The Unconcious trigger

[RobinC]

The trigger should be a motored responce, i.e a message to your brain to move your finger in responce to you seeing as good a sight picture as you can get within the capabilities of your hold.

The best way you can achieve that is to totally concentrate on the aim, that is the sight picture, the correct alignment of the foresight in the rear sight, as central and the tops level, with that picture placed in your ideal place on the card, often just under the aiming mark, or lower if you wish. Your visual focus should be on the foresight whilst judging that picture and its allignment. The more you concentrate on that the less available concentration there is to be diverted to unwanted trigger thought.

You should never even think about the trigger, just let it happen, when you train, dry firing or shooting, work on hold and aiming, if you wish to train trigger, separate it from either dry or live firing. Just sit with your trigger on dry, and continually operate it in the process you would take with a shot, take first stage, hold, and increase to take the trigger. When you shoot or dry fire, take the first stage as you first cross the aiming mark on your lower, then as you finalise the aim its ready to go, and it more likely to be a motored responce. If you take the first stage after you have refined the aim you are A) wasting valuble hold time, B) redirecting concentration back to the trigger.

From the settling of the aim the shot should go in 6 to 8 secs or reject and start again, it will not get better.

Have fun,
Good shooting

[BigEars]

Thank you all, lots of good advice.

[Aimstraight]

.....When you shoot or dry fire, take the first stage as you first cross the aiming mark on your lower, then as you finalise the aim its ready to go, and it more likely to be a motored responce. If you take the first stage after you have refined the aim you are A) wasting valuble hold time, B) redirecting concentration back to the trigger.....

That really does make a lot of sense, and seems to evolve naturally with practice.

[thisisdonald]

Theres a great resource here if you have not already seen it.
I wouldnt like to regurgitate information, only whats been working for me... I start my first stage as soon as I see the target card as Im lowering. That way Im ready to fire immediately if the correct picture presents itself.. like previously said, sometimes this happens by itself and that is my goal.. if all my shots come automatically when everything is right, the training is paying off

[RobinC]

You might like to try a training technique to help develop motored responce.

Hold on aim, concentrate on sight picture, and with the trigger uncocked continualy and repeatedly take the trigger. The first objective is to demonstrate to yourself that you can take the trigger with out unduly moving the gun. If you can't, then return to just sitting, no aim, with the pistol rested in your lap, on dry or uncocked and practice the controled movement.

If you can hold reasonably still when its taken, continue, you must concentrate on the sight picture, and continue repeatedly taking the uncocked trigger, you should get 6 to 8 in sensible hold, but this time say "ten" to yourself when it is on the ten. One a hold is enough, more is better, none is back to holding and stability exercises.

The next step should happen subconsciously, continue with the cocentration on the sight picture and the same with repeated uncocked trigger takes, and say ten when it is, what will happen is you will gradually find that you will subconciously stop the repeated trigger takes and only take it on a ten. That is the brain taking over the action in responce to the sight picture. You are now on the way to a motored responce. The more work you put into it, the better the result.

Have Fun, and good shooting.
Robin

[silvershooter]

Thanks for posting this Robin.

Question

, you should get 6 to 8 in sensible hold, but this time say "ten" to yourself when it is on the ten. One a hold is enough, more is better, none is back to holding and stability exercises.

Do you mean 6 to 8 X trigger presses ?

Thanks

Dave

[RobinC]

Thanks for posting this Robin.

Question



Do you mean 6 to 8 X trigger presses ?

Thanks

Dave

Yes, in a sensible hold, but don't over hold on to get that number, if 4 or 5 is comfortable do that, just hold as long as you normally would, and keep taking the trigger.

This exercise is not about the hold, its about seeing a good picture whilst taking multiple trigger takes, and ultimately developing those into motored responces when it is good picture.

I developed this technique to teach rifle shooters a motored responce, and with them there is a much steadier hold, but I have also used it with pistol shooters and the results are exactly the same.

Have Fun and good shooting
Robin

[Aimstraight]

That is some very useful information from RobinC, Thank You.

There is also some useful information at Tenrings here.

When I first found this a while ago it seemed like information overload for a newby, but reading it again now makes good sense and shall try to work at it a lot more. The section on natural point of aim revealed to me why my habit of practicing on one 'rough' target card followed by shooting on an adjacent formal target introduces problems, and actually requires a minor adjustment to the stance. Also the section on establishing the correct grip made me realise that moving the index/trigger incurs a natural slight movement of the thumb, which is to be avoided.