Double Gulp Drill - Help keeping hands steady?

[jlseagull]

In order to mimic as best I can a high-stress situation, being clocked in the head, etc. I've devised a system where I down a Double Gulp (64oz) of Diet Mountain Dew on an empty stomach before heading to the range.

I've done this drill a couple of times, and the net effect of the caffeine is enough to make me unable to hold my hand without shaking at arms length.

The result on my shooting performance is, as expected, embarrasing.

I'm wondering what strategies people have in combatting hand tremors. It's a worse problem on aim the lighter the gun is.

The best personal methods I've found in couple times I've tried it is small "sweeps" of the target, shooting as the sight passes over the target. The small movement of the arm seems to lessen the "tremor effect".
Additionally, holding the gun a little closer to the body also seems to steady the hands some as well.

Loosening or tightening the grip muscles from my standard grip seem to be equally ineffective, and actually seem to make the jittering problem worse.

For those of you who are rock-solid at the range, I highly recommend you try the "Double Gulp Drill". It will definitely surprise you!

 

[yhtomit]

Sounds like a semi-good idea

"The result on my shooting performance is, as expected, embarrasing."

Well, I'm not in Arizona to need to worry about it too much on my own behalf, but how's the effect on your *driving* performance?

This (attempting to simulate stress situation) is a smart thing to consider, but ... that much Mountain Dew sure sounds hard on the gut. Another way to get some realistic tremors going (local climate dependent) is to shoot in 20-degree weather with fingerless gloves.

timothy

 

[CNYCacher]

 

[Biker]

I double gulp a few shots of Jim Beam. Shoot a wart off a fly's ass at 50 paces with my snubbies after that medicine.

Biker

 

[quatin]

I bet if you just drink alot of water and wait till you really need to go use the restroom before starting your drills will get you more of a panic effect.

 

[mdao]

Yep, sounds like my shooting on weekdays since I depend on large amounts of caffeine to stay productive during work. The lighter the gun and the longer the barrel, the worse it gets.

I use the same solution as you do. I start a bit low, sweep up, then shoot when the sights line up with the target.

 

[DogBonz]

ah hem

Too... Much... Time... On... Your... Hands

 

[pax]

I moved this over to S&T because it is a training issue, and because I caught the thread early enough that there may be some hope of rescuing it from people who Just Don't Get It.

***

Pretty good drill, IMO. I have (inadvertently at first) practiced the same type of thing with my asthma medications, which make my hands shake like a little old lady's. When I first started shooting, if my asthma kicked up at the range, I would immediately pack the gun away so that I would not be handling guns with shaky hands. Then one day I realized that

1) my hands ALWAYS shake when I am nervous or upset -- both of which I would likely be if attacked, and

2) I use those medications nearly every day anyway, and would very likely have them in my system if attacked.

So I figured I needed to learn to shoot with my hands shaky. Heck, I even thought it was an original idea!

Turns out I'm not the only one who thinks so. Massad Ayoob teaches his students to shoot with shaky hands (in LFI-1, one of the line drills is to deliberately induce a phony shake, to practice smooth trigger pull despite the shakes). Cirillo talks about it too, especially as regards older shooters and shooters under stress. Hmmmm.

Anyway.

What you need to do is not fight the shakes. Let the front sight wobble across the center of your target.

For practice, watch your target for a minute while your hands are shaking and your front sight is as on target as you can hold it. You'll see that the front sight moves maybe as much as two or three inches across the center of the target -- assuming your shake is a really big shake, and not just a minor tremble. Minor trembles don't travel even that much.

The area covered by your tremor-wobbled front sight is your "wobble zone." As long as your trigger pull is smooth, your shot will land within that two to three inch circle of wobble zone.

Is it acceptable to shoot within two inches of an assailant's heart? You betcha!

If you fight the wobble, and try to 'snatch' the trigger when the sights are absolutely, perfectly aligned, your shots will be literally all over the target, covering a lot more territory than just your two to three inch wobble zone.

So then the trick becomes NOT to fight the wobble, but simply to accept it for what it is, and to smoothly pull the trigger all the way back. Do not try to 'snatch' the magic moment when the front sight is absolutely perfectly aligned. Just accept the wobble and pull the trigger steadily and smoothly.

Problem solved.

pax

 

[Lurper]

Hand tremors have no real effect on practical accuracy at self defense ranges. Your hands won't shake enough to make a measurable difference. Remember, for S.D. an 8.5 X 11 piece of paper is acceptable accuracy and most civilian shootings occur at 21 feet or less.

 

[Kurt S.]

What pax said.

I have a condition known as familial or essential tremor. My hands shake a lot. It is aggravated by the slightest amount of caffeine. I can take beta blockers for it but they make me sleepy and have another side effect I can't really specify on THR . I use the method pax is talking about. No problem passing the Texas CHL proficiency test (both times above 90% - see http://www.krtraining.com/KRTraining/TexasCHL/CHLtest.html ) . I have a bunch of handguns and I like to shoot them whenever I can.

I double gulp a few shots of Jim Beam. Shoot a wart off a fly's ass at 50 paces with my snubbies after that medicine.

Biker, you madcap, you!

 

[mpmarty]

No, no, no. Do not double gulp.
Partner up with a fellow shooter and do the golfer trick of handicapping oneself by giving your "opponent" two "gotchas".

The way it works is you go to the line, lock and load, take a fine sight picture and just as you take up slack on the trigger, your partner gooses you and yells "gotcha" and "one more to go".

The second "gotcha" never comes. Just imagine the stress and pressure that creates.

 

[jlseagull]

Pax & Kurt S. - Thank you, it certainly helps to know that I'm on the right track, but will keep at it.

MPMarty & Lurper - Try actually doing this drill on an empty stomach and tell me if you still feel the same way. The jitters are not enough to impair gross motor function, but they do have a very real effect on fine motor skills, much in the same way a rush of adrenaline would. Try it.

 

[James T Thomas]

another view

"jlseagull:"

The post by "Pax" and the following #9 post are worth reviewing.

Some pistol expert somewhere, sometime had written that the challenge is not to maintain the perfect sight alignment; picture. But the challenge is to maintain some respectable alignment of the sights during the trigger pull.
I suppose today that coordination would be referred to as "multitasking" the weapon discharge, or some such jargon.

It is the operation of the trigger that has precidence. The sight alignment is a consequence of that struggle.

 

[coelacanth]

lemme get this straight....

You down 64ounces of Mountain Dew all at once? Yikes! Anybody can do that can probably hunt bears with a net. You just wearin, that piece for bling-right?

 

[Tin Gizel]

I double gulp a few shots of Jim Beam. Shoot a wart off a fly's ass at 50 paces with my snubbies after that medicine.

Ah, grandpa's old 'aimin' fluid. Works well when shooting pool also...

 

[tank mechanic]

If I was to get it into training to shoot with the shakes, I would do pushups at the range until I achieve burnout, (do so many that it is impossible to do another one). Your hands will be shaking everytime you try to even slightly lift them. Safer on the stomach and it never hurts to get a little exercise.

 

[Joe Demko]

Why don't you just do something like sprint out to the 100 yard line and back as fast as you can before shooting? Your heart will be pounding, you'll be breathing hard, you'll be sweating...all the sorts of things people experience under severe psychological stress.

 

[Biker]

Tin Gizel...

"Aimin' fluid...". I'll be rembering that one.

Biker

 

[DogBonz]

Ok... Sorry for the first post

I thought that it was in jest.

The caffeine buzz may be good at causing physical shaking to simulate stress, but the 600-800 Calories that it packs are only good if you want a tactical tummy.

Try push-ups. It will give you the shakes in your arms, plus you will be breathing heavy, and you will be doing a little good for your body instead of ingesting empty calories.

But that’s just my opinion… and you know what they say about opinions…

 

[Bob F.]

Kurt: Thanks for posting the COF. Always enjoy shooting someones qualifying COF.

Stay safe.
Bob

 

[jlseagull]

I haven't tried the push-ups, but I have tried the run 100-yards drill.

Getting my heart rate up is not the same thing as the Double Gulp Drill. Try this once on an empty stomach (costs you $1.19 plus range time), and post here what you think. If you don't like Mtn Dew/Diet Mtn Dew you could probably use 40 oz of coffee. To those worried about calories, notice in the OP i said "Diet" Mtn Dew.

I found the running drill only elevated my heart rate, which yes, occurs in a stress situation, but the effect did not last very long, and I did not find an elevated heart rate too extremely challenging to shoot around.

The Double Gulp drill really messes with your fine motor skills, while your gross motor skills are still intact. I wanted to create a physological obstruction, not just elevated heart rate.

 

[LanEvo`]

In order to mimic as best I can a high-stress situation, being clocked in the head, etc. I've devised a system where I down a Double Gulp (64oz) of Diet Mountain Dew on an empty stomach before heading to the range.

Honestly, I think I'd rather be clocked in the head than down 64oz of Mountain Dew

 

[Duck and Cover]

+1 on doing pushups at the range. It'll get you funny looks, but it works.

 

[NeoSpud]

Well, I know I'd be immune to this test, as I'm a caffeine-freak to the point where I'm sure it's got to be unhealthy

I've found it much cheaper to simply grab a couple dumbells and do a few sets of bicep, tricep, and shoulder exercises with no rest in between, to really wear out my arms. Although there may be a mental difference between shooting tired and shooting revved up from caffeine, from what I can tell it acts bodily the same way in that your arms don't want to do what you want them to (stay still!). Also, though I don't know what you call it, there's an exercise where you hold both arms directly out in front of you while holding rod that has a 10lb weight attached to the middle by way of a 5 foot line of rope. While holding your arms directly outwards and not bending your elbows, you have to roll the weight up the rod and then back down. It'll get your arms burning in no time

-edit-
I do this on private land... if you do that at a public gun range, expect some laughs

 

[Caimlas]

I drink a copious amount of caffine, and its uncommon for me to not have the caffine shakes. Probably unhealthy, and I should cut back, but...

I've also stopped using the sights while shooting handguns. I've been practicing and trying to figure out precisely how to effectively point shoot now for the last two months, and I think I've got it down - I can point shoot single-handed about as effectively as I could shoot with aimed 2-hand shots at the beginning of the year (say, 6" group at 25 feet). However, the difference is that I'm point shooting - calling it 'snap shooting' might be a better description - much, much more quickly than I've ever shot with aimed shots. From the hip at about 20 feet, I shot 6 20oz. soda bottles the other day in a row, no misses, in about 4 or 5 seconds (Walther P22 3"). That kind of accuracy isn't typical, but the speed is, and the accuracy is getting much better. I'd not have believed it was possible if someone had told me a couple months back, either...

Oh, I should note that my first snap shot is almost always the most accurate of a group, and as I'm making the shots quickly, it's not necessary to worry about wobble.