I'm at police academy, I have failed to qualify at shooting I have 1 try what can I do to relax and pass?

Question

I am shooting an H and K p2000 .40 caliber. I have already made a qualifying score three times. The only problem is that when I have the test I get really nervous and I jerk the trigger. I can't seem to stop. I have 1 more attempt and then I'm out of the academy. Please help I only have 4 weeks before I graduate. If I do not pass this Wednesday I will go home. This will be my last attempt.

Answer 1

Practice, practice, practice. (Squeeze, don't jerk that trigger). Don't anticipate the kick. I know that it's not pleasant to hear, but you have to get this under control. A police officer has to lose those kind of nerves or you won't be an effective or successful officer. Good luck! I hope you pass.

Answer 2

Depends where you are at I guess. In North Carolina you can. There are three requirements to pass the academy in NC. They are 1). You satisfactorily pass all blocks of instruction. 2). You pass the State Exam. and 3). You pass the POPAT (Police Officer's Physical Agility Test). The POPAT is a combination of tasks that require running, push-ups, sit-ups, going up and down stairs, etc. The recruits must pass this before they can even sit for the State Exam. They get two chances to pass. If they fail the first time they get 24 hours to rest and then must take it again. The POPAT comes at the end of the program so by then most are able to do it. I have only seen a couple fail this way. However, a lot wash out because they do not like all the PT. They are to soft and use to sitting around playing video games all day or something. We usually lose a couple the first week. Then one or two here and there as the programs goes on. Our typical classes are around 20 to 28 cadets. Four or five quit because of the PT program. I'm with Trooper (posted above) I wish agencies would put more into keeping their officers in shape. It's a shame but cities and counties usually just do the bare minimum of what the State tells them they have to do and no one is requiring fitness.

Answer 3

jerking the trigger is common some advice:
1.Concentrate on tightening your weak hand. It should be tighter than your strong hand. This WILL reduce jerking the trigger
2.Do ball and dummy exercises. mix up snap caps and live ammo in your magazine. This way you never know when your round is going to go off and you can see how you react. Try to get where the gun does not move when you have a snap cap.
3. dryfire dryfire. The gun does not have to be ******. Try setting a peny on the front sight and focus on the front sight while you squeeze. If the penny drops try again. If the penny doesn't drop try again
4. shoot a .22. I have trained alot of people who don't have your problem. The reason is I start them off with subsonic low noise ammo and move them up.
Good luck. If you spend about 20 minutes a day doing some of these exercises you will find your flinch goes away.

Answer 4

Relax.

That's the best piece of advice I can give you. You've met the qualifying score in the past, how is this any different? Forget that it's your last chance to pass. Forget that it's a test. It's just a shoot. You've done all sorts of those and you've passed several. This is no different.

Relax, slow down as much as you can. I just finished a tactical firing training program and I noticed that when I was timed on my engagements, I had at least 3 seconds to spare every time after my last shot. When I slowed down just a touch, the spread between my double-taps narrowed and I was just tearing the center out of my targets. For untimed serials, take your sweet time to get each shot down perfect. Slowing down and aiming gives accuracy. Yeah, you might annoy everyone else on the range but this is FOR YOURSELF. In your mind, it's only you, your weapon and your target. Nothing else.

And think about your stance. Stability comes from the ground up, and if your stance is off, like one or both of your feet pointing every which way, or you aren't squared off to the target, sort yourself out. Off-stances just lead to missed shots.

Answer 5

Shooting any weapon is difficult if you're nervous. You know you've already had qualifying scores, so just take your time and remember what you were taught. Your breathing technique is probably the reason for your trigger jerk. You want to fire in between your exhale and inhale, where there is a natural pause. And try not to get flustered if you miss a target or two - keep breathing regularly. Good luck!

Answer 6

The mental aspects of competitive shooting (which is what you are doing in shooting for qualification) are unfortunately often ignored in firearms training. You need to focus completely on the task at hand - looking at the front sight and confidently (you've already done it 3 times) putting the bullets in the target. Minimize the pressure by trying not to think of the score or the importance of the qualification shooting until the shooting is done (to paraphrase Willie Nelson's "Don't count the money 'till the dealing's done"). There are many aspects to mental training for competition, but with the limited time, try saying to yourself in practice (and in the real thing) as you prepare to shoot and as you align the sights and are are shooting "I CAN DO IT! I CAN DO IT!"

Answer 7

Just Focus on the task at hand and ignore what its for. Picture yourself out shooting the boys ! Make it known that you are the one to beat on the range. Select your target, aim, breath and squeeze slow. When that gun goes off it should be a suprise because you were focusing on your target and not trying to hit it on a sweep by.

The world needs a few more dead eye women in my opinion. Stop being scared and do it, you already know you can !

Good Luck to you, & Happy Shooting !

Answer 8

Practice

Answer 9

All u need is a diversion, try reciting the National Anthem, or the alphabet backwards or some narration, recite it to yourself leading up to and during the test.

Or lastly, an effective technique, which i know will work for you not just in theory, to clear your mind of the test, information overload, overload your brain receptors with information the night and day before, pretend ur cramming for finals, the information is irrelevant, try studying flight instruments, than...you won't have enough room left to think during ur test, and ur instincts will take you

Answer 10

Get a good sight picture, take a breath, release slowing, take up the slack in the trigger. If your trying to remove the slack in the trigger without shooting, the weapon will go off without you knowing it. Just maintain a good sight picture as you remove the trigger slack. That will slow down your trigger finger and you will find your target. Concentrate, now do it again, and again. We are counting on you to get the bad guys so keep at it... Thanks for your service.