Match draws?

[shred]

Just so y'all don't have to blame yourselves completely for lack of motivation, there is a known psychological effect that slows you down doing stuff if your brain is working on a longer to-do list (Matt touches on this in his PS4 video where he says draw, shoot two is slower than draw, shoot one)

Draw, Shoot, Done is a very short program and can be run rapidly

Draw, Shoot, call shot, Shoot Again, Transition, beat feet, shoot this, shoot that, go here, shoot there, unload and show clear, is a long program and takes longer for each step to execute.

[kevin c]

Dang it! I was quite happy with my 1.9 until you posted. Is this from condition 3 (mag inserted, no chamber)?

No, it was load from the table, hammer down, blindfolded . Nah, it was actually condition 1. And, as I pointed out, dry firing all A's . We'll see what I can really do w/ live ammo at Saturday's practice, and at Sunday's match. I will update, even if it is to my great embarrassment.

[RKooi]

I think Shred summed it up pretty good. One or two shots off the draw before you look at the timer is a bit different than a 34 round field course planning wise. I got to shoot with Steve and we finished 6 and 7 (him 6, me 7) on this stage. My first shot was 1.15 but I ended up with a 12.41 run, and without the C/D on the inside target in the first right window I would have moved up a spot or two. Transitions were where it was at on this one.

Me before my dig at Erik Lund

Me after my dig at Erik Lund

That is a mongoose avatar, my friend!

[Bear1142]

Roger,

Yeah, you're right. I got my times mixed up. I was thinking about the next stage with the barrel, but I still stand by my statements regarding the draw. I think Emmanuel has a hidden Doctor sight that pops up from inside the slide when he starts shooting. He puts up some stage times that are difficult to believe with an open gun, let alone a limited one.

And on a different note, what the hell is your avitar?

Erik

[gmshtr]

Practice with wrist-weights, both dry-fire and live fire. You'll be surprised how much faster you'll be after a few days of shooting/practicing with an extra 5lbs on each wrist. You could even manage a consistent 1.2 match draw like me!

BTW, I would strongly suggest that you dry-fire for a few minutes without the weights before you shoot a match, though!

I've got to stop giving my secrets away......secrets, yeah right.

Phil

[Unleashed]

I have felt the pain of everyone posting here and it has helped me realize where I have gone wrong so many time....and continue to do so! I posted in another thread (how to call the shot) and described what happened when Larry Brown told me to "complete the shot". When I went to the next stage, all I thought about was watching the front sight track on the target. I had gone to the match thinking about everything from the draw, to the mag changes, grip, transition, and on and on. When I decided to only do one thing, everything fell into place. My draw was faster, I got all of my hits and my time was overall much better. Because I was "trying" too much, I couldn't do anything right. Love2Shoot said it right, you have to shoot your skill set. You can't go to a match and think about anything other than what you are going to do before that timer goes off (have a plan before then). After that, it is all about doing what you planned, without really thinking about it! I have had my best stages when I am distracted by something else and then just go up to the line and say "OK, let's shoot"! My best match draw was a .80 with an "A" and another one to follow up. I wasn't even thinking about the draw, I was on auto pilot. Matt Burkett talks about it in one of his videos....plan the stage before hand, because you will hand your brain to the RO when he hits that buzzer! (not the exact quote but I am sure you get what I mean). Shoot how you know how to. I guess that means lots of practice if you are going to improve. I am certainly no expert on this subject, just giving my input.

Edwin

[Singlestack]

Ok..

I did a .86 Saturday IN A MATCH!

[cpty1]

I was witness to Singlestack's .86 on Saturday. On a more somber note, ole "Doubletap" our range dog and mascot, just happened to be walking across the top of the 150' tall berm at the end of the bay Singlestack did the .86 in.

I'm gonna miss ole Doubletap.

[rhino]

At least he got an A hit ... and on a moving target!

[shred]

Pish! I did a .35 draw in a match the other day.

...

Shortly before my reshoot for timer failure..

[kdj]

I've been thinking about this recently, since I've been looking at draw times in practice.

I think the essential difference for me is that I really care if I miss in a match (not that you'd believe that from my scores ) and I tend to add a fraction to "make sure" of the hit.

I don't want to miss in practice but the consequence of doing so is much lower so I'll take the risk more often.

On a related note, I think I managed a sub-second draw in a match. My draw and 2 shot time on the 2 shot first string of a stage at the Silver Buckle was 1.11 ... and since I've never managed a .10 split, I'm claiming a sub-second draw

I would have been impressed with myself except I'd just seen Travis T. do it in .97

Kevin

[Flexmoney]

I don't want to miss in practice but the consequence of doing so is much lower so I'll take the risk more often.

I think that is the case for all/many of us.

What can we do if we want to "raise the cost" for a miss in practice? Would the self-imposed 10 push-ups on the spot do the trick?

[kdj]

What can we do if we want to "raise the cost" for a miss in practice? Would the self-imposed 10 push-ups on the spot do the trick?

Nah - I need the exercise

How about not practicing alone and having your "colleagues" riddicule you for missing (just like reality ) ?

Kevin

[Jake Di Vita]

In matches at least I like to place bets for who can shoot the most A's in a match....

Do the same thing in practice with friends.

[TDean]

Those weights would be good for target transition practice also. Kinda like a batter warming up in the on deck box with the donut weights.

[mcoliver]

I've been using the wrist weights for several nights now. Once it's off, I swear my gun weighs like a glock. We'll see if the timer shows some improvement...

[Steve Moneypenny]

I totally forgot about the weights!!!! after a class with ernie langdon (fairly advanced class but still on basics) i started using 15 (don't have wrist and 15 were the smallest of any weight i had. i just pretended they were a gun, started with in hand and worked on the draw stroke took me from a normal 1.5 sec draw to an under 1.3 (IDPA draws) Thanks for the reminder Phil

Ok, here is the reason our match draws are slower than practice draws.... first a couple of questions/statements.

i thought for a while it was "someone else is holding the timer" then i trained mom and dad and some non-competitive to be RO's my times were just as good as before. while at a side shoot in a match i have tried some of this. one shot can generally be done just as fast as practice this is with 20ish onlookers.. but in MOST stages my draws are a good 2-3 tenths slower.

now for the reason. i forget who i was talking to but they had done medical research for military purposes (fighter pilots type stuff) the body's ability to perform has a distinct relationship to the amount of things on your mind at the time of the match. most of us are thinking about the stage, the double tap, the reloads. et al. so with all of this stored in our somewhat very short term memory that will go away in a short period of time (were talking minutes and seconds) the signals commanding our body to draw and shoot are slowed down by all of the other thought processes that are currently taking place.

i hope that made sence if not ask again and i'll rephrase:-)

[Singlestack]

I was looking for something else and I bumped into this flash from the past.

[38supPat]

So how do you do these days?

[Singlestack]

I don't strive for sub one second draws anymore. It is what it is. I strive for a smooth, consistant alpha with a good grip.