All shooters go through “anticipation” of the trigger pull and it takes practice and a drill to get away from it. My first suggestion is if you have an adjustable trigger pull get it set to a comfortable pull, usually 3 to 4 lbs, this way it’s not so hard pulling it back waiting for its release. Secondly use this drill to help discipline your muscle memory and consistent trigger pull.
First drill is to put the proper grip on the weapon (see YouTube video for grip) with no magazine in it, holding it firm and tight, rack the slide to dry fire and pull the trigger back. The objective here is to pull the trigger without moving the gun. There is no sense in aiming the weapon, and firing a round, if you are moving it while pulling the trigger. Practice it. Practice proper finger placement on the trigger. If your finger is placed too far in, up to your knuckle, the trigger pull will pull your rounds to the right as it pulls the weapon. It’s the same if your trigger finger has too much tip, it naturally pushes your rounds left. Work on getting the center meat of your finger tip on the trigger for a straight back pull.
The second drill is, with your semi automatic, load your magazine and cycle a round to the Chamber, flick your safety on, if you have one, my Glock does not, and then drop your magazine out. Now you have one round ready to fire. Go through your proper stance addressing the target with your isosceles triangle arm extension (see video on our YouTube channel) , get your sight picture and fire the round, with the same trigger pull you did in the first drill.
The weapon will recycle when fired but won’t load a round because you took the magazine out. Follow through as though it loaded a second round and do a dry fire trigger pull. What this will show you is poor trigger pull and anticipation as the weapon will move, if done wrong, which throws the round off target. Practice this over and over with a full magazine. It will help you in trigger pull management. Remember Safety first, weapon pointed down range at all times and slide back and locked, with magazine out before putting it away. Go have fun and take a kid shooting!
RB Bass Outdoor Angler and shooter
Mike Rogers