Par Time Useful For Practice?

[ErikW]

Whaddayall think of using a par time on your timer when practicing Steel Challenge stages?

[Jake Di Vita]

I'm not sure I see the point to it?

[AikiDale]

I think the timer with a par setting helped me get from a 1.5 to .85 draw. I should think it would be just as helpful on steel.

[Flexmoney]

Sure. Why not.

I know that BE talked about (in the book) a drill he and TGO used to do. They picked there PAR time for a drill...and tried to get as close as possible...without going faster?

[shred]

Par times are good for practicing steel if you are trying to figure out what you need to see and do to make a certain overall score and be consistent about it. Pars can also be useful in breaking down stages like Outer Limits.

[ErikW]

Consistency, that's exactly what I'm looking for. I can hit a 4.25 Outer Limits or a 5.05. I want to find a repeatable medium.

[Jake Di Vita]

I don't necessarily see where having a par time would make you more consistent on steel challenge stages? If anything it seems to be that in trying to beat a par time you would end up being less consistent.

Seems to me consistency in these types of stages come from shooting them hundreds or thousands of times a piece.

[spook]

I love par times. Instead of practicing just getting faster all the time, with the par time you can practice being relaxed all the time. The time is fixed, so to learn something, you'll have to experiment with different feelings. See how relaxed and consistent you can get while still beating the par.

[Flexmoney]

Jake,

Try looking at it without the idea of beating the PAR time.

Perhaps...set a comfortable time and see what you experience as you fill the time up.

Or, like BE & TGO's Break Out Game [page 176]

[Jake Di Vita]

I think I see where you are coming from now...

Who knows, I'm probably not experienced enough to fully realize it.

I think it could be useful if it was done with the proper intent?

[shred]

Flex has it right-- every time I've used par for SC practice, the goal is not to beat the par time, but to shoot right at it. Thus you can quickly learn what you need to do and see on the targets to make a nice consistent time. Every extra shot is another place down the final results, so consistency is key.

SC is cool this way; you can do a few runs on each stage to get a baseline and a desired total time and work on the stages separately.

[BigDave]

I think Par times are especially usefull for developing one's internal clock. I think where some less experienced shooters often stumble is that they don't have (1) a concept of what say 3.5 seconds is and (2) what they can do shooting wise in that time period. Not knowing these things can lead to poor technique when actually put into those situations. Having shot AP/Bianchi for the last 3 years, I have developed a pretty good internal clock. The past two weeks at a local practice session we've run a stage with 3-4 targets, and a couple pieces of steel with a 3.5 Fixed time. One thing that is not going through my mind at LAMR is "how long, exactly, is 3.5 seconds?". I like that.

YMMV

[ErikW]

I gave it a try today after my CED6000 wouldn't register times. The start beep and par time end beep worked, so I set it to 3.3 and went to work at Five to Go with my Limited gun.

I like it. It's what I need, because I have a big difference between my best times and "solid" times but not a big difference in what I am doing to acheive them. So I'm trying to lock in to consistent, solid times.

The main problem was when I would make a mistake early, I would try to rush to beat the par time, which is impossible. For example, I'd grab a handful of beavertail/hammer on the draw, and then it's all over.