Drills

[gmg]

OK guys, I was wondering what kinds of drills other guys are doing for improvement. I'm sure everyone has a couple of go to drills so I would like to know what others are doing. If you don't mind, please post some drills you are using. Someone else just might learn something.

[RammerJammer]

I drank the Ben Stoeger fundamentals Koolaid and I am working his big 10 religiously.

[Nimitz]

It depends on where you are in your shooting and what weaknesses you have. If you post that info you should get some specific advice that would be useful ...

[gmg]

Hello Nimitz. I started the thread so maybe people would post some of their drills so that others may see them and get some good drills to practice on. Some beginners don't know where to start and they could pick up some really good drills here if people would post some. That was my thinking anyway.

[Chris iliff]

Outside of berm shooting (shooting as fast as you can pull trigger) to learn to see the sights and the standard Bill Drill, I like any variation on a Near to Far drill.

Near to far: set 3 targets up, one at spitting distance, one at 10 yards or so and one partial or steel plate at 17-18 yards. You can space 2nd and 3rd target even farther, say #2 at 17 yards and #3 at 25 yards if you want.

Now draw the gun and shoot them. The idea is that there are 3 distinct trigger presses to use on these distances to get good hits and we need to know all 3. Up close you can hammer, at the next distance you are more refined in your trigger press and at the final distance you need about as good a press as you are ever going to use in USPSA. The goal is to get the hits and learn proper trigger control.

I really like to use a plate or small popper at the farthest distance. Also, you can start on the Near target and shoot to the far target or the opposite way. It really doesn't matter, you could even start on the middle target. I always mix it up when I do this drill. It a drill about proper trigger application and you can learn a ton shooting it.

Well good luck.

Edited June 6, 2013 by Chris iliff

[E K]

Outside of berm shooting (shooting as fast as you can pull trigger) to learn to see the sights and the standard Bill Drill, I like any variation on a Near to Far drill.

Near to far: set 3 targets up, one at spitting distance, one at 10 yards or so and one partial or steel plate at 17-18 yards. You can space 2nd and 3rd target even farther, say #2 at 17 yards and #3 at 25 yards if you want.

Now draw the gun and shoot them. The idea is that there are 3 distinct trigger presses to use on these distances to get good hits and we need to know all 3. Up close you can hammer, at the next distance you are more refined in your trigger press and at the final distance you need about as good a press as you are ever going to use in USPSA. The goal is to get the hits and learn proper trigger control.

I really like to use a plate or small popper at the farthest distance. Also, you can start on the Near target and shoot to the far target or the opposite way. It really doesn't matter, you could even start on the middle target. I always mix it up when I do this drill. It a drill about proper trigger application and you can learn a ton shooting it.

Well good luck.

Good stuff. I also like setting a target at 7,15 & 25 yards. Draw and 2 alphas at 7 yards. Repeat at 15 & 25 yards. Compare your times and work on reducing times between 7&25 while maintaining accuracy.

[gmg]

I use that one myself. I also have one that has 5 targets. T1, T2 about 1ft apart at 7yds, T3 set back 5yds, T4, T5 about a ft. apart at 7yds also. Start at T1, shoot 1 shot and transition to T3, then transition to T2 and back to T3, Shoot T4 then back to T3 and then T5 and back to T3. You can take 2 shots per target but each time, transition to T3. You can do strong hand, weak hand, reload, etc. You can increase distance or decreae it. Lots of variations here. Give it a try and good luck

Edited June 6, 2013 by gmg

[E K]

I use that one myself. I also have one that has 5 targets. T1, T2 about 1ft apart at 7yds, T3 set back 5yds, T4, T5 about a ft. apart at 7yds also. Start at T1, shoot 1 shot and transition to T3, then transition to T2 and back to T3, Shoot T4 then back to T3 and then T5 and back to T3. You can take 2 shots per target but each time, transition to T3. You can do strong hand, weak hand, reload, etc. You can increase distance or decreae it. Lots of variations here. Give it a try and good luck

I like that. I will have to give that a try.

[gmg]

C'mon guys. Let's have 'em. We can all benefit from sharing of these drills.People get burnt out on their same ol drills and might need to spice it up a little bit.

[Vash]

Depending on how many .windows you have in your house or if you don't care what your neighbors think. Wear your normal setup while watching TV and relaxing, setup some form of rules for the show you are watching, and do dry fire drills. An example would be every commercial is a mag change, every sceen change is a draw and trigger squeeze etc etc and you have to push yourself, go fast but make sure you are doing it correctly and learn from mistakes. I hung a target on the wall to the side of the TV so I have something to index on, you will be surprised how much you notice when it "surprises" you rather than telling yourself that ok I am going to do 10 trigger pulls, or just mag change drills.

[jimbullet]

I do a few dry fire drills just to hone my draw and sight alignment each time and practice my reloads.

[sendit223]

For around the house the last couple of weeks I've been practicing my shotgun reloads.

Drill 1: I just pull 4 dummy rounds out of the CA Competition Works shell holders on my belt 100 times. I only count the ones that are "clean" pulls -- I have all four pulled without a snag, they are all tightly held and aligned, and I am indexing that first round between thumb and middle finger. I noticed that my troubles begin in real reloading when I don't get a "clean" pull of 4 rounds. I rotate the shells between all 5 holders on my belt including the one in the back that is rarely used so I'm developing the skill for any holder instead of just being good at the front right one.

Drill 2: just a load 8 in my shotgun for par time. I only do 20 loads but I set a cadence timer and see how many I get over or under the par time. Once I get 100% at one time I knock off a second. I'm remarkably faster at picking them up off the ground because I don't want a dropped shell to mess up my par percentages!

I do Drill 1 then Drill 2.

I think these will help my shotgun reload times, which should help overall.

Sendit

Edited June 28, 2013 by sendit223

[stick]

For live fire it depends on my mood, and what I need to focus on (IDPA or USPSA).

Dryfire:

Wall drill from low ready, draw from holster, weak hand/strong hand

Put a quarter on the front sight for trigger control ( pull the trigger without the quarter falling off)

Ben Stoeger 15 minute dry fire drills

Mike Seeklander's dry fire drills from "your competition handgun training program

Steve Anderson's dry fire book.

It all depends on my mood at the time. When it comes to dry fire, Embrace the suck!

[blaster113]

I use some of the drills from Mike Seeklanders book as core drills that I do all the time such as the 1 shot/2 shot X drills and the strong/weak hand X drills. also throw in an El Prez once in a while, as well as some Bill Drills. group shooting is something that while not as exciting as drawing and hosing, is essential.

for dryfire I use Steve Anderson's book. the program works as advertised for sure. just wish I had more time and energy to do the program regulary; 60 hour work weeks and erratic sleep makes practice hard

[GM2B]

I am not an exceptional pistol shot but progressing.... Hence the name GM 2B

I bought some steel knockover targets the size of a light switch panel and I enjoy placing 6 out and shooting them from 10-25 yards. Then transitioning and shooting paper 7-20 yards. I just started practicing on the steel knockovers. Previously only shot C zoned steel for practice.

Load 8 in shotgun while walking forward towards target then engage, load while walking left then engage, load whil walking right then engage, load while retreating then engage.

Shoot the knockovers with shotgun from varying distances with different chokes as fast as possible.

Shoot knockovers while walking quickly with shotgun

Draw shoot 2 on 1 C zone steel transition to another and shoot 2 on it. Sometimes I will reload between or practice that while moving.

Draw and shoot 1 on target from 7-50 yards as fast as I can and watch the difference in time for varying distances.

@ 100-200 yards from port arms or low ready on C zone steel target shoot one standing reload then shoot one kneeling reload then shoot one prone or sometimes add movement between shots.

shoot a steel at 100 then 200 then 300 then 400 then 500 as fast as possible from the prone position

[Blujay291]

What's a bill drill?

[def90]

What's a bill drill?

6 A hits in under 2 seconds

[StraightUp_OG]

With a draw.

[Chris iliff]

What's a bill drill?

What's a bill drill?

6 A hits in under 2 seconds

With a draw.

Bill Drill is done at 7 yards, from surrender, 6 shots as fast as you can, all hits in the A zone to count. Yes, most M class and above can go sub 2 sec, but time is just a small part of what the drill is about.

This teaches so much it's scary. The less informed think its an ammo waster, but that is far from the truth. Teaches what you need to know to shoot at speed. Grip, trigger press, flinching, you name it, this drill helps. I listed the exact drill, but changing the distance up and stretching it out to 10,15,20, & 25 yards enhances the drill.

One of my favorites that I credit for learning to shoot faster and SEE.

Edited July 20, 2013 by Chris iliff