Pistol Shooting DVD or Book?

in_the_right

in_the_right

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Can anyone recommend some DVD's or books that helped you and might help me?

I have been shooting for a year now and still have trouble grouping my shots center of target, i tend to shoot left and low.
I have read countless articles online and even watched some Youtube videos, adjusted my grip every couple of months to find something that would help, and worked on my trigger control. I am very accurate with shotguns and rifles but mt Gloack 17 gives me a lot of trouble.

Coles notes: Still shooting my Glock 17 low and left after a year, looking for a DVD/ book to help me out

Thanks,
i_t_r
 
Assuming you are shooting right handed, what is most likely happening is that you are tightening your grip as you squeeze the trigger. This is extremely common among new shooters (and many not so new ones, as well).

The way to sort it out is to practice dry firing at home. When you start out you will see the muzzle dip low and left as the trigger breaks due to the change in your grip as you pull the trigger. With practice, you will learn to keep the muzzle steady as the shot breaks. The ultimate goal is to decouple your trigger finger movements from the rest of your hand, which is easier said than done. Once you can do that, you will see your shots hitting where you want them to.

When I started shooting handguns I had the same issue and managed to kill it by dry firing ~40 times each night before bed. Took a few weeks of this and I found I was much, much smoother on the trigger and wasn't pulling the shots anymore.


Mark
 
If you're right handed hits to low and left almost always signifies a flinching issue. Nothing you do with your grip or trigger finger will cure a flinch. Neither will books or DVD's. What is needed is that you need to fine tune your brain with a couple of new ways of doing things.

The first is stop pulling the trigger until it goes BANG! If you are expecting the BANG! then you're far more likely to anticipate and flinch in some misguided and doomed to failure attempt to try to hold back the recoil. Instead train yourself to pull the trigger back all the way to and through the break point and hold it against the rear travel limit.

While doing this you need to focus on the front sight and holding it on the target. Your only job in the whole world is to hold the gun steady and not try to fight what you know is coming. Shooting to avoid a flinch is a bit of a mental "Zen" like situation. YOu want to focus hard on a proper trigger pull and the sights on the target and divorce your mind from any expectation of the upcoming BANG! event. It was focusing on the BANG! that got you into this situation. Now you need to change that with some strong mental tuning.

Your grip should be firm like a strong but still friendly handshake. If it's too loose obviously the gun moves around. But if you put a death grip on it then it becomes very hard to isolate the movement of the trigger finger from your other fingers and hand. This makes it hard to hold the gun steady. So if in doubt ease up a little and work on nothing at all but the trigger finger moving or changing tension at all.

The trigger pull is best described as building rearward pressure with your finger and allowing the trigger to move as it wants in response to that pressure. With a GLock this means the trigger will move fairly easily at first then slow down just before the break. That's fine. Do not try to keep it moving. Instead just continue to build finger pressure and let it break back in it's own time as you build up to the pressure needed. Given that you're working on some "issues" work at building this pressure up smoothly over about one second or just a little less from beginning to rear stop. Later, as the problem goes away, you can ramp up the build time. But at all times the pull should be a build up of pressure. Even if you're shooting in Open at an IPSC meet. The build can occur VERY fast. But it's still a build and not a nervous snatch at the trigger. But for now work on slow and sure.

When the gun shoots don't just release the trigger. Hold it back until the recoil is over. Then with the same care release it by easing off the pressure. At some point you should feel the reset click. At that point you can reverse the pressure and begin building again for the next shot. Again the point here is that you do not allow the trigger to jump around either by snatching at it to fire the gun or by jamming your trigger finger forward in response to the BANG! That would be a form of recognition of the BANG! And allowing yourself to be influenced by the BANG! and the flinch that comes with it is what you're trying to cure.

Work on racking the gun and doing some dry fire excersises with this technique. While doing so in particular aim the sights at something in the distance and watch the sights keenly for any sign of jumping to one side or the other when the trigger breaks. It's when there's a sudden change in the grip and trigger pressure balances that any off center pressure will show up as a jerk of the sights to one side or the other.

Buy a pack of snap cap dummy rounds and at the range have a buddy load some in randomly in your mags. Then have him watch your gun as you shoot. If the barrel dips with a little jerk when you click on a dummy round then you haven't cured your flinch yet.

One option that I found worked for me is shooting a bunch of .22. The low recoil allows us to really concentrate on the basics of the trigger pull and sight focusing. The recoil is low enough that it's easy to learn not to flinch with a bit of work and concentration. When shooting well with the .22 shift over to a mag of 9mm. As you feel yourself start to flinch again shift back to the .22.
 
Todd Jarrett on pistol shooting
[YouTube]ysa50-plo48[/YouTube]
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa50-plo48>

TDC said:
Seek professional training and take a course. Books and videos only offer starting points. They are not training.
Click to expand...

x2

Click here
<http://www.oneshottactical.com/training.html>
Contact Us

One Shot Tactical Supply

Training: Earl Green

Dates, questions, bookings

Head Office: Mailing Box 217, Brighton, ON, K0K 1H0

Retail Store: 45 Front St, Trenton, ON, K8V4N3

<http://www.oneshottactical.com/contactus.html>
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in_the_right said:
Can anyone recommend some DVD's or books that helped you and might help me?
I have been shooting for a year now and still have trouble grouping my shots center of target, i tend to shoot left and low.
I have read countless articles online and even watched some Youtube videos, adjusted my grip every couple of months to find something that would help, and worked on my trigger control. I am very accurate with shotguns and rifles but mt Gloack 17 gives me a lot of trouble.

Coles notes: Still shooting my Glock 17 low and left after a year, looking for a DVD/ book to help me out
Thanks,


The very best book that helped me out was
"Gun Digest Book Of Combat Handgunnery" by Massad Ayoob.

This is not a book for bullseye but for practical, offhand shooting.

You can find it on amazon.ca.
It's around $18.

~ Andy
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
TDC said:
Seek professional training and take a course. Books and videos only offer starting points. They are not training

TDC
Click to expand...

Correct. Not training at all. More for information and entertainment.

Unless you have someone that can watch and critique you, you'll just be wasting ammo, making noise, and not getting any better.
 
wicked_police said:
Correct. Not training at all. More for information and entertainment.

Unless you have someone that can watch and critique you, you'll just be wasting ammo, making noise, and not getting any better.
Click to expand...

you dont always need someone to critique you if you can critique yourself well. video your shooting and dry firing, watch dvds (i like the matt burkett ones, competition focus vs defensive focus since im shooting for competition i want to learn that) and read, see what the experts say to look for then watch yourself and see what you are doing and what to fix. If you cant figure it out, well then you need a third party

this approach does hinge on being able to be harsh to yourself, which is harder for some than others
 
Very few people are capable of accurate self analysis, especially when the shooter is at the level the OP admitted to.

in_the_right said:
I have been shooting for a year now and still have trouble grouping my shots center of target, i tend to shoot left and low.
I have read countless articles online and even watched some Youtube videos, adjusted my grip every couple of months to find something that would help, and worked on my trigger control.
Click to expand...

Video is good, but if you're unable to recognized that your grip is wrong, or you're anticipating the recoil, or not lining up the sights correctly, or any number of other countless small details, it won't do you any good.

heavenIsAlie said:
this approach does hinge on being able to be harsh to yourself, which is harder for some than others
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That's a huge part of the problem. Most people inflate their ability and at the same time minimize their role in any problems or issues, whether it's their shooting, or even interactions with police (such as the editor of a small paper in bc...).
 
heavenIsAlie said:
you dont always need someone to critique you if you can critique yourself well. video your shooting and dry firing, watch dvds (i like the matt burkett ones, competition focus vs defensive focus since im shooting for competition i want to learn that) and read, see what the experts say to look for then watch yourself and see what you are doing and what to fix. If you cant figure it out, well then you need a third party

this approach does hinge on being able to be harsh to yourself, which is harder for some than others
Click to expand...

Wicked police is correct. You can't self critique if you don't know what you're doing. You don't/won't know what you're doing until someone who does critiques your form. Again, books and videos are not training. For those who are serious about learning the craft and wish to have a boat load of fun, seek professional training.

TDC
 
Actually, if you ever want to really cringe, take a video camera and tripod to the range, point it in your direction and turn it on while you draw, shoot and move - if you're not totally devastated by what you see, you're either an ego maniac or a highly skilled shooter. There aren't that many highly skilled shooters around.
 
yes for the OP he needs a third party, since he falls into the part that cant tell what he is doing wrong.

but its not always possible for people to find a third party so i figured id mention for everyone else that you dont always need someone else to teach you if you can research and critique properly.

hell you could always take pictures/video and post them here and i bet one of two people would be able to figure out what you were screwing up on.
 
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