Take up or not take up trigger slack, or should I pause before I reach the wall?

[GJM]

I enjoy most all technical shooting threads, including this one, although I suspect they are most useful for those that already understand the subject. Learning to press the trigger, by reading the internet, is likely to be about as successful as learning to hover a helicopter by reading how on the internet. There really is a reason that instructors have not been made obsolete by the web.

[Lomshek]

I enjoy most all technical shooting threads, including this one, although I suspect they are most useful for those that already understand the subject. Learning to press the trigger, by reading the internet, is likely to be about as successful as learning to hover a helicopter by reading how on the internet. There really is a reason that instructors have not been made obsolete by the web.

Yes but a guy who's already shooting to a mediocre (PF mediocre) level can explore new methods and adapt their technique based on what they read here. That's not the same as a great instructor but it's far preferable to not learning or exploring better methods.

[Gio]

Yes but a guy who's already shooting to a mediocre (PF mediocre) level can explore new methods and adapt their technique based on what they read here. That's not the same as a great instructor but it's far preferable to not learning or exploring better methods.

Exactly. While a good instructor may be able to convey an idea better in person by physically showing you, it doesn't mean you can't figure it out on your own. Plenty of people can find benefit in reading books, talking to experts online here, watching YouTube videos on the topics, asking for feedback and target/video critique, and then putting in the repetitions live fire and dry fire to see if it works for them. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you go to a great instructor if you're not willing to put in the hundreds of hours of practice and repetition to get better; you'll never see much improvement.

[randyflycaster]

I have to say I've learned a lot from boards like this one; and I've had coaches that helped me very little or not at all.
And yes, I've even had coaches that have made things worse.
Randy

[GRV]

In general, my finger starts to make contact with the trigger as the gun is presented out toward the target. I have a good slow motion video from a match where my trigger finger makes contact as the muzzle is pointed toward the targets. "When" I start pressing the trigger depends on target difficulty. For a wide open target at 7 yds or closer my goal is to have the shot break as soon as my sights hit an acceptable sight picture, so I am pressing through the slack as the gun is being indexed out on the target. On a harder target like 25 yds, my finger will go to the trigger at the same point but won't start pressing until the sights are settling.

Here is a still photo from a slow motion video at the earliest point in the draw I can see my finger touching the trigger.

Attachment 14981

Great shot, also great video

You've said that you press through the slack and "wall" all in one smooth continuous motion. People also, for the most part, seem to be on the same page of having a constantly increasing amount of force on the trigger.

However, the slack and wall provide different resistances and give different sensations. Do you perceive your finger ramming straight through at a constant speed, unphased by the presence of the wall, or do you have a sensation of your finger being slowed down by the extra resistance of the wall and gradually stacking force against that resistance?