Flinching faster

[BJJ]

I have had a fair amount of success using ball and dummy drills to eliminate flinch while shooting groups for accuracy. I am finding that as I speed up my shooting it is creeping back in. For example, shooting a group of 5 shots in 2.5 seconds or so at seven yards or so at the -0 on an IDPA target, a couple of shots will go low. I realize that 5 shots in 2.5 seconds is not fast for a lot of people but for me it is about as fast as I can go and track the sights. The low shots are staying in the circle but they are several inches lower than where I was aiming. Any suggesstions on eliminating flinch while speeding up? It doesn't seem like ball and dummy would work very well at faster speeds.

[Jay Cunningham]

How do you define flinch?

[BJJ]

A downward movement of the front sight prior to ignition due to an anticipation of recoil.

[JodyH]

At speed you're more than likely getting an anticipatory push instead of a flinch.
There is a difference, and the "cure" is different as well.
To cure an anticipatory push you must work on sight tracking.

[ToddG]

Ball & Dummy and similar drills are great at helping you develop fundamental trigger control skill. Without that skill, it's hard to be precise at any speed.

However, it's a drill that will lie to you when you start applying it at speed. At speed, even the best shooter will duck the muzzle on a dummy round. Put another way, if you're going at a speed where you won't drop the front sight on a dummy, you're not going very fast. What separates anticipation from this "post ignition response" is the big loud noise of the gun going off. Push the muzzle before the shot breaks and it's anticipation. Push after, it's a habituated (and proper) part of recoil management.

So first understand that you're in a good place. If you can shoot slow fire groups with a surprise ball & dummy setup then you've developed very good trigger mechanics. That's a skill that will serve you every time you fire a gun.

As for dealing with such anticipation when you start going at speed, it's a difficult issue and one I'd look at from three different angles:

1. Make sure you're not sensitive to the muzzle blast. The effect is hardly noticed when shooting bullseye but once you start to go fast and there's a constant barrage of overpressure from two feet in front of your face it can make people blink, lose focus, etc. The best thing I've found to get over this is to do rapid fire into a berm, no target to look at or worry about. Pull the trigger as fast as you can and try to count the pieces of brass as they come out of the gun. If you find this hard to do, you have an issue and need to work on it. If you find it easy, move on.
2. Make sure you're not shooting at a specific mental cadence. While some people teach cadence shooting as a benefit, I find it to be the exact opposite. Not only does it violate the simple concept that your sights (rather than a metronome) should be deciding when you break a shot, it also makes it incredibly easy to anticipate the moment of ignition.
3. It may be little more than you're trying to shoot faster than you're able to control your finger. Don't worry about whether your splits are as fast as someone else's on the forum. Worry about whether your splits are faster six months from now than they were yesterday. To that end, I'd recommend something like the Circle Drill.

[BJJ]

Thanks very much for the suggestions.

[SC_Dave]

Ball & Dummy and similar drills are great at helping you develop fundamental trigger control skill. Without that skill, it's hard to be precise at any speed.

However, it's a drill that will lie to you when you start applying it at speed. At speed, even the best shooter will duck the muzzle on a dummy round. Put another way, if you're going at a speed where you won't drop the front sight on a dummy, you're not going very fast. What separates anticipation from this "post ignition response" is the big loud noise of the gun going off. Push the muzzle before the shot breaks and it's anticipation. Push after, it's a habituated (and proper) part of recoil management.

So first understand that you're in a good place. If you can shoot slow fire groups with a surprise ball & dummy setup then you've developed very good trigger mechanics. That's a skill that will serve you every time you fire a gun.

As for dealing with such anticipation when you start going at speed, it's a difficult issue and one I'd look at from three different angles:

1. Make sure you're not sensitive to the muzzle blast. The effect is hardly noticed when shooting bullseye but once you start to go fast and there's a constant barrage of overpressure from two feet in front of your face it can make people blink, lose focus, etc. The best thing I've found to get over this is to do rapid fire into a berm, no target to look at or worry about. Pull the trigger as fast as you can and try to count the pieces of brass as they come out of the gun. If you find this hard to do, you have an issue and need to work on it. If you find it easy, move on.
2. Make sure you're not shooting at a specific mental cadence. While some people teach cadence shooting as a benefit, I find it to be the exact opposite. Not only does it violate the simple concept that your sights (rather than a metronome) should be deciding when you break a shot, it also makes it incredibly easy to anticipate the moment of ignition.
3. It may be little more than you're trying to shoot faster than you're able to control your finger. Don't worry about whether your splits are as fast as someone else's on the forum. Worry about whether your splits are faster six months from now than they were yesterday. To that end, I'd recommend something like the Circle Drill.

Man this is good info, I always look forward to Todds response on topics that I need to work on myself! Thanks!
David