Ninety percent of shooting is trigger control

[GJM]

I am convinced that at least ninety percent of shooting is trigger control, and at least ninety percent of what is discussed here and elsewhere is about shooting stuff other than trigger control.

[rjohnson4405]

I agree to an extent, however, there are techniques and situations that affect your ability to execute "trigger control."

I have yet to be able to perform a perfect trigger pull consistently (especially at speed), but there are grip, placement, and other techniques that I have been able to execute well to offset imperfect trigger control.

Those are worth discussing as well and in my experience often take less work to produce results. However, as you develop as a shooter I think trigger control becomes more and more important. Because now things like grip mechanics, grip strength, finger placement, sight tracking, etc aren't adding up as much as improving trigger control will. I shoot slower one handed not because I'm lining up the sights different or my stance is less stable but because I don't have the extra hand to offset trigger control mistakes and so I have to concentrate harder and go slower to get a better trigger pull to make the shot I need to make.

If you had a competition shooter grown in a lab with lots of motivation and drive I would probably have them spend a long time on trigger control and add in other "techniques" later. For most other beginning shooters they will see improvements from other techniques long before they master trigger control.

"Shooting well is simple, not easy." - Stolen from many people.

[spinmove_]

I dunno. The more I grow as a shooter the more I find the issues that I have seem to be the root cause of something wrong is done at the grip level which can directly affect how trigger control is executed.


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[Glenn E. Meyer]

I agree. My main fault was a trigger issue that Tom Givens fixed. However, crappy eyesight is becoming a factor that is kicking in at my age for sight alignment at a distance. Good sight picture and if I miss, it's screwing up the trigger.

[nate89]

I would agree with the idea that 90% (or somewhere around there) of shooting an accurate group at a target is absolutely trigger control. One reason, in my opinion, that there are so many other things discussed is that most people are doing more than simple shooting at a static target from a static position.

From being around here for a bit, most of the members here are either mil/le, or competition shooters of some variety, usually practical shooting like USPSA. Not everyone, but many. I am not LE/Mil and never have been, but I do compete in USPSA. Obviously I am always seeking to improve trigger control, but there are so many other skills that lead to success in a match. Movement, transitions, reloads, and the list goes on.

I think the skills beyond 'just the shooting' are even more pronounced in some sort of LE or self defense situation. In a classes with several notable instructors they emphasize the fact that the shooting challenge is usually fairly minor compared to the many other surrounding issues like collateral damage/innocents around and behind someone you need to shoot, justifiable use of force, movement, communication, responding LE, etc. that ideally you want to have mechanical things like sight alignment, trigger control, etc. almost on the back burner or happening subconsciously so you can focus on the complex situation in front of you.

Maybe I'm taking what you said and thinking way too much about it, but I guess I had time to mull it over and type a reply so here it is.

[Duke]

Movey trigger no movey gun....get hits



The real question is 1 finger can overpower 4 or 9 of its buddies.

[Paul Blackburn]

A good many shooters have decent trigger control as far a a smooth straight press to the rear but due to shot anticipation they dip the pistol with their wrist an instant before the shot brakes. And let's face it there's no such thing as a surprise brake when you're shooting fast multiples.

[Clusterfrack]

As I’ve posted elsewhere,there are at least five reasons you miss, and only one of them is trigger mechanics:

1. Trigger mechanics: trigger pull moves sights off target
2. Recoil control: arms move sights off target in an attempt to control recoil
3. Timing: you attempt to time the recoil cycle of the gun, but press the trigger at the wrong time.
4. Transitions: you pull off the target before the gun is finished shooting it, or shoot before the gun has arrived on target.
5. Sights: your aim was off

I can’t say what percentage each of those is for anyone else, but only a tiny fraction of my misses are caused by a bad trigger press.

Edit: maybe @GJM is calling many of the above trigger control?

[Joe in PNG]

As I’ve posted elsewhere,there are at least five reasons you miss, and only one of them is trigger mechanics:

1. Trigger mechanics: trigger pull moves sights off target
2. Recoil control: arms move sights off target in an attempt to control recoil
3. Timing: you attempt to time the recoil cycle of the gun, but press the trigger at the wrong time.
4. Transitions: you pull off the target before the gun is finished shooting it, or shoot before the gun has arrived on target.
5. Sights: your aim was off

I can’t say what percentage each of those is for anyone else, but only a tiny fraction of my misses are caused by a bad trigger press.

Edit: maybe @GJM is calling many of the above trigger control?

Something I've found myself doing during competitions is looking at the target, and forgetting to look at my sights.

[GJM]

As I’ve posted elsewhere,there are at least five reasons you miss, and only one of them is trigger mechanics:

1. Trigger mechanics: trigger pull moves sights off target
2. Recoil control: arms move sights off target in an attempt to control recoil
3. Timing: you attempt to time the recoil cycle of the gun, but press the trigger at the wrong time.
4. Transitions: you pull off the target before the gun is finished shooting it, or shoot before the gun has arrived on target.
5. Sights: your aim was off

I can’t say what percentage each of those is for anyone else, but only a tiny fraction of my misses are caused by a bad trigger press.

Edit: maybe @GJM is calling many of the above trigger control?

Other than number 5, every other thing you mention in 1-4 is a defect in trigger control, which TPC defines “as isolating the trigger.”

Grip may mask poor trigger control, or allow you to execute your good trigger control faster, but it is not necessary for trigger control, as Rob Leatham demonstrates by shooting perfect A zone hits with the gun held just with two fingers.
If you can’t shoot a B8 at slow fire speed, you surely can not shoot a B8 as fast speeds. The challenge of improving your shooting is to continue to the increase the speed you can move the trigger without disturbing the sights.