens to be a master shooter, and because he knows I'm really trying to become a better shooter, takes the time to explain his road to success.

I can't read it in one sitting! 

The thing to do is read it slowly and evaluate the grip, stance, and trigger methods and options presented, compared to what you're actually doing. That's where the growth opportunities are.

Consider that what I wrote might not be what your first understanding might be.

Folks that have seen some recent cf/45 scores might want to know that I'm injured from bowling and had the pleasure of some bad commercial ammo.
I did manage a Master score at Long Lake though.

bruce martindale wrote:I can't read it in one sitting! 

The thing to do is read it slowly and evaluate the grip, stance, and trigger methods presented compared to what you're actually doing.

Consider that what I write might not what your first understanding might be.

Folks that have seen some recent scores might want to know that I'm injured from bowling and had the pleasure of some bad ammo.

Bruce I by no means think this is a book to breeze through and think you can absorb everything you have written about. I did read through it over a 2 day period.

I highlighted many sections of the book that I need to work on.  And yes I will refer back it to it as I try to accomplish these methods.

I use a journal now, huge help for me.

Just about everything you talk about I need work.