looking for comments on video of my shooting

On Monday I thought I developed a flinch, or re-developed my old flinch, so today I decided to take video of myself shooting to see if I was actually flinching.  I don't see a flinch in today's shooting but maybe I am not self critical enough....  Here is a link to a 40 sec 5 shot string.  I am looking for feed back from seasoned bullseye shooters, is there anything in particular you all see that I should be concerned about?

5 shot string

I was shooting irons, which I don't normally do but the combat match next weekend it is preferred that competitors shoot irons vs dots so I am practicing irons for that match.  Its a 45 loaded with 163gr SWC with 4.4 gr of titegroup.

Thanks for the advice in advance. 

Miguel

For starters I would never recommend practicing a 5 shot string in 40 seconds, that's far too long. Either train SF or TF at the slowest. Also why are you taking your finger all the way off the trigger and straightening it between shots? Back off your trigger pressure to endure a good clean reset then get right back onto the wall, some people take the pad of their finger off the trigger slightly to reinforce the reset but you're developing bad habits. 

I feel like the flinch of most BE shooters is minimally observed by others during the shot but gets amplified at 25 and 50 yards. Try ball and dummy training if you want to really see if you flinch, it will be obvious if you've got truly mixed mags of live and dummy rounds.

Thanks Zane.  Good points.  I had been working on SF today and when I went to take the videos I did not want a 3 min video so instead of lowering the gun between shots I just settled the gun down and prepared my next shot.  Pulling my finger off the trigger was also just part of my SF shot process. 

I dont think I pull my finger off the trigger face for TF but I will video that next time to verify

I will incorporate the snap cap into the training regiment.  

Also I realized I posted this in the equipment forum.  Any chance it can get moved to Fundamentals?  I tried deleting it but Zane had already replied....

When I watched this video, the first two thing I noticed was the lack of recoil management, and the slow recovery. I understand that these two things might not appear to impact the task of eliminating a flinch but they do and I’ll try to explain. 

When I notice I’m flinching, or snatching shots, i can tell it’s a direct response to two things that are happening - and its all mental. One, knowing I’ve only got seconds to fire a shot, or a second ish if it’s my fifth shot of a string. So time can easily make you panic and rush this sacrificing trigger control. Two, I SEE the dot in the middle, know that this is when I WANT the shot to fire, and command detonate or force the shot. Again sacrificing trigger control. 

To battle this I slow down. I practice on a static target so as not to concern myself with a time limit. I remove the time limit factor from practice physically there for it is not a mental distraction. This way I can focus on just the mechanics. Speed is a product of knowing how to do something well. So if I can’t do it well quickly, I need to slow down, and lean to perform it at a better level. 

Also I have to consciously remind myself that I can hold well enough to shoot tens. Trust my hold, focus on trigger, keep it smooth, maintain proper trigger control. As I make good steady consistent performances I can worry less, not panic, do my job, make good shots. 

Going back to recoil management and recovery. If these things are performed slowly, you have less time to shoot within a 10 second target. Less time means rushed shots and it’s the breading grounds for panic. Learn to manage the recoil better, recover faster, so you can make smooth correct shots.

One thing I noticed, with each shot the muzzle of the gun slowly moved from a start point, to where the shot breaks then back to the initial start point. If you need to move the gun left or right consistently for each shot, it is much easier to adjust your position to compensate. Alternatively your trigger squeeze could also be pulling the gun to the left as well. A bit difficult to see what is going on from just one angle.

Tim:H11 wrote:When I watched this video, the first two thing I noticed was the lack of recoil management, and the slow recovery. 

Thanks Tim!

These are definitely areas I need work on.  I have been pretty focus on getting my trigger pull down and my hold within the black that maybe I have not given enough attention to recoil management.  I have been doing strength building exercises outside of dry fire and range time but maybe I need to read up more on recoil management theory.  

Miguel

chiz1180 wrote:One thing I noticed, with each shot the muzzle of the gun slowly moved from a start point, to where the shot breaks then back to the initial start point. If you need to move the gun left or right consistently for each shot, it is much easier to adjust your position to compensate. Alternatively your trigger squeeze could also be pulling the gun to the left as well. A bit difficult to see what is going on from just one angle.

Thanks Chiz,

I noticed that too.  When I dry fire with the mantisx I don't see this type of drift in the app.  It could very well be I was not lining myself up well.  I will dig in to my stance game more!

Great feed back everyone!!  Cant wait to get back out there!

Miguel