Proper use of a timer

[DoubleA]

I've only gotten to practice for about a year with a timer so far, but I have noticed some tendencies that seem to hinder true improvement because of it. I have experienced it and have seen others better than me experience being a slave to the timer. We will sit there banging away at the buzzer and slapping the trigger for run after run trying to make the numbers less each time. I just don't feel like this is what I should do with a timer.

The timer is supposed to be a measure of what happened, not a dictator of what will happen. I believe the point is to do what is needed more efficiently, not faster. If you time every run it seems like, despite good intensions, your mind gradually gears towards the goal of having a shorter time at all cost vs the process goal of doing it more efficiently so that the end result is a shorter time.

Lately, I have been doing drills with only 2 runs with the timer. I shoot the first string completely relaxed and in a very comfortable state. There are no expectations, no par to make, just shoot the targets and if the run is slower than your goal then it will be easier to see improvement on the timer later. Then I shoot however many strings are required, minus one, with the sole purpose of making each shot more efficient without the buzzer urging me to hurry. Then on my last string I will run the buzzer and record the time, but still shoot with the efficiency mindset that was reinforced through the majority of the strings.

This method makes it reasonably easy to show some improvement from the first string to the last and also helps keep your mind in the right state for real progress instead of blazing a string that happened to work out in your favor and then getting frustrated when you can't keep doing it. The confidence boost in seeing improvement is also a big plus. Improvement will spark a little more excitement and desire to practice which will lead to a more productive practice. Positive thoughts are always good to have.

The time where I feel you can use the buzzer more often effectively is when you are working on reacting to it or comparing techniques, but even then you should probably do a couple runs without the timer to really focus on the technique and then time it for comparison.

What it all boils down to is that the timer is only a measuring devise, it is not the thing that decides who wins or loses. Your preparation and dedication is what decides that.

Edited January 30, 2012 by DoubleA

[NTD]

"The timer is supposed to be a measure of what happened, not a dictator of what will happen. I believe the point is to do what is needed more efficiently, not faster. If you time every run it seems like, despite good intensions, your mind gradually gears towards the goal of having a shorter time at all cost vs the process goal of doing it more efficiently so that the end result is a shorter time."

I'm new to the game but absolutely agree. I've only started real practice drills the last 2 weeks but have found myself getting sloppy trying to beat the timer. Thanks for the great post.

[dravz]

The benefit of a timer is it forces you outside your comfort zone. In forcing myself to go .2 seconds faster on a drill than I am able, I will see what is holding me back, what it is that breaks down at that faster speed. At the faster speed I'm not landing a proper grip before I yank out into the draw; or I'm not bringing the gun in all the way during a reload causing me to miss; or I'm not snapping my vision fast enough; and so on. Knowing what is in the way of the faster times is invaluable.

I'd also like to add you don't always have to chase the next faster time. You can focus on certain aspects while keeping the par time the same, typically by making a drill more challenging but not increasing the par time to complete it. For example (note I use Steve Anderson's books exclusively): I will set ALL my 6 reload 6 drills to the same par time, but each drill adds another layer of complexity -- first is freestyle from hands at sides, now start from surrender, now add in a turn, now use strong hand only, and so on. Increasingly difficult drills, same par time.

[DoubleA]

The benefit of a timer is it forces you outside your comfort zone. In forcing myself to go .2 seconds faster on a drill than I am able, I will see what is holding me back, what it is that breaks down at that faster speed. At the faster speed I'm not landing a proper grip before I yank out into the draw; or I'm not bringing the gun in all the way during a reload causing me to miss; or I'm not snapping my vision fast enough; and so on. Knowing what is in the way of the faster times is invaluable.

I agree that knowing what is holding you back is invaluable. My argument is that when you have completed a rep at your maximum efficiency on the edge of your comfort zone, you know that any part of that drill, be it the draw, transitions, or splits, can be pushed and yield a better time as a result. So instead of setting a par of of 2.8 sec when you can normally do it in 3 and then push every aspect of the drill hoping that you catch all the little errors when it's being seen faster than you are used too, you are simply choosing which aspect to focus the push on. I think this also helps with not just being good at that particular drill, but being able to apply what you learned to all drills.

Now granted, when I wrote the OP, I had a rep number of 10 or less for each drill in mind. If you are going to do 40 reps then obviously you would want to do more evaluation strings in there so you don't waste ammo and time doing something wrong and not find out until the end of the session.

A good analogy would be like school, I suppose. The timer is a form of testing for the most part and in school you don't spend the whole time taking pop quizzes. They are spread out enough that as a student you can see if you are on the right track along with preparing you for finals/matches.

I'm not saying don't have fun and play some with the timer. It's falling into the trap of being focused on time I want to stay clear of. I think dry fire par times can have a tendency towards that as well. Since it is free, what's one more run gonna cost you right? If you lose focus on the real objective, which is doing the technique correctly and more efficiently, then it can cost you a training scar that you have to undo later.

By all means push the envelope, just don't spend the whole time pushing or you stand the chance of forgetting how to shoot at 100% instead of 120% when the buzzer goes off at a match. This method of using the timer is just a means of keeping that focus in check. There most definitely are exceptions and I am not opposed to them, I just think that you can see a lot of true, repeatable progress with this method because it focuses your attention on the action you are trying to improve instead of the time you are trying to beat. Improve the action and the time will take care of itself.

I'm not trying to be arrogant or anything. These are just observations from falling prey to the time trap and how I have emerged from it, slightly mangled and wreaking of titegroup Hell, this may only work for me, but I figure there has got to be other shooters out there like me, so why not say what's on my mind if it may help them too.

Edited February 2, 2012 by DoubleA

[Chris iliff]

I've got 5 different dryfire targets setup. They are spread across a 10 foot wall and are 1/3 size. I stand 10 -12 ft away. I draw to one controlled and methodical. I do this 4-5 times. Then I relax and let a couple just rip. if I nail them I move on to the next target, if not, back to controlled and methodical. Usually after a couple I let it rip and I'm there.

I've done the OP thing and I think he is right on with his remarks. Now that I'm an "A", I know I will be served well moving forward by refining my skills, not by pushing times sloppily. My .02 cents.

[dravz]

I'm not trying to be arrogant or anything. These are just observations from falling prey to the time trap and how I have emerged from it, slightly mangled and wreaking of titegroup Hell, this may only work for me, but I figure there has got to be other shooters out there like me, so why not say what's on my mind if it may help them too.

I wanted to bring this topic up again because I do now see what DoubleA was getting at. I did my practice today without any timer at all, instead focusing on only perfect execution. Without the timer I was able to pick out inefficiencies that I had never seen when going at 110% speed, there just wasn't time before! I was also amazed at the amount of trash technique I let slip through in pursuit of that second timer beep. It was eye-opening.