How often do you practice? What class are you?

[MC1]

Ok... Ben Stoeger started a thread I was reading about how much do you practice. I see a lot of people practice a lot. It got me to thinking about things. What i'd like to know is how good are you shooters that practice a lot. How much do you practice and what Class are you?

I know we can all improve with practice, but are there a bunch of M or GM's out there that don't practice?

[a matt]

I doubt folks will want to say they practiced a lot but are only C or B class, lol. I know I was doing it wrong but didn't know how to fix it for a while. I shoot 2 days a week easy, dry fire regularly I'm B in Limited C open. I'll get in B open by next match. I started taking thing more serious end of last year and the beginning of this one. So a little time will tell... Cheers

[Sarge]

Very little. B Open

[crotchThrower]

Every match is my practice for the next one. I try to dry fire in my basement when no one is around... Just in case a brain fart gets the best of me, I don't want that to turn into tragedy. ... What I usually do is I tried to start slow to allow for my brain to adjust to the sound and recoil.. ... But I am just a B shooter in Open and Limited-10 ... Trying to make A in open this year... Although I should say Open 10, for those of us behind the wall, the communist side of country. ... yep, the cold war is over and we lost.

Edited February 2, 2015 by crotchThrower

[b1gcountry]

I try to practice 3x week in basement, live fire 300rds/week, and shot 2 matches per month. I am a hair away from being in uspsa c class, but I train mostly for steel plates, and gssf.

The time I spend reloading usually comes out of my du fire time though.

[Ultimo-Hombre]

another way to look at this would be "how much practice did it take to advance your shooting performance?"

I look at shooting proficiency somewhat like fitness. It is a matter of momentum. If you are totally out of shape it takes a long time of hard effort to see results. Once you achieve a certain level, that can be maintained with less effort. Those who reach hi levels can often maintain, albeit on a slightly lower level, with a training schedule that seems disproportionatly easy.

Not saying this to be know it all douchenozzle, it's just not possible to accurately answer the question as posed for some dudes.... M class, but practice mabey once a month just seems like a lame answer.

Edited February 4, 2015 by Ultimo-Hombre

[AWLAZS]

I practice every day 500 +- a week.

[Racinready300ex]

I started in IDPA, and switched to USPSA Revolver division for one year and made it to 84%. Dry fire everyday, live fire about 100-150 per week in the summer and 1 match a month. Shot 80-87% of GM's at Majors.

Switched to open (glock) for about 3 months at the end of last season. Very little live fire, with daily dry fire. Currently classified at 70%. Shot one level 2 match, at 72% of top GM, probably would of been around 80% if the gun didn't jam twice. This year I hope to get the kinks worked out on the gun/Load and make M.

[Kali]

Probably not as much as I should. Got to GM dry firing 30 min a day, 4 days a week, live fire practice maybe once every two weeks, and shot local matches every weekend, sometimes 2 per weekend. Started cutting back on locals for more live fire practice this year but I'm not sure its any better than just shooting the matches.

Edited February 4, 2015 by Kali

[motosapiens]

Just made A a few months ago, after less than a year in B. Targeting M this year. I dryfire just about every day 30-60 mins. It's pretty easy to do in the winter, and gives me an excuse to stay away from beer until I'm done with practice.

No kids and I'm not addicted to TV or facebook, so I probably have more free time than normal americans.

I think it's important to note that it's easy to just be going through the motions in dry-fire, and not really accomplishing anything, especially if you focus too much on the par time and not enough on your front sight. I think the last 8 months or so my dry fire has been much more effective than it was previously. If i'm slower than GM goal times, big deal, as long as I am seeing the sights. In most sessions I do at least a little bit of bumping the par time down so it's out of my comfort zone. I don't always see the sights perfectly then, but it's how I push to get a bit faster.

Also it helps that I *like* practicing stuff and getting better. I enjoy the process of improvement, whether it's on a dirtbike, snowboard, playing hockey, shooting, or whatever. I don't know how people get good that don't like to practice.

Edited February 4, 2015 by motosapiens

[al503]

A open, B limited:

Live fire practice (anywhere from 200-350 rounds per session) about 6 times a year. About 6 local matches per year. No dry fire.

[mgardner]

I dry fire practice daily. No live fire practice at all. I am B class in Limited, Limited 10, Single stack and Production. I crowd 75% occasionally and am retiring more and working less as of June so I will have time to practice live fire and may have a chance at A. My last two classifiers in Limited were 78% and 86% so there is hope.

[RJH]

I use the first stage of a match for practice. I actually almost never practice, A in SS, B in everything else. Shot for a long time, stayed in B, switched to a real gun, Made A. PS SS classifier times are just about the same as Limited. So defiantly the arrow not the Indian in my case. My 1911 came with an A card, and I usually shoot minor.

[deerassassin22]

another way to look at this would be "how much practice did it take to advance your shooting performance?"

I look at shooting proficiency somewhat like fitness. It is a matter of momentum. If you are totally out of shape it takes a long time of hard effort to see results. Once you achieve a certain level, that can be maintained with less effort. Those who reach hi levels can often maintain, albeit on a slightly lower level, with a training schedule that seems disproportionatly easy.

Not saying this to be know it all douchenozzle, it's just not possible to accurately answer the question as posed for some dudes.... M class, but practice mabey once a month just seems like a lame answer.

LOL I stopped reading he said "Douchenozzle" LMFAO

[g17drumr]

started last February initial classification 43% barely a C. made B in October. I don't really dry fire how you're supposed to i'll just sit around a couple times a week and aim at the wall and work on trigger control for like 15 minutes. I have been shooting 3 matches a month for the past couple months hopefully 4 a month soon. most of last year was only 2 a month. I get a chance for live fire practice once every month if im lucky usually its just once every two months. live fire is usually 200-300 rounds. last time I went I shot almost 400 rounds and was there for like 7 hours but we shot rifles for a while too. i'm still noticing improvements even though I don't get much practice other than matches but im sure more regular practice would greatly reduce improvement time. im taking a class with ben stoeger soon and hopefully that will teach me a lot as well as motivate me to dry fire. I really want to make A class this year

[MGMorden]

I shoot at least 1 match per month. Probably about half the time I'll do 2 per month and every so often 3 per month. Practice outside of matches - not nearly enough - if I'm being honest I make it to the range outside of a match about once every 6 weeks or so.

Started shooting USPSA about 3.5 years ago. Initial classification was D. Took about 3-4 more months to move to C. Just recently classified B. I'm really hoping to up my practice and get A within the next 2 years.

Edited February 13, 2015 by MGMorden

[sundevil827]

I'll start by saying that I'm not that good.....

I was a late starter, never touched a gun until I was 39 (perils of living in suburban Illinois) so my first year shooting I was a "D" class shooter. I bought the Stoeger books, I did tons of dryfire, and I got no better. My issue was that I did not really have a plan, I did not understand what, and how to practice. November of '13 a local GM took the time to start teaching me, figuring that I'd spent a year of struggling, and getting over the anxiety of shooting at all. He taught me how to practice, and in 5 months I went from about a 27% "D" shooter, to earning my "B" card at just over 60% in Production. It was a whirlwind second half of the year that saw me moving to Texas after spending my whole life in Illinois, and all the changes associated with that, but I'm sitting at about 72% today.

When I made the big jump I was shooting about 200-250 rounds a week in practice, and a bi-weekly match. I was also dry firing for 30 minutes a day 5 days a week.

I got out of that routine when I moved, and only started getting back into it again this month. I had so many basic flaws the jump from D to B was "easy". I realize now that I won't see as big jumps, nor as fast. That was about learning good fundamentals, the gain from here on out I expect to incremental as I have to refine fundamentals, and improve other things like stage planning that really don't come into play on classifiers.

My original goals were to earn my "A" and get competitive in the class this year, with the intent of earning an "M" by the end of the year. Plans change though, and I instead decided that for the 2015 season I really wanted to try something new, to breathe some extra life into the sport post-move, (It was easier to practice when I had a couple of great practice partners, and to stay motivated) so this year I'll compete in Limited.

[MarkCO]

On pistol, I probably had 2k rounds of practice and about 5 hours of dry fire in prior to August of last year, that over about 20 years of various pistol competition. Made A in Limited and Production that way and realized M was not going to happen without some practice. I have about 40 hours of pistol focused practice in over the last 4 months.

[Canine582]

11 mins. from the range = once a week 200+ rounds /9mm and .45

2 matches a month, IDPA

Retired, priceless

[caspian guy]

M open almost never practice shoot 3 to 4 locals per month.

However... when I started out I took some classes with a very good local shooter and did practice a fair bit on the way from D to B. After that I lost the taste for practice and decided i'd just go to matches and enjoy the shooting and not really worry about the outcome which is to say that so long as I was satisfied with the way I shot, the final outcome wasn't terribly important.

I'll still occasionally practice a bit if I change divisions the last bout of that was when my friend Hopolong taught me to shoot a revolver...

[rowdyb]

One match a week, sometimes two. Dry fire 3 times a week, but for only about 20 minutes a time. Live fire practice 3 times a week as well, never plinking but actually practicing.

I shot idpa only for two years. Been shooting uspsa now for 6 months.

If you include physical fitness training, vision and hand eye coordination training on top of the shooting training I probably train/practice two hours a day, 5 days a week with two matches during the week. Sundays almost always totally off, or making ammo.

I have very little natural talent, so it takes me a lot of hard work all the time just to do what others seem to be able to do "off the couch" with no effort.

Edited February 21, 2015 by rowdyb

[TonytheTiger]

I feel you on that last paragraph rowdyb. Glad to know I'm not the only one.

[waktasz]

A few years back I was not practicing at all. About 3 years ago I joined a club where I could go shoot whenever I wanted. I would go every month or two and shoot some groups or maybe even shoot "fast" then leave. I would shoot a match every weekend but hardly any practice. I would dryfire some the night before matches to "warm up"...sometimes. Made M in 2013 following this "plan" but did not show any improvement after that for a long time. I started doing live fire practice twice a week this summer and made GM in what felt like fairly quickly after that. Now in the winter it's hard to keep up the twice a week schedule but I am pushing myself to dryfire more.

I saw this picture posted on a FB group and really liked the idea so I got a white board. The goal is for there to be as many check marks as days in the month, every month.

[kneelingatlas]

Very little. B Open

Me too. I know Rowdy in real life and take it from me: the guy is an animal! If you want to train, you should subscribe to his YouTube channel.

[briansdevillier]

4 matches a month. 2 uspsa open major. 2 idpa. Practice 2x per month 6 hours about 2000 rds