Jake Di Vita

Get a Beven tuned Benelli and you will weep for joy for a very long time....after you get past the year wait for them. Yes...long time to wait, but well worth it.

All upper body movement comes from the knees.

I dunno. I know for a fact that Jerry Barnhart scores his hits real time as he is shooting in both Open and Limited.

The main thing to look out for in consistency. The only difference between a surrender and a hands at side start is the starting position. After the beep, your hands should move in the exact same place in either draw. We want to do EVERYTHING the same way. That is the only way to truly ingrain consistent form.

The biggest thing is that you aren't leading with your head....but since you can't we just have to work around that. I don't like the position of your weakhand during the draw, I personally don't think it gets on the gun fast enough and seems to chase it a little bit. Chasing the gun usually makes for an inconsistent grip. I don't know what your normal stance is, but since we are both right handed I am going to assume ours are the same. When you complete the turn you have your right foot well in front of your left foot. This will really make you fight your index in all shots you make during the string. To any turn and draw there are 2 steps. The first is stepping your right foot back and around (like you do) and the second is moving your left foot to it's natural shooting position. The last thing I see is at the end of the draw stroke your head dips a bit....most likely to find the sights. Remember that we have to bring the gun to our eyes and not the other way around. Hope this helps. Jake

Not sure I understand, but thanks. heh

Not a bad idea. But remember that at the top levels, every division needs to shoot the highest points possible. If you are shooting Open or Limited (especially Open) you can't afford to be dropping more than 3 or 4 points a stage.

I think you are the only person in existence to shoot with a 12 yard zero. I zero at 15....if I know there are going to be longer shots in a match I will zero at 25.

"what's in a field course that is not in a speed shoot ?" Movement, getting in and out of positions, breaking the stage down, memory, usually tougher / longer shots.

Yeah, I'd be interested to know the "simple physics" as well. Because testing actually shows the opposite of your theory for most people.

Well there are a few easier ways you can do it. The best way in my mind is to simply record the date and classifier that you shot, then record your points and your time. Keep a database and check back for progress monthly. Also, you could use a classifier percentage calculator (or find out the hit factors yourself) and see exactly what percentage you would shoot on every classifier. If the progress you are judging is only moving up in class you are pretty much out of luck unless you shoot an extra classifier. However I don't think judging your progress based on what class you are in is a great indicator of your skill.

Dave, Don't forget to add shooting groups from a rest into your testing pattern. Some loads group better than others.

With a strong side turn, you can easily get it done in 2 motions. I have also found this the fastest way for the most part. If you would like, you can take a video of you doing a turn and draw and post it in the video training tips forum and get suggestions from the membership here.

Ron, Thanks bud! Honestly, it just happens. I have probably done over a million dry fire reloads in the past year or so. For me, the thing the really makes me go for the mag quick is remembering to start the reload as soon as you call the last shot.

Someone needs to get on trying to market USPSA to Spike.

I define target spot usually as the center of the available brown. I normally tell my students that their target spot should be the same size as their bullet...exactly where they want it to go.

In order to develop follow-through in dry fire (which is an uphill battle anyway) I normally do a portion of my dry firing on small targets...usually a quarter or a half dollar. Keeping the dot aligned in that small of a space through the whole drill is a sure way to instill follow-through.

Work out the plan in your head until you can mentally see EVERY target and see your gun come into alignment on the A zone of EVERY target. After that all you have to do is aim.

Throw them up a few inches.

Throw up all 3 coins at once and catch them one at a time.

Dave, I'm having trouble making the video work simply because the camera isn't picking up what I'm doing so I'll just post the drill here. All you need are 3 quarters. Place your palm face down and line the quarters on the back of your hand. One of the tip of your fingers, one by your middle finger's knuckle, and one by your wrist. The drill is standing with your arm out-stretched, slightly tossing the quarters up and then catching them one at a time before they hit the ground. Make sure you have a seperate hand movement for each quarter. Once you get consistent with that, move up to 4 quarters. Let me know if this makes sense or you have any questions.

Honestly, I use the same arm extension when I shoot iron sighted divisions as well. I'll see what I can do and post them whenever I can though.

L2S, I would love to, but don't own a Limited gun.

Hey guys, thanks for the kind words! In regards to handspeed. It is largely a genetic thing, but there are a few things you can work on to improve it. A really big one is boxing. There are other drills that I also do that I will post a video of which is incredible for developing handspeed and hand / eye coordination. The par time set on the draw is .7. The draws are probably coming in anywhere from .63 - .68. Thanks for the comparison to Travis! That is probably the best compliment I could get as he is one of my heroes in the shooting world. Pierruiggi hit it pretty well about raising the gun up when you eject the mag. It really becomes a heck of a lot easier to see your target when you do that. I would say an average reload in a match is anywhere from .8 - 1.0. In practice I've gotten them in the low .6s.

Thanks guys. Catfish, On the reload, I end up hitting the mag release about the same time that my weakhand touches the spare mag. The reason for this is that I have to severely shift the gun in my hands (stock mag release). This is actually the quickest that I can hit it. On the draw. My weakhand tends to be fairly tense when I am moving it to my solar plexus area (because I only focus on moving my weakhand, never my strong hand). When it got to the reception point I extend the fingers slightly at a downward angle to make sure that the angle of my wrist is enough to control recoil effectively. It is kind of a illusion because I am not actually moving my hand down from the original place it goes. Hope this helps. Jake