Trigger finger issue

[Gary13]

Not sure if this is the right section to ask, but here goes. Several years ago I started having a pinched nerve issue in my neck that eventually led to pain down my right arm and numbness in my trigger finger. I had two disks replaced in my neck, the pain is gone, but my finger is still numb and does not work very well.

I recently got back into shooting. At the range I do ok at least out to 7 yards. Alot of my hits are to the left and low. I signed up for a steel match after at least 6 years away from shooting USPSA. Yesterday I helped set up and was able to practice two stages before I had to leave. The first stage had targets that the closest was about 25 feet away and the longest about 35 feet away. I missed badly and was told by another competitor that I was hitting low. On a closer stage I did better.

Any suggestions to help mitigate some of my issue?

[hermosabeach]

Learn to shoot support side?
Learn to use your middle finger to pull the trigger?

Ask the MD, is there any PT that can help restore function?

[FNGGlock]

Sounds like you may be flinching and you can?t feel the break making things worse.

Since you have been out from shooting for a while it may be good to start with basic drills before doing competitive shooting. The simple ball and dummy drill is always good to check your overall trigger control and accuracy. It also helps you to relearn with your physical condition changes. I would start there first before modifying your overall approach.

[BillSmith]

It could be your ailment but by description, more practice would be my Rx.

Hang in there. When I returned to shooting, pistols were all low & left. Wasn't my finger, just bad form.

Dry fire. Can apply pressure to the trigger without the front sight deflecting? Get a laser to really check if you're 'flinching'.

G'luck.

[Gary13]

It could be your ailment but by description, more practice would be my Rx.

Hang in there. When I returned to shooting, pistols were all low & left. Wasn't my finger, just bad form.

Dry fire. Can apply pressure to the trigger without the front sight deflecting? Get a laser to really check if you're 'flinching'.

G'luck.

Thanks, I am planning on doing a lot of dry fire practice.

Your picture of your thumb reminded me of when my Sig 220 took of the top of my knuckle during a no light training with a flashlight in my right hand. Instructor told me to get my left hand closer to the gun. Guess I got too close.

[naz]

can you work with a good PT to get one a workout plan to build strength back up overall?

Look at captain of crush grip trainers and the pdf Ron Avery wrote about grip strength for shooting

Imagine if you strapped the gun to a vise. You could smack the trigger with a stick and the grouping would be tight and on target. Work back up to getting strong and being that vise

Good luck and hope you have fun

[george223]

I too have/had the same problem shooting handguns, consistently shooting low and to the left. I could dry fire all day with a nice smooth trigger pull but as soon as I put live ammo in, I'd hit the target low and to the left. While shooting, I couldn't see myself flinching, but I was. So a while back, I started practicing shooting by putting a couple dummy rounds in the cylinder of my revolvers. Before closing the cylinder, I would turn my head so when I hit the dummy round, I would be surprised. And sure enough, as soon as I pulled the trigger on the dummy round, the flinch was obvious.

This helped me immensely and was more consistent with hitting the center of the target. I almost completely eliminated my flinch. However, I haven't shot any of my handguns in awhile so who knows, I might be back to my old habits again. I never flinched with my .22's.

And here's a funny story. Back in the mid 80's, I bought myself a Beretta 92F. It was my 1st center fire handgun. I took it to the range and was very excited. I put the target about 15 to 20 ft. out and loaded 5 rounds and started shooting. The trigger felt nice and smooth. I was quite surprised when I reeled the target back in, it did not have 1 hole in it. I missed the paper completely and it wasn't a small target. How embarrassing. So I asked the range officer if beretta's were known to have accuracy problems. He said no and offered to fire a few rounds to check it out. Five rounds dead center, Nope, not the gun. LOL

[Preston-CLB]

Just a thought: You might be slightly relaxing your support hand at the moment the round fires.
-P

[hambam105]

Horizontal gaze nystagmus test.

Good news is that you can get one of your friends and youtube together and see how you do for free. Free, free, free.
Ammo & range fees are expensive.

Real medical professionals will not breathe a word of this possible marksmanship solution for liability issues. BFD. So
just try it. What do you have to lose.

Don't forget to post your results.

[BillSmith]

By George (223) I think he's got it!

Very good post reflecting some of my personal experiences and I would guess many others.

Your picture of your thumb reminded me of when my Sig 220 took of the top of my knuckle during a no light training with a flashlight in my right hand. Instructor told me to get my left hand closer to the gun. Guess I got too close.

I am of the revolver-generation. My Glock-thumb was result of frustration with lousy target results and deciding to abandon the proper grip on a semi-auto and go OG with my grip. Oops!

[Gary13]

First steel competition is in the books. Observations:

Still shooting low and left per observers that were trying to help me. Jerking the trigger per them. I will continue to work on grip strength and trigger discipline.

Was also doing the charlies angels draw from holster. It has been at least 6 years since I have drawn from a holster so I need to practice that as well.

Guys in my squad were very supportive and helpful. Two of the best shooters were in my squad so it was great to see how it was done.

Dang, I was one of only 6 production class and came in 6th. Guess that was to be expected. Funny thing was that there were some optics shooters I placed better and a DQ, so I guess it could have been worse.

Match rang well and we were done by 2 or so. I will be back.

Almost everyone was shooting with optics. Not interested even though my p320 came with a sig romero pro. At least for now I want to stick with open sights. I have some competition sights ordered and that will be my only change for now.

Lots of options for fun. I am tempted to keep my Ruger PCC that I have on sale and play with that, or put a optic on my 10/22, or bring out my Ruger 22 handgun.