How often do you practice? What class are you?

[GunBugBit]

Initially classified as D, have only been competing 3 months. I dry-fire almost every day varying from 20 minutes to 2 hours, and I shoot every match I can. It is great fun tracking my improvement.

[a matt]

I'll confess, my 9 or so months of training I have seen gains. That just really shows how bad I was/am but I made B in limited then in Open. But B seems to about the extent of what I know. So I'm gonna get some help. I'm taking a 3 day class with Max plus shooting a 9 stage level 2 match with him. Its not cheap but it will be worth it. I would just burn the money shooting and not learning so I figure go find the best I can, then pay him to show me what I need to learn, how to practice and tell me what I need to do to get better now and down the road. I'll post a little after I go back to school. Lol. Cheers.

[hops]

I have been shooting for just over 2 years. I shoot as many matches as possible, but usually average 2 a month. Dry fire is sporadic. I might not do it for weeks at a time then start doing it once or twice a day for a month or longer. I get at least one practice session a week in. Usually around 300 rounds. In the spring I probably shoot about a thousand rounds a week in practice.

My practice sessions are pretty structured. I will work on 2-4 goals each session. Sometimes they are speed related, sometimes accuracy related. Sometimes both.

I shot production for 14 months and made A on my 1 year anniversary. Then I switched to SS and would have made Master on my 2 year anniversary but they did not use three classifiers because they were deemed invalid and too high. I spoke with USPSA and they validated them, but some were not used anyway. But I had another couple of 95% and another 100% so I made it at 2 years 1 month.

I am focusing hard on Master for production and GM for SS right now. Not too far from either of those goals.

I also have a pretty good physical training process I follow. That has really helped especially with my movement. I am much faster and more explosive than I was before. Not yet where I want to be, but making gains each week.

[S&W686]

In IDPA I am a three gun expert working on Master!! I started shooting USPSA last year and I am B in Limited, B in Production, and C in Open. I have only four classifiers in Open so far and should be B shortly. At my local club we shoot two IDPA and two USPSA matches each month. During the week before each match I will practice with the gun I will be using in the weekend match at least once during the week before. Shooting around 200-300 rounds. I use to shoot only stages, but now I work more on fundamentals like strong hand weak hand, draw, movement in the stage, getting first round on target faster, and other weak areas. I do setup a stage and shoot a couple of rounds after working on fundamentals. When I first starting shooting IDPA I did not see much improvement until I joined my local gun range and started practicing shooting stages. I went from Marksman to Expert in three divisions in a one year period. Practice does make a difference.

[MRevolutionIX]

I shoot at least two matches a month, dry fire every night for at least 20 minutes and don't live fire practice on a regular basis. I can count on both hands the number of times I've actually gone out a live fire practiced in the 5 years I've been shooting USPSA. I hold a GM classification in production and am working towards it in limited.

[doc88]

Ok, so some practice a lot and some a little. Some lean toward dry fire some toward live fire. Some make A, M and GM with minimal practice and some struggle at the D, C and B level. Some practice a lot to make M and GM and some practice a little and stay at D, C and B. My question is how much live fire/dry fire do the the consistently winning GM's do such as Max, Nils, Stoeger, Sevigney, Tilly, Graffel, etc ? And how much practice and how long did it take them to get there? I understand also that there are different learning curves, natural abilities or whatever for different people, but it is still interesting to know what these guys do to get and stay where they are.

Edited October 18, 2015 by doc88

[waktasz]

I know Ben still dry fires a lot but he also shoots a lot too. Graufel has said he doesn't dry fire at all. Easy to do when you have a major ammo manufacturer as a sponsor. I bet Max is shooting a ton too but that's just a guess.

[MilkMyDuds]

Dry-fire daily 30-45 min. Live fire 1 - 3 times per week depending on my work schedule. From handgun newbie to MA in SSP and ESP it took me 12 months exactly. Have not shot USPSA but looking forward to it.

[GunBugBit]

More live fire practice, less dry fire lately. Maintaining the 6 match per month routine. Still improving. Closing in on 'B' in Steel Challenge, still 'C' in USPSA, the club's informal classification "system" has me as an 'A'.