Steve Anderson

#1 was 1.51 with a .73 #2 was 1.40 with a .70 Or evry close to that, but I know those draw numbers are correct.

I think that's all there is... executing every time. Many times a shooter will have a great stage or a great stage beginning and start to think they've "solved" a problem. Things go bad quick after that. Practice is going very well.

I really like that. Maybe it's not so different than me after all. After all, when Bassham interviewed all the gold medal winners he asked them what they were thinking about during their winning performance. Every single one: Nothing That's fairly obvious, but what's important is what's missing from that lack of thought. Excellent post sb3. Thanks again.

Eye of LeTigre. That might be spanish for Eye of the Tiger. Just like "el camino" is spanish for "the camino." And it's my greatest weakness. I blame my parents. Both of my parents, and one each of their parents, were raised by music teachers. I've told you that before, but there's a different angle this time. I was encouraged to play the cornet instead of the trumpet because it's less competitive. Same basic instrument, but a little less rock star. You guys know me by now... Do you think that appealed to me? Please. Next was the Bass. The big one. The stand-up orchestra bass. My cousin Mark Wright still plays one for the San Francisco Symphony. I played one for a few years, then just got bored. And then, I saw a Van Halen t-shirt at school and shoplifted a cassete with the same name. Guitar Guitar Guitar. Please! And this whole time I was not allowed to play any real team sports. Football? Too dangerous. Baseball? Too dangerous. Wrestling? Uncivilized and of course too dangerous. I was allowed to play soccer. Please. Soccer is not Eye of the Tiger, especially in the 7th grade. And also basketball, where I developed an amazing knack for rebounds and layups. After a free throw, I could always get that ball and put it back in the hoop. Trouble was, I would forget which goal I was under, and put the wrong ball in the wrong basket at the wrong end of the wrong court in the wrong sport. Oops. I never learned to WIN. I never developed the overwhelming desire to CRUSH MY OPPONENT. It's not that I don't want to win, not at all. It's just not as important to me as shooting to the best of my ability. It's my greatest weakness and I f@cking hate it. So after steak, asparagus, beer, whiskey, a couple stinky pees and then cigars, I asked Mr. Farris how to get a little more mojo. His reply was just what I needed, because it fit nicely with my personality type: Don't ever think about anyone else. Ever. It's you vs. the stage. Thanks Kyle. Now, if you'll excuse me... I need to get to work. So do you.

"I generally don't practice. It is a lack of time (sometimes away from home all week)and funding issue. Yes I could dry fire more, no excuse here. I shoot nearly every weekend. My performance tends to peak in the summer and fall off in the winter" Seriously? Come back when you're ready to change that. Or, accept that you just want to have fun shooting and quit looking at the results.

What is your mindset going into a match and during the match.(before shooting a stage) Focused? Calm? Care-free? Prepared? Nothing? Anytime a trace of doubt or anxiety shows up, I remind myself: I am here to call every shot. If we don't do that at the match, we'll never know how good we are.

I learn somthing new about dry firing every day... imagine that. I'm doing 2 sessions a day and it's really helping. 5 minutes a drill is HUGE. SA

And Micah, a broken heart has the ability to focus the mind, doesn't it? It makes a good diet, too. Those 3 practice modes are a big F'ing deal. Just like me.

Dave, I just entered the third "Charlie Sheen" phase in my 40 years, so there will likely be a lot of pants wandering going on around here, as it seem the position of Mrs. Anderson is available once again. But don't worry, I like you guys better anyway. You actually listen...

It depends on your goal. If you want to make GM in a year, do the first 12 drills in R and R for 5 minutes each, twice a day. Send me a picture of that G card, 'cause it's already on the way if you do that. If you want to progress in a more well rounded way, READ the content in book 2 first. Then, do the same first 12 drills from the first book for 5 minutes each a day, then do one additional one each day. If You really want to get awesome, do them all while moving forward, backward, and side to side. (Don't tell anyone I told you that, btw) AND GET TO THE RANGE TWICE A WEEK IF YOU DRY FIRE EVERY DAY. YOU WILL SCREW YOURSELF IN A VERY PAINFUL WAY IF YOU DO NOT BALANCE DRY FIRE WITH LIVE FIRE.

Real Bullets. Last Saturday was my first ever live fire group class, and to quote Chris Farley, IT WAS... AWESOME. I was nervous as hell driving out there, felt just like I did just before going on stage in the 90s. Not scared, but READY. There were 6 shooters, ranging from D to A class, and all with different strengths, weaknesses and experiences. They all showed up on a crisp fall morning with open minds, ready to work and learn. We started out with the standard dry fire tune up, because: 1. I am the dry fire guy, after all. 2. I needed to evaluate everyone's basic gunhandling and provide recommendations. See, I never insist that anybody do anything. I seek for them self-analysis, and I really don't care how they do a given technique. I only insist that THEY care how they do it, and always seek to improve it. And of course, I provide proven alternatives to bullshit. Next up: Calling the shot. A real eye opener for the whole group, most of whom did not know what that meant and surely couldn't do it. We made real progress there. RANT: FIBER OPTIC FRONT SIGHTS ARE STUPID AND SHOULD BE THROWN IN THE RIVER. Unless there is a specific vision problem that is solved by FO sights, please just use black ones. The reason are numerous, and we'll talk more about it later. I know a lot of the big boys use them, but they know what they're doing and can process that extra information. Next up, Transitions: We did two drills for transitions and used a metronome to introduce the idea of cadence. Half of our group were douple tapping before and were not after. On to: Entries and Exits. Gun high in the peripheral vision, leave early and shoot early. Deceleration: Run your ass off, but brake early and let the sight tell you when to shoot before you stop. The secret. Yep, I told 'em THE SECRET. Next, we shot on the move for 90 minutes in all 4 directions. Shooting on the move, at any speed, trumps stopping. Learn it, live it, love it. Then send me a check. There were 3 lectures: Mental Game The key to low field course times Mental Game To finish up, we set up a little stage. I let them analyze it alone, and then shoot it. Then I blew some more hot air about: Analysis Visualization LAMR Mindset And then they shot it again. Everyone was either significantly faster or more accurate, and for one of two reasons. Their plan either improved or was better memorized, or both. They devoted more headspace to calling the shot. One or two may have managed all of the above. Which is significant, becuase I spent the whole day changing and challenging everything they thought they knew about shooting. One shooter had never considered the idea of only going where you have to go in stage, and would have taken the whole tour of the stage other wise. That will save him HOURS over the course of his career. And it's not surprising that the most improved improved shooter of the class was female. See, all men think they are great at 3 things. 2 of them are driving and shooting. As such, they are more skeptical students. Women tend to be more open to instruction, at least in endeavors of skill. (This does not apply when the man and woman involved have carnal knowledge. Then all bets are off. Ever try to teach your wife something? Good luck. She's seen you naked. She ain't buying it.) And because I did not teach yesterday's class in the nude, there were no such distractions. It was still pretty chilly, and hot brass has no business near the gentlemen's area. Our lone lady shooter just got it. All day long. She listened, learned, and did exactly what I asked her to do. Her husband, 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide, took half the class and inspired much comedy and excellence as well. (I won't tell anybody you fart when you laugh real hard, Jose. Oops.) You're a good sport, Jose! The class was enriched by your presence and participation In Summary: It was a fantastic day, because I'm great at 4 things: 3 of them are shooting, driving, and teaching. Now get to work.

How to practice and the arousal stages of the practice modes, part 2. Since I got my gun back, I've been hitting the practice pretty hard. And I've done something a little different, something pretty cool. I decided to dedicate one hour twice a day to dry fire, then live fire 2-3 times a week. Then I'll ramp the live fire up to daily a week before Nats. And to keep myself honest, I set a timer on my iphone and do the first 12 drills in R and R for 5 minutes each. 5 minutes per drill is just about the right amount to cycle through the various points of mental arousal: Excitement Trying Boredom Observation Enlightment You might think that I just totally made that up on the spot. Yep. You caught me. But It's something I've known for a while and just didn't figure out all the way through. See, we start out really wanting to practice and kick some ass, so we TRY to get better. This renders too much to the conscious mind, and after a minute or so of that we get bored. If we're smart, we're too dumb to quit, so we keep going until the conscious mind wanders off into someone's pants. Those thoughts work through to completion while the body is still repeating and refining, and our conscious mind begins to observe the action taking place. It will likely make a correction or two, because now it's just a third party observer of the subconscious process. No emotion, no judgement. Just the pursuit of perfection. Sorry if this is too deep, but I love this shit. So let's condense and simplify: Make the commitment, set the time aside, then subdivide the set aside time. (stay with me, it'll be worth it) Even simpler: You wanna get awesome, pilgrim? Do drills 1-12 of the first book for 5 minutes each twice a day. Then do one different additional drill for 5 minutes. And in live fire practice , always be in one of three modes: Accuracy, where speed is not judged. Speed, where accuracy is not judged. Shot calling, where everything else is trusted to the subconscious mind. In fact, I like to cycle though these on every drill. 1. Hit the targets. 2. Do it faster and faster until accuracy begins to suffer (this doesn't harm the self image because we don't judge it) 3. Retain the speed gains and call every shot. Damn I'm good to you guys... all I ask is that you make me proud by never stopping the learning, by constantly seeking to improve, by carrying yourselves with respect and respect for others. At least until your conscious mind wanders off into someone's pants. Now get to work.

Athena Lee: I wish I bought your book sooner. Like last century sooner. Thanks Athena. Now get to work.

And that inspired this: How it all began. Yesterday's review reminded me to tell you about some stuff. A shooter's amaze-balls over how helpful these drills are sometimes catches me off guard, because to me it's so obvious. You wanna get better at a complicated action? Break it down into simple actions, get really good at those, then put the pieces back together. I suppose I learned how to do that while learning to play guitar. And I tell people all the time, "If you have rhythm and can hear when something is wrong, you can play guitar." But many folks can't hear when a guitar is out of tune or when a chord is played wrong. Those are the folks that need a teacher... or a new hobby. Warning: The following timeline is highly condensed, so pay attention. Christmas Eve: Young man walks into my record store and tries to kill me with a K-bar. (That's a Rambo knife, daunting even by Crocodile Dundee standards) January: Lil' Stevie buys a Smith 5906 and cannot hit the broad side of New Albany. Vern Walker tells me, "You should come to some of these matches in Circleville." I go, and shoot every target twice, Including the white ones. If they ever told me not to, I wasn't listening. A man with a boner, even one caused by shooting, is not a good listener. Vern tells me later, "Some dry fire could help you." I ask. "Dry Fire?" Isn't that a large wooden ship used in the civil war?" So I start thinking about the things that these matches require. I can already hit a target, it's all the other stuff that flummoxes me like a magnet stuck to a kitchen chair. So I made a little list of all the things I couldn't do. And I realize that I can practice these things in the basement, all I want. For free. This is way better than a large wooden ship. And while I've never price checked large civil war era wooden ships, they can't be cheap, right? And as I continue to do this dry fire stuff, I start getting better. When I draw the gun, the sights magically appear on target. And Holy Haberdasher, it's faster too! And then someone local, I believe it was Mike McDowell, asked me what was I doing to get so much better. (BTW, I came out in production in A class, and was never lower than A in USPSA. It ain't braggin' if it's true, son. ) So I gave a few buddies my little list of drills. And then my capitalist light bulb went off. As they say, the rest is history. The bottom line is, these drills were working before they were a book. I need you to understand that. And it's nothing special about me, really. I was just the first guy to write it down. I was the first caveman to draw it on the wall. Now get to work. Because I want to hear about more amaze-balls improvement.

Here's another review from a recent order who wishes to remain anonymous so the competition doesn't catch on: Just wanted you to know that I saw a very noticeable improvement from doing Drills 1-3 alone. I imagine how amaze-balls I will be if I did it all. That possibility scares me and excites me at the same time... Seriously, though, I was consistently getting 0.9 and below (best was 0.79) first shots in my live fire session yesterday. I've always been a 1.1-1.2 shooter even if the target was at slapping distance. Scoot back to 12 yards, I was nailing them at 1.0-1.1 consistently. That used to be a 1.2-1.3 area. Yes. I am slow. But I've always told myself to make it up by running faster. Seriously, WTF dude. Thanks for quantifying/breaking down everything that I've known in my Open shooter career. I've always known that dry-fire was good but didn't know exactly HOW it was good for you. I still want to do a few more drills (hopefully all of them) and post a glowing review (not that you need any) about it on my blog I will also be referring to it extensively because I am a blank slate iron sights shooter. I wanna hit M class on that as well. In a nutshell, thank you

Jkatz: When that happens, it is very useful to turn off the par times and just make perfect sight pictures. Then you can return to the world of par times and acceptable sight pictures. Dave: See what you need to see. An acceptable sight picture is all you need, but it takes a while to figure that out. No real shortcuts.

And soon you'll give all that love to another one. Condolences.

Great post Bill! You always have the right amount of arrogance. Just enough for the self-image to be healthy, yet still short of @$$hole. (That's a compliment. No misconceptions allowed) And the fact you didn't win has already made you a better shooter. And it's so obvoious that TGO is programmed to win. It's what he is. He's made of it. That's the champion's default position. Maybe the artist over thinks it a bit, while the champion just commences with the ass-kicking. And then Benos read my mind: "In contrast, of course I'd like to win, but my deepest motivation was to perform at the highest level humanely imaginable" SA

Sure you can. Aim at your empty gun at a target 3 feet away with an acceptable sight picture. Press the trigger. Would a bullet have hit the target? Of course. Move back to 15 feet and aim at the A-zone with an acceptable sight picture. Press the trigger. Move back to 30 and repeat. The bullet MUST go where the sights are aligned when the gun fires. As long as trigger pull doesn't disturb our acceptable sight picture, it can't go anywhere else. (This is why we have to see the sights lift. Took me awhile to understand that one.) Now what else can't you do? Yet.

"I hate dry fire" Emotion has no place in the pursuit of improvement. "boring and useless" Read my original post again, please. Boring, maybe. At times, sure. Useless?

If you use a .22 PLEASE make the targets much more difficult. That will counteract the recoil issue.

"none of them stimulate me" They are not supposed to. It's not porn, it's practice. There are two things you can do: Complain about sucking or F@#*ing do something about it. I can't make that choice for you. And if you don't adopt a practice schedule, you need to change your expectations and just try to have fun shooting, because improvement will be slow or nonexistent. You must accept that or you will be very frustrated. I'll be here for ya either way.

there may be a fancy book of drills that can provide some structure...

"Am I destined to suck forever?" Only until you decide to do something about it. Set a schedule and stick to it. Start with 5 minutes a day. Set a timer or alarm. Then increase to 10. Repeat until the sucking stops.