Paladin

This is an age-old challenge and I see people use specially made grips,tapes. markings on thier hands etc.but the best one for me has been knowing how my fingers relate to each other during the grip. For me I use 2 relationships or reference point: 1. my support hand index finger's 3rd joint (inside) making contact with my strong hand middle finger's 2nd joint (outside) 2. The fingernail of my strong hand middle finger making contact with the inside of the base of my support hand's thumb. I find that even when the initial grip is flawed I can adjust into my optimal grip by establishing this relationship.

Some points: 1. Speed-shooting isn't mostly about technique it is also about mindset. 2. Always expect more of yourself to avoid ruts, change is the only constant..now that you are at 1.1 aim for 1.0 etc. 3. It is better to cut down your training frequency than your training intensity!!

One have to be careful here. Probably due to space/time constraints you may have to dry fire practice at a certain distance. To ensure that this does not affect the speed of adaptability of your eyes to various distances, practice eye transitions and focus at varying distances for example when sitting in the park, walking, driving (careful here), at the stop light, reading etc. Also ensure that you are not 'bus stopping' your eyes when you move from near distances to farer distances because you feel you need that extra assurance or 'double-check' on your sight picture.

Agree with Flex, there is also the wrist lock action of the left hand that drives the gun down, not really a 'push'. It he/she was to have a FTF you would see it even more.

once you experience seeing the sights lift then you can always go back there as your brain will record the image.. a quick exercise: Hold the gun on target, acquire your sights and focus on that.. then have someone pull the trigger for you..have them do this for around 10 rds. and then leave you to pull the trigger thereafter. Eventually you will get there and more importantly you will know when you did not do it and so you can quickly fire another (corrected) shot before moving on..that way you won't ever have to swing back on a target after leaving it.. there are also some nice fringe benefits too such as tighter groups, increase accuracy and improved awareness.

Bountyhunter: What Benos said is good advice esp. for developing awareness through 'feel'..however the following suggestions will help you along in this process: You said: Feet and hips square to the target line, basically an isosceles stance. I say: Find your NPA position and see the positions your feet are in relative to each other. Work on developing that position as it is a component of your neutrality. Even for those times that you are out of this stance then you will know how much it is 'compromised' and thereby know how you must compensate for this. You said: The right arm is closer to being straight, so the right shoulder is rotated slightly more to the rear and the support (left) arm elbow has a little more bend in it. I say: Your support hand should lead the strong hand on the gun so the support hand should be (has to be) straighter. Are you getting that support hand wrist lock that aids in resettling the gun quickly and back to its original position? Do you have a dual contraction of the hands or is that right hand pushing on the gun? Think about it, if your right shoulder is rotated slightly to the rear what will it have a tendency to do, esp. under rapid fire and/or fatigue? It will have a tendency to move forward, and if your right hand is locked it will just move the entire unit including the gun. You said: I don't do the "lean forward" thing (supported by the toes), I generally stand balanced over my feet. I say: Practice to lean even a little bit forward..you need a little forward bias as a counter for the recoil; slightly bending the knees too can help your stability and flexibility. Remember balanced on your feet before gun fires don't translate into balanced on your feet after gun fires- fire a 12 guage slug in a shotgun and see what happens. The same thing happens with the handgun too but on a smaller scale, nevertheless the margin of error induced may be just as large, if not larger. Hope this helps and Happy New Year!!

In keeping with the concept of 'less is more' I suggest the following: Map the best possible straight line path through the stage, You also want to practice shooting on the move, and finally, do those accuracy drills as there is sometimes a compromise between 'straight line movement' and target engagement difficulty.

We need to win these guys over to IPSC.. it really grows the sport and it also allows one to develop phenomenal gun handling skills and safety awareness. In the 'real' world this can HELP tremendously if it goes along with the appropriate mindset.

I concur Flexmoney!!

I remember some time ago doing some draw and fire on a target. Target was the usual 7 yds. My partner was to set a par time (I am not told the time as this is a drill to develop consistency of draw and fire speed). Not knowing the par time I rushed the draw, did not see the sights and fired into the C zone, in the area just below the A zone. I also broke the shot just as the par time beeped. Normally I would not need to see the sights to break the A-zone at that distance and that low stress level but I scored a Charlie because I rushed. So next draw I did not rush and decided to settle myself. I told my partner not to change the par time. This time I fired within the par time in the A-zone. Did this 3 more times before my partner lowered the par time. The essence of my story is a common mistake we all make. We believe that 'Rushing' means 'Going Faster'. How do we know when we are rushing?? When there is tension/thought in the movement!! Palms sweaty, wobble area increases, poor grip etc. How do we avoid getting into a 'Rushing Mindset'.. Don't think of what you need to do (e.g. I must score an A here or I lose this match), just do it. It is obvious that you needed to shoot As generally to do well, and if you were doing that then you wouldn't need to be rushing now This is the concept of Munen muso: spontaneity, an impassive mind, no sign of effort. . Paladin, If it is within you let it free If it is not within you, put it there!!

Concentrating has no place here. This is not a Maths exam!! You know the key control is maintaining the fundamentals up to, during and after the shot. Just do it!! Have you ever done an exam where you got a question that you knew the answer to!! Doesn't it just flow.. well it is the same thing with shooting-you already know the answer to the question, it's just a matter of doing it!! Remember concentration is the concerted effort to find the answer to a question/situation, the more prepared you are the less you will have to concentrate. Focus is pulling from what you already know ('already know' means it is in your subconscious for e.g. your name). Getting to know is the challenge!!

I have been as fast as .7s at 7 yds. Hits are not consistent. When slowed down to .8s hits became consistent. Once there are more than one target I noticed a drastic slowing down on the draw however-this is because IMO we are thinking ahead. Only recently shot some steel and my draw was 2.4s. My splits were great however. It would be interesting for Brian to comment on how his draw time deteriorates if any when shooting multiple targets since he applies the mental aspects well!!

David O, I am not so sure one should be concentrating on the 2nd shot when the 1st shot is still to be made. Did I get you right?

..Switched from dominant eye shooting (because I kept getting re-infected with a flinch and it really was a strain) to 2 eyes and my shooting took a lurch.. I just slowed down due to trying to decide which was the correct sight alignment. Stuck with it however and today I am a better shooter for it. I see so much more it is amazing. Glad I did.. Paladin..

Cold shooting 3 8' diameter steel plates at 15 yds twice from draw.. and 2 5 shot groups at 20 yds- 2 secs. per shot. This sets the tone for me and really awakens the dragon. Besides my on-demand shooting ability is the most important since I CC. On completion I like to just fire 6 shots rapidly aiming at the berm just to loosen up in preparation for going back to the road. Paladin, The Way of the Warrior

..one must always come with an empty cup!!

A tip..Make the shooting come alive for you!! Shoot each target as if it is one and the same only that it moves when hit (because it is hurt) and whilst it is doing so it may be undergoing various transitions such as cloning, changes in distance, size and/or shape so you cannot hit it again. The only difference is that this 'one' target is moving at a speed determined by your eye AND your quickness in accepting your hold!! The faster you are here the faster the target will move and so your splits will come down. Notice you can't acquire the next position of the target until you know if you have hit it, since it won't move if you have not hit it. If you have acquired the next position of the target without hitting it in its previous position then you are in the 'future' and so you are not shooting in the 'now'. Therefore you will have to 'rewind'. Simulation: 1. You run into the box and shoot the target twice. If you call your shots accurately then that means a hit and so the target will move. ACTUALLY YOU HAVE 2 ALTERNATIVES HERE: YOU CAN CALL YOUR SHOT OR LOOK FOR HOLES IN THE TARGET/LISTEN FOR THE PING!..THE FORMER IS WAY EASIER AND FASTER. 2. You follow the target with your eye and when you can confirm a hold (i.e. when the target next appears stationary AND you are seeing what you need to see) then you shoot again. 3. REPEAT STEPS 1 AND 2 UNTIL TARGET STOPS MOVING (aka end of stage). NOTICE I HAVE NOT SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THE 'GUN'. SOMEWHERE IN THE SHOOTING YOUR SUB-C WILL SAY 'RELOAD' AND WHEN IT SAY SO JUST DO IT!!

Hi Guys, Joined today and this is my 1st post!! what I like about this forum is that the focus is on improving your shooting skills and trivia is kept at a minimum..hope I can contribute.. Anyway here goes..a good practice for trigger control is to play with the trigger whilst maintaining your sight alignment (Please remember the 4 main rules of firearm safety when doing this). 'Playing' means you move it along various points along its arc of travel and stop, release or drop the hammer (or striker pin). Focus on holding your sight picture for a second before releasing or dropping the hammer and maintaining the picture once you re-commence movement. You will find that this practice keeps you in the 'now'. Should your thoughts begin to intrude you will notice sight picture disturbance.. This can be a very tiring exercise but good. It really tunes your trigger finger plus your awareness and focus. The real important thing is that the sights provides instant feedback!! You will reach a point when you can 'feel' the sight picture disturbance by poor trigger control and your subconscious will make the adjustment if you let it!! In Matt's DVD 4, there is a part (Trigger Control) where he carries out an almost similar exercise with Kevin. Paladin The Way of the Warrior