dot drill video , request critique

[skargoh]

I did a dot drill of sorts. It is 21 feet, g17, done from ready position instead of draw. Circles are 4.5" (traced a cd).

Let me know.what I am doing wrong if you get a chance.

Thanks!

[skargoh]

This was the resulting target.

[Darqnezz]

One thing that you can do that will help is paying attention to your follow through. Once you get you sight picture, follow the front sight as you break your shot, through the recoil, & back to another sight picture. You are picking your head up & looking down range after almost every shot. You shouldnt see where your shot hits, just where the front sight was when the shot breaks. Since you were at an indoor range, I'm sure you cant drop mags on the deck, but maybe they will let you drop them in a bucket ot plastic container on the table. That way you can practice your reloads correctly. Dont beat yourself up about errant shots. As long as you start to self diagnose during your practice sessions you'll improve. I've already found a bunch of great new drills from some of the posts on this forum. So you are in the right place.

Good Luck

[Torogi]

im curious what bullet and powder you are using.. I dont see any smoke!!

[ummm]

Isn't the dot torture drill supposed to be done on 2 inch circles?

[skargoh]

Thats why I did not call it the "Dot Torture Drill" , rather I called it "A Dot Drill of Sorts".

[skargoh]

Torogi,

I forgot to answer your question re: cartridges.

I was using factory Speer Lawman brass cased 115 grn fmj. It is pretty snappy stuff. I and a friend both noticed a difference in recoil and report compared to the bulk umc we were using before that.

We did a blind test where we loaded mags with 2 of each type of ammo and had the other guy shoot and attempt to identify which load was which. We properly identified it each time.

[LYNRDSKYNRD]

Completely agree with Darq follow through by attaining an additional sight picture.

[skargoh]

Re: follow through

Yes, that is something i noticed while looking at the video as well. It seemed like I was holding the gun steady on target while I was shooting, but in actuality, I am dropping the pistol quickly and looking for the impact.I would not have realized that without seeing the video and hearing your comments.

Another thing I noticed is the recoil seems to be moving me backward more than I thought would be possible for a 9mm. If you watch the section where I shoot 2 and 2, and focus on my hearing protection you will see it move backward with each shot.

What can I do to mitigate that?

[LYNRDSKYNRD]

Feet shoulder width apart. Strong side foot slightly back about the middle of the weakside foot. Weight forward over your toes knees slighty bent.

[skargoh]

New video. A little different setup. Smaller circles for the 2handed drills (2.5"). Bigger circles for the one handed. Also a wider spacing for the transition shooting dots. Distance was 12 feet.

Made a mistake and aimed my first weak hand shot at the strong hand target. Hit it, but it threw my focus off a bit.

Also, I don't like my reloads, but I cannot reach the mag release with my thumb and have always had to "rearrange" my grip.

I tried to focus on follow trough and reaquiring a sight picture after shooting the required shots as per your previous comments/tips. Let me know if you have any more advice, if you have the time. Thanks for watching/helping.

[skargoh]

[Darqnezz]

I bring the gun up to my eye level when I'm doing reloads for a couple of different reasons. First, it allows me to look the mag into the magwell. Reducing the chance that I'll miss that critical first attempt at insertion. Secondly, since my head & eyes are up, I can still see potential threats downrange. I agree with Lynrd keep your weight forward. Imagine trying to hold down a $100 bill with your toes. By the way, your follow through looks great, and so does the results. Keep up the good work.

[skargoh]

In.regard to the mag changes, I took a pistol class around y2k, that had us drop our gun arm so that the tricep was tight against the ribs. Then insert the.mag. This was.for."indexing" and repeatability.

It may not be perfect, but after years of doing it that way, I am not sure I want to try another way (just so I never get confused in the heat of the moment). I may sacrafice some smoothness, time and visual inspection ability, but I maintain repeatability. I have tried it up high and it felt awkward. I know I could retrain myself,.but not sure I want to yet. Thoughts?

I will work on a steadier stance.

Thanks for taking a look and helping me. It's good to have a second set of eyes and brain looking.

[Darqnezz]

When you start running & reloading it helps to keep your head up. I shot a match where I looked down to do a reload & ran right by a port and ended up with a bunch of of no-shoots . Lesson learned.

Plus I look at videos of the great gunners & try to copy what they are doing. For me it helps to see a technique in action. Dont be afraid of changing just because it feels different. Most people only show improvement when they push themselves out of that comfort zone. I just started practicing a quad shotgun reload. I'm dropping shells, and I feel like a beginner all over again. But I've seen the technique applied, and when done correctly its fast as hell. So I'm adding it to my game.

Why sacrifice smoothness & speed when you can have both?

Good luck

[skargoh]

Mainly, because I don't want to confuse myself in a self defense scenario, however unlikely that may be.

I only do some competitions to get more practice with my carry gun. I agree with your sentiment in regard to trying new things to improve sporting scores, but I feel I may have too many reps and history that I may screw up in a more dire situation than gun games.

Also, I am not sure if I even look at the gun during reloading. I will have to record and see. I always thought the point of tucking in the elbow was to form an index point, and feel the mag into the gun with my finger.

Again, I am not a know it all. I have only done a handful of comps. A few defensive pistol courses and such. I will study more and consider all. I appreciate the insight you have shared.

[grapemeister]

Bringing the gun down low and tucking the elbow into the body when doing mag changes is a very common technique, especially amongst military and police instructors. I don't agree with it, but that doesn't mean it's wrong. I think it's a better technigue to keep the gun up and in front of the face when doing mag changes. It allows for a faster reload, and it allows you to get back on target faster. Always look at the magwell opening when doing reloads. Keeping the gun up helps with that, too. You can still tuck the elbow in which will make it more comfortable to shift your hand around the grip to hit the mag release. I haven't reached perfection yet, but I try to treat the gun like it's suspended in air and all I have to do is pull the gun back towards my face and shift my grip around the gun without causing the muzzle to point in any other direction but down range and at least in the general direction of the next target or targets I will be engaging.

Try not to run the gun dry and go to slide lock. Going to slide lock slows the relaoding process. If you can keep one in the chamber, you'll still have one round to engage a threat in case the mag change goes horribly wrong.

Just my thoughts. I'm no Master or expert but I've been around a while, and have given the different techniques some thought.

[skargoh]

Is tbis the accepted new technique?

How long will it take me to positively change ten plus years of reps/practice?

[grapemeister]

Yes, that's it. It'll take time , and lot's of practice, but you can get it down. I changed my technigue a couple of years ago when I got into practical shooting. I was about 42 years young at the time, and my previous gun handling skills were learned from lawenforcement which dates back to the 1980's. That should tell you a lot about the challenge I faced. It was like starting all over from scratch. Up until a couple of years ago I was still doing the old Weaver stance, for goodness sakes!

[Darqnezz]

I change techniques all the time. Thats one reason I love this site. I'm always seeing something that MIGHT work better than what I'm doing now, so I try it. If a new version comes along I'll work it until I have it down, then I'll have another way to do it. I never throw away a skill that I've learned, ( I can still shoot Weaver stance pretty well), you never know when you'll have the opportunity to use it.

[skargoh]

I tried the new metbod for like ten minuteds. I was surprised that it seemed to "take" pretty quickly. Obviously not perfect or smpoth but better than I was expecting.

[38supPat]

Thats why I did not call it the "Dot Torture Drill" , rather I called it "A Dot Drill of Sorts".

Somewhere I have a copy of the original drill, written up before it was renamed the Dot Torture drill (probably by someone who didn't like it) and was simply called "the Dot Drill" I'm not sure where it originated, it was an old drill when I learned it around '95

The purpose of the drill is to learn to hit the target everytime whatever that takes, there is no time limit nor timer used at all, and I see no reason to use a specific sized dot or distance. Pick a size or distance that challenges you, when you can hit every dot, every time, then change either the dot size or the distance. Not unlike the Bill drill where a Master class time is 2.0 seconds at 7m. I you are a C class shooter, there is no point trying to shoot it in 2 seconds, you won't learn anything. Pick a time that is quick enough to push you but not to the point where you are shooting past your skill level and not able to see whats going on. A Bill drill was not meant to make a Youtube video of squirting hits all over a paper or steel target and getting "the fastest time ever!" I do BIll Drills at 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 50m or sometimes if I have USPSA targets, Bill drills in the upper A box.

The Dot drill should not be made so difficult (for your skill level) that you get frustrated and lose the lesson.