Too much Tension/How to relax

[projectpat0]

I've read some old threads on fixing flinches and various other bad shooting habits. Some recent shooting outings have illustrated that I get into a nasty habit of trying too hard consciously to remain still and steady (muscling the gun). This typically causes me to tense up with my hand,trigger finger, as well as my neck and face. Often times, this excessive tension causes me to pull the shot. I am aware of this issue, however, I struggle (perhaps mentally) to find a postion where I am not limply holding my weapon while at the same time not tensing up. My question is where on the continum are you being too relaxed versus too tense with shooting? Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[shooter.dm]

Well when I need to release some tension I just rub one out

 

[Otero51]

Go out and shoot shoot shoot. The more you do it the more you'll get used to the recoil and noise (one of the main reasons to cause flinching). Don't need to go out and burn 100 rounds in one day but try to make it to the range often (don't leave too much idle time between outings but give some time for your brain/body to analyze how well you did last time). Also, a quick trick to help speed this up is using double ear protection (plugs + muffs) that way you reduce the effect of one of the variables in the equation. Regarding being too relaxed, what I've been told (which has worked for me) is that once you have correct NPA and your body is correctly weighting against the buttstock (loading the rifle), all I do is put slight backpressure with my trigger hand (my hand holds the stock kind of in an open palm manner; not pistol-gripping), enough to keep the gun steady against my shoulder. It shouldn't be too much since your body should already be loading the rifle.

 

[SPAK]

dry fire...... A lot

 

[Sterling Shooter]

OP,

Shoulder the rifle properly cognizant of the elements and factors of a steady position, but without looking at the target. That's to say, you want to build the position and establish sight alignment without attempting to simultaneously get a sight picture. That will come later. This better assures an understanding for effective bone/artificial support, muscular relaxation, and natural point of aim. Once relaxed, you will then adjust NPA for the desired hold. It is essential that you follow this step by step process since it is very difficult to adjust NPA after a sight picture is defined. The brain simply will not allow you to loose the sight picture; and thus, muscle will be required to maintain the sight picture, which is what you are doing now. Since muscle equals movement and is not likely consistent from shot to shot, marksmanship suffers from wobble (non angular error) as well as inconsistent recoil resistance ( angular error). In other words, you loose control for where the barrel is pointed with error increasing with distance.

 

[NevadaZielmeister]

Are you recoil sensitive? One of the things I found was if I did not have a comfortable fit with the stock/rifle and the recoil pad sucked, then I would start flinching. Also, after about 40 shots, it would start to hurt, causing me to tense up in anticipation of the recoil. All bad things. If you find yourself with the same issues, get a really good recoil paid, like a Kick-Eze or a Pachmayr. They will help tremendously.

Let us know what you find out!

 

[Darkside-Six]

All good answers in here. For me, it's just going back to the fundamentals, NPA, sight alignment.....ext. For me personally, I find the biggest problem I face is fighting the rear bag for a steady sight picture. I have a mental check list I try to run through in my mind when I line up behind the gun. "am I lined up strait behind the gun, do I have a good sight picture, where is my NPA" once I've established my NPA, I try to just relax my whole body and lay into the gun...this helps me load my bipod as well. The very last thing is to have a good follow through on the trigger. Now this is what I always work on, could be different for you, only time will tell. But as said above, just get out and shoot as regular as you can and work on the basics.

 

[mdesign]

OP,

Shoulder the rifle properly cognizant of the elements and factors of a steady position, but without looking at the target. That's to say, you want to build the position and establish sight alignment without attempting to simultaneously get a sight picture. That will come later. This better assures an understanding for effective bone/artificial support, muscular relaxation, and natural point of aim. Once relaxed, you will then adjust NPA for the desired hold. It is essential that you follow this step by step process since it is very difficult to adjust NPA after a sight picture is defined. The brain simply will not allow you to loose the sight picture; and thus, muscle will be required to maintain the sight picture, which is what you are doing now. Since muscle equals movement and is not likely consistent from shot to shot, marksmanship suffers from wobble (non angular error) as well as inconsistent recoil resistance ( angular error). In other words, you loose control for where the barrel is pointed with error increasing with distance.

Sterling - could you expand a little more on what it means to build effective bone support?

A while back I decided to move my elbows in closer to my body and it seemed that I was more able to rest on them for support. It put my torso up off the groud a little more but I would say it lessened my fatigue (tension in arms & shoulders) while improving my shooting stability and recoil management. Is that what you were talking about?

 

[Sterling Shooter]

It simply means when the position is built properly, utilizing bone and artificial support instead of muscle, muscular relaxation is evident and NPA can be discerned. And yes moving your non firing elbow to almost directly under the rifle, when the non firing hand is supporting the hand guard, will inspire muscular relaxation since in such place, bone rather than muscle will be supporting the rifle.

 

[kraigWY]

Placement of your elbows is impossible for any of to say without watching you shoot. To start, I recommend you find someone to help you. Get training. I don't mean you have to spend big bucks to go to a fancy school. Take in a High Power Clinic, or CMP GSM Clinic. They don't cost hardly anything at all and you'll have good coaches watching you, then get you in a good Relaxed position.

What you want, is to lay behind the rifle, close your eyes take a few breaths, then totally lay down behind the rifle, and open your eyes at the bottom of your breathing cycle and look through the sights to see if they're lined up on the target. If not pivot your position until they are. Close your eyes, take a couple breaths, and at the bottom of the breathing cycle, open your eyes again. Without moving the rifle you should be on target, or have your natural point of aim. Keep doing this tell you get there. A total relaxes position, where your natural point of aim is obtained at the bottom of the breathing cycle is where the hammer should fall.

If you open your eyes and find you need to wiggle a bit, push the rifle one way or the other, you can't be relaxed. You are muscling your rifle. Adjust your position. Remember follow through is another critical aspect of shooting. After the hammer falls we have a tendency to relax, if you don't fire in the relaxed position, you will naturally fall into that position after the shot anyway. Why not shoot that way. There is no relaxing after the shot because you are already relaxed.

To see what I mean, go to a rifle match and watch people shoot. Some you'll see have no movement at all, before or after the shot. Some even look like they are asleep. Look at others, you'll see some flopping around like a chicken with his head cut off. Compare their scores.

Its easy for me to say where you should be when you shoot, its impossible for me to tell you how to get there without watching you shoot. That's why I suggest finding a good coach to get you in that relaxes state.

 

[steve123]

Just relax and don't take things too seriously, (Plink) - Practice with a good quality pellet gun...just have fun.

I put up a 10M/reduced to 6Y target in my garage earlier this year and have a fun plinking session every week. The fruit of doing so was that I never missed a offhand shot all season during competition. Also all the muscles involved in offhand shooting are in great shape, no shaking from fatigue is another fruit being reaped.

 

[bogeybrown]

I start my "relaxation" well before I attempt a shot. Once I've hauled all my shit from the truck and all my gear is laid out and the targets are up etc, I will get into a good sitting position and close my eyes and focus do some breathing exercises that help me reduce my heart rate/BP and clear my head. I may do that for at least a few mins until I can physically feel myself settle down. If I'm shooting prone, I'll then lay down behind the rifle at almost a slow-motion pace and settle in. I then close my eyes again and repeat the controlled breathing while I settle into position.
I open my eyes and see where the rifle is aimed, then close my eyes and adjust as necessary, open my eyes and re-check POA. I do all of this really slowly and calmly so as not to upset the relaxation I've worked to achieve. Once I've achieved my NPOA and am completely relaxed (like almost half-asleep relaxed) I'll begin my shooting, focusing on maintaining a slow easy pace and just going with the recoil and reminding myself that I have all the time in the world and if each shot takes me a few minutes then it doesn't matter. Each shot is it's own event and I don't have to rush through it.

I know that sounds like some hippy Zen stuff, but I was first clued into the benefits of pre-shot "meditation" by some USMC Rifle Team guys. I had gotten into my head that I had a cycle of "good day on the range, followed by shitty day on the range", and I was allowing that "superstition" to mess with my shooting. I made a comment about "well, yesterday was a good day, so I expected today to be shitty", and one of the guys on the team had a great conversation with me about visualization of outcome, mental relaxation, pre-shot relaxation techniques, etc. As much if not more than any technique I've learned of actually SHOOTING, how I prepare mentally BEFORE I shoot has made the most difference.

I use a variation of my pre-shot meditation routine before any shooting session that I care about, including pistol qual, "combat courses" or whatever as a means of settling my nerves and visualizing what I want to do.

 

[Strigidae]

"Each shot it its own event and I don't have to rush through it."

I'm taking this to heart and going to think this next range visit. Thank you.

 

[bogeybrown]

"Each shot it its own event and I don't have to rush through it."

I'm taking this to heart and going to think this next range visit. Thank you.

You're welcome, sorry to bog you down with all the "Zen Meditation" craziness.

 

[Strigidae]

You're welcome, sorry to bog you down with all the "Zen Meditation" craziness.

No sorry is necessary from me.