Saibot's Performance Journal

[emjei]

I have another question for you everytime you dry fire at night you also run stages or drills I should say..... how you do that ??? Do you imagine them or actually have them in your house

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Edited November 28, 2013 by emjei

[saibot]

I have another question for you everytime you dry fire at night you also run stages or drills I should say..... how you do that ??? Do you imagine them or actually have them in your house

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

I actually set them up in my garage which thankfully is pretty big. 2 cars wide and 2 cars deep. A very big reason why I bought this house.

I'll have to get a picture of it so you can see the target stands and paper plate rack course I made.

[saibot]

Live fire (11.27.13)

I had a chance to swing by the range with a friend today after work for a little live fire. We started off shooting some groups at 7 yards just to get warmed up and get a feel for the recoil again after dry firing. We moved back to the 20 (thought it was the 25) yard line and shot a couple of slow fire pistol targets and some steel. Then moved up and shot some F.A.S.T drills which I kept shooting low (rushing). Moved back to 10 yards and practiced putting two on 3 targets, reload, then 2 more on the targets. I was shooting right around the 6 second mark and dropping the occasional round outside of the A zone. My sights weren't tracking quite as good as they were this weekend, but it was the end of the day and I was already a little mentally fatigued (excuses!). Finished up shooting some steel from 40 or so yards to confirm the new taller front sight POI and called it a day on the pistol. Fired 169 rounds.

Sighted in my AR for the upcoming night match, 15 rounds.

My wrist is feeling better from all of the dry fire reloads last night, but I'm not going to dry fire tonight. I'll give it a break and pick up tomorrow.

[saibot]

Dry fire (11.28.13)

Man, oh man. Fat with turkey, but managed to put in an hour working on my draw and reloads after doing my "benchmark stages." Worked mainly from hands at sides, but also worked on the surrender and surrender up range. I tried a handful of things to see what felt best and was fast and repeatable. Did some transitions and shooting on the move. Went back to my "benchmark drills" and was able to doing them faster, one of them almost 3 seconds faster. You have to love that. Must be all of the cranberry sauce...

[saibot]

Dry fire (11.29.13)

Tonight was a pretty good night of dry fire and I really didn't want to stop, but my wrist had enough and I figured 1.5 hours was a good run. I had some blazing fast times on my "benchmark" stages and shook things up tonight with the fun Stoeger drills from this forum. Did the A and B drills and was pretty much on the expert times. When I started these I didn't think I'd ever make those time, so it's great to see my progress. I'm glad that I really enjoy the dry fire practice because it does get a little frustrating with the slow rate of improvement. So to see these times tonight was a real treat.

Pretty exhausted from a big swim this morning, then loaded 1000 rounds of 9mm, then lots of dry fire. My arms may fall off...

[saibot]

Dry fire (11.30.13)

Continuing with last night's "keeping it fun," I ran Stoeger's A and C drills, adding quite a bit of extra reps along the way. I really started to notice that any tension in my reload can cause me to miss it and keeping things nice and relaxed really helps it slide right in. I also noticed that my support hand needs more cant in it to help with my index (not to mention it helps with actual recoil). I'll have to lay off all of the reloads since they really get my strong side wrist hurting. I was hoping to do some shooting this weekend but it doesn't look like it's in the cards. Maybe I can get in a couple of dry fire sessions tomorrow or maybe watch some video from nationals. Also listened to Steve Anderson's podcast.

[saibot]

Dry fire (12.1.13)

Pretty much a repeat of the last few days; Stoeger A and D drills, benchmark drills, and lots of draws and reloads. I experimented with pulling the gun strait out of the holster and up high before pressing out. It feels clean and smooth and seems to let me pick up the sights just a tad earlier. Man, the draw is one tough thing to pin down.

[saibot]

Dry fire (12.2.13)

Rinse and repeat. Stoeger A and E drills with a ton of extra reps. Some El Prez, shooting/reloading on the move, and "benchmark" stages. It was good to revisit the E drills since I really haven't been doing much SHO/WHO lately, although 1.25 hours was probably over doing it and my wrist is smoked. I also meant to practice some draws from concealment since I think I'm going to shoot an IDPA match this weekend. This will be my 3rd IDPA match and I'm pretty lost during these matches since I really don't know the rules and rack up a ton of penalties. Meh. It's match practice. And shooting with your buddies is always a great time.

[saibot]

Dry fire (12.4.13)

I was a little curious how I would do today since I didn't get a chance to practice yesterday. It really didn't seem to do much to degrade performance, just a wee bit slower at first but coincidentally, I did seem to be able to call my shots better. Hrmmmm...

Anyway, started with my "benchmark" stages, Stoeger A and F drills, shooting on the move, and "benchmark" drills. I really do like doing those Stoeger drills. They are a lot of fun to run. I really like finding the "secret" to the fast times on the drills. They seem to come from moving before, during, and as you're shooting from position to position. Gathering no moss with these drills!

[saibot]

Dry fire (12.5.13)

I spent another perfectly good hour dry firing tonight. "Benchmark" stages, Stoeger A and B drills, shooting on the move, then "benchies" again. I was almost a full 4 seconds faster warmed up than I was cold which is not optimal. I really want to perform my best anytime I step to the line.

A few observations;

I need to keep the gun up just a little higher. If I'm going for the head for example I seem to index on the neck and have to correct.

If I need to draw while taking a step it's best to take a big initial step rather than try to be smooth from the start. I get less sight bobble when I come up on target and I move further. Win win!

Starting and staying low helps keep the sights steady(er) when moving into a position so I can break the shots off the instant I arrive.

My static reloads are super fast, but I seem to miss them a lot while moving, so I walked fast down toward a target 10 yards away and reload, bang, reload, bang, reload, bang. I missed EVERY reload the first time and realized that I don't get a good high grip on the magazine. Next run I made sure to grab the dang mag like I should and boom! Greased them all in. I'll have to keep working on that.

[Quag]

saibot I've got to say I admire your diligence and persistence in both your training program and your postings here. I'm starting my own structured program after my first year of competitions in IDPA and USPSA. I did train before but it was pretty haphazard. I do not think I can do it at the frequency that you do given my schedule. Its clear however that I really need to develop a good dry fire program and do it at least 3x per week. After just 3 days of basic dry fire drills (abt am 1 hr each) I have been able to reduce my par times for draw and fire and draw fire and reload (static) by 20%.

[saibot]

saibot I've got to say I admire your diligence and persistence in both your training program and your postings here. I'm starting my own structured program after my first year of competitions in IDPA and USPSA. I did train before but it was pretty haphazard. I do not think I can do it at the frequency that you do given my schedule. Its clear however that I really need to develop a good dry fire program and do it at least 3x per week. After just 3 days of basic dry fire drills (abt am 1 hr each) I have been able to reduce my par times for draw and fire and draw fire and reload (static) by 20%.

Thanks, Quag! Ya, it's hard to fit it all in but I've carved a little spot in my schedule out to get my dry fire in. And now that I really enjoy it coupled with my desire to get to and exceed B class I look forward to it. It keeps me from having that glass of wine with dinner but I'd rather be dry firing. And I have to say, having this range diary has helped keep me accountable for my practice. I really don't want to miss out when I see how much I've learned since I started.

That's great to hear how fast you've progressed with just a little bit of dry fire! Man, if I had numbers like that you'd never get me out of the garage.

[saibot]

Dry fire (12.6.13)

I spent about half an hour learning to draw and reload with a borrowed IDPA rig. Kudos to those people who can draw and reload from concealment quickly. I really freaking hate it. I don't normally shoot IDPA but I'm dying for some competition and this is the only game in town for a while so I'm going to shoot a match on Sunday. We'll see how it goes. I shot it a couple of months ago and racked up a ton of penalties for things like reloading on the move (not from cover) and not shooting from cover. Old dog...new tricks.

[Quag]

Dry fire (12.6.13)

I spent about half an hour learning to draw and reload with a borrowed IDPA rig. Kudos to those people who can draw and reload from concealment quickly. I really freaking hate it. I don't normally shoot IDPA but I'm dying for some competition and this is the only game in town for a while so I'm going to shoot a match on Sunday. We'll see how it goes. I shot it a couple of months ago and racked up a ton of penalties for things like reloading on the move (not from cover) and not shooting from cover. Old dog...new tricks.

I mainly shoot IDPA and am relatively new so my best times are not great. I actually like a lot of IDPA restrictions you do not have in USPSA. I can understand how you hate drawing from concealment. I took some bad online advice and was dry fire training without concealment (told it makes little difference when you go to a match). BTW I really do not like dry fire. After reading Seeklander and B. Enos I decided to train with and without concealment and to embrace what I hate (turn it into a positive). When I started I was drawing with an IDPA rig without concealment (classifier in IDPA is without concealment). I then added concealment (standard IDPA vest) and my times jumped 30 to 50%. I was all upset until I dry fired some more and the times dropped about 15%. I also gave my self an attitude adjustment, yes it is harder with concealment what else is old! BTW my best level in a IDPA holster so far without concealment is 2 sec. I have been told for IDPA to get under 2 is good.

So I then tried practicing dry fire with my typical carry concealment, IWB holester under a sweat shirt. Yes I was terrible at first but with some more practice my times dropped again. It was a very useful drill. Its all good. I think its about awareness and good pistol handling. For fun I think I'm going to do a local IDPA match with my 3.5 inch barrel carry gun, IWB holester, with street clothes and a sweatshirt for concealment. Maybe I'll add a bow tie to fool the bad guys.

[saibot]

Dry fire (12.6.13)

I spent about half an hour learning to draw and reload with a borrowed IDPA rig. Kudos to those people who can draw and reload from concealment quickly. I really freaking hate it. I don't normally shoot IDPA but I'm dying for some competition and this is the only game in town for a while so I'm going to shoot a match on Sunday. We'll see how it goes. I shot it a couple of months ago and racked up a ton of penalties for things like reloading on the move (not from cover) and not shooting from cover. Old dog...new tricks.

I mainly shoot IDPA and am relatively new so my best times are not great. I actually like a lot of IDPA restrictions you do not have in USPSA. I can understand how you hate drawing from concealment. I took some bad online advice and was dry fire training without concealment (told it makes little difference when you go to a match). BTW I really do not like dry fire. After reading Seeklander and B. Enos I decided to train with and without concealment and to embrace what I hate (turn it into a positive). When I started I was drawing with an IDPA rig without concealment (classifier in IDPA is without concealment). I then added concealment (standard IDPA vest) and my times jumped 30 to 50%. I was all upset until I dry fired some more and the times dropped about 15%. I also gave my self an attitude adjustment, yes it is harder with concealment what else is old! BTW my best level in a IDPA holster so far without concealment is 2 sec. I have been told for IDPA to get under 2 is good.

So I then tried practicing dry fire with my typical carry concealment, IWB holester under a sweat shirt. Yes I was terrible at first but with some more practice my times dropped again. It was a very useful drill. Its all good. I think its about awareness and good pistol handling. For fun I think I'm going to do a local IDPA match with my 3.5 inch barrel carry gun, IWB holester, with street clothes and a sweatshirt for concealment. Maybe I'll add a bow tie to fool the bad guys.

Ya, you're right. If I spent some time dry firing IDPA specific IDPA things I'm sure I'd figure it out, but I am a little concerned that it would adversely affect my USPSA game. I do think all of the cover shooting will help with shooting around walls and barricades in USPSA. We'll see. There are more opportunities to shoot IDPA here now so I might get out more often.

[saibot]

IDPA Match (12.8.13)

I braved the elements today and shot the local IDPA match. I didn't make it out early enough to help setup in the 15 degree weather so I brought out a dozen doughnuts as my penitence.

Anyway, this was my third IDPA match and it was by far my best. My shooting on the move was really good, (thanks to Gabe White's excellent class!). Accuracy was good, too. I called almost every shot and stuck to my plans and made very few mistakes, at least with "normal" shooting. I still managed to rack up some penalties because of my inexperience with IDPA rules and cover.

Meh.

But in the end, it was shooting and competition so that's never bad! I may not have won the match by any stretch of the imagination but I did have my own little victories along the way. It makes all of the dry fire and practice worth it.

[saibot]

Dry fire (12.9.13)

Back to it. I spent about 1.5 hours dry firing tonight starting with my "benchmark" stages. Again, the "benchmarks" are to see how I perform cold vs. after I'm warmed up from practice. A little slow tonight which is no surprise since I shot a match yesterday and didn't dry fire. And it's cold as heck in the garage right now, maybe 40 degrees? The good thing about my routine is that it's quite the workout and I'm never cold after a few minutes. Sweating in fact when I'm finished.

Anyway, I did the Stoeger A and B drills, all about a billion times trying to find the key to getting the times down to the lower times. For example, in the B drills where you pick up the gun off the char I discovered that if I start moving even before I have the gun in my hand I shave off a ton of time. Little things like that make a big difference! The drill where you shoot all of the targets, reload, THEN move to the box to engage the heads, I found that if I start my movement to the box as I'm reloading I save a ton of time.

Next was some movement drills and I finished up with the "benchmark" stages. As usual, my times where MUCH faster when warmed up. I have to find out how I can change that. I don't want to do poorly on the first two stages before getting dialed in.

[saibot]

No dry fire today. I spent my time addressing all of the stuff I've been putting off to dry fire. Pressed out some 9mm, cleaned the sludge out of the Glock, and rebuilt all of my M&P mags.

The results from my IDPA match came out today and I have to say I'm very pleased with them. I shot most accurate overall and took second in SSP. Glad to see I was able to come back from shooting the no shoot in the face on the first stage!

Pretty excited to see some improvement after all of the work. I think I'll change to the Stoeger dry fire book tomorrow and do that for a while and see where that goes. After that, Anderson's book for a while. Looking forward to some new drills, not that the current ones aren't fun, but I really like to keep things fresh.

I also discovered that the Burket IDPA video in my stack of DVDs. I never watched it since it was for IDPA, but since I'll probably shoot it more often so I should start working on getting better at it.

[saibot]

Dry fire (12.11.13)

I was able to get an hour in tonight of dry fire despite having some, uh, not so receptive to the shooting sports, guests in town.

Did my "benchies" for a bit and moved to the Ben Stoeger 15 minute dry fire book drills. I did the White Wall, Single target, and 25 yard drills. You really have to be cooking to get the times down to the lower levels. At this point, the beginner times are easy to surpass, but on most of the drills I am not quite hitting the intermediate times. I have some work to do.

Worked on moving and reloading on the move and finished up with my "benchies." And wow, after pressing hard on the Stoeger drills I had the best times I've ever had on the "benchmark" stages. On my first drill my cold time was about 23 seconds and the second one I get done in around 14 seconds. After I was warmed up I nailed the first drill in 18 seconds a couple of time and 12 seconds a few times on the second drill. A personal best!

[saibot]

Woohoo! (12.12.13)

I just checked the USPSA website and see that I finally made B class!!! 60.73, so just by the skin of my teeth, but hey I'm there.

[OrigamiAK]

Woohoo! (12.12.13)

I just checked the USPSA website and see that I finally made B class!!! 60.73, so just by the skin of my teeth, but hey I'm there.

Congratulations!

[saibot]

Woohoo! (12.12.13)

I just checked the USPSA website and see that I finally made B class!!! 60.73, so just by the skin of my teeth, but hey I'm there.

Congratulations!

Thanks, OAK! You helped me get here as well as doing very well at shooting on the move at the IDPA match.

[saibot]

Dry fire (12.13.13)

Back to work! Speed mode. I started out with my usual "benchmark" stages which were a little better than typical cold. Then I spent about an hour on the Stoeger Close Target Drills. Just launching the gun at the target to try to make the intermediate times. Hat's off to anyone who can get the advanced times. Worked on the Reload Challenge a while and then shooting on the move. My sights weren't finding their place as well as they could have, but not the worse they've ever been. Finished up with the "benchmark" stages which never got much better than my cold times for some reason. I thought with all of the speed mode shooting I'd be way quicker but that wasn't the case. All day has been slower than usual today. I noticed my push-offs were not up to par this morning while swimming my laps and I guess it never got much better. Oh well. That's how it goes sometimes.

I might get some pistol practice in tomorrow, but we'll see. Tomorrow night the the annual Practical Rifle night match so most of the shooting tomorrow will be with the AR.

[saibot]

Live fire and Match (12.14.13)

Before the night match we headed over to a pistol bay and I tried a few of the 25 yard slow fire targets. Then we did a drill where you draw from sides and put 2 in the upper A zone, reload, then put 2 more in the upper A zone. I could clean it pretty handily in ~4.5 seconds and was hit and miss when pushing it. Best time of 3.7 seconds but found that my first shot seemed to be unreliable. The played with a new G26 for a little bit to see how it would work for a BUG match.

Then we headed over to the pit for the annual Practical Rife night match. I shot a 14.5 BCM with white light which worked pretty darn well for most things. There was a big screen that we had to shoot through once we ID'd the proper targets, but your flashlight would turn the screen white so you had to figure out the right angle to see what you needed to see so the timer just ate your lunch.

One stage I put a couple on a no shoot trying to get the fastest dropping target I've ever seen. I also got hosed by some bowling pins that were being used as activators that were super shot out. My 3000+ FPS FMJ's just kept going through them while the timer once again ate my lunch. Meh.

The last stage would have been a lot of fun but the fog rolled in and made it impossible to see anything and they wound up shutting down that stage. No points.

The night match is always a ton of fun and a great learning experience. It's really the one match I don't really care about placing well and just focus on getting the most out of it from a learning perspective. Makes me want to get to the Crimson Trace night match!

[saibot]

Dry fire (12.16.13)

Unfortunately I was just too tired to dry fire last night so I'm getting back to it tonight. Per my usual MO, I started out with my "benchmark" stages which were really pretty slow and just off tonight. I drilled the El Prez from Stoeger's book as well as the Close Far Close drills, which is one of my personal favorites. I really get a smooth draw without the sloppiness of moving too fast with that drill since you have to be razor sharp to make the headshot. I got it down to 2.20 with all clean, called shots, a personal best. I noticed that for me, the key to that drill is the draw. I have to pull the pistol strait up so it doesn't bind in the holster to my support and that is waiting just under my pec. If that goes well/smooth, the index is there and the drill time is nice and fast.

I practiced some reloads for a while and a fair amount of shooting on the move, one of the most perishable of the pistols skills, IMO. I finished up with the warm "benchmark" stages which were just off again, even warmed up. I think my swim and just a few hours of sleep have caught up with me.

So with that...off to sleep.