In this shooting tip, I just want to discuss the shooting flinch and how you can alleviate it, if only temporarily. We have all embarrassed ourselves in front of our friends or strangers by pulling the trigger on a rifle or pistol and jolting it forward on an empty chamber or a dud round. Heck, I still have that issue to this day at times.
Sometimes it is the result of recoil anticipation and applying corrective force to get back on target and fight the recoil. Then there are other times when it is from getting that last minute grip which causes your rounds to go flying off your intended point of impact. The former is not so much of an issue for the shooter, but it can be a sign of not having a stable stance, grip, or position.
Sometimes we can not make everything about our shooting platform perfect, but you should be ready to cross the bridge when you come to it instead of preparing for living on the bridge. In other words, just because you won’t always have a stable stance doesn’t mean you should forego setting up one when you can. A stable stance when shooting a rifle can stabilize the weapon a lot better than you realize. But there are ways to condition yourself to get over the dreaded shooting flinch, no matter the source.
CAUSING THE MISS
As I stated earlier, there are a number of reasons for a flinch. But the big thing to remember is that it is all rooted in the mind. Most of the mental energy behind the flinch is rooted around preventing and controlling recoil. We as human beings like to have control of everything we do because we are natural control freaks. It is unnatural for us to purposely do something that would harm us or put us off-balance like letting recoil run its’ course. Kinda like when you are driving, you will see that you naturally lean forward if you step on the gas and nothing happens. I have had this happen when I was driving a manual and didn’t put my vehicle in gear.
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