TargetTalk

I am 100% convinced that I am the problem.


This applies to me as well .... but my 'twitches' are I think due to a confidence problem . Fear of a bad shot leads invariably to bad shots. Trigger shyness combined with trying too hard. To have this leap of faith that makes one ignore the target and keep one's eye on the front sight , to allow for surprise shots that someohow are always accompanied by a natural follow through and an accurate call . I tried allowing surprise shots consistently , but have to give them up when a lot of them turned out to be unpleasant surprises !
I love this game cos it can never be totally mastered , as it requires someone to master himself and that is no mean feat but a worthy enterprise.

I had this happening with my P44. I ended up shimming the grip block to get my NPA to be the actual hang point the gun comes to with no corrective effort. I found that if I was holding the gun on point of aim with effort from its natural hang point in my hand i was succeptable to jerking the gun as i squeezed the trigger and lost control of the hold effort keeping the gun on target..... As the gun got closer to having NPA and its natural hang point being the same, the problem really minimised itself..... I also added a touch of nose weight to the gun to help hold the gun in place after i found that spot it liked..... It ended up being just a little bit more wrist down than the grip adjustments allowed, so a couple shims got me there. Also rolled in a bit of cant to relax the upper forearm a bit...... Went from 82s to 88-91s..... Theres more there now to be had.....

What helped me get over twitches that big (I still occasionally have one into the 7, but almost never into the white) was to learn how to relax as many arm muscles as possible and let the arm suspend on my shoulder muscles. That, and make very, very sure the thumb/index is relaxed before starting the pull.

Most of you are treating this as if it were a technique problem.

I would classify it as a "brain fart."

I stuck one of my targets on the AP range bulletin board just to mock myself. It consists of four tens and a five. My technique just ain't that BAD!

I had a 5 in my last match. Everything was going OK, but my 65 year old eyes just checked out right for a sec as the shot broke...

I have a good shot process that will produce nothing by occasional 9's & lots of 10's as long as my brain & body can execute it properly...

Brrraaapppp!!!

I shoot similar scores and I have been told you are anticipating the trigger pull.

Hi,
Most of the important points were disused by some of you.
I would like to mention my opinions below.

1. Gripping too hard - the grip pressure should be firm. pressure of shake hand would be too much for air Pistol.
2. Grip pressure increases during trigger squeeze. - do not allow to increase the grip pressure during trigger squeeze.
3. Too much pressure from Thumb could result 3 "O" clock or 2 "O"clock hits. let thumb be rest on the grip.

Above mentioned three areas would damage your performance very badly according to your performance level.
Only a coach can identify your error correctly after watching you shoot.

There are few more areas but you need the assistance of a coach to identify those fine tuning techniques..
Squeeze or "pull", Correct direction of grip pressure, sway,position, timing of the shot process,eyesight (when consider the age).. are some of them.

You can not correct them all at once. you have to correct them one by one. prioritize your errors, select one error, correct it, concentrate and practice it for a longer period of time till it become natural or auto. and now you can move to another error.
but if you shoot alone, you will gradually develop another error with out your knowledge. this is why you need a coach.

Hope my statement would help you..

Good Shooting...

Best Regards
Sagara Wimaladharma

Rover wrote:Most of you are treating this as if it were a technique problem.

I would classify it as a "brain fart."

I stuck one of my targets on the AP range bulletin board just to mock myself. It consists of four tens and a five. My technique just ain't that BAD!

Brain flatulence is more prevalent then you may think ....

Chipeck

Here a couple of ideas that have really helped my shooting. I am no young shooter at age 69, but constantly striving to improve. The occasional bad shot, for whatever reason has been the singlemlargest disappointment of my shooting experience.

I recent had a new grip made by Cesare Morini. In talking to him he touched on something that really hit home. The grip/pistol today can (and should) adjusted so that when you lift the pistol to the aiming position the front and rear sight automatically align horizontally. I see a lot of shooters "readjust" their wrist position up or down in the aiming position (because the front sight is either low or high. This means they are pre-loading the wrist joint. A natural neutral position would allow the muscle groups to remain untensioned and maintain a tension-free NPA.

Secondly, he reinforced on me the importance of not having "fingertip pressure" affect the NPA. he recommended that the 3rd and 4th fingers do the gripping, and the 5th (pinky) be used only as a "spacer" - no grip/no pressure. The same for the thumb - no downward pressure/no aideways pressure.

I reset the 2nd stage release pressure to about 60 grams, per his suggestion, as well. Surprisingly, I have not had a single flyer in over two weeks, training 2 sessions a day of about 80 shots per session, plus dry fire practice. This has resulted in me averaging about 90 points per target over this period.

These two "hints" from Cesare, along with a renewed, concerted concentration on the front sight has reduced my arc of motion to about the 9 ring. I concentrate on this "process" and let the results take care of themselves.

Thank you.

Chip

I know why I have bad shots : Just milliseconds prior to shot release , my eye leaves the sights and sticks to the target , does'nt happen all the time, but when it does ; bad shot.

I agree that well tailored grips are a must !

Elmas

Try the following: take a candle and thoroughky blacken the sights on your pistol. Create a shade difference between the sight and th target bull. This will help keep your focus/concentration on the front sight when it counts.

Simpler than that: a dab of orange chalk. Not enough to cover the back of the sight, but enough to catch your eye. The more irregular the better. Every crumb should be in sharp focus when the shot breaks. When you find you are getting too used to it and your focus wanders, make a new mark.

I used a hair from a paint brush and made a jagged line up and down the middle of my front sight. I concentrate on seeing that sharply defined before I release the shot.

Chip

I've used a white correction pen to make a white dot at the bottom of my front sight.

It's placed so that I can see it (and focus on it) while lowering my gun into the target, but it's not visible when I have my front and rear sight aligned ready for my shot. These days I don't use it that much but in the beginning it was neat to find something "solid" to focus on. If the lighting conditions at the shooting line are poor it also makes it easier to draw the focus back from the target.

Confidence and a clear mind .

. Fear of a bad shot could be a 'self fullfilling prophecy"

Frenzy81 wrote:I've used a white correction pen to make a white dot at the bottom of my front sight.

It's placed so that I can see it (and focus on it) while lowering my gun into the target, but it's not visible when I have my front and rear sight aligned ready for my shot. These days I don't use it that much but in the beginning it was neat to find something "solid" to focus on. If the lighting conditions at the shooting line are poor it also makes it easier to draw the focus back from the target.

Excellent idea!

Chip

I too have same problem, intermittently though, and chalk it up to age. My first instinct was to increase frequency of grip strengthening, but arthritis prevents all but the mildest exercise (feels like gravel in wrists).

Although I bought an AP when I retired in 2015 I only recently began shooting in earnest when I began participating in a Postal league. I was initially frustrated by the difficulty of AP (little room for error), even though the target is only at 10m. Joining a postal league is forcing me to develop skills. I have found that a dedicated routine, i.e., the basics (stance, grip, etc) and in particular, starting out at the 45 degree hold even in practice, seems to have reduced the twitch to the right (right hand shooter). I too think the lightest grip enabling precise control of the pistol reduces the frequency and severity of the twitch.

I am just beginning to shoot 90s with a semblance of a centered group. An unanticipated benefit of shooting AP is improvement my long line scores in BE. I now include at the 45 degree starting position as part of my long line protocol and think this process helps me to re-focus for each shot. I am now working on getting the shot off quicker, although there are times when not giving up on a shot producers a decent score. As they say, experience helps me to know when to hold them and when to fold them. dipnet