At 64 years old, I'm finding that I can not hold a pistol nearly as steady as I could 35 years ago when I began shooting handguns. I know this is to be expected, but can anyone suggest exercises that might help mitigate this?
LOL, I used to have a "wobble zone" but it looks more like an earthquake zone now... ;-/
Regarding exercise, general conditioning and strength training can't hurt. If you are lacking in strength and stamina and that contributes to your shake exercise should help. However if this is just some sort of age related nervous system/ muscular system phenomenon you may just have to learn to accept it.
I've witnessed some really good shooters with unsteady hands, generally older folks. The key is accepting the wobble and doing your best to keep the sights aligned. The further you get from your target the worse your wobble appears relative to the target. Note: I said "appears". That wobble if the sights remain aligned results in no difference in group size whether you are at 3 yards or 25 yards. Just do your best to steady the pistol, keep the sights aligned and press the shot. If you keep focally shifting from sights to target looking for that moment of perfection the results are rarely as good as staying on the sights and accepting the wobble.
Welcome to old age, my brother from another mother.
I have a medical history that includes cerebral malaria, not one but two TBI's, and arthritis in the hands.
I take a lot of glucosamine chondritin and use those hand strengtheners. And I have learned to live with a wobble zone that looks like an epileptic 7-year-old sliding down the deck of the Titanic.
I don't think it ever gets better, I am just delaying the inevitable. If I am around in 15 years, I'll probably have to stop shooting handguns.
Hey, you work with what ya got when you're old!
Realistic grip strengthening exercises, shooting practice which emphasizes "quickly taking as much time as necessary", making hits at sensible distances (5-7 yards) with sufficient accuracy and precision to accomplish the needed result...not worried about impressing anybody, not trying to meet some arbitrary competition standard...you're already doing better than 90% of the pistol owners out there who never practice.
"Therefore, since the world has still... Much good, but much less good than ill,
And while the sun and moon endure, Luck's a chance, but trouble's sure,
I'd face it as a wise man would, And train for ill and not for good." -- A.E. Housman
Thanks to all for your feedback!
I started shooting handguns in the mid 80s when I worked in the trades. I was in much better shape and had a lot more upper body strength back then. It all went down hill quickly in '95 when I took a "desk job" but even then, the shake was not evident. It seems to have come on slowly over the last eight years, and the longer sight radius of my recently-acquired 5-inch PPQ makes even more noticeable (maybe this is why I remain so fond of the smaller PPS).
I need to get my a$$ in better shape, starting with upper body and grip strength. Seems like a good place to start...
As long as your "wobble zone" is smaller than the target you're trying to hit, your trigger-pull is still going to largely determine what you hit or miss.
I do a demo for new recruits where I turn the pistol upside down, pull the trigger with my little finger, and shoot a 10" plate @ 50+ yards. I can assure you, the "wobble zone" seems excessive and my little finger isn't ideally suited to the task of pulling the trigger, but I hit the plate every time if the trigger pull is acceptable.
In other words, I don't miss because my muzzle orientation is off, I miss because I listen to that little fairy sitting on my shoulder telling me to yank on that trigger.
The path of least resistance will seldom get you where you need to be.
A lot of things can cause hand tremors or tremors in general.
You can google 'essential tremors' and look at some causes and possible treatments, but it'd be a good idea to see your doctor and get a second opinion before committing to anything. I doubt that moderate strengthening exercises will hurt you, regardless of what's causing the tremors, but it may not help your specific problem.
Whether you think you can or you can't, you're probably right.
Half a century of furious masturbation will do that
From seeing friends go through this problem several times, I don't really believe you can do anything to really make much difference. My one friend has at least as much, if not more strength in his hands than I do, and he's all over the place, to the point where a laser at 50' is making a large "figure 8" that barely changes if he really concentrates on trying to get it to lessen. When I aim at the same spot, the laser just vibrates a little, maybe an inch, tops. When he started getting shaky, one of the first things he muttered was "Man, I'm turning into my dad!", whose hands shook and he had the head thing where he looked like he was shaking his head "Nope" all the time the last years he was alive.
I seem to be turning into my mother. Bad back? Check. Bad neck? Yep! Running low on patience? Getting closer every day. She was sharp as a tack when she died at 87. I would be happy to make it to 75 with my faculties.
I am in my 70's and my hands started trembling in my late 60's. My groups at 25 yards are about twice as large as they were 10 years ago.
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