Interesting mental block

[Matt in TN]

I shoot a Glock G30 with full power 230gr FMJ loads in IDPA, and have been stuck in a rut at the high end of sharpshooter. I recently bought a .22LR kit for my G30, and have been practicing with it a bit. My first practice run through the Classifier I shot back to back runs with the .22 and the .45, and was dumfounded to see very similar times and scores. This proved to me that my issue was simply a mental block.

I've run it a few more times since then, and am slowly making progress. Typically I'll shoot a run with the .22, a little faster than I've ever shot before. I'll then follow it up with a run with the .45, and so far have been staying with the .22 times every time!

I have a lot of work yet to do, but it's heartening to finally see some progress. I always knew (intelligently) that all my limits were in my head, but to experience it really helps.

[Sam]

Hi, Matt! You have discovered a great way to practice in my opinion. It saves a ton of money on ammo and lets us experience variations in the feedback from the pistol. Several years ago, I noticed something very similar to your experience in my practice sessions, using a Colt Ace 22 and a 1911 in .45 shooting major.

Here is something else that I noticed. When shooting plate racks, the feedback from the .22 was really lacking for me. I guess one could call it less "operator interface". At first, it was nice to have less recoil. But, I soon began to miss the extra horsepower of the .45 round. And I still practice that way, as I did this afternoon!

In addition to the mental aspects, it is pretty amazing to me, how highly developed our ability to manage recoil and track the front sight becomes over the months. I believe switching between .22 and full power ammo keeps us sharp....if we pay close attention. (of course, paying close attention always helps!)

[Matt in TN]

Thank you, sir. Paying close attention does always help, and it's the hardest thing to do consistently. The first couple times I tried this I shot the whole Classifier with the .22, and then the .45. Yesterday I tried switching calibers after every stage, and it seemed to have better results. More frequent switching is a little bit of a pain, but it seems to reinforce the lessons better for me anyhow.

I've seen a lot of people ask about how to train with a .22 conversion, so thought I'd add my own meager experiences. It has been eye-opening. It's one thing to "know" something intellectually, but something else entirely to "know" from experience.