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I've shot pistols for some time but with every gun I tend to shoot a little high and left. It's not really that far off and I do well with hitting the center mass target area. If I know I want to be real accurate and shoot a little slower I just compensate a little and can usually get a good bullseye group.

With the slight high and left situation with everything from my 9mm to my .40 and even the .357 I just figure I must have some bad habit that is causing this.

I know there are a lot techniques and I try to practice not jerking the trigger, releasing the trigger after the round, and I've never really had any issue with anticipating recoil.

So, any ideas?

Dry fire more. Whatch what is happening when.

Sign up for a course from a reputable instructor.

Shooting left can mean too much finger on the trigger. Maybe you need to back your trigger finger off a little, use the tip of the finger, not the area between the first joint and knuckle. The high part could be anticipated recoil.......practice, practice, practice.

I'm taking Defensive Pistol 1 from Karl at KR Training this weekend. That's what got me thinking about my technique today.

For right handed shooters

thanks for posting that target G26ster, I keep meaning to save it/print it out but never do and lose track of the post.

OP, let us know how the class went. I have been interested in taking a class there.

That's just what my nephew keeps telling me (slightly low and left)

Lots of printable targets here: http://www.reloadbench.com/pdf.html

Some of the things that come to mind....

Stance - Check your stance and make sure you are keeping weight forward to help with recoil management. I see a lot of shooters that stand straight up, or even lean back, which is not conducive to managing recoil and can send rounds high. Think of a football player making a tackle, his weight is forward, and his legs are spread and have some flex to absorb impact. Shooters need to use the same concept.

Grip - Check your support hand. Get as high on the gun as you can, and remember that the support hand supports most of the weight of the gun, while the strong hand runs the fire control systems. You may be losing contact with your support hand when the shot breaks due to a weak grip, or breaking your wrists.

Trigger control - Use the part of your trigger finger that gives you enough leverage to press the trigger straight back to the rear without pushing the gun to the left (not enough trigger finger), or pulling it to the right (too much). The "sweet spot" is different for everyone due to finger length, hand size, and strength, so you have to experiment to find out what works best for you.

Follow through - Make sure you are trying to apply the fundamentals before, during, and after the shot breaks. You should maintain your focus on the front sight and watch it settle back into position at the same spot on your target. A lot of shooters seem to just mentally quit as soon as the round breaks, but if you maintain that mental focus, your groups will be tighter.

A couple of drills:

Ball / dummy drill - Look away and have your partner prep your gun with either a live round or empty chamber without you knowing which. Step up, focus on the fundamentals, and take the shot. If you are doing your part, the gun won't jump, or dive when you fire on an empty chamber, and if you do, you will know what you need to work on.

Laser dry fire - Get a cheap laser bore sighter and use it to due dry fire drills. Focus on keeping that laser on the exact same spot before, during, and after you break off your shot.

Pawpaw wrote:Lots of printable targets here: http://www.reloadbench.com/pdf.html

bookmarked, thanks!

Slowly squeeze the trigger until you think it's going to break. Before it does, back off the pressure. Do this drill a few times until you know the limits of your trigger. Sometimes you'll go too far, sometimes you'll hit it just right. After you feel you know the weight of the trigger quite well, test with some live rounds at the range. Go to that breaking point and then give it that extra quarter pound or so to discharge.

Need suggestion for a bad habit

Uhm, well lets see:

smoking
drinking
biting your fingernails
picking your nose in public
...

(I'm sorry, I couldn't resist)

This is a really good post. The ball /dummy drill especially. You can also have someone mix in a snapcap in your mag and see what the sights do when you reach the snapcap.
If you are "timing the gun" then a dive when you hit the snapcap might not actually be a problem.

Texas Dan Mosby wrote:Some of the things that come to mind....

Stance - Check your stance and make sure you are keeping weight forward to help with recoil management. I see a lot of shooters that stand straight up, or even lean back, which is not conducive to managing recoil and can send rounds high. Think of a football player making a tackle, his weight is forward, and his legs are spread and have some flex to absorb impact. Shooters need to use the same concept.

Grip - Check your support hand. Get as high on the gun as you can, and remember that the support hand supports most of the weight of the gun, while the strong hand runs the fire control systems. You may be losing contact with your support hand when the shot breaks due to a weak grip, or breaking your wrists.

Trigger control - Use the part of your trigger finger that gives you enough leverage to press the trigger straight back to the rear without pushing the gun to the left (not enough trigger finger), or pulling it to the right (too much). The "sweet spot" is different for everyone due to finger length, hand size, and strength, so you have to experiment to find out what works best for you.

Follow through - Make sure you are trying to apply the fundamentals before, during, and after the shot breaks. You should maintain your focus on the front sight and watch it settle back into position at the same spot on your target. A lot of shooters seem to just mentally quit as soon as the round breaks, but if you maintain that mental focus, your groups will be tighter.

A couple of drills:

Ball / dummy drill - Look away and have your partner prep your gun with either a live round or empty chamber without you knowing which. Step up, focus on the fundamentals, and take the shot. If you are doing your part, the gun won't jump, or dive when you fire on an empty chamber, and if you do, you will know what you need to work on.

Laser dry fire - Get a cheap laser bore sighter and use it to due dry fire drills. Focus on keeping that laser on the exact same spot before, during, and after you break off your shot.

You can only self diagnose to a certain extent and then you need to get a knowledgeable instructor to watch you. Said instructor should be able to figure out what you are doing and institute corrective actions. Then you need said instructor to work with you to start developing new correct habits. This should be followed up with refresher classes until you have the new habit.

It is a good idea to organize a budy-to-budy instruction to correct bad habit with that thing we call a trigger. A group meeting at a range with free instruction is a good idea.