Recoil Reset Drill

Reset sooner. Shoot faster.

If your follow-up shots feel late or your splits hover in the “slow but safe” zone, you’re probably waiting too long to reset the trigger. This drill teaches you to reset immediately after the shot breaks so the gun is ready the moment your sights return.

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Why this drill matters:

Fast splits don’t come from yanking the trigger quicker. They come from resetting earlier. When you pair an immediate reset with a clear sight return, you cut wasted time between shots. This drill isolates that timing and forces you to build the habit under control.

It rewires your process from “shoot-react-reset” to “shoot-reset-see,” building cleaner, faster follow-ups without wasted motion or tension.

It also reveals:

• Late reset: waiting until the gun is fully settled before touching the trigger again. This creates slow, uneven splits.

• Over-pinning the trigger: holding the trigger to the rear too long, which delays your reset and kills rhythm.

• Losing the front sight: letting your eyes drift during recoil instead of tracking the lift and return.

• Slapping the trigger after reset: resetting early but then jabbing the next press instead of prepping the wall smoothly.

Set it up:

• Distance: 5 yards

• Target: Focus Point™ or target paster

• Rounds: 1 per rep

• Reps: 10

• Start Position: Full Extension

How to run the drill:

1. From full presentation, fire 1 shot into the dot.

2. Reset the trigger immediately after you break the shot.

3. As the gun recoils, keep your eyes on the front sight.

4. Once the sights settle, the trigger should already be reset and you should be touching the trigger (or prepped on the wall).

5. Repeat for all reps, keeping the reset early and the sight tracking clean.

What you are actually training:

• Reset timing: building the habit of resetting during recoil, not after.

• Sight return awareness: knowing exactly when the gun is back on target.

• Trigger prep: arriving on the wall earlier for faster follow-ups.

• Split efficiency: removing dead space between shots.

Drill Tips

If your reset feels late, exaggerate it for a few reps. Reset as soon as the shot breaks, then soften the timing until it’s clean and controlled.

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This drill appears in Week 2 of the Fusion Targets 12-Week Pistol Program. It reinforces early trigger reset and prepares you for faster, cleaner follow-up shots.

For more drills like this and a plan that ties them together, train with the Fusion Targets 12-Week Pistol Program.

Start the Program →