TargetTalk

Trigger shyness sort of creeps on one gradually...

I only shoot AP and with the 500gm trigger find it hard to let off a shot esp in matches ....I just keep squeezing and no shot till my breath gives out then I either snatch or retire from the shot.



Interestingly , a fellow shooter who shoots FP ( who has a 10gm trigger ) tells me that even free pistol shooters can suffer from this problem !!

Is it lack of confidence... or trying too hard or what ?

If there were an easy answer that allowed an easy correction, I think we'd all be doing it!

Shooters who compete in SP commonly observe they get better groups and better scores in timed than slow fire even though it's the same target and the only difference is they have less time to do it. What happens is that in timed, they don't get into that destructive loop of trying to increase pressure on the trigger as the sight picture gets better followed by letting it off as it (inevitably :) gets a little worse. Each time you do that (increase a little, then let off a bit) the sear ends up at a little different setting than where it started, meaning you change the feel of the trigger for the next cycle. Well, duh! The whole enchilada in precision shooting is doing the exact same thing every time. But if the trigger is different every time, that could be a problem! During timed fire, shooters don't get into that loop; they see a good picture and commit to the shot and that's that. As a result, they get a much better, more consistent trigger pull.

The other part of the problem (thinking about what goes wrong with my own shots) is that as you pull the trigger, it's easy to pull the gun to one side or the other. It's hard to pull the trigger straight back. In slow fire, you get more chance to watch that happening, which causes more of that, oh, oh, it's getting worse, I need to let off the trigger 'till the picture gets better again cycle. The other day someone mentioned the idea of visualizing that you're pulling on a string tied to the front sight. Last night in our weekly FP match, I tried that, and when I could get that idea working, it really helped.

The disease is known as "cheeken finger", and is a universally common malady that can be solved in time. The mind has a peculiar tendency to say " don't shoot until you have PERFECT sight picture." So your little heady bone + 3 lbs of mush encased therein, is telling you these fantasy stories and you believe them, unfortunately---hence the "jerk" shot in desparation. One way is to adopt a timing policy when shooting, I usually use a timer (Radio Shack) set to a 12 second count-down.. When I start to "lift" I punch the button in my pocket and bring the gun up and squeeze the shot off within that time limit. Some people say use six seconds, IMHO that's too fast for my addled 75 year brain. Additionally the perfect sight picture exists for a split second or two, you must learn to accept movement of your front sight and squeeze through that regardless. If you are running out of breath, that's also the sympton of cheeken finger---at that stage the gun should be put down. Learn to say "PUT THE GUN DOWN !!!!", and start over again---in a 60 shot match you can and should expect to put the gun down---at least a dozen times, if not more. Your breath timing is also important and my giving you my technique will not necessarily work for you, between shots relax with your eyes off the target and breath normally----prior to the lefi start to saturate your lungs with a least two-three deep breaths----on the lift take a breatha dn as you rise---release some air----the gun is up and your concentrating on the front sight---your trigger squeeze has altready begun and must be maintained until the shot breaks----do not bring the gun down immeaitely but follow through---now concentrate on what you saw at the break, call the shot---check the scope. Slow and steady is the pace and FP or AP is not learned overnight---I hear and see many shooter who claim to be in the 500's within two weeks or less after "beginning" to shoot. Unless you are a long time shooter, THAT AIN'T A GONNA HAPPEN. Be satisfied with your progress, remember that to every up there is a down and plateau's to overcome. Be prepared and committed to spending much time rehearsing this choreography---with many perceived failures in between----"Keep 'em in the Ten ring or at least on the paper"----

Elmas:

Your problem is very common; particularly for new shooters but also for shooters with many years of experience.

That is good news actually, because it means there has been a lot of thought into what casues it and how to cure it over the years!

You need to focus on curing it- but here is a brief description of a commonly accepted cause. Chicken Finger results when a shooter is consciously maipulating the release of the shot. You are managing hte amount of pressure on the trigger- usually (and most detrimentally) in conjunction with some "desired sight picture" in order to release the shot "at the best moment." Therefore, you are training yourself for a positive-negative signal system with conflicting "Squeeze-Don't Squeeze" messages. See Yur'Yevs book for more sophisticated explanation.

What you want is automatic trigger control that, once initiated, smoothly and continuously applies perfectly balanced pressure through the release of the shot. Initiating the process should be a "reflex" action. The process, once started, should always go to completion exactly consistently every single time.

So here's how to cure it: train your trigger control to be 100% consistent, smooth, and automatic. This is done by squeezing the trigger while observing the sights (for any misalignment) thousands of times. Focusing only on a smooth, quick, sure process.

Dry fire against a blank (neutral) surface while observing intently the front-rear sight alignment. Assess the quality of the trigger process (see paragraph above) and change technique to ensure perfect trigger control.

Don't even think about looking at an aiming bull until trigger control becomes 100% smooth, reliable, and consistent.

If you absolutely have to live fire for whatever reason, do so against a blank target while focusing (again) on sight alignment and 100% sure, smooth, consistent trigger control.

Maybe a thousand times is a little quick; just say "thousands' of times.

Do this work while resting the your arm on a comfy cushion os you can repeatedly dry fire for extended periods of time without distraction

Steve Swartz

Steve.
As usual a fantastic well worded, clear, precise piece of advice for so many of us.
Given that you are an elite athlete [surely anyone who shoots AP in the 570's and 580's and represents their country is elite] and with a daily training schedule that starts when most of us are still asleep - your preparedness to contribute so often to this forum is remarkable.
Thank you.
John