Settling down; what is your method?

[Houngan]

Through technique, I've managed to get my hand/wrist to settle almost immediately when I start shooting, whereas I used to require ten or twenty shots for everything to smooth out.

However, I still have a worse wobble in my shoulder at the beginning, any methods for settling the shoulder down before starting to sight in?

H.

[alex c.]

I do a few things to help warm up my arm/shoulder/hold before I get into sighters/record shots.

Stretch arm/shoulder before before I set up on the line. But not too much.

Use mostly all of my prep time for nonstop dry firing

Shoot some extra sighters if it feels necessary(usually no more than five more to the ten I normally shoot)

I see some people/top shooters dry fire against a spot, or something on a wall, before the match. I've yet to try this, but plan to start soon.

[RobStubbs]

You probably need to warm yourself up and then do some pistol shooting specific stretching exercises. If you do this 20 - 30 mins before a match, that will give you some time to dry fire before the match as well. There are shooting exercises out on the web but if you can, seek out someone who knows what they're doing to run through them safely with you first.

Rob.

[2650 Plus]

Happened to me until I learned to rotate the shoulder down to its more relaxed position causing the elbow to lay flat and the arm to bend straight up instead of to the side. Fewer muscles are involved and seemed easier to hold the pistol still. May or may not help but its worth a try. Good Shooting Bill Horton

[clark2245]

I see some people/top shooters dry fire against a spot, or something on a wall, before the match. I've yet to try this, but plan to start soon.

Are you sure they are aiming at something on the wall? It can be helpful to dry fire against a blank area on a wall sometimes to remove the 'distraction' of the bull so you can completely concentrate on the feel of the trigger and / or the sight picture. A useful part of a training routine.