Developing 'The Feel'

by **insomniac** » 6 Dec 2004 16:55

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to share this observation with you all, alot of you who are already seasoned at picking lock's will probably know what i'm talking about already!
I used to practice picking everyday in the hope of developing 'The Feel', the ability to feel every little movement from inside the lock. What I found was that I was mostly relying on what sound's I could hear from the lock as opposed to what my finger's were trying to tell me, not sure how good this would be for a locksmith for instance if he's picking someone's front door lock for them and all he/she can hear is the sound of street traffic and other outside noises.
I have'nt picked any lock's in a while now but i'm going to purchase some new tool's real soon and begin where I left off. I used to start a stop watch and record how long it took me to open a particular lock, really good practice I think for learning to pick under pressure.
When I get my new tool's i'm going to try another training technique i've just thought of that I think will help anyone to develop their sense of touch (the feel) even faster and so hopefully improve my own lockpicking skill's even further, i'm going to switch off my ability to hear what's going on inside the lock by wearing ear plug's or listening to music through headphones so that my ability to pick open the lock is determined completely by what my finger's can feel.
If you think about it, it make's perfect sense, i've heard stories of people who've lost their sight for example only for their other senses to become hightened as a result ( their hearing and sense of smell for example)!
I'm not sure if anyone else who read's this has already realised that blocking out what they hear when they pick the lock will actually help their technique in the long run, or maybe you don't agree and think it unnecessary.
Not sure if what i've discussed in this topic has been mentioned before but I just thought i'd like to share it with anyone who's interested. Just thought i'd try to put something back into the forum since my previous post's here have just been me asking question's.
Thank's everyone, take care - insomniac.

by **toomush2drink** » 6 Dec 2004 17:35

You have a very valid point as when im picking at home its easier,you dont realise how much you rely on your hearing. When im on a job the traffic and also the customer talking to you can really make a difference to your picking ability as can the rain and cold too.

by **Romstar** » 6 Dec 2004 19:06

I long agao said that the best things you can do are close your eyes, and pick with the radio or television on.

In practice, you won't have your ears, and in some cases, your eyes aren't going to be much use either.

This is a lot like playing a musical instrument in the dark. The better you get at it, the less you have to look at it. You just KNOW where you are and what you are doing.

Romstar

by **Mr Ules** » 6 Dec 2004 20:10

That might apply the music you were playing was memorized. However I've found that if your eye's are focused on the lock and not a squirrel in a tree then your eye's are doing something productive.

by **Wolf2486** » 6 Dec 2004 20:53

Yes, plugging your ears is a very good technique to develope feel. As with anything the harder you have to work the more you can improve. Once you develope "The Feel" try to pick the lock wearing latex gloves. This way you have to work harder to feel what is going on inside the lock. I have used this technique and my sense of feel has improved greatly. Good-luck
Wolf

by **Romstar** » 7 Dec 2004 3:56

Don't ever let anyone catch you with the laytex gloves. Next they'll be expecting you to be wearing a mask. Some people are jumpy enough as it is. :twisted:

Romstar

by **poisoned** » 7 Dec 2004 4:45

I usually listen some Goa with headphones when im practising

by **BOBO** » 7 Dec 2004 9:24

Sorry Mr. Ules, but I have to disagree. After several months of daily practice, I really think I brought my skills to the next level by laying in bed late at night in a pitch-black room and picking locks by "feel". You really have to visualize and use your "mind's eye" to get through it.

Become one with the lock grasshopper. :lol:

by **Mr Ules** » 7 Dec 2004 15:41

I never said that the idea is wrong, it just found that beginners should try to see inside the lock to see that the bottom pins are dropping down. The beginner can then tell when the pins are at the shear line. However, for an expirienced lock picker it would work.

by **BOBO** » 7 Dec 2004 17:09

Fair enough - not looking to start anything!

by **CaptHook** » 8 Dec 2004 22:29

And dont let Rom poop on your discovery....... hearing the pin sets can be useful sometimes........ :lol:

We had this discussion some time back.
Chuck

by **Frosty555** » 8 Dec 2004 22:41

Extending on the idea of when one of your senses is lost the others become heightened, this isn't so much because the other senses somehow get better, but rather your brain listens to them more. If you were to completely block out your hearing, your brain suddenly doesn't have to listen to it anymore, which allows it to concentrate of something else more often (i.e. your sight and feel).

The reason why your feeling suddenly gets "better" is because once your brain can concentrate more on your feeling you suddenly learn WHAT you feel for. Once you know that you can sense it even if it's faint, or in conjunction with your sense of hearing. It's all a matter of experience. Once you get it a few times you'll remember what it feels like

Now I haven't directly experienced this with lockpicking, but I have with other things that involve using you sense of touch as a precision instrument. It hasn't actually happened with lockpicking yet for me because I'm a newbie :oops:

, but hopefully it will happen soon.

by **raimundo** » 11 Dec 2004 10:29

if you want to learn to pick under pressure, you need to practice while someone stands there saying "whats taking so long, you don't know what your doing, I saw it done in 3 seconds by an actor in a movie." that is more pressure than you can get from a stopwatch. but if you want to apply your sense of feel to the problem, Jimmie, one of our french members told me about something that apparently all the european pickers do, which is keeping one finger on a place where it can cover a part of the plug and a part of the immobile cylinder, the feel of small movements between the two parts is far greater that way. this finger is from the hand holding the pick. try it for a while, you'll see.

by **Luke** » 11 Dec 2004 10:54

Thats the way i pick, it only really works if u take it slow, which is my new style to !

by **PickPick** » 11 Dec 2004 11:19

Funny you mention this stuff about the finger. I've been picking like this from day one on I think but I never really noticed it, at least it didn't occur to me I was doing something special.
And about picking under pressure, the best way to practice that is picking at championships :wink:

But seriously, I'd suggest to all who already do lockpicking meetings or plan to do so in the future, take a stopwatch with you and then pick against/together with one or more picker. At the moment I'm wondering whether we could start some sort of online championship where a referee can watch the people by webcam. But it would be hard to make sure nobody's cheating.

Developing 'The Feel'

Developing 'The Feel'

technique and pressure

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