daves_not_here

I started a new drill with my SIRT. I'm using a metronome to work on transitions. Working on speed and efficiency. The take-up laser helps a lot with reducing the excess motion. I find I over-run the next target if I don't have my eyes on the next target before the gun. Usually a bobble of the take-up laser. Link to the thread: metronome training thread I'm hoping you'll find it a good way to use your SIRTs. DNH

VERY GOOD POINT!!!! I think that bears repeating in this thread and else where. It's the classic "you can't miss fast enough". You can only hit as fast as you can aim... Since this is the second day I've had a chance to get sloppy and find this out. Now, for the majority of my "runs" with a metronome I use the dry-fire drill approach from Steve Anderson's book where one gets a sight picture and DOES NOT PRESS THE TRIGGER. Reinforcing good habits and not practicing mistakes... DNH

Gman, If you've got a smartphone there's probably a free metronome app. My latest twist is to have the metronome going and then engage targets in different sequences, two body - one head or 1-1-2-1-1. It's keeping dry-fire practice fun and challenging. Then again it's only day two... DNH

VISUAL PATIENCE Is what I think I'm improving with the sight picture drills. From Brian's book: Visual Patience "Practical Shooting" p.80 Enos 1990 DNH

A concept that describes elements that are a part of "flow": "Note carefully that when your vibrations are slow, events seem to happen fast, and you will feel that events are happening too fast for you to control them. And you may therefore feel impelled to try that much harder to exercise control...But the faster you are vibrating and the more messages you get back from your environment, the slower events will appear to be happening, and the more you will feel you are in control." Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment (Time and Vibration section) Thaddeus Golas That passages covers why we shoot bad and how we can shoot faster. Pushing isn't going to get information coming in faster and to slow things down we need to speed up our "vibrations". Read the link to the pdf to find out how to speed up your vibrations. There are a couple of ways. More or less it's a matter of loving to shoot. Sometimes it's not that easy... You just can't force yourself to love shooting if you're doing poorly, hot, tired, dehydrated and the gun is acting up. It takes a different approach. It also explains why when we push to go faster things go bad and we don't end up faster in the end. I read this book two decades ago and it is still relevant to me. DNH

Steve, Thanks! I think the preconceived ideas about how it's supposed to sound also creates the "double tap/hammer" syndrome to begin with. Your drills that use sight picture without trigger press help me drive the gun by what the eyes see and not by sound. I've translated this to working with the metronome by just looking target to target with my eyes to the beat of the metronome. Then introducing the gun no trigger. Because you can't hit faster than you can see... DNH BTW, I have your book open on my desk right now.

I started using a metronome (the thing that goes click-click for playing music with steady tempo) with dry-fire. The goals are to: Get my eyes to snap faster or sooner to the next target for transitions Get my transitions equal to my splits Get faster and smoother. Rationale: All the good shooters have a nice rhythm. Matches are won with transitions and reloads. My Current Approach: I have an electric metronome which is actually a free iPhone app. I'm comfortable with 0.3 second splits yet my transitions are 0.4 at 7 yards. I've set the metronome to 200 beats per minute (60 seconds in a minute / 0.3 seconds = 200). I make sure I lead with my eyes. I make sure I am efficient and have a proper sight picture on the dry-fire targets. Avoid doing it too much e.g. getting sloppy I'm also using a SIRT pistol so I get proper hit indication when I trigger press. I also turn on the takeup laser periodically to see whether I overrun the next target. I just started this yesterday so I'm looking for ideas and comments. DNH

WHAT I WANT TO THINK ABOUT Nothing. Not even float the gun, smooth is fast or other mantras. That's my ultimate goal. WHAT I ACTUALLY THINK ABOUT When I make a mistake, Not again! When I'm actually keeping up with the gun, Hurry up! I can't hit anything today! Where's the bullet hole? etc. There's also the divergent thoughts like what I'm going to do after the match or how good the hatch chiles tasted in the omelette I had for breakfast. (If you've had hatch green chiles you'd understand. ) HOW TO DEAL WITH THE DEFERENCE I believe this is the root of your question. We will think thoughts no matter what as long as we have an ego. What we do with them I think is the important part. If we try to push the thoughts away they'll push back harder. Just like a bad 70's disco song you can't get out of your head. I focus on INTENTION not results. I have the intention of applying myself fully and shooting my best. That is where I put my effort. There really isn't a "trying" my best or creation of formal thoughts. I think this intention keeps my conscious busy enough not to go off and judge my performance or start other distracting thoughts. The stage plan is what I thought about before the buzzer and I'm carrying out the plan. I don't consider it thinking but having knowledge about what's around the corner and how to shoot it when I get there. This works for me when it works. You might find it worth using also. DNH

Be prepared to learn a lot! Learning and trying out shooting in ways you never though you could is a blast! DNH

I like that explanation. Curious, how does one determine if you are fine or gross motor skilled? Skip Find and take an online MBTI Temperament test. "SF's" are gross motor skilled, and "ST's" are fine motor skilled. And "NT's" and "NF's" are more cerebral or heart motor skilled. be What guns should NF's have? Brain operated triggers? Could this be why I like the "ghost" trigger on my glock? DNH

A study I read said a little more light has been more accurate. I haven't come across anything in the pistol world but when I shot smallbore rifle I read a paper on front round apature size. It stated the most accurate image is when the round hole appears almost 50% larger than the bullseye. That means 25% space on each side. The MIT shooting team brought the article to a match. Those geeks kicked our butts! I also find it easier and faster to aquire and control a smaller front sight. Probably because of less perceived wobble. I bet you could investigate the physics of how light behaves like a wave. This would explain that a smaller gap has a larger ratio of diffracted light adding to alignment error. You do the math. A FUNNER EXPLANATION: I was told that we are used to seeing where peoples' eyes are looking. We can pick up the smallest differences in the whites of someones eyes. It's like when you can tell your date is staring at the piece of spinach in your teeth. Or, when your date picks up that you're looking at something else other than their face. Hoping it's not a body part of another woman. Women may even be better than this than us, possibly explaining some of their mind reading abilities. DNH

Ryan, Definitely keep the gun up. That has been working for me lately. Things seem to flow easier. The gun, especially the sights, always being in the center of my field of view probably helps. Don't really care to analyze why but it works. It may be the camera angle but a couple times it looks like you were a little late getting the support hand on the gun. This is another thing that I'm working on. You've got some nice props to shoot. DNH

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Ryan, Looks like you've got the important stuff: "...both clubs were a blast". Is there anything else more important? (except for safety) You shot the last stage clean and another with -3. Not a bad showing. Did you learn something and do you have an idea on what to work on? The nice thing about the shooting sports is that no matter how talented you are you still have to work at it like the rest. One thing I've been told "Transitions and reloads win a match. Splits just sound fast." DNH

Whichever gun works best for you. Also, check out the different generations. I hated glocks till Gen4. I can notice the difference and the Gen4's feel right for me, more than anything else out there. I just can't keep a hold of a Gen3 or earlier no matter what was done with the grip. If you don't like shooting the gun you decided to buy try another. It's never worth the aggravation and frustration trying to shoot a gun that doesn't fit. If you ask someone about their gun and tell them you're considering getting one sometimes they'll hand you the gun and a loaded magazine for you to try it out. At least that's what I do. DNH

Just finished the book "Overachievement" by Eliot. The "Highly Motivated Underachiever" concept cleared up a lot of my conflict around the feelings I've had for "Corporate Team Building" and confidence building techniques. Eliot's approach is about being COMPETENT NOT CONFIDENT. This means you practice so you know your skills and how to apply your skills, i.e. competence. There is less emphasis on being certain you can win i.e. confidence. My doubts and fears aren't causing that mental pause in stages. When my stage plans don't work out I shoot through them smoothly instead of things falling apart. Failing gives me more information on what needs work rather than fuel to beat myself up over poor performance. I am now more accepting of my nerves. As a result the nervousness doesn't increase. Yesterday shooting first on a stage didn't increase nervousness. I didn't even realize I was the first shooter. That was a big hurdle for me. I also have a different perspective on practice. It's about improvement of my performance not beating someone else. I am more critical about what I am doing and I don't try to delude myself that I did a drill "clean" or "good enough". I just make note of weaknesses and work on them more. The experiment continues. Anyone else there read this book? DNH

My supreme goal... The meaning of the way of shooting becomes transparent. The holes manifest in the targets. Shooting is no longer shooting. Zen is not Zen. DNH

Give them a call if they keep it up. They're nice guys and don't want to be a nuisance. Some of the pilots shoot at Rio Salado. Well, seven years ago anyway. A little chat would convince them that you're not some gang banger. I lived in a gang hotspot and they avoided my my house after I inquired about the "activity" in my neighborhood. Believe it or not crime went down when they put in a half-way house on the next block. They were probably just circling a hottie sunbathing in her backyard anyway. DNH

My equipment switch: Snubbie Ruger sp101 in .357! FUN GUN! Okay, my excuse was to help my trigger press. But, really why I bought was for fun. Trying to ride that snubbie with .357 rounds is fun, it's a stout little thing so shooting it isn't unpleasant. Big fireballs from magnum rounds! Dry fire remains fun if I use Mr. Snubbie every once in a while. A stock double action will tire your finger out quick. WHAT I THINK REALLY HAPPENED: The new toy got me back on fundamentals; grip, sight picture, trigger technique and transitions. That helped me change my mindset from trying to burn down a CoF to focusing on shooting correctly paying attention to fundamentals. The consistency of results got me motivated again. I now have a deeper appreciation and understanding of the fundamentals. Post back what worked for you. DNH

Two weeks ago I got a Cabela's Safari Vest It has a mesh back. Any movement creates a nice breeze. It was on sale. It is cut a little roomy if you need that. (I don't anymore, recently lost 30 pounds ) The side pulls help keep the sides back. I've safety pinned the folds of the extra material so they don't get in the way. I'll sew it to fit just right once I get a feel for the vest. There are four lower pockets on each side which means 6 layers of fabric that could be starched. Not that I'm thinking of gaming. No one does that in IDPA Other than it isn't on sale right now I recommend getting one. DNH

...One of my biggest challenges has been adding protein without adding much fat. Anyone have any ideas on that? Stuff called Muscle Milk Vanilla flavored not the reduced calorie. Suggested by a co-worker who was a 200 meter Olympic Sprinter who has tried many different brands and flavors. I lost 5 pounds just having the extra protein in my diet. The jar is a little expensive but a lot cheaper per serving than protein bars. I freeze boxes of muscle milk and take to the range. They defrost in the car and still cold by lunch. Also buy a shaker bottle that has the wire ball mixer in it. It tastes you're drinking a milk shake not something good for you. DNH

Mr. Death, You provided insight on a common oversight for me. Prepping the self before the match! You just highlighted the source of my perceived "plateau" and a lack of "intensity" when I shot yesterday. The last couple weeks have had stress and sleeplessness - the job. I couldn't get in control or in the groove all day during the match. The brain and body were running on empty. Disappointed but not down about my performance. Thanks, DNH

I found this app from this forum. MyFitnessPal Thread Without encouragement my wife downloaded and started using it that morning. I've lost 30 pounds and my wife 20. I think it's because it's the lack of hassle to pay attention to what we're eating. It has a great database of food and you can scan food that has a database. All it really does for us is calculate calories for a weight loss goal. Then we eat what we normally have and change portions accordingly. I don't think anyone wants to be fat. I also think no one wants to be told what to eat or to count calories. Give this app it a try. I hope you'll find it useful... DNH

Learning shootin' seems so non-linear. Read the same words again and it means something different. Like there was treasure there but couldn't see it. All we're doin is aligning the gun to the target and making it go bang. It must be the operator that is the non-linear part. DNH

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