tmk

The pain is probably greater in the morning for you when you first wake up and roll out of bed other than after training and shooting. The first thing is to ice it after training and before sleep. I suffer from the same problems. I had an x-ray and it revealed a heel spur under the achilles tendon. Some type of arch support by the way of shoe inserts usually take the excess pressure off the tendon. You can also get a boot to sleep in that bends the foot at night to releave pressure off the tendon as you sleep. Lastly, subcutaneous (transdermal) steriod application made the difference to me. Good luck! TK

For those who don't think IPSC and IDPA don't require speed, agility, and quickness, and a good overall physical fitness, you aren't analyzing the sport. Your watching the shooter not the body movements. I have seen overweight guys explode out the gate and move there feet on stages, but are tired half way through. In general, there minds tire as there body tires. I have also seen skinny guys never get tired throughout a big match, but lack speed and explosive leg strength required to be fast on field courses. Both cardio endurance and strength training improve a shooters performance. While you may not run 3 miles on a stage, the benefits to the body's efficiency can not be overlooked. Training your muscles with fast switch exercises and core strength exercises will greatly enhance ones' performance. The trouble is, one must make up their mind how much time will be be devoted to practice or working out, and changing diapers. For those interested in increasing your foot speed and explosiveness, read "Training for Speed, Agility, and Quickness", by Lee E. Brown and Vance A. Ferrigno. I have greatly improved from these drills. I am faster and have recorded the times. Moving 5 yards to shooting position, springing out of a chair and sprinting 10 yards on a stage, running to squating position to shoot through a port and exploding back up, and droppng to prone and springing back up to move to another shooting position, and moving to kneeling position and getting up to another all sounds like atheletic movements to me. Watch Dave Sevigny shoot a stage. Although he is not an average performer to use as an example, he has the hockey background to add to his game. His body movement and atheletic ability are just as impressive as his shooting abilities. Face it, some people will find any reason not to work out, misguided or not.

No ...but the drive back helps. motivation I may learn more on a long drive home than any other time. Its one reason I like to drive to the matches out of state. Got that right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two things to consider: -Most folks will visualize the order of their targets and reloads, but not how they want to execute them. Once I have decided my stage strategy and visualize my sight pictures, etc. I then visualize how I want to execute them. That being said, I visualize being explosive into certain movements and reloads while picturing myself being smooth at the same time. As far as attacking the targets in transitions, that for some people is, self included, is a matter of isolating the transitions using timers. No draw stroke, no reloads, just pure isolation of making each transition faster. I beleive it is written, "You can only shoot as fast as you practice shooting", this means attacking the transitions as well. -Also, think of food as a tool. I have found, and I do this routinely, if I carb up with complex carbs and hydrate the night before any match and eat and drink the right foods out of a cooler that I carry with me throughout the match, I have good and consistent matches. Your mind needs to be properly fueled to work at it's optimum performance. Don't neglect this aspect. It is paramount. We all want to eat an elephant in one meal, but this practical shooting is a journey. Good luck! TK

She was at the GA State IPSC match last weekend shooting Sevigney's 1911(Single Stack). Look to see her shooting an M&P in Production this coming Dec.

Moving your body faster on moving stages is critical to controlling your shooting. You work on speeding up our draws, transitions, and reload times. But are you paying attention to training your body to move faster? While the shooting is everything, it is not. On stages requiring movement, you have the efficiency of setups and natural body movement, aka speed. You should train for this as well and incorporate how fast you want to move through the stage into your visualization. Get where you need to go on the stage as fast and efficiently as you can, and you can then shoot your speed and feel more comfortable. It includes increasing your atheletic performance. But you are definitely right-eyes working for you is the key. Take care!

Go to "tacticalathelete.com" or google Jeff Martone. Master of kettle bells. It is the ultimate for what you are looking for, but not for the faint of heart. Use his techniques and you will develop core strength and forearm strength. Most people make the mistake in thinking practical shooting centers around aerobic; not so, anaerobic. Try to breath and shoot at the same time. This sport requires explosive strength and quickness more than cardio endurance, although that is important.

The idea for this forum topic is not only good, but underated. I am a federal agent and Training Manager (Instructor) of hundreds of new agents recruits at a well known agency academy. I have been experimenting with this same topic to help improve my efficiency of motion and improve my overall time on courses of fire, particularly ipsc field courses. I have a regimented weight and cardio routine, as I frequently conduct and participate in physical training with new agents. It was Dave Sevigney's shooting that prompted me to re-examine my approach to tailoring physical training to improving one's shooting. Dave is not a muscular individual and apparently acquired much of his atheletic ability from playing hockey, not power lifting or body building. Dave posseses ultra quick reflexes and lighting fast natural body movement. As in shooting, one can only shoot as fast in a match as fast as one has developed their speed in practice. Herein lies the key. We must train our muscles to produce the speed we desire through conscious training stimuli and focal exercises that recreate the speed we desire in a match. Example, while weighted squats would lead one to believe they are training their quads for shooting, the muscles are contracting and twitching at low speed. One would greatly improve their speed and explosiveness by box jumps or by strapping on an anchored power jumpstretch band and conducting 8 ft. sprints while pumping the legs as fast as they could go. Or having a partner hold a tennis ball in the air and releasing it. Your job, to catch it before it hits the ground. Many of these workouts are being designed by combat atheletes in the mixed martial arts world. In a sense, we must train our muscles to contract rapidly subconsiously.