Kyle's Flinch Breaker - 101

[Flexmoney]

Here is something I typed out to email to a friend...long ago. I've posted it here a few time, but I don't think it had it's own thread before.

Kyle's Flinch Breaker - 101 (generic version)

- Double plug. I doubt you are flinching due to noise, but double plug anyway...at least when you are shooting.

- Know that the big explosion going off at arms length won't do you any harm (simple, I know...but it is something the shooter has to "decide" to accept)

- less pressure with the strong hand grip...more pressure with the weak hand. The strong hand needs to be relaxed to operate the trigger in a smooth manner.

Calling the shot & follow-thru

If you have a flinch, then you just aren't calling the shot and following-thru. There is no way around that truth.

If you were calling the shot, you would see that it was off. Eventually, you just wouldn't take the shot.

Here are some things to see.

- You have to have a Front Sight focus. Razor sharp. Burn it in!!! Forget the target focus for close stuff crap...there are Masters that shouldn't be doing that.

When you next go to shoot, don't use a target. Aim at the berm. Not a rock or clump of mud, just the berm in general.

Watch the front sight ONLY. Make yourself see it track. That is your only goal here. Do single shots at first. Get a solid sight picture both before and after each shot. That is two sight pictures for each shot...follow-thru.

If you don't see the front sight lifting and coming back, then don't move on. This is vital. If you do see it, move to multiple shots...but keep seeing and keep that follow-thru!

- Next, move to a close target (one yard). Again, the focus is on watching the front sight track. Target blurry. The target just happens to be there. keep seeing the front sight...TWO sight pictures for each shot. Do single shots first.

You should be able to call each and every shot. If you can't, then you weren't focused on the front sight.

Never advance if you encounter a problem. If all goes well, move the target back a yard at a time.

- Never try to 'catch the sight' and pull the trigger as it (sight picture) wobbles around in the A-zone. Accept that the sights will move around on the target. Just focus on the front sight and release the shot. If it is off, then you will have called it from your read on the sights as the bullet was released.

This brings up the next point.

- TRUST. You HAVE to trust your sights. Don't look for hits on the target. EVER! Read the sights. If you shot a hoper or a Delta, make it up!

A big part of people missing is that they start to look for the hits. They end up looking AS the gun fires. As they look over the gun, they pull it off target.

If you call the sights, then there is no need to look (or listen) for hits.

If you find yourself doing the "pull the trigger NOW" thing, try this...pretend that your gun is a giant paint brush that extends to the target. Use your gun (sighted) to "paint" a circle around the A-zone. Keep painting the circle, then release the shot at any time along the circle. Call that shot. (don't worry about the hit in the A-zone).

If you find yourself looking at the target, or looking for hits ...instead of focusing on the front sight...then close your eyes (safely). Line up the sights between shots, then close your eyes and deliver the shot. Chances are your group will tighten up.

If you do the above...and still have a flinch (dry/live-fire) then let me know. Chances are, your flinch might come back during a match. If so, then slow down and call the shot...and follow-thru.

Hope you find this helpful!

Kyle

[Seth]

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[nashvillebill]

Good stuff. Thank you.

[Chris Keen]

Very good stuff. Thank you Kyle.

[mgood]

Chances are, your flinch might come back during a match. If so, then slow down and call the shot...and follow-thru.

Who told y'all to slow down?

Why on earth would you slow down in a game that has a timer?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Yeah, I think that post is helpful. I'm planning a range trip sometime this week before Saturday's match. I'd already intended to do some of the stuff you're talking about. I'm going to incorporate more of what you said into this next practice session.

Thanks.

[Flexmoney]

Good catch. I wrote that...oh...half a decade ago. It might have some flaws.

[mgood]

Just so you know I'm paying attention.

[edgerat]

awesome!!!!!!

[Flexmoney]

mgood,

And really, that is a big flaw.

Thinking to "slow down" is a speed focus. Which sucks.

People that have trigger freeze issues or issues getting good splits...that comes from tension. That tension arises from trying...to go fast. (Fast...slow...it's all still a speed focus.)

If we can get our brain wrapped around being aware...then the tension can melt away.

If we can see the front sight lift in recoil, then come back into the notch...our vision will guide our trigger finger just fine. We won't be bearing down and gripping the snot out of the gun. We will be allowing the gun to return and breaking the next shot as we see fit.

[mgood]

Thinking to "slow down" is a speed focus. Which sucks.

People that have trigger freeze issues or issues getting good splits...that comes from tension. That tension arises from trying...to go fast. (Fast...slow...it's all still a speed focus.)

That may be part of my problem. I can get good hits. But to do all you're saying, watch the sights, follow through, et cetera, takes me 3-4 seconds per shot. I'm glacially slow.

But if I don't try to go fast, I'm not going to get any faster.

If we can get our brain wrapped around being aware...then the tension can melt away.

If we can see the front sight lift in recoil, then come back into the notch...our vision will guide our trigger finger just fine. We won't be bearing down and gripping the snot out of the gun. We will be allowing the gun to return and breaking the next shot as we see fit.

I'm working on that.

I recently discovered that I've been blinking as the shot broke for years. One trip to the range concentrating on just keeping my eyes open and watching the front sight made a really big improvement. Now that I can actually track the front sight through the recoil and back to the target, I finally have a direction to work towards getting faster. But thirty-some years of ingrained bad habit is tough to undo in just a few weeks.

Hitting single precise shots has never been a problem. But trying to string them together rapidly is where I fall short.

Now I'm starting to get it, I think.

[rvb]

- Know that the big explosion going off at arms length won't do you any harm (simple, I know...but it is something the shooter has to "decide" to accept)

I occasionally teach brand new shooters the basics as an NRA instructor... friends, coworkers, etc. Never made a dime from it, and the NRA "cert" makes them feel like they can have confidence in the class material (and take home a piece of paper). And I've noticed flinching is one of the biggest and most difficult problems with new shooters. That big "EXPLOSION" taking place at arms length is scary....

So here is a trick I have learned to get people over it quickly....

First, obviously double up hearing protection and being outside is better than inside.

I have them load one round in the gun, take a sight picture, and close their eyes. I tell them to focus on one thing... how the gun feels in their hand when they pull the trigger (not slowly and trying for "surprise" or anything, just pull it straight back).

I then ask them how it felt, and they are almost always shocked at how there was no pain, how they didn't notice the noise, and how little it moved in their hands.

Have them repeat the drill a dozen times or so.

By focusing on something else, the feeling in their hands, it takes away from the noise. Also, I think most people start off with that idea that the shot should "surprise" them so no wonder they flinch with the surprise of the noise and the image of the gun flipping out of their hand. Take those sensory inputs away and make them focus on just how little there is to be afraid of, THEN work on trigger control, etc.

I've had good luck with that drill so far...

An add-on for that is to have the new shooter tell you how high the front sight went in recoil. It forces them to keep their eyes open and then you can show them that what looks like a TON of muzzle flip from behind the gun isn't so much in profile... again reducing the fear of what's happening in their hands.

You can watch a big percentage of the new shooters "decide to accept" at that point that there is nothing to be afraid of.

-rvb

Edited April 1, 2009 by rvb

[Sandro]

Good catch. I wrote that...oh...half a decade ago. It might have some flaws.

best post you done so far, at least the four years I am coming here. very original, good stuff.

[Stuck in C]

I still find myself flinching (blinking and pushing the muzzle down in anticipation of recoil) after 30 years of shooting. I have to go back periodically and do the berm drill (or some of the other drills you mention) to limit it. Its somehow related to speed-I don't flinch and I call every shot during winter indoor bullseye. I also suspect that years of shooting bullseye has made it difficult to shoot at speed-I just have to carefully align the sights before I can fire. Great post-I wish I could have read it 30 years ago before I cemented all my bad habits...

[Micah]

Excellent post Flex. Double plugging and dryfire were the two things that made a dramatic impact on my flinch when I was getting started. After pulling the trigger a million times in dryfire, everything seemed automatic and flinch free in livefire.

[boz1911]

Excellent post Flex. Double plugging and dryfire were the two things that made a dramatic impact on my flinch when I was getting started. After pulling the trigger a million times in dryfire, everything seemed automatic and flinch free in livefire.

plus a zillion!!! I am going to try Bill's suggestion about shooting eyes closed. I've got a few new shooters that would really benefit from that experiment.

[Gameplayer]

Another piece of information to put in my library. Thanks Flex.

[High Lord Gomer]

Watch the front sight ONLY. Make yourself see it track. That is your only goal here. Do single shots at first. Get a solid sight picture both before and after each shot. That is two sight pictures for each shot...follow-thru.

If you don't see the front sight lifting and coming back, then don't move on. This is vital. If you do see it, move to multiple shots...but keep seeing and keep that follow-thru!

- Next, move to a close target (one yard). Again, the focus is on watching the front sight track. Target blurry. The target just happens to be there. keep seeing the front sight...TWO sight pictures for each shot. Do single shots first.

I think I'm still not doing this correctly and I'm unclear on the two sight pictures. I'm pretty sure the first is when you break the shot. Is the second at the top of the muzzle flip or when it settles back down into the rear sights for the next shot?

I can call my shots (when I'm patient enough to wait until I see a decent sight picture), I see the brass leaving, I sometimes see sparks and/or fire leaving the barrel when indoors, but for the life of me I swear I don't see the front sight "lift". To me, it still seems to "jump". The slide obscures my vision of the target and then I see the front sight come back down into the rear.

I used to try to follow the front sight all the way up and back down, but that seemed as bad as following the front sight from target to target when I made transitions. Where should my focus be while the muzzle is rising then coming back down?

Thanks!

[RegRob]

I can call my shots (when I'm patient enough to wait until I see a decent sight picture), I see the brass leaving, I sometimes see sparks and/or fire leaving the barrel when indoors, but for the life of me I swear I don't see the front sight "lift". To me, it still seems to "jump". The slide obscures my vision of the target and then I see the front sight come back down into the rear.

I used to try to follow the front sight all the way up and back down, but that seemed as bad as following the front sight from target to target when I made transitions. Where should my focus be while the muzzle is rising then coming back down?

Yup, this is my world, too. I can call the shots pretty good, because I see what the sight picture is right at the split second before the shot breaks. As a matter of fact, my self II will choose to do a follow up shot immediately if the last shot was a D or a miss. This is obviously good. But I'm not able to track the sights during recoil. The best way for me to describe it, is that I don't process enough "frames per second" to actually follow the movement. Rather, the sights go blurry, until they start to settle again. Since splits ofte happen at 0.15 or faster, its still pretty good, but not quite there, in terms of tracking the sights trough the recoil.

I wish I could play back what I see, and compare to other shooters. Since that's not going to be possible any time soon, I would be happy to hear other shooters describe what they actually see.

[Flexmoney]

I think I'm still not doing this correctly and I'm unclear on the two sight pictures. I'm pretty sure the first is when you break the shot. Is the second at the top of the muzzle flip or when it settles back down into the rear sights for the next shot?

Oh. I can see the cause for confusion.

When I mention to see two sight pictures for one (each) shot, I mean that to be an exercise in overkill with regards to follow-through.

You will see the sight picture as you break the shot. The gun will do what it does as the bullet passes down the barrel, recoils and you return it to the target (lots to see there, if you are open to it)...then, you would establish a second sight picture for the shot that you just completed.

This extreme follow-through is an exercise to get your vision and expectations on the execution of the shot and the sights...instead of wherever else they tend to go when the mind is otherwise occupied worrying about some other thing that isn't as important at the moment.

I used to try to follow the front sight all the way up and back down, but that seemed as bad as following the front sight from target to target when I made transitions. Where should my focus be while the muzzle is rising then coming back down?

You could still be blinking even if you are seeing sparks and brass. Or, you could be looking to the target to see if you hit it, and seeing those things in your peripheral vision.

Why not experiment. Forget about the target and hitting it at all. Just forget about any outcome or performance. Let go of attaching any judgment. And, instead of pre-deciding where the focus ought to be, just soften up the vision, loosen up and see what there is to see.

[Flexmoney]

We don't get to see the front side of shooters (faces)...as they are shooting...too often. When you do get the opportunity to see a picture or video of a top shooter watch the eyes and face. You won't be able to see what they are seeing, but there is plenty to notice.

There is some slow-motion on Travis face in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StXMHw32kjA

Notice how he has a look of being relaxed and aware? You will see this same look on the faces of top shooters. No worry about how to run the gun. No excess tension. Seems like they are just along for the ride.

[SiG Lady]

"- less pressure with the strong hand grip...more pressure with the weak hand. The strong hand needs to be relaxed to operate the trigger in a smooth manner."

He's absolutely right about this. The day I discovered this (on my own some time ago, thanks to the shooting gods' looking down on me that day) I became a MUCH better shooter and even tried to spread the word about it to a couple of beginning shooters looking for tips.

Whenever I find myself screwing up and not shooting well, it's usually because I'm violating the above suggestion about grip pressure.

Great post.

[High Lord Gomer]

Why not experiment. Forget about the target and hitting it at all. Just forget about any outcome or performance. Let go of attaching any judgment. And, instead of pre-deciding where the focus ought to be, just soften up the vision, loosen up and see what there is to see.

Thanks! I'm going to try setting up a video camera to see if I am blinking. I'm also going to try the above with a .22 pistol to see if what I see is much different.

[Rick B]

When I practice Steel Challenge stages with my 22 Buckmark, I consistently see my front sight lift. But not so much with my match gun [a revolver] unless I really concentrate on front sight lift. Any suggestions? I do double plug. Should I concentrate more on seeing that front sight lift?

Rick

[Flexmoney]

Should I concentrate more on seeing that front sight lift?

Yes.

Seeing the front sight lift is what allows a shooter to call the shot...a very basic aspect of shooting well at speed. Calling the shot isn't about aligning the sights. It's not about defining the target. It's not even about hitting the target. It's not knowing where the sight were when your brain decided to pull the trigger.

Calling is knowing where the bullet went as it left the barrel. The most sure way to know that...the way that provides the most feedback...is to read the sights as they start to lift in recoil.

Seeing the sight/dot lift in recoil should be priority #1 (even above hitting the target).

[Rick B]

Thanks Kyle. I'm going to make seeing my sight lift priority #1 this year until it becomes automatic.

Rick