What has helped you the most with recoil anticipation?

I've been battling recoil anticipation since I started 2 years ago. Some days it's not bad and my 45 score is close to my 22 score, other days it's 60-80 points left which tells me the recoil is costing me.

What fundamental has helped you the most with mastering recoil?

Are you trying to pull the gun down or something cause you don't like recoil? Or you having a hard time getting the pistol back on target in sustained fire ?

For me, every shot is a surprise shot. Let the gun go off, don't MAKE it go off. Lately I've been concentrating on hammer drop and follow through. It's more of a mental focus thinking of keeping the sights aligned through the shot. Try shooting not thinking about or even caring where you'll hit, just a trigger press ending in a no flinch surprise shot. You may be pleased with how close your groups are.
Kurt

Dry firing with the sights, or dot, against a blank surface. Dry fire until you learn how to pull the trigger confidently without disturbing the sights.

zanemoseley wrote:What fundamental has helped you the most with mastering recoil?

 Air pistol, specifically the LP50.

Train with something larger then a .45. I posted this a couple of years ago. Redneck recoil training. The .45 does not really have any recoil. Its all in your mind.

LenV wrote:The .45 does not really have any recoil. Its all in your mind.

 That would be my second statement/recommendation, that was learned when Zins pulled the trigger of my wadgun while I was holding it. That little trick showed that when you dont know when the round goes off, you wont flinch. Secondly, it showed that the gun will NOT fly out of your hand and smack you in the head. That was the first time I ever continuously saw my red dot from firing to the bullet impact on target, with the dot never leaving the black. Now, I see the flash of gunpowder, which means the eyes are open.

Ghillieman wrote:Dry firing with the sights, or dot, against a blank surface. Dry fire until you learn how to pull the trigger confidently without disturbing the sights.

+1

Do what the masters said. Dry firing is key, following your shot process is key - focus on executing the process, not which gun is in your hand. As part of your process, you have to make sure that your grip is good and your shoulder, elbow and wrist are locked. This must be part of your process regardless of the caliber.

A slight modification on what Len said, if you don't happen to have a cannon handy . When you pick up the .45, convince yourself that it is your .22 and shoot it that way.

What helped me the most...
#1 - Dry firing.  Both at a blank wall, and at a target.  This lets you watch the red dot (or front sight) the whole time.  When using a blank wall, your job is to pull the trigger without making the red dot (or front sight) move outside of your wobble area. When using a target, your job is to line up the sights to the target (within the limits of your wobble area), and then pull the trigger without messing that up.

#2 - Focus on the red dot (or front sight) during live fire.  Your job is to line up the sights to the target (within the limits of your wobble area), and then pull the trigger without messing that up (just like during dry fire).  For me, it wasn't about trying to be "surprised" by the bang, it was learning to not care about when it was going to go bang.  My job is to pull the trigger straight back until it goes bang (and a moment longer, for follow-through) without disturbing the sights, regardless of when that bang happens to occur.  The bang is not the objective; it's merely a by-product.  As long as the gun is pointed approximately at the target, and your grip is reasonable, the stuff that happens as a result of pulling the trigger (flash, bang, recoil, slide cycle, shell ejection, etc.) is irrelevant; it isn't going to hurt you, and it isn't going to affect where the bullet goes.  Focus on what does matter... the red dot (or front sight), and what it's doing as you're pulling the trigger (just like with dry fire).

# 3 - Shot Process.  This means different things to different people, but for me, developing my shot process and following it during both dry fire (as much as possible), and live fire, has helped in many small ways.  Partly it's getting my grip and stance correct.  Partly it's remembering to relax.  Partly it's remembering to breathe and then hold my breath correctly.  Partly it's remembering to focus on the red dot.  Partly it's actively getting back on the trigger during recoil recovery (not waiting until after the sights are re-aligned with the target).  Those are all things that have previously messed up shots for me, so I try to incorporate the correct actions into my shot process.  Yours will be different, but no matter what issues you have, a shot process can assist in addressing them.

Those are the things that have helped me to progress.  They work.