Pre-Match Dry Fire

[Smitty79]

I've been shooting USPSA a little over a year. I usually dry fire a few DA and SA shots and do a smooth draw or 2, at the safety table, before the match starts.

When doing my dry fire drills this morning, I was thinking that doing a dry fire routine that emphasized the skills I am working on (Mainly stand and shoot stuff) before heading to the match would be a good preparation. I would try to run these drills in "Match Mode". That is to say as fast as I can properly see the sights, not as fast as I can move.

I am not a member of the club where the USPSA matches are held, so I can't just go off in an unused bay and warm up live.

What do you all think of this?

[Nimitz]

While you can certainly do that I'm not sure there is tremendous value in it. After gearing up I just go to a safe table and do half a dozen draws, half a dozen reloads with empty mags and maybe a few table stars or unloaded starts or weak hand transfers if those are in any of the stages and call it good.

I think your time prior to a match would be much better spent getting to the match early and walking the stages and developing solid plans. I always get to the match an hr early so once the match starts when I arrive at a stage I'm ready to go with a solid plan ....

Edited November 21, 2014 by Nimitz

[Smitty79]

Thanks for your feedback Nimitz. I think I'm just a little ahead of you in age and reading your range diary has been very helpful.

[Nimitz]

Hard to believe anyone is older than me ....

I see a lot of people who shoot a lot of matches but don't train very often .... I believe that's exactly the opposite of what you should be doing if you are actually serious about getting better. I think 3-4 training sessions for every match you shoot is about the right ratio

[Smitty79]

There's lots of us old farts at the match I just shot.

I totally bombed the classifier today. It was Area 5 Standards. More than half of the Production shooters had sub zero hit factors. It was the first time in my lift I've shot a pistol beyond 35 yds.

I'm going to shoot one more match between now The end of January. Until then live fire practice once a week and dry fire at least 4 times a week.

Edited November 22, 2014 by Smitty79

[rowdyb]

If you are the type to get nervous, I think dry firing at your house before you leave for the match can be calming. Once at the match, not so much.

[Smitty79]

If you are the type to get nervous, I think dry firing at your house before you leave for the match can be calming. Once at the match, not so much.

That's the plan

[sundevil827]

Why not before you leave for a match?

I used to skip doing that, and really struggled on my first stage or couple of stages at a match, what I could do from a safe table was nice, but not enough for me to really feel like I had my game together. It did not take much, about 15 minutes, but that was enough for me to have my sights, and the feeling of them fresh in my mind for a match. Now it's just a part of my regular routine, and I can't imagine going to shoot without doing that.

The only thing I wish I could replicate on a first stage is having a few moments looking at my sights with the same sun as my first stage, but that's something that ends up even for everyone.

[rowdyb]

I've been known to set up stages for the match at home (if they are published ahead of time) and dry fire the whole match a few times in the garage before i even leave for the match.

if they aren't published i have a pretty good idea of what is at almost any match and will just do that.

again, do it at home to be calm and centered. once at the match i don't do anything till it's GO time. once on location at the range/match for me it is all about breathing, muscle relaxation and mental imagery.

Edited November 24, 2014 by rowdyb

[motosapiens]

I have noticed a significant difference in performance at steel challenge if I spend 5 mins or so doing dryfire at home (using my white cardboard 'steel' targets). The most important component seems to be warming up my eyes to see the sights well. For uspsa local matches, I'm not sure it's as helpful because I get there 90 mins before the match to help set up, so I pretty much need to warm up again at the safe table. For major matches that are already set up, I always do 10 mins or of dryfire. It doesn't seem to help (and my hurt) if I use the timer or try to be aggressive in my speed, so often I just go untimed, and let it happen at match speed and with a match sight picture.

[jetdriver71]

I shot the South Carolina state match 3 years ago and arrived at the match early and walked the stages. After that I started my mental prep by doing 10 draws. 10 reloads and reloads off the table. Shot my first stage and scored 3rd place behind Chris Tilley in open division ( I was a B class shooter.). I learned that that is what I needed to do to shoot well. So do what you think helps you to prepare for the match and stick with it.

[Fuelie777]

I know l am a slow starter. Do not shoot enough. When I played golf, a brief warm up would good. It would help me if there was a plate rack or just standing steel for a brief warm up. That would be helpful to me, besides before you get to the match dry fire & at the safe table.

[Cobra99]

Hard to believe anyone is older than me ....

I see a lot of people who shoot a lot of matches but don't train very often .... I believe that's exactly the opposite of what you should be doing if you are actually serious about getting better. I think 3-4 training sessions for every match you shoot is about the right ratio

Nimitz,

Totally agree. You can get much more shooting in during practice and you can work on the weak areas. I think that takes the fun out of it for the "normal" shooter, but who's normal on here. Matches are great for testing your mental preparation and match breakdown skills.

Pat

[Steve Moneypenny]

I always like to get the muscles warmed up and stretched out.. just until i feel loose and smooth, not over doing it... and not 3 hours before i shoot. usually within an hour of first shot.