What was it that took your game to the next level?

[Micah]

Putting my gun in my hands at least 40 minutes every day in dryfire.

[GONZO!!!]

I have always had the inate ability to begin something new and read read read everything there is on a particular subject. Disassemble it in my head , reassemble it and put that info to use right away. I might not be a master at it but in a way, I am way ahead of the game...It is finding the principles and concepts and learning how to incorporate them rather than sticking to a "technique"...It is the same philosophy that I have applied to martial arts, shooting, horsemanship, etc. It is just the way I am.

okay, that being said...

When I first began shooting in USPSA/IPSC in 1986 I did not know anything about this sport. I caught the bug and began to read anything that I could get my hands on...which wasn't much being that it was waaaay before the internet was available. So I began to practice all the principles and concepts that I was learning by dry-firing every day.

By the time I got to the range nad wanted to try my first local match, I handled my 1911 almost like a pro although I did not have the actual experience. I was like lightning and within a short time was a force at the local clubs...however my accuracy wasnt really all that great in comparison to my speed and ability.

My local gun shop owner introduced me to a guy who was interested in competing USPSA. I was 23 years old at the time and Troy was about 48 (the age I am right now). Troy was a skilled bullseye and silhouette shooter but thought he was too old to have the speed and skill to compete. We began hanging out and shooting together.

Troy helped me develop a major load for my .45. He also forced me to slow waaay down and get that front sight picture perfect and call the shot. I was able to push him to get a little faster and to be looser. Within six months he and I are dominating local matches and made quite a good showing at our first state and Area Championships. We pushed each other to perfect practice and pushed each other to expand what we did and how we did it.

I favored Rob Leatham's style and Troy's body and shooting style mimicked Jerry Barnhart. Troy's son followed Brian Enos and emulated him in his shooting.

So what pushed me to that next level was having a good consistent training partner. We were exact opposites in everything that we did and yet we worked together better than others (at that time).

so..what pushed me to the next level:

1) Dry-Fire

2) A great committed and consistent training partner.

BTW: I stopped competing in 1990 and now after 21 years, I am taking up the sport once again. USPSA and IDPA. WOW, here we go again!

GONZO!!!

[XD Niner]

For me it was running through a set number of warm up drills every practice. I have an Excel spread sheet that I use to track the times of those as well as some other drills that I run frequently.

None of these drills are complictated. They all focus on the basics.

[MichiganShootist]

For me------It was cataract surgery on both eyes.

It's amazing how much easier shooting is when you can see the targets

[sandman_sy]

Reading this thread... opened my eyes to a lot of things ..

[sfinney]

Things that helped me progress, in order "received" over about 3 years or so:

1. Brian's Book (about the 3rd read, I'd had it for years), and Burkett's DVDs.

2. A Limited gun that flat worked, and sticking with a couple years.

3. Living 5 miles from the DoubleTap Ranch and having a key to the gate. (thanks Robert!)

4. A Dillon 650 and the time to put it to good use.

5. A couple really good shooting classes

6. Time and will to practice more frequently.

7. Not caring about finish within Class, going for HOA.

And due to the all the above - having confidence I could execute my stage plans, and shots, with attainable and not unrealistic expectations of the results. ie. knowing your limitations, and working to improve on them. Shoot the plan that works for you.

Now, 5 years and 3 kids later, no practice and maybe 5 or 6 club matches a year, I am a shadow of my former shooting self. (not that I was all that great before). But I still know my limitations. (well ,at least most of the time - sometimes you just gotta take a chance, right?)

Edited April 16, 2011 by sfinney

[blaster113]

also using a structured dry fire and live fire regimen with a timer. the timer doesnt lie and is a great training tool to track progress (or lack of in my case ). have to work on getting video of practice and club matches. video is absolutely ruthless and shows everything

[BoyGlock]

Putting my gun in my hands at least 40 minutes every day in dryfire.

+1 on this

and learning to curb my desire to win and conquering fear of losing

[ck1]

Finding this forum and doing a lot more reading than posting.

[DyNo!]

Shot calling epiphany.

Really...

[JakeMartens]

Shot calling epiphany.

Really...

Yep, I starting using my sights

[Coach]

Shot calling epiphany.

Really...

Yep, I starting using my sights

For what scratching an itch on the back of your leg? You think a sight picture is a fist in the middle of a brown target.

[DonT]

I'm not there yet...but what's helping me is when I started focusing on shooting "clean" matches (no penalties or mikes) and stopped worrying so much about how fast I could shoot a stage.

Edited April 27, 2011 by DonT

[blaster113]

for me I had a problem with shooting a little too conservatively (slow). shot our state match clean last year with no penalties or mikes but came in 3rd. realized I had to push the ragged edge of the envelope a little more while still maintaining control. good hits with slow ass stage times werent getting me anywhere. Mikes/Noshoots are still not acceptable, but I had to force myself to ramp up the speed and deal with an occasional mike or delta hit in exchange for faster stage times. my slow ass stage times were hurting me much more than the occasional mike (which still sucks). still got a ways to go

Edited April 27, 2011 by SIG shooter

[Sean Gaines]

I am glad I posted this thread here. I am seeing that alot of people have benefited from this post, which is great!

One thing that is huge, is that time is an illusion, when you are shooting a stage. Lets say you are shooting steel and missing, you are rushing your shots, you are trying to force your shots to hit steel as opposed to aiming. Because practically everyone on this forum knows how to line their sights up and shoot good groups. One thing to learn from this is to not pull the trigger until the sights are on the target. Its easier said then done sometimes. but your times will be much faster, if you just aim. So doing what you know is right is also something that is very hard for people to do, especially when the buzzer goes off.

Whats funny about this thread is that alot of eye opening experiences have been very trivial, fundamental things, that have just been taken for granted!

[MQW]

I hate to say this, but what recently made a lot fo difference in my game was getting a correct shooting glasses prescription; I started in IPSC in 2000, I have always worn glasses but did not have an issue being able to focus on the front sight until I returned from Iraq in '05, I was almost 46 then, started to notice I had a hard time seeing the front sight clearly with the prescription I had then; When I started shooting for Team Gargoyles, I went to the eye doctor to get lenses made for the frames they sent me to try; I found out very quickly how much this made a difference, as I had been a high B shooter since I started in IPSC and shot into A class within a couple months of changing my script; seeing everything you need to see clearly, makes a world of difference; I have since put some serious time into training again and spending solid time with a good shooting coach/trainer, i.e. Max Michel, Travis Tomaise, Taran Butler and Ray Witham at various times in the past 6 years; they have definitely shortened my learning curve drastically; I also only associate with positive thinking shooters that are willing to help each other become better; I have no time for people who are more worried about putting other shooters down or creating a lot of negative influence, that is no way to attract new shooters to this sport; Reading Sauls books, Re-reading Brians book, getting training in Vizio-Motor Behavior Rehearsal (VMBR - this is an advanced form of visualization training utilized by pro athletes) has all helped tremendously; another thing that has really helped me is training specifically for the types of movement we do in this sport, i.e. short, burst speed, multiple times in a matter of seconds, etc. everything that I am doing now is getting me ready for continous solid performance at the World Shoot in Greece.

For me, visualizing the stage before shooting it was the biggest eye opener for me. I had always been told to "visualize the stage before shooting it". I always thought that I did. Well I did, a little, and not to the extreme that I do now. this was the biggest eye opener for me. When visualizing the stage, your actions become more deliberate,there is no guessing or suprises. This is much faster than thinking your way through a stage. think of yourself like a tape recorder. when you are going through your walk through you are inputting all the information into the recorder. then you visualize how you are going to shoot the stage. That becomes adding all the data from the tape recorder and putting in a format that makes sense and going to be the most effecient way to shoot the stage (this would be like mixing a tape to make a song) Once you have done this, you rehearse the stage in your mind over and over, until someone can walk up to you and say in postion 3 what targets are there and what order are you going to shoot them in, and what cadence your shots are going to be, where are you going to be postioned at etc, etc. While rehearsing the stage, you may come up to an area, that there is a question mark, go to that spot and figure out what the issue is and fix it in your mind and then rehearse it with the new plan in place. Keep doing this until its your turn to shoot. Then when the buzzer goes off just push "PLAY"

a good analogy of this is in the movie "Sherlock Holmes" where Sherlock Holmes(Robert Downey Jr.) is in the arena fighting that big guy, and he visualizes what he is going to do to that big guy, before the fight even begins, and then he executes it to a tee. well that is the movies, but you get the idea.

This skill of visualization is something not to be taken for granted, in fact all the fundamental skills are not to be taken for granted there is merit to all of them. This skill just gave me the biggest leap in my shooting. think of when you are at practice, you shoot a drill, and you shoot it in "x" time, then you keep repeating the drill and you get faster and faster until you get to a point where the times are about all the same. This is what you are doing with visualization, you are essentially shooting the stage in your mind and you are eliminating all the trial runs. you only have one time to shoot the stage, make it count!!!

Now if everyone could please add to this list, this will help people here who are striving to get better at this game, feel free to add to someones else's post if neccessary if you feel they left something out that was important to your overall game. I am looking for things that drastically improved your game.

good luck!

-Sean

[shootaglock89]

Getting into shape, which i have yet to achieve! Moving quickly between positions is awesome, but if you are gasping for air you wont be as accurate.

[Micah]

Dedication to the fundamentals via dryfire. Before I had simply relied on the experience that I gained through club matches and going to the range as enough...but that was a fallacy. If you want to kick the tar out of the competition, you need to shoot matches, go to the range, and spend time DAILY dryfiring.

[Jake Di Vita]

I'm glad you feel the same way you did in January.

[DonovanM]

When I realized that my subconscious mind was like a trained animal, it did what it was told, and that my conscious mind was it's trainer.

[jayd]

Brians book................

[OpenDot]

Daily dryfire

1 on 1 education with a GM

DVD's

This forum.

[Steven Cline]

Reading Brian's book. I'm not brown nosing. I was reading the book on the return leg from Iowa to Texas and getting so excited that I was reading selections to my wife (sometimes whole chapters). I was giddy with excitement. I was able to explain parts to her based on my own expereinces; relating it to specific stages are certain matches when this or that happened. Brian's book comfirmed for me I was on the right path.

Next, live fire practice. I understand how dry fire is king. But I am ultimately confident nobody ever made even A on nothing but dry-fire. When I bought a reloader and started producing 10k - 15k a year in rounds to shoot in practice oddly coincide with rapid promotion from C to B to A and clawing my way into M. I was still dry-firing, but when I started shooting 100 - 200 rnds at practice twice a week plus matches on the weekend was when I made leaps and bounds.

So....

Brians book (confirmation from a great GM) + dry fire + live fire (lots(?)) = major improvement.

[DonovanM]

But I am ultimately confident nobody ever made even A on nothing but dry-fire.

I took a class when I first started shooting, almost a year ago now. I also shot at a square range a number of times working on accuracy.

Outside of the one class I took, I have never practiced drawing, reloading, or shooting at speed outside of the 1 or 2 matches I shoot a month.

I have, however, been dry firing almost every day for a year, and my classification percentage is 1% from A class.

I should make it to A class in this next update. When I do, it won't be from nothing but dry-fire, but it sure won't be from a whole lot more

[Chris iliff]

I made my first jump after Dryfiring several times a week and actually practicing movement(Cheely class).

I kinda settled in for awhile and now I've taken some classes from notable GM's and started up dryfiring again, so we will see.