Diagnostics—-shooting low.

[shiv]

I hopped on the VP9 bandwagon very early when the pistol was released. I love the gun but carrying a Glock led me to not shooting the VP9 much. I decided to train with it and perhaps shoot it for USPSA production this year until I save up for a CZ. I cannot use my Glock due to modifications bumping it out of production.

When I first started shootings the VP9, it was like a laser for me. It shot great and seemed to fit me well. After not really putting many reps on the gun over this last year besides occasional slow-fire at bulls, I’ve started running a few drills the last few days. The problem is that I’m suddenly shooting low. I notice my sights dip after recoil. I thought OK, easy fix. However I noticed even after transitions I’m low. If I slow down, I can punch out the X ring. What could cause me to push so low? I’m talking 5-6”. Never had this problem in ‘14-15 when I first started shooting it.

What should I be isolating to figure out what’s going on?


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[spinmove_]

You’re shooting 5-6” low at what distance? What ammo are you shooting (including weight)?


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[Peally]

If you're shooting fine slow fire you're flinching, misaligning the sights at speed, or you have a poor grip (more likely if it's just second shots going low), or any combination of the above. Keep in mind if you're super used to a Glock grip angle is a real thing, your natural grip may just mean a standard angle firearm like the VP9 is aimed way lower than it should be.

Sight alignment, trigger pull, grip. Those fundamentals are what everything revolves around, assuming you're not including movement. When something goes wonky one of those probably just needs polishing up.

[MGW]

My guess is you are breaking your wrists down as you break the shot. I'll let others chime in on how to fix it as I often struggle with the same thing.


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[feudist]

Low hits can be a sign of losing front sight focus by switching your eyes to the target. you then dip the front sight out of their way. low hit.
Or, especially running several shots at speed, it can be pre-ignition push-basically trying to time the recoil with tightening or locking the wrists.
Try ball and dummy to diagnose.If the dummy strike results in pulling the gun down with the sights still aligned, it might be pip. If the front sight only dips, you're peeking at the target.

[LSP552]

Sometimes it’s really hard to diagnose issues long distance. Have you had any formal training? If not, finding a good basic instructor is a great investment for moving forward.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have trained in a lot of places, but some of my best personal growth has come from working with my old regular training partner, another pretty decent teacher of the pistol. It’s easy to let something slip a bit without even realizing it. Being around someone who can diagnose that is priceless.

Shooting low is almost always a trigger control issue.

One drill that I really like that may help is a modified version of the wall drill. Basically focusing on your sight alignment close to a wall where you are visually tuning out everything but the sights. From there start varying the speed of your trigger press while keeping proper sight alignment.

I like to think of the front sight as the gas peddle of your pistol. You can pull the trigger as fast as you can keep acceptable sight alignment. After working close to the wall, move away and start presenting the gun to a target. Again, focus on using the front sight to dictate the speed of your press. If you are losing acceptable sight picture on the target, slow down the press but don’t stage the trigger.

The end goal is to know how fast (or slow) you can manipulate the trigger and get your hits. Focusing on the sights helps take attention from the press itself, helping to build the press into your subconscious. If you are really thinking and focusing on the press itself, it increase the chance of staging and losing the front sight.

Something Bruce Gray said to me some years ago really stuck. Phrasing now, but essentially it’s focusing attention on the sights gives our conscious mind something to do so our subconscious mind can press the trigger without the conscious getting in the way.