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Lefty, shooting low and right when applying more grip.


shinne

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So i'm still kind of new to shooting. I've dry fired where I can see no noticeable shift in my sights but when it comes to live firing it's all over the place.

I was shooting yesterday and applying grip and my shots were low and right (i'm left handed). When I relaxed my grip a little, my shots were a lot better. I'm not entirely sure how much grip I should be applying. I don't think I was applying too much grip strength my first time around but it seems like it affecting my shots a lot. Should I relax my strong hand and keep most of the gripping done on the support?

The other thing I've notice is I have a habit of flinching but I've started to load dummy rounds in my magazines and noticed that I pull down in my shots. I'm wondering if there any thing I can do about this? It seems to go away when I shoot a little more but I'd like to be able to get rid of it.

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Low left for right handed shooters, and low right for lefties is usually caused by a flinch or a least a good indicator of a flinch. I had a bad flinch at one time that took almost a year to overcome. The first big step in overcoming it was knowing that I had a flinch.

For me it took many hours of dry fire and many many rounds of live fire group shooting to get over it. I learned a few tricks to help me get over it from reading a lot and talking with experienced shooters. Learning and practicing shot calling, which requires seeing the front sight lift out of the notch helped a lot. Knowing and practicing shot calling in and of it self won't cure a flinch, but it gives you something to concentrate on rather than anticipating the shot and the subconscious desire to control the gun.

One trick I learned was to let the shot be a surprise, and counting backwards or forwards from a random number while concentrating on the sight picture and while slowly but steadily pressing straight back on the trigger helped a lot with the shot being a surprise. Another trick I learned on my own was to use a shot timer set on a random start. I would hit the start button get an acceptable sight picture and fire the shot at the beep or as close to the beep as possible. This technique helped a lot when I felt like I was think too much about too many things.

The grip in my opinion is the least important aspect of overcoming a flinch, but a nice comfortable grip will give you more confidence and take out unnecessary stress and tension that could interfere with your shooting. I think it's more beneficial to think in terms of a firm and well balanced grip rather than trying to think about and figure out which hand should be gripping harder than the other.

While trying to overcome a flinch I think it's also very important to get rid of any notion of trying to control the recoil. Most of your practice should be group shooting with no concern about how fast your sights come back on target. See the sight lift, track the sight and let the sight come back in to the notch should be the goal, eventually, but for now it doesn't matter how fast the sights come back on target or if they come back on target at all.

I hope my thoughts will help in some way.

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Yeah, if you shoot better with slightly less relaxed strong hand, and slightly stronger with your support hand, then it's good. You are probably pushing or jerking the trigger just before you break the shot in anticipation for the recoil. What caliber are you shooting? Maybe, try shooting a smaller caliber, and practice with it first (maybe .22 cal or 9mm?), and get use to shooting.

Should I relax my strong hand and keep most of the gripping done on the support?

The other thing I've notice is I have a habit of flinching but I've started to load dummy rounds in my magazines and noticed that I pull down in my shots. I'm wondering if there any thing I can do about this? It seems to go away when I shoot a little more but I'd like to be able to get rid of it.

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I have a .22 but the sights are completely off on them. I tried to adjust them but i think i need a smaller front post.

I have a 9mm i'm going to shoot but the trigger isn't as nice on my 1911 which is why I like shooting it.

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Bought to many guns these last months so a 1911 in 9mm isn't going to be an option for now. I took the CZ SP01 out with the 1911. I shot the CZ a lot better. I don't have as much of a flinch and my shots are in a tighter group. I just need to figure out gripping.

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