Home/Practical Shooting/Short Moves

Short Moves

MovementLevel 2 — Intermediate

Prerequisites

Position EntryPosition Exit

Unlocks

Mounted vs. Dismounted Movement

What It Is

Quick lateral movements of 2-3 steps between shooting positions that are close together. The gun stays mounted at eye level the entire time -- these moves are too short to lower the gun or reload. Short moves are the most common movement type in practical shooting stages and are a significant time leak for intermediate shooters who treat them as mini position-exits and position-entries rather than as continuous shooting with a brief lateral step.

Correct Execution

  • Gun stays mounted at eye level throughout the entire move -- never dips
  • Eyes are already on the next target before the feet move
  • Explosive push-off from the current position -- from athletic stance, just go
  • Low center of gravity -- knees bent, no standing straight up to move
  • 2-3 quick, powerful steps -- not a shuffle, not 5 small steps
  • Cross-stepping for lateral movement when appropriate (front foot crosses over)
  • Decelerate smoothly into the new position
  • First shot breaks immediately on arrival -- gun was never lowered, so no setup time needed
  • Upper body stays level during the move -- no vertical bounce
  • Start and stop in athletic stance (feet spread, knees bent, ready for next movement)
  • Shoulders lead in direction of travel
  • The trigger and feet are untethered -- you can pull the trigger at any point during or after the move, not only when feet are planted

Progression Levels

Diagnostic Tree

Coaching Cues

  • "Gun stays up at eyeline the entire time" -- The defining feature of a good short move. (Stoeger, Skills and Drills Reloaded)
  • "Keep gun mounted, looking to next target" -- Gun stays in your workspace, already pointing toward where you are going. (Stoeger, Skills and Drills Reloaded)
  • "Two big steps, not five little ones" -- Explosive, decisive movement covers the distance faster.
  • "Untether your trigger from your feet" -- You can shoot at any point in the stride cycle when the sight picture is acceptable. (Stoeger, "Ben Stoeger on movement basics," 2024)
  • "Continual shooting" -- Don't think shoot-move-shoot. Think of one continuous string with a brief lateral step. (Stoeger, "Ben Stoeger on movement basics," 2024)
  • "Smooth gliding movement" -- Upper body stays level, no vertical bounce, no level changes.
  • "Eyes lead, gun follows, feet arrive" -- The sequence for every short move.

Common Errors

  1. Gun dip: Muzzle drops during the move. -> Arms used for balance or level changes during steps. -> Lock the gun at eye level; legs do all the work. No level changes.
  2. Shuffle steps: Many small steps instead of few big ones. -> Caution or poor footwork. -> Push off explosively; cover the distance in 2-3 powerful steps. Use cross-stepping.
  3. Looking at feet: Eyes on the ground during the move instead of on the next target. -> Fear of tripping on props/fault lines. -> Know the path from walkthrough, trust peripheral vision.
  4. Post-move setup time: Arriving and needing to find the target, adjust stance, or resettle the gun. -> Not preparing during the move. -> Eyes on target and gun tracking before arrival.
  5. Trigger-foot coupling: Only shooting when both feet are planted. -> Instinct to shoot from stability. -> Untether the trigger from the feet. Shoot when the sight says go.
  6. Level changes: Standing up to step, sitting down to shoot. -> Inefficient lower body mechanics. -> Maintain knee bend throughout. Glide laterally.

Related Skills

  • position-entry: Short moves are compressed position entries
  • position-exit: The exit is the first half of a short move
  • shooting-on-move: At high skill levels, short moves become shooting on the move
  • mounted-dismounted: Short moves always keep the gun mounted

Edges

💎 Elite-Only Behavior

Untether Your Trigger From Your Feet

movementshort-moves →

Most shooters unconsciously couple their trigger press to their foot placement -- they will only fire when both feet are planted and stable. This adds 0.2-0.4s per short move. Elite shooters untether the trigger: the sight picture determines when to shoot, not the stride cycle. They fire at any point during the stride when the sight picture is acceptable. This transforms short moves from "shoot-move-shoot" into continuous shooting with brief lateral steps.

What most people do
Think in discrete phases: shoot, stop, move, plant feet, shoot again. Each phase has a start-up cost. The trigger is locked until the feet say "go."
What the best do
Think in continuous shooting: the entire sequence is one string with lateral movement embedded. "It's continual shooting -- I'm not thinking shoot, move, shoot."
Why it's an edge: Short moves are the most common movement type. A 0.2-0.4s savings per short move multiplied by 4-5 per stage = 1-2 seconds per stage of pure free time.
How to exploit: Practice the Continual Shooting Drill: 3 targets requiring 1-2 step laterals. Engage all targets as one continuous string. If there is an audible break in your shooting cadence during the lateral steps, your trigger is still tethered.
Cross-domain parallel
In basketball, elite point guards can pass mid-dribble at any point in their stride -- the ball release is untethered from the footwork. The same decoupling of upper and lower body enables faster play.
Stoeger, "Ben Stoeger on movement basics," 2024

Sources

  • Ben Stoeger, Skills and Drills Reloaded (2018) -- Gun at eye level during short moves, mounted gun principle, looking to next target during movement
  • Ben Stoeger, "Ben Stoeger on movement basics" (2024) -- Continual shooting mentality, untethering trigger from feet, no sequential shoot-move-shoot thinking, cross-stepping
  • Ben Stoeger, "Movement Basics" (2023) -- Athletic stance start/stop, extraneous step elimination, full power movement