How do I correct too much trigger finger???

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BBED - I will treat this as ''snatch'' .... the area of trigger finger used can be relevant .... depending on gun and length of pull.

Mainly tho I'd say - you are applying an excessive and over conscious pressure over time ... maybe trying to achieve the ''now fire damn you'' approach.!:p

Next time out - and you don't mention auto or revo ... but, try some dry fire ... and make your trigger action progressive - which can still permit a fast pull. You must tho avoid yanking on it at last stage ... constant steady pressure increase and ... if a shot goes where you can say ''dang it - it went''! ... then like as not your inspection of POA will show a better result.

Anticipation is a common fault ... and so is flinch - sometimes they are mutually inclusive. If you have more info to add - come back on this .. it'd be good to help you cure it.
 
Squeeze - vs - pull ... well yeah ... squeeze is best.

Let's put it this way ..... what we are after is a gradual (and timeframe is purely relative) ..... and progressive increase in pressure .... such that when the trigger breaks it comes as a surprise! Your whole attention should be sight picture - sight picture - sight picture - sight picture - sight picture. During that progressive pull and concentration on sights .. the shot should go - as I said before - making you think .... ''dang it - it went''!!!:p

A shot release like that will almost certainly put the round in a better place, assuming sights are correctly aligned to begin with.

Another trick .... if you reaload - or someone else can do for you .... insert in the mag a random round which is spent primer - no powder, but bullet seated as normal. preferably, get a buddy to load mag for you. You then should see when firing the inert round - hopefully unexpectedly ... whether the gun sneaks a tad to right as you hear hammer fall.

Otherwise ... discipline with dry fire .... squeeze .. and squeeze ...... steady and progressive.

Did I say - watch sight picture as #1 priority!!:)
 
Once you feel more at ease after some dry fire ... go check out live fire and stick to the discipline ...... I'll be surprised if you don't suddenly click and think ..... ''yeah - that was it'' .. or something!

Do come back with results ... as I said - it'll be good to get you past this small hurdle. I forget where you are right now - oh yeah . about 3,000 miles away!:D - otherwise I'd be more than pleased to take you to range and sort you out!!
 
i always thought "too much trigger finger" meant you were inserting too much of your finger into the trigger guard and pulling the trigger toward your palm rather than straight back
 
9mm .. that is possible thus why I mentioned earlier'' depending on gun and length of pull.'' ....... however, in my experience, this is very much secondary to ''manner'' of pull.

Obviously the gun and length of pull has a bearing but that is somewhat pre-determined - plus shooter's hand size etc.

I should have added perhaps .... to try and ensure that gun is pointed in line with bones of forearm and then place trigger finger ... such that gun is not skewed to right. However ... even if there is error here, a faithful following of sight picture concentration . and - a good trigger sqeeze - progressive -- then things should still improve a lot.
 
Too much trigger finger means putting too much finger thru the trigger guard. Should try to pull as close to the tip as you can.
 
It's a useful chart, but not definitive. Often, ppl shoot ctr left by breaking their wrists. To help w/that I focus on keeping the knuckle or joint (depending upon the size of the grip and position of my hand) of the index finger of my support hand oriented towards the target as I fire.
 
It feels natural to a lot of people to put the trigger on the first finger joint. If you're doing this, stop. Use the pad of your finger instead.

Pull the trigger straight back in smooth, constant motion. Grip more firmly with your support hand than with your trigger hand, this will let your trigger hand relax more, and reduce the trembles while pulling the trigger.
 
Pad or joint of finger doesn't reall matter. There are really good shooters who use either one.

The important thing is that the trigger travels straight back. When I'm teaching new people and I see alot of breaking to the left, it is often because they are pushing the trigger to the side as well as back.

No matter what is causing it, dry fire is your friend. Just practice until that front sight is always on the target the second the trigger breaks.
 
I had the same issue when I first started getting serious about my pistol shooting. Dry firing showed me my error.

And opposed to what most people teach....................using my finger tip on the trigger was causing my pull to the right. I now use my 1st knuckle on the trigger and all is well.

I may just be a fluke (not like THAT hasn't happened before :what: ) or it may be because I do have large hands & fingers (8" from index fingertip to wrist) - but going to the knuckle on the trigger fixed me up real nice.
 
Subconscious thought process

Pull the Trigger – Has the association of pulling. You pull things with your entire arm, ie. a rope, a wagon, etc.

Squeeze the Trigger – Has the association of squeezing. You squeeze things with your entire hand, ie. a fruit, a mammary. Squeezing will cause your bottom fingers to cause the barrel to dip… your shots will hit low.

Press the Trigger – Has the association of pressing. You press things with one finger, a button, a keyboard key.

You want to press the trigger. The only thing you want to move is your trigger finger. You want it to move straight backwards in relative to the bore. You want to be on the first pad of your finger. Where on the pad in individualistic, however, too little and you shots will go left (for a right handed person), too much and your shots will go right. Once you hit the first joint and/or the second pad your shots will start to go left again. You have to find your “sweet spotâ€.
 
Chart? What Chart?

Can someone please direct me to a URL with a picture of this chart?

BTW... I tend to group upper left. What does this mean?

StrikeEagle
 
When my Dad was teaching me to shoot he had to explain what he ment buy squeeze which really helped me out. He said you don't want to pull the trigger back, you want to apply pressure to the grip and trigger so that everything stays balenced and the gun doesn't move.

With lots of careful, slow, dry fire practice keeping the pressure on the trigger offset by the pressure on the back of the gun it will become ingrained in your muscle memmory so even if you do it quickly it will still be ballenced and remain an accurate shot. Hand strength really helps here as well. Using those grip exersizers can make a differance.

Anticipating recoil is a big one. Particularly if you occasionally have a low flier. This was never an issue for me until I started bowling pin shooting and I was trying to get the guns back on target quickly.
 
Excellent posting by Schmit.

As a LEO Firearms Instructor, I teach pressing the trigger as opposed to squeezing or pulling the trigger.

When we are training you'll hear me reminding my shooters, front sight, press...
 
Allow me to be pedantic? ....... Both Steves (and Schmidt) ..... I have no doubt ''press' is just fine, tho I personally prefer ''squeeze'' ... in part maybe semantics, but it always seems to me to implicitly suggest a gradual process..

I would tho qualify ''press'' .... in as much as it, as much as squeeze, can if done wrong be other than smooth. More of a ''prod''. Thus I do consider the word ''progressive'' has immense importance - the movement and pressure application being other than jerky.

Those I have tutored have ''clicked'' most obviously when coming to realize that progressive, with clean break (when unexpected) ... leads to most useful improvements. Plus a reminder that are pulling along the gun's long axis - rather to than to either side.
 
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