Trigger Control Question

[Plan]

After a somewhat frustrating recent range session, I read the excellent thread regarding the use of imagery to assist with trigger control and it brought to light a question that I’ve had.

Like every other dedicated pistol shooter, I have spent a great deal of training time focusing on trigger control. However, sometimes I will experience shooter-induced accuracy problems that leave me completely stumped. Case in point:

Last week I was working on some longer-range work utilizing a 10” steel plate at approximately 35-40 yards. A frustrating trend began to emerge, as I only struck the plate with a frequency of approximately one-third to one-half of the time. These rounds were fired slowly, while standing. I was not drawing from the holster on every shot and took occasional breaks to combat eye fatigue.

However, I then tried drawing from the holster and executing a press out before firing at the steel plate. I also shot a good deal faster, breaking the shot at the completion of the press out. Much to my surprise, my number of hits went up significantly, hitting the plate on almost every shot.

Is there a simple or common explanation for this? Is this likely an actual mechanical issue in how the trigger is depressed at speed during a press out, or likely a mental one, such as me over thinking the minutia of the trigger pull during slow fire?

I realize that this issue may be difficult to truly diagnose without observing it firsthand, but I respect the excellent knowledge base present on this forum and appreciate any suggestions.

[ToddG]

First, I'd recommend TCinVA's excellent write-up from our Reference Section: Trigger Control

As you surmised, it's hard to diagnose without seeing you actually shooting. However, one of the benefits of a press-out is that it makes it harder to anticipate a low% shot because you stroke through the trigger instead of pressing, stopping at the break, and then crashing through. You might want to try something as simple and straightforward as a ball 'n dummy drill to see if that shows you a bad habit forming.

[TCinVA]

I'd second Todd's suggestion. Sometimes when I'm at the range I'll find myself making a real hash of things and often what I do is stop and shoot for accuracy focusing hard on fundamentals. If I can't hit something I'm aiming at at 40 yards, I'll set up a 1" square at 5 yards and shoot at it. Then back to 7. Then to 10. Etc. This usually has the effect of underlining the fundamentals. It's extremely easy to slightly mis-align the sights if you're not paying close enough attention to them. I do it all the time. The cure, for me at least, is to slow down and shoot at small targets which require near perfect sight alignment to hit. The 1" square is usually my preferred target for that sort of work. The 2" circle is also extremely useful, especially at 25 yards.

[Plan]

Excellent info guys, thanks for the replies.