"blake" Drills Vs. "bill" Drills

[dirtypool40]

I know it's probably out there somewhere but I couldn't find it.

Recently "Black bird" and I were practicing and he wanted to hit a Bill drill. Standard, hands relaxed 7y, 6 alpha. I've never really practiced them before but I did one then and again the next day.

I had a standard "El Prez" three target array set up for some VP's and other drills, so I shot some "bills" too. I am not that quick on the trigger but I was getting under the 2.0 par time clean almost every time. Draws around .95, splits hovering around .19. (It was nice to see that without ever practicing it I was ok, if not really spectacular. But I digress....)

The slow splits got me thinking. Most of us have seen Blake Miguez and his "alien" speed tranisitions. Hmmm.....

Could I make up the slow trigger finger (and heavy trigger on borrowed gun) with good movement???

I started shooting what I call a "Blake drill"; 7y hands relaxed, draw and 2 each on three targets. I know it's nothing revolutionary, we've all done it, but I never really looked at the timer before.

My transitions on any sort of "El Prez" type array run about .30, splits on targets .20ish. But after a little practice I got things down to .18 for the split and .20-.25 movement in the transition.

My best Bill the second day was a 1.85 with a .91 draw. The best "Blake" was.....1.85 with a .91 draw. IDENTICAL?!?!?! Transitions still hovered around .05 slower than splits but they are improving.

I know it's nothing earth shattering, I just wondered if anyone else used and analyzed something like this.

If I can throw in a sub 1.0 reload I can shoot for a 4.0 VP at 7y. NEW GOAL!!!

Thanks to MAtt and BLake for showing me something else I needed to work on.

[Loves2Shoot]

If you slow your splits to .2, .2 transistions are easier. A world class shooter showed me "the trick" and it sure as heck works. On an array like el Prez he said every split should be the same, this is a way to do it fast and get all A's very consistantly. It isn't that hard really either, if you can abandon the "double tap."

I think it works because when you see the second shot perfectly, it is easier to get on target, thus taking less time. After about a half a dozen trys I did it and it sure feels slow, but the time is about the same as when I light it up, and the hits are a ton better.

[dirtypool40]

thanks, I appreciate the guidance.

I am working on that, it only makes sense. It's like some of the first (good) IPSC advice I got: run fast, move fast, reload and draw fast, but shoot slow. This is sort of an extension of that mindset, spending more time on the targets can't be a bad thing for hits.

Need some time to prove it, and I think a lot of it will go back to knowing where the next target is so you are not "finding it" and then shooting.

Keep the help coming...

[kimel]

My drill for "cadence" is 3 targets at 7 - 10 yards, 2 shots each and just keep going back and forth until the mag runs dry. I concentrate on getting the splits/transitions to be as close to each other as possible. Speed will come naturally, really, it will. It has for me anyway.

This really helps me smooth things down and going both directions makes sure that my favored direction (left to right) doesn't get all the work leaving my least favored direction (right to left) out in the cold.

I will also do 1 shot each runs to break things up. Before steel matches I do the upper A/B zone only for a few runs.

This cadence stuff was something I had to set up and play with for myself before I really could convince myself it would work.

Now if I can just get myself to actually use it during matches.

[dirtypool40]

I want to stay on topic, but wanted to comment on the LR vs. RL thing.

Most of our shooting is done on left to right field courses, and if you shoot them as you see them, most arrays present themselves Right to Left. I have begun to focus about 2/3 of my sweep practice on an RL direction. We read and naturally want to go LR so I am working to overcome it. Same on plates, at least for me.

[38supPat]

I had this stage in a match which was almost identical, except the targets were at 5 yds. Shot it in 1.51 sec. all a's

I think one of the most underrated shooters for transition splits is Jerry Miculek. I shot with him at the '98 North Americans and watched him shoot a string on one stage where there was 3 targets at 7 yds before moving from the start box. His transition splits, with no shoots between the targets, ran .13 target to target with his .38 super. Thats pretty impressive!

[dirtypool40]

That is impressive, but so was your 1.51.

I just got back from practice and hit a 1.71 @ 7y but all were not A's. Transitions were in the teens though for the first time, so that's something.

This is speed week, next week (leading up to the FL Open) is smooth week.

Wish me luck.

[blkbrd]

I just got back from practice and hit a 1.71 @ 7y but all were not A's. Splits were in teh teens though for the first time.

What Eric forgot to mention was this was on those politically correct classic targets.

My C class times were way slower with 1.25 draw, .23 splits, .46 transitions avg. throwing shots all over the place, way off day.

Not so sure about these little foreign targets.

[dirtypool40]

You're right Matt, I forgot to use that as an excuse, but the friggin' amoebas are tough, very skinny "A" zone. Half the time setting up I staple them upside down!!

I have to get used to them though, for obvious reasons, and the up side is that they make the "robotheads" look HUGE when you switch back.

[38supPat]

Once you get used to them, you'll hardly notice that they are 30% smaller...bonus: when you go back to the old targets, they look HUGE!!!!!

I loved practicing for the US Nationals on the classic targets, then getting down there and shooting the big, old style ones...seems like you couldn't miss if you tried to.

[Jasonub]

yeah had a match awhile ago all classic targets. 4 mikes on a level 2 match. Hate those targets!

[dirtypool40]

Hit a new "PB" on the regular old BIll drill, albeit on the amoebas. Went .83 1st shot / 1.70 total for six. Which if you figure it out means splits are still pretty slow, first one was a .21.

yes, I do want my lighter trigger back.

[benos]

Yes, with training you'll realize that you can move your gun to a close target in the time it takes it to recover from recoil.

be

[Steve Anderson]

I believe that learning to make splits and transistions equal on appropriate arrays is THE key to making M if that is your goal.

Someone listening to your run without seeing it should have no idea how many targets you are shooting.

As always, there are no absolute truths, but learning FAST transitions is a VERY important skill IMO.

SA

[wadrew]

Remember the 80's-ish when people used to angle the gun in the direction they wanted the reciol to move it?? I'm not saying to do that, but what about letting the recoil impulse start the gun moving? Easier than waiting for the recoil to be over then grunting the gun into moving at the next target. Let the recoil do some of the work for ya? Bouncy guns rather than flat shooting guns are good for that.

And, Yes, Steve, splits=transition times are what GM is about. There are some that can do it even faster than others. I'm still working on it. I didn't set out to try and get M, and I did not get GM until I stopped trying and just allowed myself to see it and do it.

-Drew

[dirtypool40]

Steve,

I am embarrassed to admit I already have my "M" card.......Now I am finally ready to learn how to shoot.

Someone once made a similar analogy in martial arts; Getting to "black belt" just means you have a license to learn. You've worked hard enough and made it to the level where "they" might be able to start really explaining some things to you if you don't quit now.

It ain't then end zone, there is no touch down dance, it's only the beginning.

So relax..............it's much worse than that.

[Loves2Shoot]

I did not get GM until I stopped trying and just allowed myself to see it and do it.

Very true. I wish someone told me that years ago.

Trying doing 20 round bill drills. I find that has helped me relax a ton. There was a time I could barely get 6 rounds out, now 20 with the same split on every shot isn't hard. It really taught me to take the time I need to break the shot, so for 20 A hits @ 10 yards I know .18 is what I need, and that is fast enough. The last 20 round drill I did = 15 .18's, 4 .17's and 1 .19.

[Ken Kwiat]

I'm in 100% agreement with Steve A. on this one -- transition speed is so important and truly a differentiator.

Case in point: In addition to Blake's IPSC/Steel shooting strengths, check out Eric Graffuel's video of his 2003 season. The two huge take-aways that I had within the first two minutes of watching it are his target transitions and the target acquisitions when entering a new shooting position. Truly impressive. Just like Steve says that transitions are the key to making "M", I think they are a big part of the difference between the bigDogs and us littleDogs.

I liken it to combination of BE's teachings on different shooting foci combined with a hyper-speed existence, i.e., don't see any less than you need to in order to get the desired hit and confirmation -- just do it at hyper-speed. Using the recoil recovery time after the 2nd shoot just happens as your vision has already confirmed the last shot and is hunting (in hyper-speed) for the next shot. For me, I like the visualization of hyper-speed existence akin to one of the original Star Trek episodes where there was a race of beings that moved at such hyper-speed that they buzzed in-and-out of human, near-frozen time domain.

A common variant of "Blake, aka LSUBoy" drills:

Add two to three more targets for a total of five to six. From a box, space/stagger them so you have one or two at easy distances (5-7 yds) and the remaining ones at 12-15 yds. Procedure: Str 1: draw and engage with one round each -- pure transition focus drill. Str 2: draw and engage with two rounds each Str 2 is instructive on whether you're pulling the second shot off, i.e., not confirming the hit. The goal, I think first explained by BE is to increase "the speed at which you are seeing"

These days, partials are such a part of any big match that we shoot, I don't like doing any of these drills on wide open targets so having a slew of partials is another good variant.

DVC. Ken

[dirtypool40]

Since I started the thread I don't mind drifting it....

I have only had one practice session in the last two months, work is getting in the way for now. But at this one practice session, I used part of a stage someone had left up. There were targets running down one side of the berm, roughly equal spacing.

I picked a spot near the first one, so I was starting with a 5y shot, and went five more, out to roughly 25y for a total of six targets.

Really neat, I tried both ways, close to far and far to close. It's a wierd "doppler shift" sort of drill where things get faster and faster or slower and slower. I would like to have had the chance to work this several sessions and draw some conclusions, but for now it's just interesting data.

It is hard to speed up and slow down all in one string. Something to work on for sure.

I also shot a couple 25y Bill Drills, first time for me. My draw felt sluggish, in the mid to low 1.20's, but I hit two nice round groups, that were both 4A, 2C, and the Charlies were close to the line. I hit the drills in 2.62 and 2.69, so for a first effort I felt that was pretty good.

[grassy knoll]

Really neat, I tried both ways, close to far and far to close. It's a wierd "doppler shift" sort of drill where things get faster and faster or slower and slower. I would like to have had the chance to work this several sessions and draw some conclusions, but for now it's just interesting data.

when I read this I thought to myself about what can be seen if I did the drills in slow motion (not that my regular is that speedy), I am going to see if I can get cadence at half speed and then build that to have cadence at faster and faster