Wobble

[Burnie]

I know that some wobble is normal. I am trying to qualify at a indoor range one handed at 50 feet. Outside without the pressure, I'm good. Inside "under the gun" I got worse and worse as time went on. My hand and gun were shaking so bad that I could barely hit the target.

I'm using double hearing protection and a XDM 45 5.25. Any advice is appreciated.

:banghead:Burnie

 

[BCRider]

I've seen a description of how our muscles work somewhere around here that makes sense.

When we first raise the gun up it takes a second or two for the motion to settle down and the muscles to become calm. But as we pass through this calm phase and hold our arm out there the muscles begin to tire and become shakey.

How soon this happens is somewhat based on our physical conditioning. A stronger arm will have a longer window of calm than someone that is weaker and less conditioned. But either way for most of us there's only a 3 to 30 second window of calm before the stress shakes begin.

If you find that your first shots are generally pretty good and the last few in a magazine or cylinder are the ones which are poor try lowering your arm to give it a short rest after a few shots then bring it back up and finish the course of fire. And between loads walk around and shake your arms around or try some mild isometrics or other tensioning exercises. You want to stimulate the good flow of blood through your system but not to where you overtax your arms and produce even more stress shaking.

Of course other factors come into play as well. Someone that has a poor diet or that drinks lots of cheap coffee or energy drinks will find that their nerves are more shakey than someone with a good food diet. It's likely fair to say that a person's general physical condition will also play a part. If they have a very sedentary style job and don't counteract that with a spare time exercise program they'll likely find that this "window of calm" is very short. Getting more physically fit will aid in becoming a better shooter if this is the case.

 

[dprice3844444]

http://www.pilkguns.com/c2.shtml

http://www.bullseyepistol.com/stamina.htm

 

[Loosedhorse]

I got worse and worse as time went on.

I like to end each range session with a "ball and dummy" drill. I mix up some live ammo and two action-proving dummies, load the mag with my eyes closed (good practice!), insert the mag, rack, and shoot.

When a dummy round comes up, I should see the hammer fall and the gun remain still.* If it jerks on the dummy round, I jerked it: a flinch. Now I've got some real concentration to do.

Also, at speed, folks tend to accept a less precise sight picture than for precision, and that's fine. But don't fall into a shooting rhythm where you're firing according to when the sights should be back on target, instead of when they actually are.

And some folks try to shoot faster by jerking the trigger suddenly when the sights line up. You can find that and work on that just the same as a flinch.

My bet is flinch. Tends to come on (for me) at the end of the session, when I'm tired. Shaking without flinch doesn't tend to put me off target.

*BTW, now you get to execute a tap-rack-reacquire drill. More good practice!

My hand and gun were shaking so bad

Sounds like you're over-gripping the gun (which many say isn't possible! ), so you're wearing yourself out too fast. Or maybe an awkward stance (isoceles is not for everyone), or training too long; lots of possibilities.

Could be, also, that .45 isn't your caliber. It isn't everyone's.

Getting a trainer to look you over (a pistol shooting trainer, not simply a "the required CCW course" trainer) could answer your questions best.

 

[jad0110]

Someone that has a poor diet or that drinks lots of cheap coffee or energy drinks will find that their nerves are more shakey than someone with a good food diet.

Amen to that. Years ago, if all I had for breakfast was a crappy bowl of cereal, I'd have the shakes by about mid morning. Just about the time I'd start my range session. OTH, nowadays when I eat a few eggs, bacon and an apple I'm GTG until an early afternoon lunch. Makes a BIG difference.

 

[tomaz45]

I am a big fan of dry fire practice. Use that time to really develop your concentration on the front sight as you press the shot. I have found that we are all prone to over-think the shot (target, front sight, rear-sight, half breath release, press the trigger, target,......) to the point that we are exhausted. When I have my students really concentrate on the front sight it seems to give their brain a single thing to deal with and frees up the rest of the actions to take place. Give it a try in dry-fire, then move to the hot range. Finishing with a ball&dummy drill is an excellent idea also. We often allow our own brain to get in the way of good shooting.

 

[sugarmaker]

Have someone single load your gun for you, sometimes with a round, sometimes not. Also dry fire on the range with others shooting around you. These are the best way to eliminate flinch and shot anticipation, which is what's happening now. A revolver is best for "mystery round" as you can load it yourself with a mix of fired cases and loaded ammo.

 

[Burnie]

Thanks for the great feedback. I do eat well, & exercise including arm extensions with a 5# dumbbell, and wore (2) laserlytes out dry firing. I guess I'll work on the "ball and dummy drills" next. If I could eliminate coffee without the headaches, I'd try that too. I also thinks it's nerves. Maybe I'll replace the coffee with Scotch. That should work.

 

[BCRider]

.....Maybe I'll replace the coffee with Scotch. That should work.

It works well for me... A wee dram of a nice highlands single malt is a lovely dessert following dinner. It generally beats all but a good home made apple pie.

If you're mainlining so much coffee that you can't give it up for a few days then you are indeed addicted to the caffiene. It'll ruin you for a month to 6 weeks but it's not a bad habit to break. And yeah, I'll bet it's affecting your shooting by a lot.

I'm very much into the morning coffee habit big time. But I'm also hyper sensitive to caffiene. So more than two cups and I'm nervous, raised heart rate and twitchy until it processes through my system. A buddy told me to stop using the stuff I was drinking and go for a higher quality darker roasted "Arabica" grade. I told him that I didn't like the charcoal taste. He replied "that's only with the bad stuff over roasted". So I tried a couple of pounds (not in one pot ) of a good premium French roast Arabica labeled bean. The difference was literally night and day. Yes, it costs more. But it didn't leave me with the "I'm gonna die RIGHT NOW" raised heart rate and nervous shakes after two cups. And I found that with the more powerful flavour that I was totally satisfied after two cups. And no, it didn't taste like ground charcoal either.

I've gone out shooting right after drinking this stuff and did fine. In fact I make a quarter pot and fill up a travel mug which I'm just finishing off by the time I reach the range for a match. And I don't have the shakes. I never would be able to do that with the previous type I'd been drinking.

I tried de-caf too. But it just did not have the flavour. Pretty much the two I tried tasted like dark dishwater.

 

[hariph creek]

Could be physical, as covered above? Good advice given

Could be a training issue, also mentioned? Good advice given.

Could be psychological? The pressure of qualification could be a very small taste of pressure possibly faced in a life or death experience? I've long felt that shooting under pressure is good practice. Whether it be from intensive training, qualification, competition, or...

Could be a mixture of all three? Physical/training/psychological.

 

[murf]

suggest you quit trying to make the gun stop wobbling. just make sure the sights are aligned correctly and press the trigger.

and rest between shots. fwiw

murf

 

[MrBorland]

suggest you quit trying to make the gun stop wobbling. just make sure the sights are aligned correctly and press the trigger.

+1. Often, the wobble itself isn't the real problem. The real problem is putting your attention on it, when it should be on sight picture & trigger control.

The wobble can get pretty bad if you hold too long, and/or you're trying to time the perfect shot. Either way, rest between shots, accept your natural wobble, and focus on sight picture & trigger control.

As far as caffeine, we all have our own tolerance. Stay within your normal range, and it shouldn't acutely affect your shooting. I love coffee myself, and didn't cut back at all when I worked on my coin-on-the-barrel drill. Relaxation was key, and easiest when I stayed within my normal routine.

 

[hariph creek]

''coin-on-the-barrel-drill'' is great trigger control practice.