Shaking Hands

[JustGone]

What's goin on yall? I must consult INGO!

Ok so I got this question, and I have never seen it even remotely addressed anywhere.
I'll give some info before I ask. So I have shaky hands, not like crazy shaky but if I hold them out you can see them sorta twitchin. Now it runs in my family, my mom has it worse than I do and her dad had it as well. It gets worse when I am nervous or when I am concentrating and because of this I cannot shoot a handgun accurately.

I can hit a paper target at 7yds(not accurately just on the paper somewhere) but farther than that it's it or miss.

So my question is as follows. Is there anyone out there with the same problem or can anyone advise me on some shooting technique to maybe reduce the perceived effects?

Can you heal me! lol jk

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

Sounds like a family history of benign (harmless) tremors. I have periods of the same thing.

For close shooting, I do as you do. Work on my accuracy. For longer distances, the benchrest is my friend.

 

[tatters]

I'm in the same boat... I shake a bit as well. Target pistols are useless to me unless I bench them. I'm "combat accurate" enough, but for precision... It's a rest of some kind.

 

[JustGone]

And here I thought I was the only one, I'll have to try a rest next time I get out to the range. It can be frustrating sometimes, last time my dad had his target out to 20 yards and I am next to him with mine out at 7, he looks over and says "I didn't know you brought your shotgun" lol

 

[Glock17 Man]

For shooting a handgun try a laser. I like Crimson Trace Laser Grips.

watch this
Laser Sight Equipped Gun Shooting Video | Crimson Trace Laser Grips

Good Luck

 

[esrice]

At Gunsite, I watched the instructor shake his gun gently (on purpose) while pointed at the target, and all his rounds hit their mark. Trigger and sights. When they line up, press the trigger straight to the rear.

He was doing it as a demonstration about sight alignment, so I'm sure you can do the same.

 

[rhino]

I don't think there is anything you can do about the tremor, but the good news is that it's not something that will absolutely prevent you from getting reasonably accurate hits at defensive distances (say, under 25 yards).

While all of the fundamentals of marksmanship are important, the "more important" elements necessary for getting good hits are 1) trigger control and 2) follow through (on both the sights and the trigger). Far more people miss because of poor trigger control than because of poor sight alignment or because they're shaking too much.

In reality, you can be shaking like Michael J. Fox on a pogo stick and still get good hits. What looks like a huge shake from your perspective is probably not that big in terms of the amount of deviation control you need to make a specific shot. Here's the thing: everyone has some level of tremor ... everyone. Your muscles continually flexing and relaxing on a small scale, even if you think you're holding perfectly still. Everyone has what is called a "wobble," wherein their sight picture seems to move around a target, usually in a repeating path. In your case, your wobble may be a bit more pronounced.

In terms of using the sights, you just need to get used to breaking the shot when the sight picture is "good enough" to get the hit. I've seen a lot people miss trying to get the Perfect Sight Picture (which does not exist). You can learn to judge the visual feedback from your sight to get adequate sight alignment.

Now, the key is trigger control ... you have to press the trigger directly backward without disturbing the alignment of the gun substantially. Even with a tremor, you can do this. After you press the trigger, then have to follow through and not disturb the alignment of the gun before the bullet emerges from the muzzle.

A good grip will help tremendously, both in your ability to press the trigger backward consistently as well as possibly minimizing the effects of your tremor.

What's goin on yall? I must consult INGO!

Ok so I got this question, and I have never seen it even remotely addressed anywhere.
I'll give some info before I ask. So I have shaky hands, not like crazy shaky but if I hold them out you can see them sorta twitchin. Now it runs in my family, my mom has it worse than I do and her dad had it as well. It gets worse when I am nervous or when I am concentrating and because of this I cannot shoot a handgun accurately.

I can hit a paper target at 7yds(not accurately just on the paper somewhere) but farther than that it's it or miss.

So my question is as follows. Is there anyone out there with the same problem or can anyone advise me on some shooting technique to maybe reduce the perceived effects?

Can you heal me! lol jk

 

[redneckmedic]

I am not saying this will work for sure, however just a thought. Without going to deep into psycho-motor physiology you could try a relief band. It works fairly well for nausia and some mental disorders (nerve shakes). The idea is to make the brain concentrate some where else instead of __?__. By over stimulating the muscles by electo-shock (slight BTW, no pain just twitches) it might help the fine motor control for the shakes. Its kinda the same idea as the studder treatments and results. This is really just a shot in the dark, and I know that $130 is a bit to "just try". But its an option. Got nothing to loose, except $130... right?!? It's sound in theory.


RNM

 

[redneckpastor]

At Gunsite, I watched the instructor shake his gun gently (on purpose) while pointed at the target, and all his rounds hit their mark. Trigger and sights. When they line up, press the trigger straight to the rear.

He was doing it as a demonstration about sight alignment, so I'm sure you can do the same.

i ll shake some times but thats only out of having ran or exercised before shooting. +1 with this quote, works for the pros

 

[JustGone]

I really appreciate all the feedback, you guys are awesome. I need to buy a pistol once more, once I do I think I'll get some snap caps and spend hours dry firing until I feel confident that I can keep a good sight alignment even with the tremors.

Thanks everyone for all the advice

 

[rhino]

I really appreciate all the feedback, you guys are awesome. I need to buy a pistol once more, once I do I think I'll get some snap caps and spend hours dry firing until I feel confident that I can keep a good sight alignment even with the tremors.

Thanks everyone for all the advice

Get a .22LR pistol and do some practice at the range as well. That's only way you're going to know for sure. Once you see what you're actually doing, then you can focus your dry fire practice time more efficiently.

 

[tyler34]

theres still a few slots open for steve fishers class that I'm sure would tremendously help with your issues.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo..._not_the_gun_-_brown_county_in_12-5-09_a.html

 

[Jack Ryan]

Avoid all caffine, keep your diabetes under control if you have it, exercise and build up those muscles used to shoot but don't work them to exhaustion for at least a day or two before hunting or shooting that alone will make you shake.

Last, best, and a sure thing when you can use it...
https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...rs/59567-shooting_sticks-anyone_use_them.html

 

[JustGone]

Awesome, everytime I look theres more great advice.

Tyler that class looks awesome but it's 2000 miles away from where I live now lol

Jack Ryan, good points there alot of the time I have a soda before I go to the range. I'll stop doin that and see if it becomes more controllable

 

[USMC_0311]

While shooting off-hand during boot camp I was having trouble keeping the sights aligned, I couldn't keep them still. My PMI told me to "force the movement", into a familiar pattern. For me I used a figure eight, when ever my sights crossed center and were aligned I would finish the trigger pull. Knowing your trigger lbs is important for this to work. Very few can keep the perfect sight picture + sight alignment for very long with out some kind of artificial support. Recognizing the sight alignment/picture while anticipating the trigger pull (hammer drop) will keep you on center. This transferred to pistol very easy for me. When shooting on the Pistol Team all competitions are with one hand, try holding sight alignment/picture longer then 2-3 sec. My sights move all over the place still to this day 20 years and a couple of thousand rounds later. But the groups keep getting tighter.

 

[GuyRelford]

Do you already shoot from the Weaver stance? If not, I would give it a try. I've found that the slight tension created by the "push/pull" of the Weaver stance will minimize shaking in some students.

Of course, I agree completely that the fundamentals of sight picture and trigger control are the most important things to focus on.