Why is Grauffel so good?

[boudreux]

I've been watching a lot of videos from liveshots.net from the worlds the last few days. Its hard to tell by watching videos what makes Grauffel so good but it seems lately that if he is shooting, everybody else is playing chase. He doesn't look like he's moving faster than the other shooters and obviously we can't see hits on video. It would be nice to see a breakdown of the stages with times and hits per shooter, that would probably help me compare him to other shooters a little better. I know he shoots a tangfo but is it a stock II?

[emjei]

He shoots 250,000 rounds a year....just for practice

[boudreux]

i was wondering how many rounds he shot. I've read several interviews with him but never could find out a number. I would've guessed around 50-60k but never would've thought that many.

Edited October 19, 2014 by boudreux

[dskd]

and very really make a mistake

[emjei]

Watch "Team Armscor Eric Graufell Interview" on YouTube

Team Armscor Eric Graufell Interview:

[emjei]

Watch "Beyond the Range - SHOT Show 2014" on YouTube

Beyond the Range - SHOT Show 2014:

[emjei]

^^^ 250,000 rounds a year ^^^^

[theKenny]

Pick 2 shooters for comparison

http://www.makeready.ru/performance/blank/ipsc-world-shoot-wsxvii-2014-06-10-2014

[boudreux]

Unbelievable to think somebody could shoot that in a year.

Edited October 19, 2014 by boudreux

[boudreux]

Pick 2 shooters for comparison

http://www.makeready.ru/performance/blank/ipsc-world-shoot-wsxvii-2014-06-10-2014

Thanks, that's what I wanted to see. Its amazing how a few C's here and there plus a few extra seconds over 30 stages can be the difference between 1st or 20th.

[Neomet]

..... and the days he isn't shooting he is doing physical training.

[CHA-LEE]

Unbelievable to think somebody could shoot that in a year.

Shooting 250K a year isn't that crazy of a number when you consider that his full time job is to shoot and compete in matches. If you have someone else paying for and loading all of the ammo for you and all you have to do is go to the range and shoot it, consuming massive amounts of ammo becomes a lot easier.

The thing I find amazing is how Eric can shoot THAT MUCH and still not get burned out on doing it day after day, year after year. That to me is the more important fact to take notice of. He is the best in the world because he maintains a high level of dedication to do whatever it takes to be the best in the world.

Weekend warriors don't stand a chance against that level of commitment.

[emjei]

That's a very good point ^^^

Not getting bored or even taking a break its known from him......does he even has a family ??

[boudreux]

Unbelievable to think somebody could shoot that in a year.

Shooting 250K a year isn't that crazy of a number when you consider that his full time job is to shoot and compete in matches. If you have someone else paying for and loading all of the ammo for you and all you have to do is go to the range and shoot it, consuming massive amounts of ammo becomes a lot easier.

The thing I find amazing is how Eric can shoot THAT MUCH and still not get burned out on doing it day after day, year after year. That to me is the more important fact to take notice of. He is the best in the world because he maintains a high level of dedication to do whatever it takes to be the best in the world.

Weekend warriors don't stand a chance against that level of commitment.

I agree. I can imagine that if I was given that amount of ammo at no cost to me and that's all I had to do all day long, I could shoot that much. Like you said though, to do it day in and day out, year to year, takes one heck of a commitment .

[amish_rabbi]

Actually Eric loads all his own ammo, on a pair of 1050s no less, and he didnt have bullet feeders till a couple years ago.

[Hi-Power Jack]

He shoots 250,000 rounds a year....just for practice

That is $30 - 40,000/year, just for ammo

I imagine he must have at least two, if not 3-6, matched

pistols that always need new parts. He must burn up

at least five guns/year = $25,000/year for guns.

And shooting 700 rounds every day, or 1,000 rounds five

days/week, has to be difficult, physically as well as

mentally.

When I took a course with Max Michel 8-9 years ago, he

said he shot fewer than 25,000 rounds/year - PLUS a lot

of dry fire.

Hasn't Eric ever heard of DRY fire?

[Prov1x]

There is also a good interview with him on one of the internet broadcasting shows. Or whatever they're called. I believe it's http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D80pNPjHnYQ

[emjei]

Eric is been a World Champion since before the Dry Fire was invented. .... lol

[MarkCO]

Total dedication to perfection of all aspects of his performance. I have no doubt that there are others who, given the same dedication and support could compete at or above his level. It is also like asking why is Peyton Manning or Kershaw or Jordan or Johnson...so good. Difference is, there is really no one in the US that has enjoyed the same support in terms of being able, from a young age, to give 100% to the development of the skills and passion he has had.

Edited October 19, 2014 by MarkCO

[emjei]

Lets not forget that Maria Gushchina is on the same path...... Frank Garcia told me her funds for trainning were unlimited

Edited October 19, 2014 by emjei

[RangerTrace]

Unbelievable to think somebody could shoot that in a year.

Shooting 250K a year isn't that crazy of a number when you consider that his full time job is to shoot and compete in matches. If you have someone else paying for and loading all of the ammo for you and all you have to do is go to the range and shoot it, consuming massive amounts of ammo becomes a lot easier.

The thing I find amazing is how Eric can shoot THAT MUCH and still not get burned out on doing it day after day, year after year. That to me is the more important fact to take notice of. He is the best in the world because he maintains a high level of dedication to do whatever it takes to be the best in the world.

Weekend warriors don't stand a chance against that level of commitment.

There has never been a more accurate statement.

[bonglee0507]

He ain't human

Sent from my iPad Air using Tapatalk HD

[beltjones]

Eric hasn't shot 250K rounds in a year until maybe this year. In the past it has been between 100K and 150K. He told me this at SHOT Show this year. Why did he say he was going to shoot 250K rounds in that video above? I have a funny story about that.

Brandon DuBois and I were at SHOT, and we ran across a booth with Kim Rhode, the Olympic Shotgun 5 time medal winner. We spoke to her a bit and got to play with her 3 gold medals. It was cool. We started talking to her about training, and she said she shoots about 300K rounds per year in training. That's a 12 gauge shotgun, folks!

Anyway, we were in shock that someone could shoot that much, but we had an interview with Eric and JJ at the armscor booth we had to get to, so we bid her a polite farewell. We arrived at the booth and did the interviews, and afterward we were just chatting with Eric and JJ, who are both really nice guys. Still in awe of Kim's training regimen, I told them about her 300k rounds/year training schedule. They were as amazed as we were. JJ made a comment about his hands possibly not holding up if he shot that much, and Eric started to ponder it. He said he thought it could be done.

Later in the show they shot the video above, where Eric made the declaration about the 250K rounds. I don't know if he actually shot that many rounds, but I maintain that he got the idea to up his training volume from Kim Rhode via Brandon and me.

Also a funny story: At Nationals in 2012 I was sitting at awards with Eric, JJ, Ben, Hoppy, Mink, Adam Tyc, and a few others. I asked Adam about how many rounds he shot back when he was competing, and he said about 150K per year. When my face dropped he reassured me that one could still get an ok result with as few as 50K rounds per year. Heh, just 50K rounds...

[Braxton1]

On top of the aforementioned reasons, there are a few more things to consider:

The fact that he trains "over-center" is a big thing. Where you or I may go out and set up an El Presidente and shoot it until we get sick of it, Eric is known for doing that while painting hard cover on 2/3 of the target. Train for difficult, then "regular" is easy.

Eric also had a very supportive father when he was first starting. And his father was intolerant of inaccuracy. Every time that he dropped a shot in practice, it cost him. A little ammo would be taken away so that the practice session would be short-lived if he wasn't on his game.

And finally, he shoots IPSC, not USPSA. IPSC, as a whole, is more about the shooting challenge, not a track-and-field event. There's usually more hard cover, more awkward positions, and more distance in IPSC, especially on the local match level.

[beltjones]

Unbelievable to think somebody could shoot that in a year.

Shooting 250K a year isn't that crazy of a number when you consider that his full time job is to shoot and compete in matches. If you have someone else paying for and loading all of the ammo for you and all you have to do is go to the range and shoot it, consuming massive amounts of ammo becomes a lot easier.

The thing I find amazing is how Eric can shoot THAT MUCH and still not get burned out on doing it day after day, year after year. That to me is the more important fact to take notice of. He is the best in the world because he maintains a high level of dedication to do whatever it takes to be the best in the world.

Weekend warriors don't stand a chance against that level of commitment.

I asked him about that, too, and his answer was that he just loves shooting.

My hunch is that it's not a competitive drive that keeps him at the top, because frankly if it were he would burn out or get bored because no one can challenge him.