I've noticed in pictures and videos that I blink or finch when I take shots.  I dont notice it while I'm shooting but I've been told its something I need to change to get better.  What can I do to stop this?  I'm a pretty experienced shooter and I average about 500+ rounds through my AR and about the same for pistol each month and obviously even more than that when I was in the Army.  I would assume that I would have "out trained" this type of issue.

Any advice?

blinking will be normal, its an involuntary action. but flinching needs to be controlled... just dont anticipate the shot

Any advice on how to do that?  I noticed with pistols if I hit a dummy round then I drive the pistol down down so I'm obviously anticipating it but I cant seem to control it.

Dry fire practice and sub-caliber (.22LR) practice will cure you. If you continue to shoot lots of full power ammo without overcoming this issue, you will just make it more permanent and difficult to overcome in the future.

Don't worry, you are not alone. Flinching is near-universal amongst practical pistol shooters, and few can truly say they have eliminated it completely. The same is true for most shotgunners. With the AR15 the problem is less common due to the mild recoil, but it still happens.

That's a good point I do only shoot .45 so maybe I should invest in a .22 or 9mm.

Let me guess - a 1911? The 1911 .45 is one of the worst pistols for inducing flinch because it has stiff recoil, and also has a very crisp trigger so the shooter knows exactly when the shot is going to go off (and thus, when to flinch). Try a .22 conversion kit on your existing pistol frame so that you have the same feel, trigger pull etc. A 9mm pistol is another option, and a DAO trigger (Glock, M&P etc.) would be better for 3-gun as there is no safety to worry about when abandoning.

My two primary pistols are actually XD-45s.  The smallest cal I have other than a pocket pistol is a .40 Sig and it feels about the same, so Ill have to buy something new.  Would it be better to use a .22 or a 9mm to try and untrain this.

Yes, consider an XD9 or XDM9 for matches (no scoring disadvantage under time-plus scoring).

A .22 practice pistol is also inexpensive and fun. The Ruger pistols are a good choice, as are the Browning Buckmark and S&W 22A,, but the trigger swill not feel the same as the XD.

A lot of dry fire, focusing on making sure the sights don't move throughout the trigger pull.  When at the range switch back and forth between live fire and dry fire focusing on doing exactly what you did in dry fire with the live shots.  22 will also help.

When practicing try focusing all your attention on the front sight.  Try to see exactly where it is when the trigger breaks, watch it rise up, then come back down and bounce a couple of times until it settles back in place.  If you're totally focused on your shooting you won't even notice the bang.  This will also help you learn the skills of calling your shots and seeing your sights which you need to shoot at the next level.  Knowing exactly where your front sight was when the trigger broke will tell you where your shot hit so you can immediately make it up if necessary.  Seeing your sights rise and come back down will allow you to shoot faster splits and transitions as you don't have to reacquire your sights after every shot.

thank you for all the advice, its great.  I'm going to try this all out.  I can call my shots for the first shot but if I do a double tap I cant see anything after th first shot.  So my tim between shots for pistol is pretty bad.  For rifle I'm great for some reason but for pistol I'm  slow.  

Thank you again I think this will help.

What distance do most people try most pistol drills at?

I need to try double plugging again. Thanks.

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tip to attempt to cure bad habits:

1. Ball and dummy drill (you know this).
2. Off-hand shooting with weak hand. If right handed shoot one-handed with left hand. You will have to think/concentrate much more.

28 days of straight practice to eliminate bad habit.  Practice does not make perfect; PERFECT PRACTICE makes PERFECT!

Yea.... you have heard this one: slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

this will sound stupid...but it does work.  I had a serious problem while playing soccer that plagued me for years..whenever I would take a header I would close my eyes.  and believe it or not keeping your eyes open and on target while heading a soccer ball into a goal is very important.  anyway...I was at Duke for a training camp over one summer and this national player from Trinidad hands me a book at the end of the day and says it would cure my reaction of blinking or flinching when I head the ball.  I took the book and flipped it over to read the cover...he laughed and took it back, smacked me in the forehead with it and told me to go and hit myself in the forehead with the book until I no longer flinched.      

long odd weird story later.....by the end of camp I had one hell of a headache but wasn't flinching when I would head the ball...and I immediately started scoring more goals sent my way from corner kicks and non-direct kicks!

stuck with me for years (it's amazing how much a pro that you idolize can influence you when you're 19 :) )

give it a shot...if you can train to keep your eyes open when you hit yourself in the head with a 1.5" thick hardbound book...you can do anything!

then again it may not be your cup of tea :)  maybe I'm a little extreme haha