Indiana goes to Ohio

[Chris iliff]

The following is copied from my range diary.

Fourtrax's Range Report.

[Chris iliff]

WOW

WOW

Double WOW

Ok, are you getting it? Steve Anderson's dryfire level 1 & 2 class. WOW.

Background: I have 9 or so years of USPSA experience. I have and have read all the important books. I've taken 5 previous classes with various top flight GM's.

I have Steve's books. I used drills 1-12 several years ago to get out of C class. I know how scary powerful dryfire can be when done 3, 4 or 5 times a week. Before dryfire, I was a C class guru for 5 years. I started 4 straight seasons at roughly 58% and just couldn't manage to break a 60% avg. After just a short time with the drills I almost skipped B class. Initial B card was almost 73%. Less than a season later I was an A.

From making B to now I have done very little with dryfire as far as any kind of disciplined routine. Yes, I'd gear up and do my stuff, fight par times, struggle with questions and doubt about technique. Kind of frustrating. I knew that it was powerful, but I also knew that I needed to PERFECT my technique. I've dealt with some training scars and did not want to add any new ones. So, I changed it up. Most of my dryfire was slow and methodical, if and when i did it, not sweat breaking.

As an A I know that moving forward is going to be different. It's coming down to a tenth of a second here, a tenth there. It's coalescing everything learned into a subconscious. It's shot calling. It's not a faster or slower mindset. It's not a points concept. Or a time concept. It's, it's, ..... More than what got me here. It's everything that got me here.

I know I'm rambling, bear it out padiwan. It's worth it.

In walks STEVE ANDERSON.

I had never met Steve before. I knew what various posters have said. Here is my take on Steve: infectious energy, quick wit, results oriented, open minded, passion, passion, passion about HIS students and shooting.

This guy WANTS you to succeed. In fact, when I beat him, lol....I think he will be genuinely thrilled and I better be ready for a high five and a "that's how you dooos it"!!!!!

The four hour class turned into 5 or more hours. No wasted time.

Within 5 min my draw was in UNCHARTED territory. I'm not taking a tenth. I'm talking almost half a second.

The process went something like...

Steve: ok guys give me your normal draw and a good sight pic.

Everyone does it.

Steve:: Good, good, now Chris, try this. Rob do this, Chad let's make this adjustment. Now everyone draw.

Everyone draws

Steve: good, now try this

Everyone draws

Me in my mind: holy crap, I think this guy just got the fastest draw to an acceptable A out of me than I have ever done. Holy crap. Holy holy crap. How long have I been here, 3 minutes, holy holy crap. I can't stop smiling. I feel adrenaline, I'm so happy I'm suddenly a bundle of energy. I get shaky.

Steve: you are shaking

Me: I'm stunned, I can't help it. I'm excited. I can't get this smile off my face. I can't believe you did this.

Steve: YOU did it, not me.

This is how it goes. Drill after drill. Success after success. Do this, knock off a tenth. Now try this, there goes 2 tenths. Rep, rep, rep. Then Steve would add a nugget, make a suggestion and bam, in short order kydex is smoking, draws get that movie martial art sound and par times are dropping like King Kong off the Empire State Building.

What you are getting for your money is a shooter that has a gift. Steve Andersons gift is an ability to discern your problems and guide you to the fix. Over and over, drill after drill. It's a valuable gift and worth every penny I spent.

His suggestions and fix's I will not share. Besides being Steve's, frankly, they are unique to me. Maybe you are doing it already and he will tell you something different. What worked on me to get to a .6 acceptable A at seven yards probably is different for you. That's Steve's gift and I truly believe he has this gift, lucky bastard.

Highlights:

Standard draw: .9 if I got lucky. Avg was 1 to 1.1

New. All day long at .7 Got to a .6 several times.

Surrender. 1.1 to 1.2 this was hard for me.

New: all day long baby, .7

previous turn and draw. 1 to 1.2

New t/d easy .7 and .6 was hit several times.

Draw at spitting distance: .9 or so

New: .5 baby and we didn't even push it.

El Presidente: the one drill I dryfire and live fire the crap out of. Old best was grooved in at 4.9 to 5 seconds. A PB of 4.8

New: 4 freaking seconds flat baby. I tried to go 3.9 and muffed it "trying".

A note on this: at the end of class Rob and I tied on this drill at 4 sec. Steve asked if we wanted anything else and Rob said yes a little more El Prez. Steve says great lets do this. Then proceeds to isolate Rob for exactly 5 minutes working on just El Prez.

Long story short, that bast&$#}* Rob now has a 3.8 dry El Pres. And he made it looke easy. EASY

Great thing is the average bump in time from dry to live now gets both of us in the GM zone.

Another note. These gains are made sometimes with a completely new technique. So my thinking is, once burned into the subconscious, if I do my part, the end result will be PHENOMENAL!!!!

Steve gets you there, proves it to you, you repeat it several times, this ain't a fluke, then you move on to the next drill. Fast paced and fun!!

Highly recommend Steve Anderson's classes. Amazing stuff.

Edited by Chris iliff, Today, 02:19 PM.

[Steve Anderson]

Alright Chris, the endorsement check is in the mail, as soon as I get my endorsement check from Wheaties and Van Halen. (Ooohhh, Van Halen striped candy shelled wheaties? Yes yes yes!)

I really appreciate the kind words, and I highly agree with everything you wrote.

The fact is, I believe I have been blessed with a gift. It's also a curse in a way, but I have found peace with it after 40 years on this cold hard rock.

(Lucky Bastard? Yes and no, but also true.)

The answer lies with my parents.

I was raised to ALWAYS put other's needs before my own, and it's as natural to me as the air I breathe... It's not a thought process, It's a damn computer program that just runs in the background all the time.

It has gotten me in a lot of trouble as I foolishly sacrifice too much time and energy trying to make women happy, when they'd be happier figuring themselves (and their problems) out while I blast Van Halen and do burnouts in the parking lot of life.

But the good side is that when I take on a shooter, 2 things are true immediately:

1. I care more about their shooting than my own, at least whenever that is the subject at hand.

2. We belong to each other forever, brothers of the gun.

The other reason this stuff comes naturally is related to Music, and that requires more bullet points. (pun intended)

1. My parents (and their parents, not to mention Aunts, Uncles and Cousins) were Musicians and Music teachers.

Isolating and correcting mistakes is the ONLY way to get proficient at an instrument. With music it's easier because you can HEAR a mistake if you're paying attention, and if you're serious about getting good you'd be a fool to keep playing the mistake over and over without making a correction. I guess I can "hear" the deficiencies in people's shooting technique... Remember, the first book came about because I wanted to be a Grand Master. These processes worked on me in 9 months long before I ever thought about selling books, let alone classes. That's why I have so much confidence in the method...remember, I told all three of you where your times would be before we ever set foot in the dojo. I could "hear" your strengths and weaknesses in the pre-class interview.

And the great (and also maddeningly frustrating) thing about this sport is that there is truly no end to how good you can get, so as I get better it's a lot of fun to show others the tricks and tips that help get me back to just shooting... As I enter the most intense training period of my shooting career I am learning more and more everyday that I LOVE to pass on to others.

As far as technique goes, they are all just tricks to get you back to where you started: Just Shooting.

2. I was a guitar teacher for 10 years or so, and I that gave me great patience and enthusiasm for seeing and celebrating improvement in others... I spent 3 years trying to get a "mentally challenged" student to play the first 4 bars of purple rain. he refused to practice anything else, so I had to find a way to get all the basics of technique into the framework of one song.

"Hey, I bet Prince warms up his hands before a show while hotties do his hair... why don't you try that?"

And if you want to truly understand patience and dedication, spend 30 minutes in a 3x3 non-ventilated room with a LARGE man that has walked 45 minutes to a guitar lesson in August wearing a long sleeved shirt, overalls, and a sweaty fedora with a lace scarf tucked into the trim... (Those were his clothes, not mine, I promise!)

But he trusted me to help him play "THE RAIN" and it was my job to get it done... and we did, eventually. Imagine how happy I was when he finally got it right...and then I never saw him again.

But the simple truth is I just love this S#it, and life's circumstances have allowed/forced me to do it full time for as long as people like you, Rob and Chad trust me with their shooting. (Maybe that's another component of the enthusiasm. I do it like my life depends on it.... because it does.)

I'm grateful for your trust, and I'm available to you guys anytime you have an issue... that's what I mean by brothers of the gun. We're in this together now.

So thanks again... if you really want to have a time, let's do a live fire class in the spring. Yowza!!!!!!

SA

[Racer377]

I was there. What Chris and Steve are saying is 100% true.

I had both books, and they helped me improve greatly. But the class took things to the next level. The technique tweaks, the mindset tweaks, and the motivation tweaks that Steve taught have ratcheted my dryfire practice quantity and quality up to the freakin' stratosphere. Moregooderbetter.

I'd highly recommend the class to anyone looking to get better.

Well maybe not everyone....if they're shooting in my division, I'd be tempted to keep the Anderson Advantage to myself!

[CB45]

Been thinking this over quite a bit lately. I would like to add that this opportunity for me was an eye opener. With only one season under my belt, I had no idea what it takes to be a good competitor at this sport. The time spent with Steve opened my mind to the training and mental aspects. All season I spent just having fun. I did improve throughout the season, just as a byproduct of shooting many local club matches, but to truly get better you need to know more.

Steve does a phenomenal job of explaining the background and tools needed to become a top level competitive shooter. It's more then just gear and targets. Its training and mentality that will take one to the top of the game.

Edited December 14, 2012 by CB45

[Chris iliff]

Almost one year later, thought I'd update this.

First, I did not do much DRYFIRE after the class and into the 2013 season. I did however do some live fire which incorporated all the little tips Steve showed me. The few times I did DRYFIRE, I quickly got right to the levels I achieved in the class. 2013 started with a broken gun and the wife in nursing school, basically being broke. I made Master class in Open in August 2013, using a stock Trubore borrowed from CB45.

1 Master

I don't normally speak for people, but today I will. Rob dry fired more than me over the winter. I think his # of matches also took a hit, like mine, but I think he managed to shoot a tad more than me this season. He also made Master in August.

2 Masters

Chad turned into an all out dry firing guru over last winter. The least experienced by far when we went to class. He more than made up for that with the DRYFIRE routine he did all winter. Couple that with his live fire regimen of at least 1 session per week and he is Indiana's newest MONSTER. Oh, Chad also made Master in August.

3 Masters

3 for 3

I got to say we all had one thing in common. SA DRYFIRE class.