Is "the draw" becoming less important?

[38supPat]

I have to agree with Xre, every point he made is on the money. Shooting up here in Canada it is even more relevant. We have way more stand and shoot stages in IPSC than you see in USPSA and with our 10 round capacity even in Open reloads are critical. The benefit shows when we shoot USPSA, where on a lot of stages we see USPSA shooters fretting over where to, or how to avoid reloads, we just take it in stride. Reloads are no big deal if you do enough of them, and we can do upwards of 20 or 30 at a large match.

[lumpygravy]

Maybe not for the same reasons that have been mentioned, I like to think the draw is important because, for me, a clean, reliable draw sets me up mentally for a good run. Sure it's only the beginning and performance on the rest of the stage is more important, but the stage has to start somewhere.

[Seth]

A well balanced match should have a mix of field courses, medium courses and speed shoots. Its not a track meet and even the intro of the rule book indicates that the balance is key.

A well practiced draw isn't the end all be all in USPSA, but it is a tool that needs to be in the shed. As Dave pointed out, its the foundation of the stage. Get a bad draw and you're correcting your grip for the first array.

[Neomet]

In a sport measured (and occasionally won) in hundredths of a second nothing is unimportant. Now the prioritization as to where you spend the majority of your time training is another question. Should I spend more time on my transitions or my draw in practice? Assuming I am at an equal skill level with both I can save more time at my next big match by reducing my transition time by .1 seconds than I can by knocking .75 off of my draw.

[leadslinger275]

Maybe not for the same reasons that have been mentioned, I like to think the draw is important because, for me, a clean, reliable draw sets me up mentally for a good run. Sure it's only the beginning and performance on the rest of the stage is more important, but the stage has to start somewhere.

+1 on this.

[bobby hated]

i dont like the classifiers that start with the gun on the table. draw should be important in classifying us. expecially when youre shooting a 4-10 second stage.

[MattYvip]

IMO, that effectively negates a fast draw. Am I wrong?

Yeah, in reality, you are... because it's really not that simple...

For starters, a draw from the holster is still by far the most common start position across the board, regardless of what you're seeing locally right now. As has already been pointed out, those tenths of seconds add up. Are you willing to hand, say, 20-30 match points to your competition before the match begins? Depending on your skill level, and the size of the match, that's what having a draw .2-.3 seconds slower than them (on average) will net you. If you've got an average of a 2.00 second draw, you're losing 10 points per stage to the top shooters on draw alone (that may not be important to you, but it illustrates the point...)

But, there's more benefit than just that. Moving starts - people think they can "soak up the time" on the movement... However, the faster the gun is out of the holster, the faster you're also able to focus solely on moving as fast as you can. If you're struggling to get the gun out several steps into the movement, you've just lost time. If the gun's out before you finish the first step, you're well ahead of the game.

Also, as has also been pointed out, there are other areas of the game that will yield big results for most shooters - position entry and reload speed were mentioned, and I don't disagree. What hasn't been mentioned is index speed - time to move from target to target. There's generally a lot more time to gain there for most folks...

That's why I recommend working draw speed - but don't get obsessive about it. If you can consistently draw the gun to a 10y target in 1.0 flat, on demand, you have a fast enough draw to win major level matches. Sure, it's nice to be able to do that in, say, .75 seconds (the additional skill and confidence you gain in your gun handling alone is worth that), but it's not worth getting there to the detriment of working the other areas of your game. Plus, it's ridiculously easy to work your draw in dry fire, and that translates directly to draw speed in a stage.

+1 agreed!

[tackdr1ver]

In my opinion, it all depends on where you shoot. Some clubs i shoot at tend to force you to engage at least one target from the starting position. Others will throw in some movement before your first array. Basically I think some Match Directors default to certain things either because of preference or habit. Fortunately in this neck of the woods we tend to see best of both worlds. I practice my draws every dry fire session, just to be safe

[tackdr1ver]

i dont like the classifiers that start with the gun on the table. draw should be important in classifying us. expecially when youre shooting a 4-10 second stage.

Table pickups are somewhat important too. I have yet to go to a Major where they did not have at least one table start. The thing is: the table start is the same for everyone, so you should still classify just as you would have if you drew from a holster..

[Blueridge]

One thing that I have not seen addressed is how far the movement is that is necessary to make the first shots. If you have to move say 15 feet to the first target it only really matters that the handgun be ready to do it's work when you get there. The draw time can be irrelavant, as having the handgun out on the first step or last step ready to go from the first shooting position is the core issue. If both shooters are confident of their grip, aim, and skill then how fast each draws can make little difference.

It all comes down to what the stage requires and if the particular shooter is proficient at the skills necessary. At least the way I see it.

Practicing a variety of skills is the key to being a well rounded shooter. The demands of the stages that you face in a match determine if you skills are up to the task on any particular day.

[leadslinger275]

At several recent local matches the table starts and moving starts far outpaced starts standing inside the shooting area where you could immediately engagte a target. IMO, that effectively negates a fast draw. Am I wrong?

Or is this just a way to mix things up and force people to practice different starting scenarios?

For most USPSA Classifiers it is still important. For USPSA Field Courses it is not as important as it used to be in my section as the round counts continue to get higher on most Field courses, movement speed, transition speed, sight picture, stage planning, and clean/fast reloads are far more important. I would rather take 0.25 seconds longer on my draw on a field course and have a good grip on my gun right away than a faster draw. It is still, obviously, one of the most important skills for the SC game though. Just my $0.02.