Struggling with lock picking

[Critzn]

Hello everyone. I'm new to lock picking and am having a bit of trouble with it.
I first picked a lock a little while ago with paperclips to see what it was like and really enjoyed it. I ordered the beginners lock pick set from Southord and received it this week. I bought myself a small pin tumbler lock to play around on but have only been able to open it about 3 times in the past 3 days.
I've read 3 different lock pick guides but I still can get it right. I put the tension wrench in and give a little pressure but not so much that the pins can't move. 1st I rake the pins and can feel them move above the sheer line. To see if I'm doing it right, I release the pressure on the wrench and hear 4 or 5 clicks, I rake again and a then pick to push the individual pins up but nothing happens, I try push softly and I can feel pins resetting or become too tight to move. Some times after I do a rake, all I can feel are the pins pushing back when I'm pushing up. I use little force and they don't stay above the sheer line, I put a little more pressure on the tension wrench but then they start jamming. I don't know what i'm doing wrong. I'm now following this guide http://cdn.makezine.com/make/lsiguide.pdf but nothings working.
Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

[clearmoon247]

It sounds possible that you could still be using too much tension. That is one of the most common issues, but with time and practice, you can get there. What I recommend is trying your hand at single pin picking. With that, you will truly learn how to pick locks, especially when you dive farther into more advanced locks that simple raking just wont cut it. Additionally, I would get a simple lock cylinder, repin it with 1 or 2 pins to get the feel of setting the pins, the move progressivly up from there, adding a pin, getting that comfortable with that, then building until you have a full set of pinstacks. If you want a good intro to lockpicking course, I would recommend looking on youtube for the playlist made by schuyler towne because he goes into great detail everything you need to know to get on the right path. I hope this helps, good luck, and keep on picking

[raimundo]

You refer to a "small pin tumbler" lock, this could be part of the problem too,

for a beginner using the thick shafted picks, perhaps a full size lock would be more appropriate until you begin to understand the technique

If you state the brand and perhaps the the comparative size of the key against the key to your door, this could help us understand

you may also want to put a photo up of the lock, its often recommended that you not put a photo of the key online, but really no one is likely to be interested in making a key to your hobby practice lock. Its locks you depend on that you should not show the key because your sneaky neighbor may be reading your internet traffic.

[Critzn]

I bought a big pad lock to practice on now and it's getting easier. I can feel the pins better and see how much tension I am using. I've also been watching schuyler towne vids and they all helping. Shot guys I think i'm starting to get the hang of it

[clearmoon247]

Congrats on the progress, keep it going and soon you will be able to pick locks like the assa twin or medeco m3. But, be warned, this is the first step towards a severe addiction towards collecting locks.