When did you get comfortable pushing your speed?

[Adam0306]

Hello everyone,

 

So a bit of a background on myself as I feel it is germane to the topic.  I have been in the USMC for just under 18 years.  I spent most of my time in the corps as an 0321 in Force Recon and have had a 1911 on my hip for years.  I have recently started competing in USPSA matches (single stack) and like most military guys with no competition experience, I am getting humbled every day.  And I like that.  I have a lot to learn about stage planning and sequencing my shots. 

I have a good amount of shooting experience and am very confident with weapons.  However, in all of the shooting packages and courses I have done in the military, any safety issue was an immediate adverse and removal from the course or even platoon.  I find that my times on stages are slow, but I am generally shooting all alphas with the occasional Charlie.  

I think I am afraid to really push myself as I have been conditioned to shoot accurate rather than fast.  I am not molasses slow, but I know that I can go faster.  The whole "never shoot faster than you can accurately engage" voices stay in my head during a stage.  And for me, accuracy is hitting an index card at 10 yards.  I find that I am not transitioning to another target until I have confirmed that I have two solid A zone hits. Again, a training thing from combat-oriented shooting of checking work through sights.  

 

 

 

So, my question is, what made you or gave you the confidence to really push yourself.  Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

Thanks, and be safe.  

[Rnlinebacker]

You answered the question, confidence. Go faster and get comfortable. You will miss but you can figure out why you're missing. Polish those details and you will shoot much faster and accurately in time

[Runnin2live]

Practice, practice and more. If your live firing, try double taps with a reholster for a mag or two. Then move to doubles on two targets. Just a suggestion 

[ShredderTactical]

Here's a little story about myself, along with a few suggestions that might provide some answers to your question.  What I learned about shooting faster...

I was a long distance runner and a precision long range rifle guy, never really interested in speed.  Also, shot pistols most of my life, but again, never interested in speed or thought I could shoot both fast and accurate.  After I retired, I wanted to get serious about my pistol shooting skills, so I got into USPSA.  I learned if you want to get serious in the sport then you need to really study your shooting technique, analyze every shot and every movement you make, and learn how to go faster.  It's all about speed, efficiency, and "acceptable accuracy", all things I never really thought about much before.

Since starting my USPSA journey, I also learned that you need to get serious about practicing if you want to up your shooting game and climb the ladder in the sport and at shooting in general.  Scheduling time for dryfire practice is essential, but so is time for live fire practice.  Matches are great and lots of fun, and they may help you get better initially, but practice time is needed.  So, you need to schedule range time into your shooting schedule for practice on a regular basis.  This practice time is where you give yourself "permission to miss".  This is an important concept in order to build speed and confidence in the long run.  Push yourself in practice to see what you can accomplish and where the wheels fall off.  Then you can work at refining the new performance/speed level you will find you can attain in your practice sessions.  A shot timer is also mandatory, a good one like the ones used at matches, to run drills during practice and keep track of progress.  Matches are where you shoot in "match mode", where you apply what you learned in practice and usually at a slightly reduced speed to minimize misses for a good match score.

Then there's also the mental management side of shooting that is important, to gain and maintain the confidence you need when you step up to the line and the buzzer goes off.  Many good books cover this subject.  One of my favorites is "With Winning in Mind", by Lanny Bassham (available at Amazon).

Also, taking one or more classes from a top level USPSA GM level shooter is highly recommended.  Guys like Ben Stoeger, JJ Racaza, Steve Anderson, (and many others) hold regular classes around the country.  These guys will demonstrate and explain the importance of shooting fundamentals, provide you an opportunity to shoot and explore these concepts while learning first hand about practical accuracy (acceptable accuracy at speed), and get some real time feedback on your own technique from an expert.  Most of these top level shooters are really down to earth dudes that teach these concepts on a regular basis and enjoy sharing their extensive knowledge with others and in a way that is easy to understand and apply.  They should also provide you with tools you can take back home so you know how to develop a strong training program to continue your own learning process.

Have fun and good luck on your journey!

Edited March 25, 2022 by ShredderTactical
Add content.

[konkapot]

It took you 18 years to build your current toolbox. "Expanding" your toolbox, or making it bigger will not happen overnight. 

 

Make sure that your practice sessions focus on pushing yourself. Accept that, at first, there will be misses and C and D hits from time to time. 

 

You've probably taught or been taught shot calling; if you are confirming hits BEFORE transitioning then you are most definitely not calling your shot. 

[Johnny_Chimpo]

6 hours ago, Adam0306 said:

Hello everyone,

 

So a bit of a background on myself as I feel it is germane to the topic.  I have been in the USMC for just under 18 years.  I spent most of my time in the corps as an 0321 in Force Recon and have had a 1911 on my hip for years.  I have recently started competing in USPSA matches (single stack) and like most military guys with no competition experience, I am getting humbled every day.  And I like that.  I have a lot to learn about stage planning and sequencing my shots. 

I have a good amount of shooting experience and am very confident with weapons.  However, in all of the shooting packages and courses I have done in the military, any safety issue was an immediate adverse and removal from the course or even platoon.  I find that my times on stages are slow, but I am generally shooting all alphas with the occasional Charlie.  

I think I am afraid to really push myself as I have been conditioned to shoot accurate rather than fast.  I am not molasses slow, but I know that I can go faster.  The whole "never shoot faster than you can accurately engage" voices stay in my head during a stage.  And for me, accuracy is hitting an index card at 10 yards.  I find that I am not transitioning to another target until I have confirmed that I have two solid A zone hits. Again, a training thing from combat-oriented shooting of checking work through sights.  

 

 

 

So, my question is, what made you or gave you the confidence to really push yourself.  Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

Thanks, and be safe.  

 

@ShredderTactical and @konkapot covered almost everything I wanted to say

 

There are two concepts that you really should drive in practice:

• Doing all the non-shooting tasks as quickly and as efficiently as possible
• Eliminating all wasted motion

Are you moving from point A to B as fast as you possibly can?  Yes?  Then improve that.  No?  There's some big low hanging fruit. 

 

Are you hunting for the sights on the draw?  Is your draw full of wasted motion (head bobbing, shoulder shrugs, tactical turtling)?  Fix those things.

 

When you move, are you always dropping your support hand from the gun and/or dropping the gun down to low ready?  Yes?  You're wasting time.  Stop doing that.  There is a time and place for dropping the support hand off the gun and running your ass off, but that happens not that often and only on really big stages.

 

When you arrive at a shooting position, is your gun up to your face and your sights aimed at where the first target will appear?  No?  You're wasting time.  Same thing goes for hanging around targets you've already shot.  Start shooting the easy ones as you start moving out.

 

Start working on improving your shooting on the move.  Can be a huge time saver depending on how good you are at it and in the right circumstances.

 

Concurrent with truly calling your shots (as opposed to looking for holes on the target after you shoot it), transition to your next target as soon as the sights lift for the last shot on that target you're engaging.

 

By all means push your shooting cadence to shoot as fast as you can get away with and get As,which will clearly vary with target difficulty and how good your grip and trigger press are.  But fast splits are a minor portion of going fast.

[bludog]

For me(a relatively new shooter) I try to practice speed.  In matches I try to focus only on seeing what I"m shooting and  not worry about how fast I'm going.  The theory here I believe is that the speed you have subconsciously gained in practice will be there in "Match Mode". 

[Adam0306]

Thank you for all of the replies.  I was able to push myself a bit more this past weekend.  

 

I was able to accomplish the following with my 1911:

 

Draw fire one on a 12"plate at 10 yards in under one second.  I was able to consistently do this.  

 

Draw fire one, reload, fire one in 2.21.

 

Best time on smoke and hope was 3.36 with all hits.  

[OpenshooterMclass4lyfe]

It’s just a mental block.  Next match you go to remind yourself to push the speed on every stage.     Make that your primary focus to push for speed and don’t worry about the accuracy.  

[Skytrooper]

Speed comes with confidence in your abilities. As many have said...practice, practice, practice. Envision engaging numerous targets during dry fire. Be sure to include mag changes. I live in the country so trees and bushes and such become my "targets" for dry fire. Speed will come, remain calm at practice and matches. I understand your pain. I did 28 years, retired army. This type of shooting is all new to me. But, man is it fun !  I just won my first stage Wednesday. Almost all alphas with a couple C's and a D. I was faster than usual and more accurate while moving. Improving all the time.

[Lightj75]

On 4/7/2022 at 2:53 PM, OpenshooterAclass4lyfe said:

It’s just a mental block.  Next match you go to remind yourself to push the speed on every stage.     Make that your primary focus to push for speed and don’t worry about the accuracy.  

^this 

I recently started doing this at local matches / practice  and it's hard at first. I'm trying to go absolutely as fast as I can without getting any Mike's and its a valuable training tool. You have to train yourself to see faster then you can add the accuracy later and sounds like you have accuracy already with your background. So try to fight the urge to be comfortable, go out of your comfort zone and embrace the speed for a little while.

I was told recently if you're comfortable in practice that you aren't doing it right. so good luck and after you get over worrying about the hits it's alot if fun going fast.  

[Chapo]

Plus if you are using red dots, now you have to incorporate dot acquisition to the mix. 

[Joe4d]

"Move Fast , shoot slow"..... Dan Horner at about 14yo.
IDPA geared but good advice. You eat up alot of time getting into and out of position

 

[thh425]

On 3/25/2022 at 11:08 AM, Adam0306 said:

Hello everyone,

 

So a bit of a background on myself as I feel it is germane to the topic.  I have been in the USMC for just under 18 years.  I spent most of my time in the corps as an 0321 in Force Recon and have had a 1911 on my hip for years.  I have recently started competing in USPSA matches (single stack) and like most military guys with no competition experience, I am getting humbled every day.  And I like that.  I have a lot to learn about stage planning and sequencing my shots. 

I have a good amount of shooting experience and am very confident with weapons.  However, in all of the shooting packages and courses I have done in the military, any safety issue was an immediate adverse and removal from the course or even platoon.  I find that my times on stages are slow, but I am generally shooting all alphas with the occasional Charlie.  

I think I am afraid to really push myself as I have been conditioned to shoot accurate rather than fast.  I am not molasses slow, but I know that I can go faster.  The whole "never shoot faster than you can accurately engage" voices stay in my head during a stage.  And for me, accuracy is hitting an index card at 10 yards.  I find that I am not transitioning to another target until I have confirmed that I have two solid A zone hits. Again, a training thing from combat-oriented shooting of checking work through sights.  

 

 

 

So, my question is, what made you or gave you the confidence to really push yourself.  Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

Thanks, and be safe.  

 

Just build the confidence from within and don't be afraid of falling. You'll rise to be better

[Shady]

From a newer shooter, great bits of advice here.  I second reading the book from Bassham, "With Winning in Mind".  It was a good short read that will aid with "mental match focus".  I also support the concept of taking a training class or seeking instruction.  However, I have also found some much better shooters than myself that will often be glad to help with basic instruction / tips for free if you ask.  There are some also possibly some local instructors or top level shooters that may offer private instruction as well.  For solo practice sessions I have used a video to see where some of my slow transitions or entry/exit points are.  

[WDG710]

Practice, Practice ... using a timer when practicing to monitor yourself - you'll learn quickly where things fall off ( at what speed) and what to focus on. Having a buddy monitoring you as you practice is very helpful. Best of Luck!

[mSNACKS]

You cannot work on speed and accuracy at the same time so you must pick one at a time to work on. In my experience, if your trying to improve speed you must just do everything faster outside of your comfort zone. Shoot 3 matches really pushing your speed to the limit of still being safe. You will drop a ton of points and your overall match placing will be worse than normal. Then shoot the next match or two at your normal accuracy. Hopefully this will make you shoot your current skill level of points at a faster pace. Reps and match experience will naturally get you faster but the first way could speed up the process

[Dicktater_Pete]

On 3/25/2022 at 12:08 PM, Adam0306 said:

Hello everyone,

 

So a bit of a background on myself as I feel it is germane to the topic.  I have been in the USMC for just under 18 years.  I spent most of my time in the corps as an 0321 in Force Recon and have had a 1911 on my hip for years.  I have recently started competing in USPSA matches (single stack) and like most military guys with no competition experience, I am getting humbled every day.  And I like that.  I have a lot to learn about stage planning and sequencing my shots. 

I have a good amount of shooting experience and am very confident with weapons.  However, in all of the shooting packages and courses I have done in the military, any safety issue was an immediate adverse and removal from the course or even platoon.  I find that my times on stages are slow, but I am generally shooting all alphas with the occasional Charlie.  

I think I am afraid to really push myself as I have been conditioned to shoot accurate rather than fast.  I am not molasses slow, but I know that I can go faster.  The whole "never shoot faster than you can accurately engage" voices stay in my head during a stage.  And for me, accuracy is hitting an index card at 10 yards.  I find that I am not transitioning to another target until I have confirmed that I have two solid A zone hits. Again, a training thing from combat-oriented shooting of checking work through sights.  

 

 

 

So, my question is, what made you or gave you the confidence to really push yourself.  Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

Thanks, and be safe.  

 

Chesty would tell you to be confident in your shots and not be watching your hits.  It's a feel thing.  You get familiar with obstacles and targets just like you do mout room clearing door booting stuff.   Plus, they don't shoot back 

 

Most competitors are pogs anyways.