Transision Time when shotting from cover

[Chuckie45]

I feel like my biggest time waster in IDPA matches is transitioning between targets from behind cover. Not sure what my exact time is but looking at my overall stage time it must be 2 sec or more. What really kills my time is shooting around barrels were I may have to shuffle my feet to see the next target depending on the angle.

As a reference, I've been shooting Steel Challenge with an average of .7 sec between targets.

Any tips for quicker target acquisition while slicing the pie?

[Steve Koski]

I put my front leg just inside cover, with my body mostly upright, but most of my weight on my front leg. My rear leg is straight. Shoot the first target like this.

Then lean further forward and shoot the second target, even MORE weight is now on your front leg, and your rear toe may just be touching the ground. You can usually shoot two targets like this (and then you have to take a stutter step), and sometimes three if the targets are close together or distant.

Koski

[fastarget]

+1 regarding what Koski is saying. As you lean some benefit from bending the knee of the front leg, some keep the feet in the same plane and are more comfortable, try different postures. As far as Barrels are concerned, the more I lean the lower to the ground by body gets(small increments) helps keep a balance. Instead of shuffling your feet, try and practice leaning balanced so you do know have to adjust. Do some stretching exrcises.

[GmanCdp]

ask your MD about some shot up used targets from the range and set them around a room and practice from the doorway WITH AN UNLOADED GUN......go from both sides of the door and don't just sweep the targets ,actually take the time to focus on your sight picture..you can do this night or day rain or shine..

[Mike21STI]

You may be crowding cover, too often people are right on top of cover, i like to stay at least an arms length away from cover this allows you to maintain cover and move very minimally

[Chuckie45]

Thanks for the sugestions. I've been working my target transition pretty hard the past month and have made measurable improvment, but at the local IDPA Match last Saturday I became really aware of the extra time when the next target isn't in view for immidate visual aquisition. I'll mull it over with some dry fire practice at home.

I'm going to set up at 7 Yards (best the house permits) and then seperat two targets by 45 degrees. Draw and fire two shots each againt a par time. Then I'll do the same drill with 60 then 90 degree separation. I'll let you know what baseline time I come up with for each. Then I should be able to widdle that time down using the same practice method as Steve Anderson's drills.

I'm a sharpshooter in CDP and will be wondering what kind of time others are getting either dry or live on simular sinarios.

[Chuckie45]

I did the drill stated above to get my base line times and I learned a few thinks in the process.

Times (dry fire):

30 Degrees: 2.8sec

45 Degrees: 3.0sec

90 Degrees: 3.3sec

I look forward to making these numbers smaller.

I did them from the right side of the cover as this is my favored side (right handed, right eye dominant/I'll work the other side too). Lined up with my right foot as far right as possible with out exposing to the target and an arms length from the cover. 30degrees is at the limit that I can engage the second target with out moing my feet or raising my left leg waste high too balance (I'll remember that for planning my stage execution in the future). at 45 degrees I can do a small quick step with the right foot (widening my stance) and easily engage the second target. 90 degrees requires a larger step with the right foot to see the second target (and my local club loves tucking a target around the walls like that). The important thing is to know how far to shift the foot. I figured out where my foot was just concealed from the second target and was able to consistantly move it to that spot. The real frustrating thing at the last match was taking the step and leaning out (all the weight on the leading foot)and still not seeing the next target . So I have to step again. So more presition on the initial movement is key.

The other question that this brought up is what if there are 3 target with the second about 30derees and 3rd 45 from the first. Once I've ingaged T2 with out moveing my feet i'm now have all my weight on my right foot and will need to first move my left to get to T3. So Shoot, lean, shoot, shuffle, shoot? Or Shoot, widen, Shoot, widen, shoot? The timer will tell.

[sirveyr]

To expand on what Steve said...

I like to think about "reverse engineering" the shooting position. By that I mean, during the walk through, set your feet where they will need to be when you are engaging the last target and then reverse the position until you get to the first target. When you arrive at that cover position when shooting, set your foot for the last target and adjust your upper body accordingly to engage the targets in the proper sequence. I hope that made sense?

[Chuckie45]

sirveyr,

It makes sense and would be faster , but you would be over exposed to the first target by exposing your leg. My leg is already as far out as it can be before engaging the target. Keep in mind that 30 degrees puts a lot of distance between the targets.

The IDPA rules state:

"More than 50% of the shooter’s upper torso must be behind cover

while engaging threat targets and/or reloading. For low cover, one

knee must be on the ground and for vertical cover such as a

wall/barricade, 100% of the shooter’s legs and feet must be behind

cover.A general rule of thumb is that the shooter will have to lean out of

cover more for each target he engages (slicing the pie). The

distance between the threat targets will determine how much more

the shooter must poke out in order to engage the targets. A shooter

who engages more than one target from the same position has not

been using cover properly." (Pg. 43)

[Loves2Shoot]

Almost all my IDPA specific practice is loads, draws and shooting while leaning or moving. Leaning is a big deal in IDPA and the key is picking a spot for your feet BEFORE you shoot the stage and look at it when you move into position. Keeping your legs far enough apart so you can cover multiple targets by shifting your weight (as described above) is crucial. You also don't want to be jammed into a position unless you have to. IDPA is largely a getting it position game once you can shoot fast accurately and can do the monkey reloads they insist on.