TargetTalk

Kindle help me with some Exercises to master trigger of 10m AP.Would be thankful.
Regards

Dry firing is amongst one of the best for learning the feel. Then train the trigger live fire. I personally like shooting on the back of a card, to aid concentration. It is perhaps better for sighting exercises, but still useful for trigger control.

Rob.

RobStubbs wrote:Dry firing is amongst one of the best for learning the feel. Then train the trigger live fire. I personally like shooting on the back of a card, to aid concentration. It is perhaps better for sighting exercises, but still useful for trigger control.

Rob.

Thanks for replying bro. But i was talking more in the technical sense. Like once i read somewhere abt an trigger exercise which was like;
Raise the pistol and stable it. Now press the first stage trigger, release it back. Repeat 3 times. And proceed to 2nd stage trigger only in the 4 th time.

I am already doing this but anything more than this....

amarinder wrote:

RobStubbs wrote:Dry firing is amongst one of the best for learning the feel. Then train the trigger live fire. I personally like shooting on the back of a card, to aid concentration. It is perhaps better for sighting exercises, but still useful for trigger control.

Rob.

Thanks for replying bro. But i was talking more in the technical sense. Like once i read somewhere abt an trigger exercise which was like;
Raise the pistol and stable it. Now press the first stage trigger, release it back. Repeat 3 times. And proceed to 2nd stage trigger only in the 4 th time.

I am already doing this but anything more than this....

When I read your drill I was a bit taken aback. I strongly feel letting off the trigger will do nothing but set you up for chicken finger or some other kind of stutter step trigger action.

One of the best trigger exercises I have been taught is to sit in a comfortable chair rest you pistol and arm on the arm of the chair close you eyes and envision your shot process, "take the shot", follow through, see the shot break the X. This reinforces your shot process including follow through with perfect results every time. The only physical thing you are doing is pulling the trigger which seems to amplify the sensitivity.

Dave

I am firmly of the opinion that training any of the elements, other than in a way that you would want to perform them in a match, only teaches you to perform them in a way that you wouldn't want to use in a match.

IMHO, just shoot but concentrate on a achieving a smooth positive trigger release that doesn't disturb the sight picture. That's the trigger release you want in a match so why train something else.

Live or dry fire doesn't matter, nor does front or back of the target. Whichever you prefer.

David Levene wrote:I am firmly of the opinion that training any of the elements, other than in a way that you would want to perform them in a match, only teaches you to perform them in a way that you wouldn't want to use in a match.
.

Understand the point and agree to some extent. The point though in training 'bits' is to deconstruct the process and then rebuild it. As you know training is performed in phases according to the part of the shooting year you are in. In the early phase it's appropriate to train certain elements individually to really learn them. So nothing wrong with sitting in a dark room pulling the trigger to learn it, just don't keep on doing that as it will teach you just that and not how to shoot better.

When I read your drill I was a bit taken aback. I strongly feel letting off the trigger will do nothing but set you up for chicken finger or some other kind of stutter step trigger action.

I would though agree, there's no point in taking and releasing first stage only that I can think of. You want to train the process of breaking the shot smoothly which involves taking up the first stage, and increasing the pressure to break the shot.

Finally there's no magic drill to learning trigger control. You can find many different options, but the most important thing is that you focus 100% on the trigger and adopting the correct process and not just going through the motions.

Rob.

RobStubbs wrote:So nothing wrong with sitting in a dark room pulling the trigger to learn it.......

I completely agree, providing that you are pulling the trigger in the way you would do in a match; none of this start/stop/start/stop etc as described earlier.

You didn't mention your skill level or experience. But, I think at any level its sometimes nice to shoot supported. This gets any movement of the body and arm out of the equation. Why I like it is because you can work on it until you see yourself firing, dry or live, with absolutely no movement of the front sight and with perfect alignment. You see it, you remember, you know you can do it.

After that you'll want to go work on hold exercises so you can see it while firing in your stance!

This mostly works for me only when firing on blank backgrounds. I'm still to darn likely to notice the bull...

-= Jab

Watch the sights and make it a conditioned response that when you see the Big BOLD letter E it causes your trigger finger to squish it. The bold letter E is laying on it's back. The combination of the rear sight notch and the front post. Increase trigger pressure until the E is perfect as it releases the sear.

Trying to get it perfect "then" squeezing will put you off the center. The act of squeezing the trigger will move the pistol. Make your squeeze part of sight alignment.

Muscle work out and core stability will help. Grip strength - Wind up a big soup can on a rope using a broom handle. (or buy the same thing from sporting goods store)
Bosu half/ball balance - assume a skiier stance. Use small <5lb weights in each hand to make letter "C" with arms extended at side, while maintaining balance on ball. Then do same thing with backwards C. I can't do figure 8 but that would work as well. Teaches you to make minute corrections in balance.

I have made a positive move in my scores and technique by using a gyroball exercise device. my wrist and forearm muscles are becoming more defined and in shape. This is making it much easier to have a stable sight picture, and that makes it easier to pull the trigger smoothly. I found that as my hold is improving, my need to squeeze the trigger quickly is reduced. Now that I can sit on the hold better, I have the time to focus on the smooth shot....

Absolutely make sure your trigger finger is totally independent from the rest of your fingers. Then experiment.

In my humble opinion, "For Me" I don't think my index finger is capable of working independent of the other digits. I can minimize it but there is always some change in tension. I grip hard and that minimizes the impact of index finger but there is still movement.
"For Me" I use that known movement, to drive sights into perfect alignment. I just make it a sequence of using my trigger to perfect aiming such that at the moment of sear release I am at peak alignment within my aiming area. This technique also requires a heavier trigger pull and a long sliding roll. I can't shoot a 2lb trigger with a 1.5lb first stage. I prefer a 3lb or higher second stage.
I need to feel it slide rather than a crisp light release.

Here's another two cents worth.

What you are doing is the same as the person who goes out to play golf (choose your sport) without practicing first. Instead of learning the fundamentals of the sport, they think they can play it and learn at the same time, when all they are doing is wasting time and probably reinforcing bad habits. Any time I've taught a sport to some one, they want to go out and start playing, figuring I will correct them as they go, but no, they never even see the field for weeks or months depending on how long it takes to master the basic motor skills.

My humble advice: don't start playing with the trigger until you have learned excellent motor skills with each finger. This is a long-term investment, not an easy fix. You need to learn to play a musical instrument like a guitar or piano which requires moving and controlling fingers independently. The fastest way to do it is to learn to type correctly using the traditional method of all fingers. If you text by hunt and peck with two fingers, stop it, get a full keyboard, and find a free typing instruction app. When you can type over 70 words per minute you will have gotten enough dexterity that the next time you put your finger on the trigger, YOU will be in control.

A test for basic dexterity:

Hold up your shooting hand and make a 'V" with first and second fingers together, and third and fourth together, V between these two groups. It should look like Spock from Star Trek with his "Live Long and Prosper" pose. Don't worry about what your thumb is doing. Now switch your fingers to make two "V's", by holding the second and third fingers together, with the V's in between your first and fourth fingers. You should be able to swap back and forth between the two poses quickly and accurately. This is just basic control, but it will give you an idea of how far you need to go.

Hope this Helps,

Scrench

Scrench wrote:Here's another two cents worth.

What you are doing is the same as the person who goes out to play golf (choose your sport) without practicing first. Instead of learning the fundamentals of the sport, they think they can play it and learn at the same time, when all they are doing is wasting time and probably reinforcing bad habits. Any time I've taught a sport to some one, they want to go out and start playing, figuring I will correct them as they go, but no, they never even see the field for weeks or months depending on how long it takes to master the basic motor skills.

My humble advice: don't start playing with the trigger until you have learned excellent motor skills with each finger. This is a long-term investment, not an easy fix. You need to learn to play a musical instrument like a guitar or piano which requires moving and controlling fingers independently. The fastest way to do it is to learn to type correctly using the traditional method of all fingers. If you text by hunt and peck with two fingers, stop it, get a full keyboard, and find a free typing instruction app. When you can type over 70 words per minute you will have gotten enough dexterity that the next time you put your finger on the trigger, YOU will be in control.

A test for basic dexterity:

Hold up your shooting hand and make a 'V" with first and second fingers together, and third and fourth together, V between these two groups. It should look like Spock from Star Trek with his "Live Long and Prosper" pose. Don't worry about what your thumb is doing. Now switch your fingers to make two "V's", by holding the second and third fingers together, with the V's in between your first and fourth fingers. You should be able to swap back and forth between the two poses quickly and accurately. This is just basic control, but it will give you an idea of how far you need to go.

Hope this Helps,

Scrench

Seems to me to be a waste of time and effort unless you actually want to learn an instrument. That time could be put into learning to shoot well.

I can do that little test no worries at all and I have the musical talent of a deaf mute. I also cant touch type. The whole idea of pistol shooting is to be able to move your trigger finger without moving the others as long as this can be achieved I dont see the need to be able to move the others individually.

As long as someone can place their middle finger and thumb together with 1mm or so gap and move their trigger finger back and forth without changing the gap this is plenty

motorcycle_dan wrote:In my humble opinion, "For Me" I don't think my index finger is capable of working independent of the other digits. I can minimize it but there is always some change in tension. I grip hard and that minimizes the impact of index finger but there is still movement.

Gripping hard is most likely the source of your lack of independance of movement. If you grip more lightly you should find the trigger finger moves independantly of the others. Another point you need to consider is where are your other fingers positioned on the grip ? If your fingers are positioned correctly then any movement in them will go straight backwards which wont then disturb the sights.

Rob.

I know I have always used the technique of shooting with my eyes closed. Well not shooting but breaking it like a dry fire. When you close your eyes and focus all your attention to the trigger you develop a finer feel for it IMO. Sort of like blind people having their other senses enhanced. It just gives you a chance to focus on nothing but the way the trigger feels. This goes for any gun.

Beyond that just dry fire and practice. Pumping the trigger is a good thing to understand but not something I do unless conditions are blowing me around physically and even then it is rare.

Good luck..