Do you dry fire full speed or slow and focus on each movement

[ElkChaser]

I am at a point where I dry fire on a regular basis and can see the progress however I was wondering is it better to practice full speed and even push the speed or take a down a notch and focus on making everything perfect I seem to dry fore at about 70-80% speed on occasion I try to push it but want some input 

[Rnlinebacker]

Steve Anderson takes about "speed mode" in dry fire where you're pushing hard BUT you have to be able to turn it off on match day. If not, 80% speed is more beneficial then reckless practice that consciously trains bad habits into the subconscious mind

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[wgj3]

Definitely some of both at different times and with different intentions... 

[ElkChaser]

Thanks it is all new to me try to change things up to keep it fun unfortunately I don’t get much live fire so have to make do 

[mauk517]

I think dry fire as fast as you can as long as the technique is correct.

You will learn a lot.

 

[Matt1911]

I start slow and speed up as I go. If I get to where I'm going too fast where I'm starting to make small mistakes, I'll go back to slow and work my way up faster again. 

[B585]

I am still pretty green and by no means an expert, but I have made numerous mistakes but learned from them so this what I wished I knew in the beginning.  My answer to your question is it depends on what your strengths and weaknesses are as well as how often you can live fire.  If you are super accurate but slow then I would push the speed more.  If accuracy is a significant issue for you (having multiple mystery Mikes at every match), then I would go at slower speeds and really work on the fundamentals.  You have to be able to have a Match Mode (Steve Anderson’s definition) as well as good grip and trigger press or you will never be able to excel in this sport.  I would try to do whatever possible to live fire at least once a week. That will allow you to ensure you are not training in bad habits.   This is especially important in the beginning. The live fire doesn’t have to be a lot of rounds, just enough to verify your dry fire routine is going to be feasible for you.

[stick]

If you read Anderson's and Stoeger's books they talk about doing repetitions slow to ingrain good habits and form, normal speed  and below your par time to push your speed.  Just make sure your technique and form are correct when you go faster.  Don't jeopardize poor technique for speed.

[ElkChaser]

That is what is was thinking my skill set is about average across the board I am comfortable with my gear and the game so think focusing on mastering the fundamentals is a good starting place for me and I am also working and picking up speed and being more efficient as I have noticed in my last few matches I have shot everything clean which I like to see as my focus has been in hits but think that tells me time to start pushing things a bit harder 

[HBurgSTi]

8 hours ago, stick said:

If you read Anderson's and Stoeger's books they talk about doing repetitions slow to ingrain good habits and form, normal speed  and below your par time to push your speed.  Just make sure your technique and form are correct when you go faster.  Don't jeopardize poor technique for speed.

I am by no means an expert, but his is how I look at it as well.  I take a start slow and work up in speed til I start making mistakes then slow back down...

[T-Free]

Rnlinebacker I forgot to turn off my speed mode at a steel challange match and it was a disaster!

[stick]

6 hours ago, HBurgSTi said:

I am by no means an expert, but his is how I look at it as well.  I take a start slow and work up in speed til I start making mistakes then slow back down...

Definitely the way to do it!  You'll never know how fast is too fast until you push yourself

Edited September 25, 2018 by stick

[jkrispies]

Better too slow with proper technique than too fast and sloppy.  Very often my dry fire is nothing more than having 2-4 targets on the wall and seeing the hits/sights through the trigger pull at speed.  This is actually my most important dry fire.  

 

When I’m not doing the vision building dryfire above, I’m doing array dryfire where my approach is something like this:

 

1. Create a measurable and repeatable shooting array (ie, 3 plates on your garage wall and a set shooting position) and dry fire it at partial speed to figure out proper form and work out kinks in the array.  THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: is that you are creating the array to practice a specific skill where you need work.  Examples of specific skills might be reaction to the buzzer, visual eye focus during the transition from one target to the next, transition speed variations based on target difficulty, movement from one shooting box to the next, etc.  While an array may offer a dozen things to practice, only pick one or two to concentrate on.  

2. Do it on a timer to establish a baseline par time.  The par time needs to be as REPEATABLY fast as you can go and absolutely no more.  If you can’t reliably repeat your par time, then that’s not your par time.  Do it as much as you can in the session to determine the proper par and get a good sense of what it feels like to shoot that par speed.  Be willing to experiment with technique to verify if one way might be better than another.  Finally settle on one technique with a well informed par.  Take notes.  Stop for the night.  

3. No par or timer, maybe a buzzer if you need it, but practice the crap out of the array.  Concentrate on proper technique at speed but don’t go any faster than what properly executed technique will allow. This should span several days, maybe even a full week.  If an a-ha moment occurs requiring a major technique modification then test it on the timer and adjust par accordingly... and restart #3. 

4.  Do it again with a par timer.  The time should improve.  If it’s not improving then you’re doing something wrong; figure it out if that’s the case and go back to #2.  

5. Repeat #3 and #4 until you get bored and move onto a new array, starting over fresh from #1.  BUT before you break down the array take notes on everything (array measurements, par times, etc) and rebuild and return to the array again eventually.  As you improve as a shooter, your par should improve even though you aren’t practicing that array specifically.  If not, it’s time to work on that specific skill set again.  

[NumberTwo]

Just listen to steve Anderson.  He seems to have a good grasp of dryfire lol

[MrPan]

I personally like to start slow with isolated movements first for a good 5 to 10 reps. Then slowly add more movement when i get "warm". 

 

For example ill break my draw down and start from compressed ready to first shot to work on that straight out press. Once i feel like i got good reps of that ill start holstered and do some slow draws then increase the speed gradually.

[inkballedtarget]

I start slow for a period of time (time v. reps is easier for me to track and keep consistent), and then do the drill in 1 min increments speeding up each increment. I also like the way ben's books break up the drills into micro drills.  

[Dranoel]

I do both. I plan out a course of fire on the basement wall with target pasters and set an order. Then I run through it slowly practicing the eye movement in the target transition and bringing the gun to my line of sight. Then I go through it again a little faster. Then again, faster. And I keep speeding up 'til I cannot call accurate shots and I go back to square one. Three cycles through it and change the course and do the the same thing. Using different color pasters you can also mark moving to a different position, mag changes and other elements you will run into at a match.

 

But the focus, for me, in dry firing is still the basic fundamentals. Stance, grip, trigger control, sights. I want to transition between targets with my eyes locking the center of the target first and when the sights arrive in my line of vision they are already aligned with no need to adjust or "look" the sights onto the target. If you have the fundamentals down this will be automatic whether transitioning from target to target or moving from position to position, mag changes or any other situation. Any time my pistol enters my line of sight to the target I want the sights aligned properly on the center of the target when it gets there. If I find I am having to adjust when the sights come into my line of sight then there is a problem with my grip and I need to identify it and correct it before I go any further.

[boudreux]

I never use par times until the end of my dry fire session. I focus on doing everything well at a slower speed and really all I focus on are the fundamentals (getting a good grip, draw, finding the dot, presentation to A zone, transitions and stopping where I want, reloads). I will gradually pick up speed on each drill as I do it over and over again. I will then do a few with a par time towards the end of the drill. I do the same with dry fire. For me, all the par times do is make me rush. 

[GunBugBit]

I have at least a couple modes/speeds for my dry fire and I suspect most shooters who dry fire do as well.

[DJD]

On 9/24/2018 at 7:16 PM, ElkChaser said:

Thanks it is all new to me try to change things up to keep it fun unfortunately I don’t get much live fire so have to make do 

I mainly focus on correct grip in dry fire.  I also work on my draw stroke and focus on fundamentals at 75-80% speed.  I do dot drills, bill drills, and reloads in dry fire.  Nothing in dry fire will replace recoil from live fire but I think it’ll make your range days better.  I hope this helps.

[ElkChaser]

I have seen the positive impact dry fire makes and try to practice the basics everyday and focus on one or two things per dry fire session 

[uewpew]

On 9/24/2018 at 6:29 PM, ElkChaser said:

I am at a point where I dry fire on a regular basis and can see the progress however I was wondering is it better to practice full speed and even push the speed or take a down a notch and focus on making everything perfect I seem to dry fore at about 70-80% speed on occasion I try to push it but want some input 

 

Slow down if the goal is learning/perfecting technique.  Speed up if the goal is getting faster...and speed up past your comfort zone.

[ElkChaser]

Thanks for all the input my dry fire routine is Really starting to come together

[tdp88]

I do around half and half match pace and 100% in dry fire. The only time I really slow down is if I’ve noticed that I’m getting sloppy with something in live fire, or if I’m looking at changing something up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk