Made a dryfire stage at home...

[Jcgatus]

I got tired of dryfiring my draws, reloads, etc. And i was itching to go shoot a match but schedule did not permit it with daddy duties taking priority. So instead, i took some leftover scrap and made a stage at home! 

 

Its not the real thing but its definitely showing my weaknesses. I also have my wife and kid create the stage and rearrange the targets  for me so I can practice mental preps. 

 

 

 

 

[stick]

The different target size was a good idea to simulate different distances.  The wife did a good job setting up the stage for you.

[Jcgatus]

8 minutes ago, stick said:

The different target size was a good idea to simulate different distances.  The wife did a good job setting up the stage for you.

Thank you! 

[ngodwetrust21]

Great way to practice!

[jsoupene]

Great idea! I have found that breaking down the skills into as small as steps as possible and then practicing them individually is where I see the most improvement BUT boy does it get boring. This would also give you a way to kind of bench mark yourself doing multiple should over time. I also am going to try out your idea of having your family mix things up for you.  

[Jcgatus]

On 11/18/2018 at 9:11 AM, ngodwetrust21 said:

Great way to practice!

Its a good mix from the dryfire routine for sure!

[Jcgatus]

1 hour ago, jsoupene said:

Great idea! I have found that breaking down the skills into as small as steps as possible and then practicing them individually is where I see the most improvement BUT boy does it get boring. This would also give you a way to kind of bench mark yourself doing multiple should over time. I also am going to try out your idea of having your family mix things up for you.  

Thank you! Stage planning was one of my biggest weaknesses, especially if i went first.

 

What percentage would yall say stage planning covers out of the entire thing? I say 40

[MemphisMechanic]

2 hours ago, Jcgatus said:

What percentage would yall say stage planning covers out of the entire thing? I say 40

 

It depends how you are thinking about it:

 

Occasionally there are huge shortcuts possible: skipping an entire position everyone else is using by taking targets from somewhere else, or something like that. But those are rare.

 

Normally, you have two or three ways to shoot a stage which are all going to be within a second of each other. Even at the nationals on the super squad, people shoots some stages in very different ways.

 

Most of the time, choosing the “best” plan isn’t super important. What is important is how well you execute your plan.

 

So if you learn to visualize your plan over and over until you can walk up to the line and perform it smoothly and agressively with no wasted time? You’ll do well. Your goal is to have no hesitation or forgetfulness on match day.

 

A perfect plan executed marginally will always lose to a marginal plan executed perfectly.

 

Edited November 23, 2018 by MemphisMechanic

[jsoupene]

5 hours ago, MemphisMechanic said:

 

It depends how you are thinking about it:

 

Occasionally there are huge shortcuts possible: skipping an entire position everyone else is using by taking targets from somewhere else, or something like that. But those are rare.

 

Normally, you have two or three ways to shoot a stage which are all going to be within a second of each other. Even at the nationals on the super squad, people shoots some stages in very different ways.

 

Most of the time, choosing the “best” plan isn’t super important. What is important is how well you execute your plan.

 

So if you learn to visualize your plan over and over until you can walk up to the line and perform it smoothly and agressively with no wasted time? You’ll do well. Your goal is to have no hesitation or forgetfulness on match day.

 

A perfect plan executed marginally will always lose to a marginal plan executed perfectly.

 

As soon as I started CONSISTENTLY doing the visualization that he is talking about above then I drastically improved. Visualizing the stage over and over and over was probably the simplest and easiest thing for me to do that gave me the most return on my investment.....or as the say,  it was the lowest hanging fruit.

 

I also have to be cautious about changing my stage plan right before I shoot when the guy before me finds a more efficient way to run the stage. I am better off sticking to my original plan because I have committed it to memory by now and it's too late to visualize this new plan over and over and over. 

[Jcgatus]

Thanks for those tips. I got a lot of work to do!

[Bunmaster]

Be sure to put chuncky gravel and spent brass all over the floor to simulate range conditions.

[Jcgatus]

1 hour ago, Bunmaster said:

Be sure to put chuncky gravel and spent brass all over the floor to simulate range conditions.

Haha, closest thing i got are legos 

[Hi-Power Jack]

1 hour ago, Bunmaster said:

Be sure to put chunky gravel and spent brass all over the floor to simulate range conditions.

 

No, in Florida, it needs  lots of sand.      

[allamericanbp]

5 hours ago, Jcgatus said:

Haha, closest thing i got are legos 

Awesome! Same here. 

[DJD]

Now that’s thinking outside the box!  That’s a good way to change up a dryfire routine from single position drills and incorporate movement.

[Jcgatus]

8 hours ago, DJD said:

Now that’s thinking outside the box!  That’s a good way to change up a dryfire routine from single position drills and incorporate movement.

Thank you

[Sneexies]

I'm pretty damn jealous of this setup. I thought about doing something in my backyard, but I feel like my two story neighbor will think I'm a little crazy

[Jcgatus]

12 hours ago, Sneexies said:

I'm pretty damn jealous of this setup. I thought about doing something in my backyard, but I feel like my two story neighbor will think I'm a little crazy

Haha, I can see that happening. 

[motosapiens]

19 hours ago, Sneexies said:

I'm pretty damn jealous of this setup. I thought about doing something in my backyard, but I feel like my two story neighbor will think I'm a little crazy

 

my neighbors can see me running around in the backyard with a gun. they don't seem to care. (not that I would GAF if they did care).

[jsoupene]

20 hours ago, Sneexies said:

I'm pretty damn jealous of this setup. I thought about doing something in my backyard, but I feel like my two story neighbor will think I'm a little crazy

On one of his podcasts Steve Anderson said he used to run around his neighborhood with a cap gun from mailbox to mailbox "shooting" at stuff practicing entries and exits.  One day he said his neighbor called and said "Hey, did I just see you run across my driveway with a cap gun?"  And he said "Yeap, that was me" and they said " oh, ok" 

[Jcgatus]

17 hours ago, jsoupene said:

On one of his podcasts Steve Anderson said he used to run around his neighborhood with a cap gun from mailbox to mailbox "shooting" at stuff practicing entries and exits.  One day he said his neighbor called and said "Hey, did I just see you run across my driveway with a cap gun?"  And he said "Yeap, that was me" and they said " oh, ok" 

I dunno... Im in military base. Lol

[Jcgatus]

I know it will probably be simple to make, BUT, has anyone ever made a dryfire, scaled down texas star target that spins?!

[Kixx]

I don’t know that it would be any more useful than a static Texas star target. Depending on your preferred pattern, you (should) shoot most if not all the plates before it really gets spinning too much anyway. I usually shoot them clockwise, and in dryfire I just shoot the 5 o’clock plate two more times because that’s where the others would end up. 

[Jcgatus]

16 minutes ago, Kixx said:

I don’t know that it would be any more useful than a static Texas star target. Depending on your preferred pattern, you (should) shoot most if not all the plates before it really gets spinning too much anyway. I usually shoot them clockwise, and in dryfire I just shoot the 5 o’clock plate two more times because that’s where the others would end up. 

Thats what my mind tells me... But my skillset says otherwise 

 

I guess i can practice both. Static and when sh** hits the fan mode. I can pull the trigger when the plate comes into sight 

 

Or i can just stop sucking.

[Kixx]

12 minutes ago, Jcgatus said:

Thats what my mind tells me... But my skillset says otherwise 

 

I guess i can practice both. Static and when sh** hits the fan mode. I can pull the trigger when the plate comes into sight 

 

Or i can just stop sucking.

I wouldnt practice doing it wrong, you don’t want that subconscious expectation in the back of your head when shooting one in a match. I think a lot of people are intimidated by stars because most can’t practice them in live fire.

Just remember that it’s five separate targets and shoot them one at a time. You don’t want to rush yourself into missing because you feel like you need to shoot the plates quickly before they start moving. Be disciplined in your dryfire to call your shots and go one for one on each plate. This will carry over into live fire/match day because you’ll already know how to shoot it and that you can. 

 

Edited December 12, 2018 by Kixx