silvery37 Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 I have a slight flinch and I am having a hard time getting rid of. It isnt in my grip or wrists. I drop the entire pistol down a little bit. My shoulders drop both of arms. It isnt terrible but I would shoot better if I didnt do it. I dont flinch when I shoot slow or when I dry fire, it is only when I start to speed up with live rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoMiE Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Matt Burkett Tips - Flinch or the phobic reaction to recoil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Matt Burkett Tips - Flinch or the phobic reaction to recoil That's better than the cure I was going to suggest: take up golf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann the Horrible Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 I like to double-plug and wear good eye protection. The double-plugging "removes"me from the bustle about shooting and gets me into the "zone" easier. It just helps to me to get to the state where my conscious mind is watching me shoot while watching the sights rise and fall. When I am "there" I can neither blink or flinch and everything is absolutely smooth. My mind reminds me where to place my feet and to start indexing as I approach a target. This makes flinching absolutely unthinkable as my mind is not shooting the gun by my finger(unconscious mind) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blkbrd Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Bill drills through a barrel with an open gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boz1911 Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Double plug and shoot a lot of 22's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
konkapot Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 1. Ball and dummy drill. For every 10 live rounds or so, put a dummy round/snapcap in there. When you hit the dummy round, you will see and feel the muzzle dip. Most people are visual learners, so seeing it happen will have an impact on your brain...the brain which will hopefully tell you "Hey! Stop that." 2. If you are working the trigger reset like most everybody does, that could be creating tension. Try changing your trigger manipulation; instead of working the reset, let your trigger finger go forward....off of the trigger, and even as far as hitting the inside of the trigger guard. FY42385 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvery37 Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 Had somewhat of an epiphany yesterday. I took a hundred rounds and shot them without really trying to hit anything. I was only focusing on my grip and getting the pistol to recoil correctly. The next day I took 300 rounds and shot them with my new grip. It made a huge difference, so did using double hearing protection. I was actually able to start calling my shots. It wasnt with pinpoint accuracy, but I could tell a general direction such as left, right, low, high. Part of my problem before was tension. I was trying to choke the gun. Now I dont consciously squeeze with my right hand, only with my left. The pressure from my left is focused in the fingers and not my thumb. Before the gun would recoil and kind of stick at the top. Now it is like a pogo stick and comes right back down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RePete Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Try lighter loads and then gradually work up to the full power loads. This can help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootin-blanks Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Buy a .22 pistol and several thousand rounds... have fun... If you can find a smith 41, buy it and never look back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sslav Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Buy a .22 pistol and several thousand rounds... have fun... If you can find a smith 41, buy it and never look back. Doing that has had a reverse effect on me. I shot a lot of .22 to concentrate on trigger pull, grip and sights. When I went back to more powerful cartridges I discovered that I developed a major flinch - which I have not had for a while. It took me several practices to get rid of it again. That experience has put me off shooting .22. Slav Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ BAD Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Last finch I had just flew away when I opened the cage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resjudicata Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Usually when I see myself flinching it is because I am not concentrating on what I'm doing. My mind is drifting and I'm losing mental focus on what is happening now. When this happens, if I concentrate on trigger pull and focusing/watching the front sight it will go away. I'm not saying this will help you but you never know. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conqueror Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Shooting .22 has helped my centerfire shooting a great deal. I think it conditions my body to expect very mild recoil and blast. When I shoot bigger blaster, I think my body is still expecting .22, and I notice that I don't flinch/pull nearly as badly. When I started shooting .45 I had trouble keeping them all on the paper at 7-10 yards in rapid fire. Now it's no sweat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Usually when I see myself flinching it is because I am not concentrating on what I'm doing. My mind is drifting and I'm losing mental focus on what is happening now. When this happens, if I concentrate on trigger pull and focusing/watching the front sight it will go away.I'm not saying this will help you but you never know. Chris Flinching IS a mental problem associated with that lack of concentration. It's not normal to hold a firecracker in your hand and watch it go off. Your mind wants to fight it. That concentration Chris mentions can come back by just focusing on the trigger and sights or I stuff a few dummy rounds in the mags of my kids and tell them to watch the front sight when they hit on the dummy. If it drops, you're anticipating the recoil ie..flinching. This "ball and dummy" drill is done often in the first 5000 rounds of these shooters mainly to stop the flinch/anticipation problems they develope. If you reload, make a few dummies to mix with live ammo in a mag during live fire practice and don't let the gun jump when you hit on the dummy.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sac Law Man Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 As others have said, the ball and dummy drill will help you see first hand what is occurring when you press the trigger. The key is to not make the gun fire but instead allow it to fire. People who tend to flinch have the NOW syndrome. They see an acceptable sight picture and try and pull off the shot at that moment. The gun firing should come as a surprise. If you shoot double action, practice dry firing with a penny on top of the front sight, not on the frame, that is to easy. Hold the gun in your strong hand and fire with that hand only in double action mode. This will teach you the correct double action pull. At first you may be only to do one..but eventualy you will get better. You can use this drill with any gun, 1911, glock etc, but its not as effective as a double action pistol. Between this dry fire drill and the ball and dummy drill your flinch will disappear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still Praying Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Hi silvery37 I had the same problem when I first started shooting IPSC. All of the new shooters I've worked with have had the same problem, one time or another. The conscious mind knows the blaster wont hurt it but, the subconscious mind dont. This will make you flinch. It's like the fight or flight, or survival mode kicks in (in your subconscious mind). The best way I have found to help this is to put a target about 8 feet away and load up all of your mags (5 or 10) however many you have. Don't aim the gun with the sights just point it at the A zone and try to shoot a baseball size group as fast as you can pull the trigger. Do a reload as fast as you can and do it again until you run out of mags. When you are done with this drill you will find that at the end of this drill you didn't blink, flinch or push the gun of the target. You can also find problems with your grip. If it didn't work, do it again. Make sure you're concentrating on your baseball size group. When you first start the drill you will probably be shooting a basketball sized group. Just keep on pushing the speed and bullets untill it gets to that baseball size. This has worked on all of the new shooters I've worked with. Don't forget, watch the target, not the sights. Good Luck Ronnie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Get a friend started shooting , and give the Flinch away. Sounds like a joke and it is in a way, But it will allso help shoot with someone new and try to set a good example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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