Specific And General Dry Fire Questions

[boo radley]

I've been working on a little bit of dry fire, lately, to change my grip from a "thumb-below" safety, to "thumb-riding," and I'm starting to get a very different appreciation for the value of dry fire, in general.

I mean, yeah, I know it's good for you, like flossing your teeth is good for you, but I'm starting to think its VERY good for ME, and could well replace a lot of live-fire practice.

I'm curious to know, in general: has anyone felt that dry fire routines alone, or overwhelmingly, were responsible for an increase in classification? I'm trying to assess the whole work/life/fun/need new range?/competitive nature/ paradigm.

Specifically -- how do y'all handle multiple "shots" on the dry fire target? "Fake" recoil, by lifting the sights (manually) off target? I'm thinking that's not such a hot idea....

Second -- there seem to be two ways I can transition between two targets, for example. (Maybe it's really one way?). Anyway -- I can swing in careful alignment, so that if a target were to appear out of thin air at any point in front of the pistol, index would be in perfect alignmnet, OR, I can zip to the next target as quickly as I can, without totally jerking, or over-correcting. The second method IS faster, but I'm wondering if always keeping a sight alignment is the better method *for practice?*

Thx -- just some idle questions before a holiday weekend.

[folsoml]

I thing dry fire has certainly helped me. Dry firing from the holster has taken my draw from about 1.4 to .97 seconds. I don't have accurate times on reloads, but I know they have drastically improved. Also, moving from station to station, and reloading on the move, has gotten better. All these little fractions of seconds add up. Additionally, when I 1st started competing, I noticed many of my shots went low and to the left. Dry firing while watching my front sight showed the sights dipping as I pulled the trigger. I now have practiced so they don't move as I pull the trigger.

[Jake Di Vita]

Dry fire is fantastic and an absolute requirement if you want to be good. I believe at the earlier stages of your shooting career about 80% of your practice should be dry fire (a coach would be great too).

I also think that looking for an increase in classification is potentially limiting your development through dry fire. Work on all aspects of your shooting...if as a by product you become an M or GM....fantastic....don't make that your overall goal (a big mistake that I made).

In dry fire there is no simulating recoil....we are trying to improve our overall technique and economy of motion, not use it as a substitute for live fire.

For your second question, the way I read it is that you are keeping your eyes on your sights through the arc of the transition. The reason this is bad to do in dry fire (other than the fact it is terribly slow and tedious) is because one: this isn't what you are going to be doing in live fire (I hope), and two: anything that you practice becomes a part of you. If you practice "shooting" sloppy points in dry fire and when it comes, live fire, that is exactly what you can expect on match day.

In dry fire it is incredibly important to call A's with every shot.

Also another thing....I firmly believe about half of your reps in dry fire should be done in slow motion as that is the absolute BEST way to refine your economy of motion.

[XRe]

Jake is so on the money that I don't even feel compelled to elaborate

Ok, maybe I'll add one little thing - your eyes will control where the gun goes and ends up. *Snap* your eyes to the next target - your body will follow and will be in alignment when it gets there, if you let it

[Pierruiggi]

I agree with Jake and Dave.

I for once believe that nearly ALL of my progress as a shooter came from dryfiring, both formal (with a plan and discipline) as well as informal (grab the gun everytime posible, like when watching TV, reading the forums, etc... You used to read "in the bathroom"? How about dryfiring there?).

When shooting, for me, there is no recoil. I don't regard the gun's recoil, it is physically and psychologically translated into sight lift.

And no, don't try to simulate recoil, you'll end up developing the subconscious movement of shoving the gun up in actual recoil, which no need to say, is bad.

No, don't try to ingrain a downwards shove either, let your sights dictate what you should do.

It is amazing the miriad of actions and thoughts that can occur in the short interval of the gun cycling.

[Steve Anderson]

Jake is right on the money...if you want some more help, you might check out my site and book. I went through exactly what you describe, and Jake and I both owe our rapid improvement to dry fire.

The whole point is to get connected to the gun, so that it feels like an extension of your body. Imagine drawing to a target and getting a perfect sight picture every time. Imagine your reloads just happening. Dry fire creates this environment, so all you have to do is shoot.

Good luck.

SA

[AWLAZS]

Steve in your book you don't use a lot of slow motion drills. How do you feel about them?

[Steve Anderson]

There is a little bit of slomo in there...not much

I did a lot of that in the beginning, and whenever I felt the need to break down a technique and really study it. It's a great thing to do when you you really want to understand a particular component.

Having said that, I'm not much of a studier...I'm more of an observer.

(I did learn a new reload trick today with the xd...I began starting the reload AS the 2nd "shot" fired and got much faster AND smoother reloads.)

Much of my work was done to get used to doing something at high speed. I knew that when I could do X in X, live fire times would not be far behind. I sought to get the body so accustomed to doing the basics that they just happened. It works.

SA