Is blinking flinching?

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MartyK2500

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Hey, i was not sure where to post but here we go. My first purchase was a 9mm, may be 3000 rounds in now. I had followed an issf coaching class earlier, so i am aware about follow thru and trigger squeeze. I filmed myself at the range recently to review my stance, and notice that i am blinking with every shot i make!

I then read on the net about double ear protection, practicing to dry fire 3x 20 minutes a week. I am now 2 weeks in my new routine, film myself yesterday, and notice i still blink pretty bad. So is it possible to blink without flinching or are they automated to one another?

It came to my attention since i always shoot lower/left ish from bullseye.
 
Alright so now that my case is well diagnosed...
Will dry fire make wonders if done correctly or should i park the 9 mil a bit and get a .22lr?
I am a competitive person by nature, i am working on my flaws as much as possible so i can get competitive by spring 2013. Just friendly competitions or whatever, as long as it get's me out and shooting with goals and people.
 
To get myself to stop blinking I moved my target to about 10yards and instead of focusing on hitting the center of the target I focused on keeping my eyes open and less about the target.


For me it took months till I could fully cure my flinch.
 
jethunter said:
Do you have a .22 pistol? They are great for building good shooting habits or fixing bad ones.
Click to expand...

+1, they are a great training tool. I like to shoot a few mags of rimfire as a warm up, then a few of centerfire, then rimfire and so on. More than once going back to the rimfire has shown a bad habit that was creeping in while shooting the centerfire.

OP has me curious now if I am blinking while shooting. I don't feel like I do, and I never stop focusing on the front sight, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening anyway. I sense more video review coming on...


Mark
 
Blinking is an involuntary response to recoil, you're not going to be able to stop it while shooting.

You might not think you're doing it but it is happening.
 
Try ball and dummy drills, wall drills and really really focus on the front sight (you should be able to describe the FS in detail) as the shot breaks - if you see the front sight move, you've flinched. Take a look at pistol-training dot com for drills. Blinking is controllable, once you're habituated to the stimulus that causes you to blink.
 
Intermix dummy rounds with live rounds. The click will show you how bad it is and will actually help you stop flinching. Another trick is to do dry fires while balancing an empty shell casing at the tip of the barrel. Squeeze the trigger and make sure the round stays standing on its primer.
 
enefgee said:
Try ball and dummy drills, wall drills and really really focus on the front sight (you should be able to describe the FS in detail) as the shot breaks - if you see the front sight move, you've flinched. Take a look at pistol-training dot com for drills. Blinking is controllable, once you're habituated to the stimulus that causes you to blink.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, will definatly look it up.

Fenceline: that is something i have read elsewhere and is something i wish to incorporate in my training. What makes me sad, in my issf training i have had a coach observed me real good and flinching or trigger pull was no issue. I was training with both high end air and .22lr, now that i have a 9mil, wich is still a small caliber, bad habits are kicking in.


mmattockx : Man i was convinced i never blinked, i always shoot both eyes open and "tought" i followed thru right. When i saw myself i then filmed myself a 2nd time to confirm while making effort to not blink, it happens so fast it's as if it never happens. Kinda creepy to be blinking that fast.

Jethunter : no, i will be going in to local shop next week. I will only get a ruger mk lll, since budget is an issue. Shooting more than 300 rounds of 9 mm a week is not the most costly, but must be considered in budget. Then again i am relenting to live fire until i get more dryfire under the belt or some rimfire.

Mr x : did gou actually film yourself to confirm no blink? I am still on the fence on the tought that blink=flinch
 
Still say try dummy rounds mixed in. If you are blinking, it won't be the only reflex action. Dummy rounds and slow steady shots will help you recognize what is happening when you pull the trigger expecting "bang" but hear "click". You may be getting a barrel twitch along with the blink, but you don't see it with your eyes closed.
 
You know, there's an actual shock wave that hits you in the face. I would almost think, the blinking is a split second after the round is in motion. It probably won't affect the shot. It might be best to just stop thinking about it, and focus on flinching.

You think it's hard to stop blinking when you shoot? Try to keep your eyes open when someone is punching you! haha. Takes some practice.
 
Blinking after the shot isn't a flinch. A "flinch" is when you jump or move just prior to making the shot. If you blink or react before the shot in anticipation of the recoil or the percussion, or the noise - that's a flinch. You need to find a way to control that because flinching makes the gun move immediately before the shot and that is never good for accuracy. Squueeeeezzzzzeeee-BANG is good. Squueeeeezzzzzeeee-jerk-BANG is bad.

Lots of dry firing will help a flinch. So will good shooting glasses and hearing protection. Lots of people aren't bothered by the recoil - they flinch in anticipation of the percussion - a little energy wave that shock-assaults the eyes. Shooting glasses help, but the only thing that really gets you accustomed to it is lots of shooting.
 
I "sometimes" blink when other people shoot, that's a normal body reaction to unexpected shots, but when I shoot I never blink.
 
Simply put, if you are blinking with the shot it means that your unconscious mind knows when the gun is going to go off, and that means you are anticipating the shot. Flinches and all kinds of weird little twitches of the front sight can occur if you anticipate the shot, especially if you have your eyes closed at the moment the gun goes off and aren't even seeing the front sight.

To begin with, SLOW DOWN on the trigger so you can't anticipate when the gun will go off, and also consciously force yourself to keep your eyes open and FOCUSED ON THE FRONT SIGHT all the way through the shot. Emotionally, you just don't want to care if or when the gun goes off. Have the goal of getting a mental picture of what the sights looked like when they jumped with the recoil of the gun ("calling your shot"). Be sure to PRESS the trigger, not snatch it. Your conscious mind should be trying to maintain good sight alignment in the middle of the target but not thinking about WHEN to fire -- it may help to consciously begin the slow press of the trigger as a process, with the commitment that once started you won't stop, but then switch your conscious focus to the sights while your subconscious completes the press of the trigger.

Once you get used to shooting the gun without anticipating the shot in slower fire, it is relatively easy to pick up the pace while maintaining good habits.
 
Yes, blinking as you are pulling the trigger is flinching. You need to simply be aware of it and it should stop quickly enough. Or maybe not. Smaller calibers or airguns help a lot to figure out and solve problems.

I had a problem with blinking when firing an air rifle (target CO2) that my coach caught. A conscious effort to keep my eyes open fixed the problem almost instantly, and groups tightened up.

Flinch is what happens in anticipation of the shot. You should be able to keep your eyes open throughout the shot. As noted above, how good are your shooting glasses? Flimsy ones will just rattle on your face, get a pair of well fitting and sturdy ones so the shock wave doesn't affect them as much, and will reduce your tendency to want to blink.
 
Blinking is an indication of flinch.

Does anyone think that a Machine gunner blinks with every shot fired, because of shock wave?:p

Not very much blinking going on behind the shooting glasses of those top shooters on an IPSC firing line either.

Just sayin' Eh!
 
Thank you all for the great comments. I will indeed put off the black badge course until i can get rid of this flinching of mine. So i can get the maximum out of the course.

Notes have been made to correct this, plenty dry fire, double ear protection, better safety glasses ( i got regular rx right now ), slow trigger "squeeze", main focus on front sight and mixing in some snap caps during my live fire exercises.

I will not buy a .22lr just yet, i will monitor my progress in the next 3-4 weeks to come and then judge if a lower caliber is needed to kick the habit. As i always bring a training diary with me to the range, in a few weeks i'll let you guys know if there was any progress before and after applying given tips. I learned to track my progress by shooting centers btw. Right now i cut open all my targets 5 inches, if i hit within 5 inches no holes are punched and i mark my point in percentage of hits inside my 5". I set a few at a few different yards, let's see if i can bring this down to 4"!
 
Blinking is still a reaction to the shot. And as such it could easily develop into some amount of flinch at various times.

I find I blink when waiting and anticipating someone else shooting. Especially if it's a bigger round. But I don't blink when I shoot my own guns.

One way to break the link from the round going BANG! and you reacting to it is to work at pulling the trigger ALL THE WAY to the rear limit. And HOLD it there for the recoil as a form of "follow through". Only when the gun is stable after the recoil THEN ease up on the trigger and allow it to push your finger forward. Feel for the reset click and then reverse the pressure and build it back up smoothly until the gun surprises you and even then continue pulling the trigger back and let the recoil settle out.

By practicing this sort of follow through holding of the trigger you'll break the link from the BANG! to you reacting to it with a blink and possible flinch now or later on.
 
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