gondo Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I was trying to get an answer to this by high jacking other threads but I will just start my own. I need to stop blinking when i shoot so i can call shots and shoot faster. Any help will be appreciated. I have watched video of myself and i dont flinch or do much else that is bad technique and i shoot good scores in 3 gun. But i want to see the flames! What are some drills to help me stop blinking? Thanks anyone for trying to help me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 Go to a public indoor range and point your gun at a target and dry fire while other shooters are shooting around you. Force yourself to keep your eyes open while the random shots are going off by the other shooters in the range. You can do the same thing while ROing other shooters. That is how I broke myself of the "Blinking" when the gun goes off issue when I first started shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 Many shooters blink when they fire a gun. This is a flinch response to the noise (or anticipated noise) of shooting. If a shooter blinks, they can't be watching the sights through recoil for a good follow-through, and have to re-acquire their visual index on the sight before firing the next shot. Brian Enos writes that this is a fundamental barrier to advanced shooting; you can't have a fast visual control of the gun if you aren't watching the sight through recoil. Here is a method (Sandy Wylie's) to correct blinking. You have to relax the shooter to the point where they can keep relaxed and absorb the visual and physical input from the gun. If you have a safe berm that you can get close to, get within 5 yards. You want to shoot into the berm without a formal target to get comfortable with the gun. If you shoot iron sights, try just looking over the top of the gun instead of at the sights. Wear plugs and muffs to reduce the noise problem. You might find it of benefit to start with a .22 as well. To help in keeping relaxed, try to keep your facial muscles relaxed. Monitor this closely. I work on relaxing the muscles behind my ears for best relaxation and awareness. Use a relaxed grip on the gun and eventually work with weak and strong hand shooting. Repeat until you are comfortable keeping your eyes open while looking over the sights, firing downrange into the berm without a specific target. Once you can keep your eyes open for the complete cycle, start watching the sights and monitoring yourself closely. If you are blinking, go back to no target and looking over the gun. After you have achieved the ability to keep your eyes open and relax, you will find a tremendous increase in awareness. Another one that works well too. 10" static plate at 12 yards, plugs and muffs, .22RF pistol. Dump a magazine as fast as you can pull the trigger. After a hundred rounds, you should be past the blink. Do the same drill with the normal plugs or muffs you use while shooting. Then go back to double plugs and muffs and shoot your pistol. When you are good there, go to rifle and a paper target at 15 yards or so and hammer the A zone. While this works, you don't want to get to shooting wildly so you are not still hitting the target. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Stearns Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 (edited) I have posted this before and it really does work. Next time you are shooting, press your tongue into the roof of your mouth as hard as you can. Do this as you are shooting and the blink will disappear very quickly. Don't shoot at anything in particular, just shoot. You should start seeing the sights lift and brass eject. The blink is a subconscious reaction designed to protect the eyes. The tongue trick just distracts the subconscious. After a short time of no blinking, the subconscious realizes the noise and recoil are not a danger and you won't need the tongue distraction. Give it a try and let me mnow how it goes. Good shooting, Dwight Edited October 24, 2013 by Dwight Stearns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I have posted this before and it really does work. Next time you are shooting, press your tongue into the roof of your mouth as hard as you can. Do this as you are shooting and the blink will disappear very quickly. Don't shoot at anything in particular, just shoot. You should start seeing the sights lift and brass eject. The blink is a subconscious reaction designed to protect the eyes. The tongue trick just distracts the subconscious. After a short time of no blinking, the subconscious realizes the noise and recoil are not a distraction and you won't need the tongue distraction. Give it a try and let me mnow how it goes. Good shooting, Dwight I like that, if it is completely permanent solution. I'd begin a practice session by firing a few magazines, but instead of having my attention focused on the front sight or the target (or whatever) - I'd direct all my attention to be in my face, right around my eyes. Then trigger off a few shots, not caring what I "saw," or where the bullets went - the goal being to know whether or not I blinked for any of them. It's not a bad thing to begin every practice session like that, until not blinking becomes a way of your shooting life. But then even after that, come back and recheck it now and then. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gondo Posted October 24, 2013 Author Share Posted October 24, 2013 Go to a public indoor range and point your gun at a target and dry fire while other shooters are shooting around you. Force yourself to keep your eyes open while the random shots are going off by the other shooters in the range. You can do the same thing while ROing other shooters. That is how I broke myself of the "Blinking" when the gun goes off issue when I first started shooting. Roing is a great idea thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gondo Posted October 24, 2013 Author Share Posted October 24, 2013 Many shooters blink when they fire a gun. This is a flinch response to the noise (or anticipated noise) of shooting. If a shooter blinks, they can't be watching the sights through recoil for a good follow-through, and have to re-acquire their visual index on the sight before firing the next shot. Brian Enos writes that this is a fundamental barrier to advanced shooting; you can't have a fast visual control of the gun if you aren't watching the sight through recoil. Here is a method (Sandy Wylie's) to correct blinking. You have to relax the shooter to the point where they can keep relaxed and absorb the visual and physical input from the gun. If you have a safe berm that you can get close to, get within 5 yards. You want to shoot into the berm without a formal target to get comfortable with the gun. If you shoot iron sights, try just looking over the top of the gun instead of at the sights. Wear plugs and muffs to reduce the noise problem. You might find it of benefit to start with a .22 as well. To help in keeping relaxed, try to keep your facial muscles relaxed. Monitor this closely. I work on relaxing the muscles behind my ears for best relaxation and awareness. Use a relaxed grip on the gun and eventually work with weak and strong hand shooting. Repeat until you are comfortable keeping your eyes open while looking over the sights, firing downrange into the berm without a specific target. Once you can keep your eyes open for the complete cycle, start watching the sights and monitoring yourself closely. If you are blinking, go back to no target and looking over the gun. After you have achieved the ability to keep your eyes open and relax, you will find a tremendous increase in awareness. Another one that works well too. 10" static plate at 12 yards, plugs and muffs, .22RF pistol. Dump a magazine as fast as you can pull the trigger. After a hundred rounds, you should be past the blink. Do the same drill with the normal plugs or muffs you use while shooting. Then go back to double plugs and muffs and shoot your pistol. When you are good there, go to rifle and a paper target at 15 yards or so and hammer the A zone. While this works, you don't want to get to shooting wildly so you are not still hitting the target. Great some drills thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gondo Posted October 24, 2013 Author Share Posted October 24, 2013 I have posted this before and it really does work. Next time you are shooting, press your tongue into the roof of your mouth as hard as you can. Do this as you are shooting and the blink will disappear very quickly. Don't shoot at anything in particular, just shoot. You should start seeing the sights lift and brass eject. The blink is a subconscious reaction designed to protect the eyes. The tongue trick just distracts the subconscious. After a short time of no blinking, the subconscious realizes the noise and recoil are not a distraction and you won't need the tongue distraction. Give it a try and let me mnow how it goes. Good shooting, Dwight Kind of like my uncle telling me to squeeze my toes while learning to not try to stand up to fast wAter skiing... Worked first time and I had been trying to get up for a month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Stearns Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I have posted this before and it really does work. Next time you are shooting, press your tongue into the roof of your mouth as hard as you can. Do this as you are shooting and the blink will disappear very quickly. Don't shoot at anything in particular, just shoot. You should start seeing the sights lift and brass eject. The blink is a subconscious reaction designed to protect the eyes. The tongue trick just distracts the subconscious. After a short time of no blinking, the subconscious realizes the noise and recoil are not a distraction and you won't need the tongue distraction. Give it a try and let me mnow how it goes.) Good shooting,) Dwight I like that, if it is completely permanent solution. I'd begin a practice session by firing a few magazines, but instead of having my attention focused on the front sight or the target (or whatever) - I'd direct all my attention to be in my face, right around my eyes. Then trigger off a few shots, not caring what I "saw," or where the bullets went - the goal being to know whether or not I blinked for any of them. It's not a bad thing to begin every practice session like that, until not blinking becomes a way of your shooting life. But then even after that, come back and recheck it now and then. be You are right Brian. For a while, when not using the tongue, the blink will come and go. Like most techniques, it takes a while for it to become permanent. Dwight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gondo Posted October 25, 2013 Author Share Posted October 25, 2013 Big success got it on tape just to make sure. I started double plugged with a 22lr for 200rnds. Moved on to xdm 9mm for 200 and got the last 50 on tape with no blinking. Moved on to an Ak I own for 80 rnds and it is about as loud as it gets... I was able to not blink for about 20 of those.... But it was good practice. Pretty cool seeing the brass fly and the fireball in the Ak. At the end I went back to my xdm 9 and was having great success seeing front sight lift. I knew something was different cause I could see my sight picture a lot quicker. I feel like all this is going to take a lot of maintenance and I plan on starting sessions with a 22 pistol for a while. Thanks for all the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gondo Posted October 25, 2013 Author Share Posted October 25, 2013 Excellent! Seriously thanks. I thought the tongue thing would work but it ended up being more helpful to start out with pistol low then moving it up into my line of sight while firing pretty fast. I also did a lot of dry fire last night while really trying to focus my brain on what was important for me to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akkid17 Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 I was thinking about starting a topic just like this since I am having a really tough time with blinking as well. This is awesome thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harleyvet02 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 I tried the tongue in the roof of my mouth trick and it works! I have been an off again on again blinker. My range session on Saturday I gave it a try. It didn't work every time but enough that I will continue to use it. I was tracking the sights and could see brass out of my peripheral vision most shots. I think you're on to something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 I was trying to get an answer to this by high jacking other threads but I will just start my own. I need to stop blinking when i shoot so i can call shots and shoot faster. Any help will be appreciated. I have watched video of myself and i dont flinch or do much else that is bad technique and i shoot good scores in 3 gun. But i want to see the flames! What are some drills to help me stop blinking? Thanks anyone for trying to help me.Look for the flash to use it as a backlight to snap an image of the sight picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNshooter Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 I have posted this before and it really does work. Next time you are shooting, press your tongue into the roof of your mouth as hard as you can. Do this as you are shooting and the blink will disappear very quickly. Don't shoot at anything in particular, just shoot. You should start seeing the sights lift and brass eject. The blink is a subconscious reaction designed to protect the eyes. The tongue trick just distracts the subconscious. After a short time of no blinking, the subconscious realizes the noise and recoil are not a danger and you won't need the tongue distraction. Give it a try and let me mnow how it goes. Good shooting, Dwight Tried this yesterday and for the first time I can honestly say I saw my sights lift for the first time in my life. I saw the sights lift up and right before they settled. Too much weak hand and not strong hand?I tried Brian's technique, too. I was able to see when shooting controlled pairs but nervous I won't keep this up when shooting a match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 so if you see you brass ejecting is that conformation that you are not blinking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Stearns Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Pretty much. In the right lighting you should be able to see the brass spinning out of the gun and leaving your peripheral vision. Oh course your primary mental focus should be on the sights lifting. Dwight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gondo Posted November 3, 2013 Author Share Posted November 3, 2013 (edited) so if you see you brass ejecting is that conformation that you are not blinking? Since I have quit blinking for the most part I have found that if I start blinking I cAn make it stop by forcing myself to look for the brass a couple of shots ... I think it just tricks my brain into having a reason NOT to blink. Of course the ultimate goal is for my brain to understand I can't blink because seeing the sights lift is important... I actually stopped shooting the other day and sat down and thought about why I need to see my sight lift and even just reiterating that thought in my head stopped the blinking for the rest of my session. Like any other fundamental with a little repetition and understanding it should be a small hurdle. Edited November 3, 2013 by gondo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Stearns Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 (edited) I have posted this before and it really does work. Next time you are shooting, press your tongue into the roof of your mouth as hard as you can. Do this as you are shooting and the blink will disappear very quickly. Don't shoot at anything in particular, just shoot. You should start seeing the sights lift and brass eject. The blink is a subconscious reaction designed to protect the eyes. The tongue trick just distracts the subconscious. After a short time of no blinking, the subconscious realizes the noise and recoil are not a danger and you won't need the tongue distraction. Give it a try and let me mnow how it goes. Good shooting, Dwight Tried this yesterday and for the first time I can honestly say I saw my sights lift for the first time in my life. I saw the sights lift up and right before they settled. Too much weak hand and not strong hand?I tried Brian's technique, too. I was able to see when shooting controlled pairs but nervous I won't keep this up when shooting a match. The up and to the right could be one (or more) of several issues. My grip is very similar to BE's grip but I don't allow my support hand thumb to contact the gun. I found that if I am really pushing the speed, I will press the gun to the right with that thumb. Also my support hand grip I describe as a clamshell grip. It's kind of hard to explain but my squeeze is concentrated at the joint at the base of the fingers. (don't know the proper term. It's the joint where the fingers meet the hand). I do squeeze some with all the finger joints, it's just that I concentrate the squeese with joints at the base of the fingers.One thing to keep in mind now that you are seeing the sights lift, your subconscious will start trying to correct what is wrong. This includes recoil anticipation. What the conscipus mind sees and determines is incorrect, the subconscious will attempt to correct. If your grip technique is correct, you should see improvement. If you have a good neutral grip and see the sights lift, you will start seeing the front sight track more straight up and down. Let us know how it goes. Dwight Edited November 3, 2013 by Dwight Stearns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 well, I always see my brass ejecting which I guess shouldn't surprise me too much as I also see my sights lift ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CocoBolo Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Dang and I just shot 50,000 rounds to get over it. I'm just tongue tied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Stearns Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 And it was right there on the tip of your tongue the whole time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacketjoed Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Need to get out to the range and work some of these drills, this has been bugging me for a while now and have had no luck trying to stop. I found that i even do it with an airsoft pistol in training. With luck one of these methods will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ummm Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 One thing that worked for me was to shoot someone's AR with a Rolling Thunder comp or SJC Titan at an indoor range. The concussion+fireball is in such a different league than my pistol that after 100 rounds or so it re-set my perception of "what I should be blinking at", and now my pistol doesn't even register on the radar. Would have been gentler on the senses to try the tongue thing, though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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