Dry Fire the day of a Club Match?

[drivingit]

So who all out there spends time at home dry firing before heading to the range for a club match? Or do you just show up and do some draws in the safety area?

[PKT1106]

I never thought about dry-fire the morning before I leave. I usually take some sight pictures in the safety area when I gear up and intermittently during the match, if there is time.

[BBoyle]

Thats sort of like cramming for a final right before the test isn't it?

If i dryfire for the match it will be in the days leading up to it, otherwise i just get a few draws and sight aquisition in at the safe table.

Brian

[theycallmeingot]

i have to wake up at 6 to be at my "local" match by sign up at 8:30, so no dry firing for me.

[DonovanM]

Depends on the kind of dry fire.

Just a little warm up/skills check, taking it easy, I think is a great idea, especially before a major! If I didn't have to drive so far for club matches (at least 1hr for those near me) I'd probably do something like this. I think it's a great idea to get your gun handling warmed up prior, as opposed to doing so on your first stage. Just one less thing to worry about.

Pushing yourself to failure - while a good idea in your regular dry fire practice IMO - I don't think is the best way to start your day. It can be demoralizing.

[drivingit]

I guess what I was looking for was a "warm up" type of dry firing. Not an all out cram session. Just a few minutes to get reacquainted with the gun, before showing up at the match.

[PistoleroJesse]

I do the dry fire index draws from Beyond Fundamentals. The one where you close your eyes, draw, open and see the front sight centered in the rear notch. I do that until I can get it 4 or 5 times in a row.

It used to be pretty hit and miss for me on the first stage of every match, sometimes ok, a lot of the time just bomb on it. That routine has helped me bring up my first stage consistency quite a lot, which helps my mental stability throughout the whole match.

[Steve Anderson]

You wanna be warmed up, but not burned out.

Whatever you do, you gotta feed the self image good stuff, so you definitely don't want to be pushing to the point of error.

I've tried it both ways and the current state of my technique is way more important that whether I dry fire the morning of the match.

In other words, all of the other mornings before the match are more important...

Also, be very careful that day of practice doesn't lead to "trying." On match day, there is NOTHING you can do to be faster than you are, so you might as well just call your shots.

[lugnut]

Thats sort of like cramming for a final right before the test isn't it?

I disagree. Almost all major sports start off with serious warm ups.... and it's not just to "warm up" the body. Look at tennis for example... I couldn't imagine starting a match without warm ups.....

If I had some time to dry fire before a match I would. I try to do a little at the safe table.

[old506]

I DF prior to a match. What I do though, is go suuuuper slow. I want to feel exactly what a "perfect" grip feels like in the holster, what a "perfect" presentation to the target feels like. I also do a few reloads and do those slow too.

The last thing I do is take a sight picture of my sights perfectly lined up on the A zone of a full size metric target, hold it in and kind of let it burn in. Throughout the day of the match, I try to go back to that moment (In my head) where I was standing in front of the target seeing a perfect sight picture on the A zone of the target. I started doing this because I felt that instead of trying to tell myself to "shoot A's" during the match, or something like that, I wanted to see A's and be reminded that way, which is what we do anyway.

I do it more of as a warm up for my eyes than anything else. I want my eyes to go where they need to be and see what they need to see.

[BillD]

Hell, I'd like to get to the range early and LIVE FIRE a couple hundred rounds before the match....

[twodelta]

I've done this once or twice. My wife does it every morning before a match. I usually wake up to the sound of a pistol drawing from a kydex holster and magazines hitting the carpet.

[Chris iliff]

Also, be very careful that day of practice doesn't lead to "trying." On match day, there is NOTHING you can do to be faster than you are, so you might as well just call your shots.

That right there is good stuff. Right on the $$$$$.

I like to warm up at the safe table. I notice I'm usually there longer than most. I do my draws until things are smooth. I start slow and perfect and gradually speed them up.