How To Compensate For Heartbeat Movement
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Practice & patience, practice & patience. Just the fact that you are aware of it says alot about you.
del2les
Well-Known Member
There are several techniques that can help to decrease the effects of heart beat movement while shooting, and they are not only the purview of uber elite snipers on movies. A LOT of serious shooters, competition shooters and general advanced shooters know and use these. Small and large bore prone and BR taught and allowed me to learn and practice many of these.
1. Padding: Use heavy clothing, shooting pads, jackets etc between your shoulder, hand etc to reduce/eliminate the transfer of heart movement to the firearm.
2. Sling usage: A proper shooting sling can greatly help in reducing pulse beat transfer to the firearm by reducing the pulse pressure to the weapons forearm during prone positions without a bipod. A padded glove mitt etc also helps.
3. Recoil pad: There are recoil pads that are better at dampening pulse beats from the shoulder than others. Coupled with a padded shooting jacket, pad or shirt, it can greatly decease the transference.
4. Breath and Body Control: As already stated, study, learn and practice proper breathing techniques related to the shooting sports. There are numerous articles online: NRA, Mil, BR etc. Raise your upper chest and practice varied leg/body positions to be comfortable and reduce muscle stress.
5. Minimize Body Contact: For BR and some prone type shooting, many of us utilize a minimum contact approach with light stock to shoulder contact, no cheek pressure and no hand contact on the pistol grip. Only a light thumb on the back of the trigger guard and trigger finger tip on the trigger shoe. Gently squeeze.
6. Avoid Stimulants / Heavy Meals Prior: Avoid ALL stimulant drinks, foods and heavy meals etc prior to precise shooting. Especially prone. Extended stomachs lying prone press against the diaphragm and digestion raises heart rates and BP.
7. Between Heart Beats: While a little more difficult to master, many competition shooters have learned to use this with some success. When I was much younger, slimmer and a runner, I had a heart rate between 50-60, and with some practice, I could lower and "time" my trigger breaks while shooting in small bore prone matches. Over years, I spent more time on other effective ways.
8. Stay in Shape: As above, slimmer bodies with good cardio will lower heart rates and help.
There are several good online websites, books, and training seminars on improving (reducing) your heart's pulse effects on aiming and shooting.
1. Padding: Use heavy clothing, shooting pads, jackets etc between your shoulder, hand etc to reduce/eliminate the transfer of heart movement to the firearm.
2. Sling usage: A proper shooting sling can greatly help in reducing pulse beat transfer to the firearm by reducing the pulse pressure to the weapons forearm during prone positions without a bipod. A padded glove mitt etc also helps.
3. Recoil pad: There are recoil pads that are better at dampening pulse beats from the shoulder than others. Coupled with a padded shooting jacket, pad or shirt, it can greatly decease the transference.
4. Breath and Body Control: As already stated, study, learn and practice proper breathing techniques related to the shooting sports. There are numerous articles online: NRA, Mil, BR etc. Raise your upper chest and practice varied leg/body positions to be comfortable and reduce muscle stress.
5. Minimize Body Contact: For BR and some prone type shooting, many of us utilize a minimum contact approach with light stock to shoulder contact, no cheek pressure and no hand contact on the pistol grip. Only a light thumb on the back of the trigger guard and trigger finger tip on the trigger shoe. Gently squeeze.
6. Avoid Stimulants / Heavy Meals Prior: Avoid ALL stimulant drinks, foods and heavy meals etc prior to precise shooting. Especially prone. Extended stomachs lying prone press against the diaphragm and digestion raises heart rates and BP.
7. Between Heart Beats: While a little more difficult to master, many competition shooters have learned to use this with some success. When I was much younger, slimmer and a runner, I had a heart rate between 50-60, and with some practice, I could lower and "time" my trigger breaks while shooting in small bore prone matches. Over years, I spent more time on other effective ways.
8. Stay in Shape: As above, slimmer bodies with good cardio will lower heart rates and help.
There are several good online websites, books, and training seminars on improving (reducing) your heart's pulse effects on aiming and shooting.
It's simple, you already do it, it's called breathing, you breath in, you breath out, breath in breath out. Keep it simple, pay attention to your normal breathing pattern. Try this simple exercise, take a deep breath in and naturally let it out. Take another deep breath in and let it out. One more time , take a deep breath in and let it out. How does it feel after you exhale, just before you take your next breath in? Relaxed, calm, still? That's what called your natural pause. As you did that exercise, were you aware of your heart beat? No? You're not alone most people can't hear their heart or their spouse. Just joking, now seriously most people won't initially feel or hear their heart beat and it doesn't matter. What matters is that you practice pressing the trigger so it breaks during the natural pause so that you're resetting the trigger and loading the next round as you're taking your next breath and preparing for your follow on shot if needed.
As you practice this, overtime you will become more attuned to your natural body rhythm and start to hear and feel your heart beat and be able to get into sync where your shooting between hear beats.
As you practice this, overtime you will become more attuned to your natural body rhythm and start to hear and feel your heart beat and be able to get into sync where your shooting between hear beats.
jimisbell
Well-Known Member
With almost zero experience I should not be talking but the ideas about
"One way of not letting your heartbeat affect things is to simply set up a natural point of aim from a fully supported position and let the rifle free recoil while using a light trigger. Then your heartbeat isn't visible because you're basically not touching the gun."
are spot on.
(someone needs to tell me how to use this quote thing. I cant figure it out...too stupid I guess)
Its Zen. I used it in surfing and am finding now that it works with reading mirage and most aspects of ELR. You take yourself out of the equation and let muscle training do the work. When reading mirage I just take thinking out of it and connect my brain directly to my eyes and DONT OVER THINK it. When I first started, thinking about it, I could not see it.
On my heartbeat, I CAN control my blood pressure if not the rate. Have always done it in the Drs office. Its Zen again. Calm yourself internally. If you lower your blood pressure then the heartbeats wont put as much pressure on the gun.
"One way of not letting your heartbeat affect things is to simply set up a natural point of aim from a fully supported position and let the rifle free recoil while using a light trigger. Then your heartbeat isn't visible because you're basically not touching the gun."
are spot on.
(someone needs to tell me how to use this quote thing. I cant figure it out...too stupid I guess)
Its Zen. I used it in surfing and am finding now that it works with reading mirage and most aspects of ELR. You take yourself out of the equation and let muscle training do the work. When reading mirage I just take thinking out of it and connect my brain directly to my eyes and DONT OVER THINK it. When I first started, thinking about it, I could not see it.
On my heartbeat, I CAN control my blood pressure if not the rate. Have always done it in the Drs office. Its Zen again. Calm yourself internally. If you lower your blood pressure then the heartbeats wont put as much pressure on the gun.
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Lots of great advice here! Main point is to isolate the impulse of your heartbeat being transferred to something solid. The ground doesn't move so it gets transmitted to your rifle. An overly tight grip or shouldering the rifle can have the same effect. Your body moves when your heart beats, some parts more than others. So getting your chest off the ground or not touching the bench helps as does loosening the hard "interface" of your shoulder and head to stock.
Alex Wheeler
Well-Known Member
Get off the gun. You hardly need to touch it if your in a supported position.
So what do you do when you are in the field and not at the bench ? Say your in a setting position with your back up to a cut bank and using your left knee and elbow to support your rifle ? Or maybe you need to take a shot from a setting position and you can use a cut bank or log kind of the same as a bench you would stay off the rifle like at the bench Mr. Alex Wheeler ? I'm asking so as to learn not to be a smart a@#.
Alex Wheeler
Well-Known Member
Im not talking about from a bench. I said supported. So bipod, sage brush, pack, ext. Get the rifle setup in a natural point of aim, then get off it as much as you can. If your holding the rifle, standing, kneeling, ext, then you dont fix your heart beat, you time it. Read up on high power shooting, tons of info on how to shoot with a sling or off hand. You cant hold a rifle still, you time the shots with trigger control after you pattern your "weave". Standing is the best trigger control practice you can do and it will help you in those other situations where you have an unstable hold. Your goal is to know exactly where your shot went before you look at the target. I know that many in the hunting community put their nose up at competition shooting, but you'll never learn how to break a shot practicing on your own like you will if you start competing with your peers. If your serious about breaking really good shots from unstable positions, look into high power matches or at least pick up a book. I would never have learned good trigger control without shooting service rifle. I didnt even know how much I didnt know.
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Thank You for your reply Mr. Alex Wheeler I don't know of any competitions in my area but will start looking and will see about finding some DVD's and reading on the subject . I may be as far as I can go on my own at this time and that is why I'm on this site .
MajorSpittle
Well-Known Member
I am not sure what your shooting situation is, but I grew up shooting a pellet gun and then as a teen ager I would put about 2000-4000 rnds through my ruger 10-22 each year shooting gophers in Montana. It was all great practice for learning trigger timing and unsupported tracking of a target. I usually find myself dropping the sight across the target with a breath hold works best for me. I am pulling the trigger while intentionally moving or swinging the rifle slowly across the target depending on whether the target is stationary or moving.
