holding sight picture to long

[H2DE]

What is the cure for holding the sight picture to long? I tend to see a good sight picture then just stand there and look at it till it starts to go bad then pull the trigger. Is the a training technique that will improve this bad habbit? Don

[wrc]

Congrats for diagnosing the problem - you are being an observant shooter, and that is very good. Try mental imagery - see yourself set up the shot, see a great sight picture, and see yourself automattically touching the trigger without any hesitation. Practice the good habit in your mind so it becomes automatic. Then dry fire, with focus on good trigger control. Keep thinking and practicing the good habits, and they will overrun the bad.

Be strong enough to realize that you will ahve to stop the shot sequence when you know that you are only staring and admiring the sight picture, rather than shooting it. It is a tough mental game, and you will become a better shooter as you master it.

[Curt]

confidence in your trigger pull! when everything lines up, you should subconciously be in the process of squeezing the trigger.

[Matt Rorke]

Keep in mind that the sight picture will degrade within about seven to ten seconds of your last breath. That's actually plenty of time. When dry firing, try to get yourself into a rythym that takes into account that amount of time. After a while it'll be second nature.

[Guest]

Hi,
I have the same shooting experience as you, but I am working on getting rid of it with WHEN and HOW.

Obviously, we are holding too long and shy on triggering. Now we know it and let's learn to operate it under an intentional control will. I found this really helps me if I keep the sight picture sharp during the sequence as:

Aim...Hold...Click (Fire)... Follow through (stay up a bit longer).

You can use as much time as you needed to execute this sequence as long as you keep the sight clear and sharp through out. Of course, the sight alignment through out the exercise is the measurement that you are working on.

Really, do not pay attention to the shots on target unless you are adjusting the sight for centering. The tight shot group and the higher score will come as you train.

Good shots are always great to remember, Happy shooting.

[JohnD]

I occasionally find myself sleeping through tens without pulling the trigger. What works for me is a few air rifle sessions using the David Tubb "Approach" method. It's explained in his Highpower Rifle book. The basic idea is to establish your natural point of aim on the bull, but for each shot you deliberately start from the same place just OFF the bull, move onto the bull and fire as everything lines up. I usually start at 9 o'clock and move to the right, and fire when things are prety well centered.

I haven't been able to make this work as a match technique. I can't quite move from left to right without a good deal of up and down wiggle, so I rarely use it in a match. My best groups using a conventional hold are better than the groups I shoot with the approach method, but the inability to pull the trigger sometimes results in wild shots. However, as an exercise for unjamming the brain-to-finger block, it seems to work for me.

[KennyB]

I watch the foresight come up from 6 oClock as I let my breath out - count to 2 and squeeze. It can be a leap of faith.
You have to set yourself up so that your natural POA is in the bull but then, when you let that final breath out, you can be fairly confident that your aim is good.
Even if the sight picture looks slightly off, the shot will usually be better than if you wait and agonize over the perfect sight picture. It's quite surprising sometimes.

Also, after you've released the shot, close your eyes - if you can see an afterimage of the foresight/aiming mark, then you've taken too long... What you were seeing was that afterimage rather than the true sight picture.

Believe me, it works.

[Jnr.]

I found that I hold it very long in a match, but in prac. it is ok.
The only way I could stop myself from doing this was to hold the rifle (follow through) just as long as my aim was. Either you build convidece in yourself your arms want to fall off, either way, you get your shots off with better scores.
This really helps getting you to fire and really works on your fitness. I would advice to only do this in prac.

Another way of getting yourself to actually pull the trigger is in practise, to shoot 2 dry shots then 1 live. And shoot through a target. This will not only make your firing sequence better, but also practises your natural-point-of-aim.

[RobStubbs]

The answer is really practice and more practice. Practice so you know what to do and practice so you have confidence in doing it in a match situation. Try for example letting shots go in say no more than 3 or 4 seconds and actually count in your head. Keep doing that in practice and then repeat in competition. You can drop the counting if you like or when you feel you no longer need it but come back to it when you catch yourself over holding. The 'trick' is to convince yourself that shorter holds work so you're not scared of letting the shot go early. I should point out that I'm an infrequent rifle shooter as I concentrate on pistol but the same approach applies, the timings are just slightly different.

HTH,

Rob.

[Guest]

I have the same problem as JohnD. When moving left to right or right to left my wobble is significantly up and down.
Anyone have a solution?
Tedfl

[anschutzshooter]

When I found myself holding too long I tried to change my whole approach. I guess I just wasn't feeling comfortable with my hold...I would be holding pretty well, but just couldn't "bring" myself to pull the trigger. I'm not sure if I was just waiting for it to get even better or what. Then what I ended up doing was kind of what JohnD described. I would hold to the right of the target...come left and actually past the target the other way...then as I was coming back right I would pull the trigger and get a 9 or 10. I didn't/don't have the issue with the up and down movement though. A coach at a rifle camp I went to watched me on the Rika Trainer and couldn't believe what my movement looked like. I wouldn't suggest that to get rid of a long hold though...it's pretty unpredictable...all it takes is an 'oops' and you'll get a 7 or 8. What I started to do after that was come down on the target (from 12 o clock). I noticed that my hold was very stable and I just all around felt better about it so I didn't feel the need to hold long at all. Maybe something you could try is to just try a couple different approaches and maybe find one that you'll feel comfortable with. Maybe just some more comfort (confidence) and of course lots of practice will help your holding. Also try some holding exercises/dry firing exercises. Have someone that can time you and maybe give yourself a timed window in which to execute the shot. That way you can start to practice not being able to even have a long hold.

[batty]

Try a training session of rapid firing

Here in England we have 25 yard targets which are 10 bulls

for a 10 bull target try

240 seconds
180 seconds
120 seconds
100 seconds
90 seconds
60 seconds

it will train your mind to shoot when it first sees the correct target picture and because you haven't got the time to wait until it is perfect - hence getting worse it should help the problem

Let me know how you get on



Michelle

Batty007@hotmail.com

[holson]

This is one of the hardest parts of shooting for me. Alot of my practice time was devoted to learning to trust my hold. If you look through the sights and the hold is there, you have to take it. You can't take the time to acknowledge it and say to yourself, "Hey, this looks pretty good!". The only way to be confident enough to do this is to practice. Work on being able to identify when something is wrong before you start the sights/firing process.