saibot Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 As I outlined HERE I'm committing to dryfire practice every day for 30 consecutive days to see what happens. I bought Steve Anderson's dryfire book and following his methodology and just a few days in I'm already starting to see my sights a little quicker and my par times are shrinking. I hope it translates to better performance in the matches! Now I'm throwing down the gauntlet and making this public so I can't back out or get lazy. I'm also wondering if any of you have tried the same thing and what your results were. Looking forward to breaking out of C class! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncboiler Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 This is a great idea. I have Steve Anderson's book as well that I need to get into and follow. Not sure how much I'll shoot in June and missing A5 I'll need to keep to a practice schedule. Best of luck to you! Keep the desire and 30 days will go by fast. I think I need to join you in this commitment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParaGunner Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Dryfire helps tremendously. Try to shoot 1 live fire day a week and record your results also on a few drills to track improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Although it's only been a short amount of time since I started I'm already figuring a few things out. For instance I think I understand the "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast" statement. During my draw if I just "explode" and whip my hands to my gun and aggressively drive the gun to the target it "seems" really fast but the timer doesn't lie. When I forget about speed and I work on being smooth the sights just land where they should be before the par time beep goes off. In that same vain, I also noticed that I do best when I lock everything, shoulders included, and just let my arms do the draw and drive. Hard to describe but again, smooth with very little wasted movement. I've also noticed that my grip may have to change a bit to allow the sights to naturally index. I do have to force the front sight to the right a little for a perfect sight picture. I just don't want to do something that will hurt my dryfire so I'll have to work on that at the range. I don't know how Steve Anderson does 2 sections of these drills in one session. I run out of time or steam before the first section and wind up bouncing around the drills. It must take hours! Oh, and Roy, following your advice, I'm trying to schedule one day a week at the range for livefire. I gotta get out of C class!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris iliff Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I was stuck in C for the start of 4 straight seasons. When I got the books and committed to them, everything changed. I made B very quickly, in fact, damn near skipped it! I let the dryfire slide, but picked up A within a year. It's been over 2 years since I've dryfired religiously, but I'm back to it with a vengeance. Our skills do erode over time. I might taper off dryfire in the future, but I now know not to give it up completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcurrin Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Did you complete your 30 days? What was your result? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 It was going well until I had to do some trips for work and I didn't think the TSA would appreciate me bringing my pistol. I then had some other things come up that prevented me from practicing, but the only pistol match I have been able to attend went better than they typically do. So it certainly does help, but since I didn't make my 30 days I'm planning to start again next week as well as start up my weekly live fire practice. Sheesh! It's been a crazy summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn_fsu Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 This is something I need to start doing myself! Side note TSA isn't all that bad. Every time I fly I carry my pistols and I took my AR this last trip too. You just have to take it as a checked bag in an acceptable case with proper locks. Ammo can also be taken in there stock boxes or other enclosed type containers that secure them properly. Most airlines allow up to 11 lbs of ammo to be transported. Besides part of the standard procedure is showing the person at the ticket counter your magazine(s) is not loaded and the chamber is clear in front of ALL the other passengers... Kinda amusing! Errr unless it's your first time... and your at Reagan International Airport at 5am with hundreds of other groggy people waiting to get there tickets... and it's your first time! I didn't know what to expect but it all went really smooth! Now I never worry about what I have to do to fly with my firearms any more. Just read the TSA guidelines and follow them. The airlines may have there own set of rules but so far I've found them all to be the same atleast with the ones I've flown with, Delta, Airtrain and Southwest. So don't let your travels interfere with your practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 You cannot over-dryfire. I dry-fired and practiced mag changes for an average of 5 days a week, for 20 years. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwain C. Baer Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 I learned the hard way about how important dry practice is to my shooting ability. Even if I can't get to a range or match...I find time to dry practice any chance I get Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Anderson Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 "I don't know how Steve Anderson does 2 sections of these drills in one session. I run out of time or steam before the first section and wind up bouncing around the drills. It must take hours!" I had something brilliant to say about this, but ncboilers avatar distracted me and fried my conscious mind temporarily. Short answer: It does take hours. Long answer: You don't have to do all the reps all the time forever. Some people need that structure, some don't. If you really want this (whatever "this" means to you, whoever "you" are) you'll need to stock up on time and steam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hefta Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 I had something brilliant to say about this, but ncboilers avatar distracted me and fried my conscious mind temporarily. Same thing happened to me.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmdCtzn Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 You cannot over-dryfire. I dry-fired and practiced mag changes for an average of 5 days a week, for 20 years. be I am the exception to that rule. I tried to dry-fire regularly using Anderson's book, and in about a week my arm hurt so badly that I could barely hold the gun at all much less pull the trigger. I get really bad "tennis elbow". I've been trying some excersizes recommended in another thread to alleviate that, but any significant dry fire practice brings the pain right back and it stays for a couple of weeks. Even practicing my weak-hand shotgun loading aggravated it, and it is in my strong-hand arm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demetrio Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 I also noticed that I do best when I lock everything, shoulders included, and just let my arms do the draw and drive. Hard to describe but again, smooth with very little wasted movement. Hi, could you tell more about this part of your post? Seems interesting and I got interested in developing this technique, if it really works that great. Regards, Demetrio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 I also noticed that I do best when I lock everything, shoulders included, and just let my arms do the draw and drive. Hard to describe but again, smooth with very little wasted movement. Hi, could you tell more about this part of your post? Seems interesting and I got interested in developing this technique, if it really works that great. Regards, Demetrio. I don't know how to really explain it other than making sure you don't have any wasted movement. Ask yourself what needs to move to draw and drive your gun. Very little and when I force that it seems to be very quick and efficient. It's like a lot of things around here, hard to really explain but you know when you've done it right. I hope that makes sense. And the one piece of advice is to do this on the timer because it "feels" slow but the timer doesn't lie. At least with me, perception is not reality. I have to verify everything on the clock since I can't reliably gauge time in this realm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Just to update you guys with my progress. I like ArmdCtzn, had to back off because it flared up my tennis elbow (shooter's elbow?) I took a week off and went back slow. This summer has been terrible for shooting since I'm always out of town just when there's a match. There was a match on Sunday that I was committed to making but was sure I was going to do poorly since I haven't shot a match in a while. Well I think the dryfire practice certainly helped. I did much better than I thought I would do and actually did pretty well. Considering that it costs nothing but a little time it worth the effort. Now I need to find a schedule that works for me. There is a guy in my club who hasn't been shooting very long but probably dryfires two or more times a day. He does it over his lunch break! And he's moving up fast and will be nipping at the heals of the top guys out here in no time at the rate he's going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwain C. Baer Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I can understand that type of situation. Just learned about a friend having serious problems with his shooting finger. The doctor said he pulled the trigger so many times, the finger is now damaged. Not sure if it can be properly repaired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenrir Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 (edited) I love these forums already. I was just thinking while I was doing dry fire drills in front of my tv it would be great if I could find a book or a web source for drills. Saw this thread when I figure hey lets check out these forums I just registered for. I am going to look into ordering this book and will try this 30 days. Edited August 27, 2011 by Fenrir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Taliani Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I really need to follow suit and make a commitment to doing more dry firing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 I love these forums already. I was just thinking while I was doing dry fire drills in front of my tv it would be great if I could find a book or a web source for drills. Saw this thread when I figure hey lets check out these forums I just registered for. I am going to look into ordering this book and will try this 30 days. I should have Steve's Refinement and Repetition back in my store in about a week or 10 days. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dravz Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I do Steve Anderson's dryfire routines once a week (complete the whole book every week, I mean, broken up into multiple sessions though). It has been the single most effective way for me to improve by far. I forget what number it is, but my favorite drill to run (and I do it over and over and over, much like that guy who practiced El Presidente relentlessly, Jake DaVita maybe?) is a modification of Steve's box to box side to side drill. I simply added a reload into the drill when moving from box to box since I shoot Production. This condenses all my most essential skills into one single dryfire drill that I can run till I drop -- improves cardio too! But anyway, I believe in dryfire thoroughly and if you aren't doing it you are doing yourself a disservice. It's like lifting weights without protein! Steve, if you read this, I'd just like to say thanks for your book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetdriver71 Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 I have both of steves books. they are awesome. very structured which is what i needed as anew shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tjrubicon Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 After reading this post I ordered this book. Can't wait to get it. I feel that my trigger control is decent but I'm hopping this will make it great. I also can't shoot every day so this will help for the days I can't live fire! I will be shooting my first handgun match at the end of the month idpa. So I have some time. I have shot 3- 3 gun matches. So I think I have an understanding on how it works. I know there is different rules but I don't expect to win I would be happy to finish mid pack and I hope this book will help with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Anderson Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 It will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southtexaswoman Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Looks like it is time for me to get the book and then to get with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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