Recoil Management

**Recoil management** is the combined technique of absorbing recoil, maintaining sight picture through the recoil impulse, and returning the sights to target for a follow-up shot. It is the technique that separates shooters who can run a splits drill at a real speed from shooters who can't. Recoil management is not about fighting recoil. It is about positioning the body, grip, and firearm such that recoil returns the sights naturally to the same spot they started. A shooter with good recoil management looks calm, moves very little, and puts shots close together on target. A shooter with bad recoil management muscles the gun back down between shots. The mechanics are upstream of the technique: stance provides the platform, grip provides the control, trigger press and follow-through preserve the alignment. All of them have to work together.