I agree with you on the slow trigger press and surprise break.
I agree with you on the slow trigger press and surprise break.
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Why and what do you think is appropriate instead, if you don't mind (and Jay doesn't mind)?Originally Posted by OrigamiAK
All I ask is that we try to keep that discussion within the context of dry practice.
Thanks Jay! Very timely. I've just been contacted by a young friend who is having some qual struggles and I just sent him a link to this and the wall drill from PT blog. That'll hold him til we can hit the range together.
“Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais
Hope it helps him out - let me know how it goes.
Very glad I came on this thread.
Been searching for a good, basic, look, here-is-how-you-do-this guide to dry firing.
Many many thanks to the OP for taking the time to post these suggestions.
Jay, this may not help much, but I found a noticeable improvement in accuracy and speed when I started to learn to let go of the notion that I had to have a laser focus on the front sight exclusively and slowly press the trigger. Once I learned to just relax and focus on the sights and "row" the trigger, my anticipation problems almost disappearedJust to touch on something briefly - I'm still gathering data and whatnot - an example of what I'm talking about:
Traditionally, right from the get-go, pistol marksmanship is taught with a hard, laser-like focus on the front sight and then a slow takeup on the trigger, resulting in a surprise break.
Without getting into details right now, I think this could be completely wrong and may in fact be a huge cause of anticipation/jerked triggers. Naturally it also leads to slower than necessary speed and "perfomance anxiety" a.k.a. agony over breaking that first shot.
Establishing proper dry practice protocols on the front end I think would be a huge step forward, in addition to changing the above "standard" paradigms.
Jay, one drill to consider is the coin on front sight.
Personally, I had a pretty tough time initially getting a straight back, smooth, continuous trigger press, when first really learning the double action trigger. And I went to the old nickle-penny-dime on the front sight routine. I found it helped me immensely in realizing that trigger presses can be quick and smooth and the muzzle doesn't waver. In fact, it's a trick I find helps a lot if you feel the trigger press is too slow. Too long working the trigger and the coin has a tendency to fall off, before the trigger stroke is finished, by virtue of moving the hand. It is also a drill that can show if someone is milking the grip, if the coin falls especially at the beginning of the press. When I feel like I'm focusing too much on sight picture and not getting a clean press that finishes flat, I go back to change on the front sight, until I am consistent in not dropping the coin.
The drill also has the advantage of taking the eyes off the sight, it puts them on the coin, but I find that's fine, it's a trigger press drill, not a full on set of dry-fire reps. That said, I've found it immensely helpful in getting consistent, smooth, and quick trigger presses.
-Rob
As an instructor, there are two levels of dry firing. The first level, for newbies, is simply holding and pressing. Dry firing for newbies is simply a method of understanding the kinesthetic operation. Only when they are able to see the wobble, flinch, or unintended movement, is Dry Firing beneficial. I have taught many students who simply cannot discriminate the movement of the sight alignment or picture when it is so obvious to me.
For me, DF is limited to Slow Fire and the mental prep of the first shot of Timed and Rapid Fire. I do not draw in my sport. My pistol is out there pointed at the target long before my finger is on the trigger. Only when the sights are aligned do I contact the trigger. I start applying pressure while dressing the sight picture. I keep applying pressure while sometimes fascinated that I can actually hold still long enough for the shot to break.
Not anticipating recoil is IMPOSSIBLE, even with a 22. I do however, try to flinch as little as possible. As most of you are familiar with the B-6 or B-16 targets, flinching at my level means dropping a shot to the 9 ring or worse, 8ring. 7 ring means that I SLAPPED the trigger or I am horribly out of concentration. Mentally, I am focused on the sight alignment more than sight picture. The thousands of rounds downrange allows me to pull the trigger slowly without thinking about the recoil too much. But I do anticipate the break for recording the snapshot in my noggin so that I can evaluate the smoothness or "non disturbance". This level of dry fire is not yet taught to the newbies because their ability to SHOT CALL has not yet been developed.
Shot calling cannot be developed if the student can see and discriminate their last shot with the naked eye. By the time they can no longer tell what was the last hole, their flinching has already become a habit.
I'm happy that that technique works for you. I'm pretty well versed in that and the spent-case-on-the sight technique. To be brutally blunt - as a teaching method, I've placed it in the category of "parlor trick". I'm not intending to be snarky or dismissive - I've used the above technique for years - but I've kind of deleted it unless it serves a very specific purpose.
The reason why I've deleted it as a teaching technique is that I found that I could get anybody, of any skill level, to do it within 10 minutes. It struck me theat the ability of a new shooter to successfully do this did not translate into any better real trigger control.
As an individual technique, It may work really well for someone, but remember I'm approaching this from an adult learning aspect.
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