Tips for wife to shoot without twitching in anticipation of recoil

[Rayden]

I need some tips on how to help my wife shoot without jerking.

I bought her a Springfield XD-9 sub-compact, including a Crimson Trace Laser. At the range the other day, she had trouble pulling the trigger steadily as I believe she is anticipating the recoil and shot. I know this because at home I had her dry fire and with the laser I can tell her shot were pretty steady based on the laser only moving very slightly. At the range her laser beam was jerking all over the place when the shot was fired.

Couple of things that also contributed, I think, were fatigue by the time we got to the range, and first time with the XD-9 Trigger which is slightly harder than a Single Action shot of a DA/SA pistol.

Any one has some suggestions?

 

[grumpycoconut]

ball & dummy drill, lots more dry fire, shooting with her eyes closed (helps with the surprise break), shooting with your finger over hers providing the force to move the trigger (again helps with the surprise break), shoot a 22, don't shoot more than a small # of rounds per session so fatigue is less of an issue. There are lots of things you can do to help her beat the flinch.

 

[Koos Custodiet]

Make sure she keeps her face straight.

Really.

 

[grumpycoconut]

Hey Koos,

Please explain. Personally I like it when new shooters have a happy dumb grin on their faces. Proper war faces are an advanced technique.

 

[Koos Custodiet]

I've found that if you concentrate on not screwing up your face you also don't flinch... not my idea, read about it... somewhere.

Relax your face, see if it makes a difference.

 

[Rayden]

shooting with her eyes closed (helps with the surprise break)

haha hopes that won't become a habit.

 

[grumpycoconut]

Dead serious about the eyes closed thing. Its a very slow and controlled thing. Target at 3-5 yds. Get her up on target with sights lined up, finger on trigger, hold, close eyes, feel every last little muscle in her hand and trigger finger as she presses the go button, BANG, recover from recoil, open eyes. 9 times out of ten the shot will go exactly where it was aimed at. Closing your eyes and concentrating on the feel of what you are doing can help you get past the flinch. A lot of flinchers flinch because they are in a hurry to get it over with and forcing them to slow down can help them. The weirdness of closed eyes while doing something as visually demanding as shooting is also a good way of distracting a flincher from the self inflicted expectation that a flinch will happen.

 

[LAK]

Tell her to imagine that before each and every time she pulls the trigger to consciously imagine that her own, yours and your childrens' lives depend on her scoring a bullseye with that one shot.

Give the target the cold stare. Keeping her eyes (or eye if she shoots with one eye closed) OPEN before, during, and after the shot. No blinking.

Not to say the closed eyes technique suggested by Grumpycoconut might not work as well. But the fear of the blast and recoil must be overcome.

Some increased hand and finger strength might help too aiding in overall better control of grip and trigger management. Try a couple of grip exercizers. Light to moderate, three or four days a week for five to ten minutes a day will help alot.

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[CWL]

She's already got the flinch, so she will need to work very hard to undo the damage.

Have her only shoot .22lrs for a while, and very few shot counts (I'm talking like 50 rounds at a time). Let her decide when she's ready to shoot more.

When she's much more comfortable, get her to slowly ease back into 9mm. Shoot the cheap underpowered range reloads or equivalent so there is lesser kick. Stick with less than 50 rounds per session, maybe only 20-30 rounds at a time.

Let her progress from there.

 

[carsten1911]

Get her used to it

Hm,

most means I read sound logic and might work.

Another way to address this problem might be just the opposite, though:
Get her used to the recoil by having her shoot MANY rounds.... unaimed (!!), just to develop the feeling that the guns really doesnt kick too bad.
Aiming takes time, and time is needed to build up uncertainty, fear whatever you want to call that thing that causes flinching. If she knows everything is easy she will be more relaxed to start aimed shots again.

But then again I dont know the recoil of that specific compact pistol: If its really nasty she should do the "lots of rounds" with a bigger and heavier gun first, then work up to the compact.

Carsten

 

[1911 guy]

Best way to defeat a flinch.

The quickest way to cure a flinch is with dryfire at home, a .22 for a while on the range, ball and dummy drills for a bit when you go back to a service caliber. Oh, and good earplugs for all but dryfire. Sound induces a flinch, in some more than others.

When she gets back on the bicycle, so to speak, concentrate more on proper shooting form than anything else, including where the bullet lands. Tighten up the group, then move the group.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Double up on her hearing protection- plugs AND muffs.

Drop back to a .22 for a bit, if you have one she can shoot. Failing that, use the softest recoiling loads for whatever firearm she shoots.

Make sure the grip fits her hand properly and comfortably, that there are no sharp edges, too sharp checkering or anything else (hammer bite, slide bite etc) that causes her physical pain when she shoots.

Be very patient, or hand off her instruction to someone else (another woman if possible).

Shoot FEWER rounds and concentrate on getting good groups. One magazine or cylinder full, slow fire, plenty of time for complete concentration on the fundamentals. Then call it a day. Do this under the least mental pressure possible, with concentration focused on the front sight and the finger's contact point on the trigger. Skip the laser for a bit, it's too easy to try and 'chase' the laser dot with the trigger pull and that can engender a flinch ("shoot quick, before it moves") all by itself. Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals.

lpl/nc

 

[Rayden]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I got a few new ideas from your responses and will try to utilize them the next time we go to the range. The good thing is that my wife actually likes, and wants to shoot. She just needs to improve and get better at it before frustration takes over and she loses interest.

I had her dry firing last night and I can tell she didn't have a problem with the flinch since I can tell from the laser. So it is definitely the anticipation of the recoil at the range. I suggested to have her just shoot without aiming at the bulls eye for a little while first and that should ease it a bit I think. We will try different things so we'll see how that develops.

 

[358minus1]

Hand and arm strength exercises

Everyone offered great suggestions. One more, encourage her to strengthen her hands, arms, and shoulders with exercise.

 

[WayneConrad]

Has it gotten to be work? Maybe go plinking. Forget the handgun for a while. Go shoot cans and steel targets with .22 rifles. Have fun. Lots of fun.

 

[biscuitninja]

As silly as it sounds... try a airsoft pistol. Action, recoil and firing are almost all the same function, but of course no big bang or difficult recoil. This will condition her to trigger pull and since the recoil is so small I feel she'll be just fine without any anticipation.

good luck
-bix

 

[Fly320s]

That XD-9 subcompact is probably very loud and jumpy which is making your wife nervous scared. I'll second the idea of extra hearing protection, and third/fourth/fifth the idea of dry fire or a smaller caliber for a few days.

Another idea you might try is to have her fire the gun very rapidly, but safely, without really trying to aim. It may help her get used to the fact that the gun will be loud, it will recoil and jump around, but that she can control the gun in spite of the noise and recoil. Sort of a , "You can do it!" kind of idea.

 

[NavyLCDR]

I have also found it's an aiming technique thing. Many people concentrate very hard on getting a perfect sight alignment right on target. Then they think they have to shoot quickly while the sights are aligned and jerk the trigger. I use the squeeze and hold method. When the sights are beginning to get aligned I start gently squeezing the trigger. Hopefully, with practice, as the sights come on target is just about the same time as the shot breaks. If all goes well, the gun going off will be a surprise. If, while squeezing the trigger, the sights come off target, no problem. Keep the steady pressure on the trigger and gently start to come back on target. When getting close to on target again, gently apply more pressure to the trigger.

 

[jimbob86]

Dummy rounds mixed with live ammo will reveal the flinch. Focus on the front site and sight picture to the exclusion of all else in Practice will help. Using reactive targets (clay pidgeons, cans of soda, milk jugs full of water) provide an instant "reward" for not flinching. It works for the kids in my 4-H group, anyway......

 

[bensdad]

These are all wonderful suggestions. The biggest help for me when I develop a flinch (I'm a 41 yr. old male, and I admit I develop a flinch once in a while), is to mix in dummy rounds. THe only way it helps is if someone else loads the mags. The click (as opposed to the bang) has to be a complete surprise.

Other suggestions will also help, I'm sure. I shoot 4 or 5 times more .22 than anything else everytime I go to the range.

I'm gonna try doubling up on hearing protection next time I notice a flinch. I've never considered that. THanks.

 

[jgo296]

my best suggestion is let her use a double action revolver (maybe you have or can borrow or rent) and simply randomly load the chambers with some empty tis way she wont know when recoil is coming
next suggestion get cattle prod and zap her if she flinches
but seriously the first method seems to work best
lots of dry firing may help

 

[jsconnelly]

I agree with many of the above suggestions. Especially WayneConrad, jimbob86 and jimbob86. Make sure you keep it fun and sight picture. I had the flinches for a long time and they still creep up on me if I hadn't practiced in a while. The only thing that truly helps me is focus, focus, focus on that front sight. That is all I worry about as I apply even pressure.

I would also recommend not using the laser on the range until she is proficient with the front sight.

Just my 2 cents.

Jeff

 

[BamBam-31]

When I first started, I had a really nasty flinch. I dry fired the crap out of my Glock just to pound in the no-flinch motions into muscle memory. Got a .22 as well. Great suggestions.

Also, a big DITTO on the double ear protection thing. Plugs + Muffs = less anticipation of big bang.

 

[Kor]

Another "trick" to consider - waste a magazine's worth of ammo by having her fire into/towards the backstop without a target, and having her get her head out from behind the gun so she can watch the recoil from the left side of the gun. (Obviously, don't have her watch from the right side, else she'll be dodging hot brass.) Without having the visual of the slide coming back at her face, she can see that firing, recoil and ejection is much less of an "event" than it seems. Make sure she locks her wrist hard and solid behind the gun so it doesn't "limp-wrist-stovepipe-jam."

Have her shoot from a sandbag-braced position sitting at the shooting bench - with her hands/wrists supported by sandbags, she can concentrate more on aiming and trigger press, and less on the muscular effort required to hold the gun up. Also, resting the gun on sandbags makes it almost impossible to flinch downwards. Once she starts printing reasonably tight groups, then she can try standing up.

Have her shoot at a BLANK target, like a blank piece of typing paper, aiming for the approximate center - novices often fixate so much on holding the gun steady on a little bullseye that they jerk the trigger when they see/feel themselves drifting away from that perfect sight picture, or they jerk the trigger trying to "catch" that fleeting moment when the sights are perfectly aligned with the target. A blank target is much less stressful, and will help her see the alignment of the sights better(especially seeing the equal "light bars" on either side of the front sight when it is correctly centered in the rear notch).

Have her shoot at no more than 5 yards distance to begin with - this is far enough away that the target doesn't seem to be in her face, but still close enough that the bullet strikes can be seen easily.

A "mantra" that some ladies have found helpful is: "Hold steady...focus on the front sight...press the trigger...press...press...press straight back...and let the gun fire when it fires." (Pacing and exact verbiage may vary.) The goal here being to concentrate on the "surprise trigger break," where the actual micro-second that the trigger breaks and the gun fires comes as a surprise of sorts to the shooter, who is focused entirely on holding steady and pressing the trigger straight to the rear, one pound of pressure at a time, until the gun "fires when it fires."

+1 on plugs + muffs, if at all possible try to get her to shoot at an OUTDOOR range - the muzzle blast echoes off the walls of an indoor range, and makes every gun seem twice as loud as it would be outdoors.

For dry-fire practice at home, have her balance a quarter flat on its side on top of the front sight, and try to press the trigger smoothly while keeping the quarter balanced. Once she can do this consistently, switch to a nickel...then a penny...then a dime.

 

[wig]

I think this is what grumpy meant by ball and dummy...

I found I had a very small pre-shot flinch. Almost imperceptible (1-2" off center at 15' down and left)... On a suggestion from a competition instructor, had a buddy load up my magazines. Some bullets in, a snap cap, some more bullets, snap, bullet, snap - you get the picture, totally different from mag to mag.

Load it up, shoot.

When you get to the dummies - you know you're pulling. Then you spend the rest of that magazine not pulling so you don't look stupid (ok, so you shoot better).

After a few range sessions with that, I'm cured! Still do it from time to time to check myself, but what a great tip that was!

One more thing that I might be able to suggest, and this is completely off the wall and may do more harm than good, or may cure her of the 9 willies, rent something bigger. When I started shooting I was coy around all the guns - as I'm sure most of us were. But I started with .357 mags, then went to .45s. When I finally got to 9's it was laughable. And my first nine was a SIG X-Five (tank with a magazine and pretty finish). It's like shooting a .22. Now that having been said, the .22 is THE tool to learn targeting. But you have to get past the whole fear factor of the boom.

Good luck! post back on how it ends.