Posted: 8/1/2006 7:45:58 AM EDT
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I have been shooting a Glock for the past 15 years. I work for a medium size police department. We qualify twice a year. I always shoot in the mid 80s. i recently have attended a few IDPA matches. It's great training and loads of fun. i would like to be more competative and shoot more accurate. in training, we are taught to shoot center mass and we use man size targets. I seem to hit the target in the middle and then the rounds drift lower left. Our instructor says it's all in the trigger pull. i have been practicing "dry fire" and concentrating on pulling the trigger directly back into the pistol using the tip (fatty part) of my finger. This has helped, but it's still shooting lower left. Not as much, but it's still pulling. Need advice. |
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While doing dry fire drills, I would work on your natural point of aim. Get comfortable, aim in a way that's comfortable, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and get comfortable again. Open your eyes and see where you're aiming. I've found that while the first shot(s) can be spot-on, follow up shots can vary because your body is returning the gun to your natural point of aim based on your stance, which may or may not be on target. Once you've found your natural point of aim, your body can remember that position. Also, concentrate on the trigger reset and your sight picture immediately after firing a round. Purposely keep your trigger fully depressed and slowly release to get the trigger reset when you're sight picture is where you want it. It may be slow to begin with, but you'll get the feel for the trigger reset quickly and be able to find it quickly. Don't be concerned with overall speed to start with. I think trigger pull is the biggest factor, and I call it a trigger "press", since I literally tell myself to "press, press, press..." Be steady and don't yank it, and with shots going low, my first inclination would be you may be anticipating the recoil and pushing the gun down a bit. It's hard to diagnose things like this, and you may be doing all of this correctly already, so disregard anything that doesn't apply. For reference, I qualify three times a year, and I average about 98-99% on our 50 shot qual course. I've only shot lower than 96% twice, and that was over 7 years ago. I'm not the best shot, and I'm not an instructor, but I've helped a few people over the years. |
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Well, I can't argue with you on that one. Unfortunately, most departments have to find a way to assure their members can shoot, and a timed course on paper targets in a minimal time frame is the easiest way to do it. I would love to see practical combat courses that incorporate shoot/no shoot scenarios, malfunction drills, empty/tactical reloads, off hand shooting, shooting around barricades, movement, low-light, multiple targets, etc..... The reality, however, is different. That takes time and resources, both of which are limited for most, if not all police agencies. This is a stimulating discussion, but off-topic. |
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Yep common problem, not enough money to pay for training, but enough to pay for the funeral. I think your slapping the trigger. I'll slap the trigger on close shoots (5 to 7 yards) as in USPSA scoring it is usally better to be faster with a A and C hits than slower with two A hits per target. IDPA may be different. |
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Thanks for the input. I will try the "natural point of aim drill" you suggested. If it works, i will pass it on to our instructors. i have never heard of it before, but it makes a lot of sense. We usually qualify and then have "break out" sessions. This is where we practice shoot/don't shoot and tactical drills. We haven't practiced in Low Light for a long time. Being a police officer for 12 years, you like to believe you know everything, but you don't. It was an eye opener when i attended my first IDPA match. These matches are more like additional training for me. Always room for improvement. Thanks again. |
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You can go to Video Google and search for Todd Jarrett. He has a short but very good explanation online on how to grip and aim the gun properly. While practice is great, practicing something wrong will only enforce bad habits and limit the shooters potential. Once the basics are properly learned practice will be needed only to re-inforce it and go to a higher skill level. |
Not to go off subject, but some of that target seems a little back asswards to me. Especially that about anticipating recoil? Who points high when they anticipate recoil? However, on the subject. Different guns take different concentration to shoot well. I remember years and years ago I shot my Ruger target MKII LOTS and had really started to hone my skills with a pistol. I shot lots of knockdowns and had really improved my shooting to what I would call an acceptable level. Then I decided it was time for a 1911... COULD NOT HIT A DAMN THING. First time out to the range I was all over the place. Put it on paper, the damn thing was hitting 4" low on everything, and changing the sights didn't do a thing to it. The problem. I had taught myself not to shoot a pistol well, but to shoot my Ruger MKII well. By this, I mean I had relied on the fact my Ruger had a 7" barrel, and a sweet trigger. So although I could hit pretty well with it, my trigger control, and flinched terribly. By doing some work on the paper, and really CONCENTRATING, I soon found where my errors were made. My Ruger SuperRedhawk was another test in something similiar. Only this incorporated using a little stiffer/creepier trigger, but then dealing with heavy recoil. First shot out of that gun always went right where I wanted it. After that, despite me thinking I was being steady with it, the bullets simply were not going where I wanted them. My suggestion, SLOW DOWN. Paper doesn't lie, but knockdowns/instant gratification targets make sense too. Really see what's happening to that gun when it goes off. You can stand there for an hour with a perfect sight picture, but if you can't control what that muzzle is doing while you are pulling the trigger, it's worthless. Once you start seeing what kind of small technique changes make more hits, you'll start understanding why and what you are doing wrong. I've seen some pretty good pistol shooters not learn this valuable lesson. Put one their own guns in their hand and they hit pretty well, give them something they've never toyed with before, with say, a DA trigger, or just a real creepy trigger and you'll soon see where their problems lie. Gundraw |