back and forth, 3 to 9

Well shot my 3rd match of the season and did not do as well as before.  One thing I noticed is my dot flying back and forth from 3 to 9.  This is on T& R.  I'm thinking it has to do with trigger control or more so with finger placement on the trigger.  One suggestion I got from a team mate  is to tape up my wrist next pactice and see if I still have movement.  One thing is I have new grips on my 22, Nill's.  I have had them on my gun for 2 months now.  Maybe during a match my finger isn't finding the sweet spot on my trigger.
What do you guys think?

Depending on the position of your body the dot could go horizontal more than vertical or vice versa.  Experiment with the angle of your body to the target to see which position minimizes movement in both directions, or at least makes it even.

Do you go into your stance then raise your gun with eyes closed, then when you open them are you on the center of the target?  If off do you reposition your rear foot or move your arm? 

Without being there and watching it's just a guess but it sounds as if your stance put your gun either right or left of center and you are fighting to bring the gun back to target.  Sometimes too far sometimes not enough.

- Dave

Relaxing your wrist? 

Just simply relaxing.  Or secondary symptom of a distraction in your process. 

Read BZ articles.

Oh and by the way. Nice suggestion with the wrist tape it would probably improve your score or almost everyone for that matter. But it is not legal in BE to tape your wrist or wear a brace of any kind that would support the wrist. Just an FYI. I think you probably knew that already but just mentioned it again because you shouldn't practice with it on if you can't wear tape during a match. I would think you would develop a dependency without working out the real problem. That's my .02

Try to loosen your grip.

Brian

How is your hold for dryfire? I have that symptom when I suffer match anxiety.  Lanny Bassham's books are a big help in that department.

I'm a super low stress guy, and I didn't even realize the hold could be effected by emotions--emotions that I really wasn't "feeling" at all--but that's what it was for me.

Astroimage2002 wrote:Try to loosen your grip.

Brian

Or tighten. Could just be inconsistancies in grip. Also, do some training concentrating on pulling the trigger straight back. I think of pulling the dot (or front sight) back toward my eye.

Steve B and dronning,  I think your both right about my stance.  I was running the controls and shooting.  The controls are say 5 feet away from the shooting lane.  I push the button and then go get into position. I was probably rushing to get into position.  I didn't even think about this....... I will make sure this doesn't happen again.
OldMaster64  This would be a one time thing just to see if there is any movement in my wrist.  
I have Lanny Bassahm book and I am focused on my process.
One thing I have not done yet is to write down my shot process.  This is something I need to start on.  One thing comes to mind is last week I pulled thought the flesh in my finger till the trigger broke, sorry that probably doesn't make sense.  This week I had my finger right up to the resistance.  This shows me that I'm not doing everything the same.  Which is not good.
Thanks guys

How is your hold when you dryfire? Do you get the 3 to 9 shakes when you dryfire?

Hi Rob,  When I dryfire my dot pretty much just sits there.

I find the dot does the 3 to 9 line when I'm over trying or I notice that I should win my class because of the other Sharpshooters who are (or more importantly aren't) there.

It took me a long time to realize that the shake is caused by mental errors.  I wasted a good year trying different diet, all of the grip things, you name it.

I had never really felt "match anxiety" before.  Previously I was just a high 70%-low 80% marksman and was out there having fun, so I never had the bad shakes.

When I got good enough that I was starting to be in the top 10 at our club league matches, I started trying harder and trying to compete.  Some days would be great and other days the shake was terrible.  

When I would have the shakes, I would feel short of breath and my heart would beat weird, and my stomach was uncomfortable.  I frequently skip meals when I'm busy and I thought it was a symptom of not eating.  I changed my diet and was sure to eat plenty of protein before a match.  It still happened.  The weird feeling, everything.

One day one of Brian Zins' old USMC teammates, Justin Georgio, called me and said he knew that my problem is anxiety and told me how to fix it.  He told me to focus on the action phrase "this is what I do" when going through my WRITTEN shot process.  It works.  I do have to change my action phrase because if it gets too routine my mind goes to the wrong places and I don't have control.  My phrase right now is "stay right here" ("right here" is the front sight) other times my action phrase is the Pixies song "where is my mind"--the drums, guitars, everything.  Whatever it takes to not be thinking about over trying or score or fundamentals, or whatever other stupid shit I shouldn't be thinking about when I should be letting my gun shoot all by itself.

I hope that's helpful.

Oh, and I've had this question more than once--with the kind of slowfire scores that you shoot, why are you still a Sharpshooter?  The above post is why.  We all have our weaknesses in this sport, and mine is on top of my shoulders.  What's really rewarding for me is beating the weakness.  It's so much fun.

Well Rob, that was a good post.  I now know I was rushing to get into my stance.  But on a much deeper level you hit the nail on the head.  But how can I have match anxiety, I shoot with the same teammates for 4yrs..  We travel to the same clubs for 4yrs..  I know who we shoot against. I don't feel my heart rate climbing, no funny feeling in my stomach.  I will tell you the truth, I have been in DENIAL. I never thought match pressure bothered me.   But know I think everyone has it to some degree. I believe match pressure is one reason why I have inconsistent scores.   And why I throw a shot.  For me the first thing was to realize I had a problem with this so now I have something to work on.  I am big into the "process" now, I started writing my shot plan.
One of my first post when joining here was that I wanted to become a more mature shooter.  I know this will help my scores.  And I am well on my way with the help of you guys.
Hmm, I'm thinking a good action phrase would be "I'm beating the weakness."
Don't forget about being in you happy place, something Ed has talked about.