Dry Fire without a Timer

[Eli_a]

Most weeks i dry fire everyday even if sometimes it is just 10 to 20 minutes. Past few months I have been so focused on chasing par times that i used a timer in every dry fire session. Listening to some old podcasts someone mentioned putting the timer away for a bit and just focus on what you are trying to achieve. I put my timer away and honestly dry fire has been a lot more enjoyable. I can focus on the techniques and skills i want to improve on instead of just trying to beat the buzzer. This is probably not new to most shooters but i figured i would share since it has helped me out a lot. 

[motosapiens]

perhaps it's an individual thing, but I started getting better quickly when I started using a timer less in dryfire. I still use it for a few drills to try to improve my natural sense of urgency, but 80% or so of my dryfire is without a timer.

[rowdyb]

You are likely to chase times and create pathways that are successful for the time versus actually doing the action correctly. 

Use the timer less and focus more on doing it right. As fast as you can do it right.

[Darqusoull13]

Coming from a martial arts background, I treat dry fire without the timer as drilling individual skills. Generally this ends up being breaking down large items like full reloads into smaller drills aiming for 100% correct rather than par times. 

I treat training with a timer as the portion of my dry fire to push both to speed up over time but also find where the skills break down to drill again. 

[Eli_a]

5 hours ago, motosapiens said:

perhaps it's an individual thing, but I started getting better quickly when I started using a timer less in dryfire. I still use it for a few drills to try to improve my natural sense of urgency, but 80% or so of my dryfire is without a timer.

Do you think it’s because you started fixing the issues instead of just going fast ?

[Eli_a]

5 hours ago, rowdyb said:

You are likely to chase times and create pathways that are successful for the time versus actually doing the action correctly. 

Use the timer less and focus more on doing it right. As fast as you can do it right.

I think you’re spot on, and going back through my videos I can see a lot of those errors in matches 

[motosapiens]

1 hour ago, Eli_a said:

Do you think it’s because you started fixing the issues instead of just going fast ?

i started being more honest with how much grip and vision I needed to make a shot, instead of cheating those things just to beat the par time. When using the timer all the time, I was doing some drills MUCH faster than i could ever hope to do them in live fire. Steve Anderson says that's not a bad thing, but I think it probably is. I think the more realistic my dryfire is, the better off I am.

 

It's still worth it to chase speed.... just not *all* the time for me. I think it can be pretty valuable in live fire tho, to push until the wheels fall off and figure out what you need to do better to faster and keep the wheels on.

 

I suspect that every person is a little bit different in their mental makeup. Part of getting gooder at shooting is figuring out what works for *you*.

[Raz22582]

I don’t try fire with a timer all the time just focus on good grip and dot presentation on very small targets. 

[fraizer15]

Same as above, but I also try to focus on the entry to a shooting position and exit from a shooting position.

[WDG710]

Eli_A read ur post and also put away the timer. Definitely shifts the focus - and will help improve and reinforce fundamentals / when your not pushing for time.

 

[Randyflycaster]

Is there a timer that allows me to set the volume? My Pact timer is very loud and my dog goes crazy. I tried covering up the speaker with paper and painter's tape but it didn't do much good.

 

Randy

[Barcode1337]

5 hours ago, Randyflycaster said:

Is there a timer that allows me to set the volume? My Pact timer is very loud and my dog goes crazy. I tried covering up the speaker with paper and painter's tape but it didn't do much good.

 

Randy

Not that I'm much good at training, but I like to use a shot timer app on my phone when dry firing. I figure it's fine for par times and whatnot. I put in ear buds and don't have to bother anyone with the noise.

[Randyflycaster]

18 hours ago, Barcode1337 said:

Not that I'm much good at training, but I like to use a shot timer app on my phone when dry firing. I figure it's fine for par times and whatnot. I put in ear buds and don't have to bother anyone with the noise.

Great idea. Which shot timer? I downloaded 2, but they both seemed like Greek to me.

 

Randy

[Barcode1337]

1 hour ago, Randyflycaster said:

Great idea. Which shot timer? I downloaded 2, but they both seemed like Greek to me.

 

Randy

"IPSC Shot Timer" is the one I have.

[Tunachaser]

Commander has 3 settings. 

 

https://www.amg-lab.com/

[k2pichu]

On 8/4/2022 at 12:25 PM, motosapiens said:

perhaps it's an individual thing, but I started getting better quickly when I started using a timer less in dryfire. I still use it for a few drills to try to improve my natural sense of urgency, but 80% or so of my dryfire is without a timer.

This is similar to what I do. I normally dry fire without a timer to really focus on the movements and doing things right instead of rushing to race the timer and becoming sloppy. For me, I think a par timer is great for measuring your current abilities as well as adding a bit of stress at the end of my dry fire session, but I don't do it for every rep. It's also kind of annoying to listen to...

[Eli_a]

On 10/31/2022 at 10:02 PM, k2pichu said:

This is similar to what I do. I normally dry fire without a timer to really focus on the movements and doing things right instead of rushing to race the timer and becoming sloppy. For me, I think a par timer is great for measuring your current abilities as well as adding a bit of stress at the end of my dry fire session, but I don't do it for every rep. It's also kind of annoying to listen to...

I do like the idea of using it for a few reps at the end of the dry fire session. My draw is a weak point for me and recently I have been working on improving it. I will try the timer at the end to make sure I am not taking 3 sec to draw haha 

They are annoying, my dog leaves the room as soon as he sees me grab the timer lol 

[k2pichu]

My draw also sucks. I normally shoot PCC and recently started to do CO. I can consistently got a good 1.6 second draw right now. I've gotten around 1.3, but it's either a weak grip or not reproducible for me. I'd like to add that it can be good practice to react to the start of the beep instead of waiting until the end of the beep if that's something you want to work on. I don't do that much since I live in an apartment and don't want to annoy my neighbors too much lol. I get those reps in during live fire practice anyways.

 

[BritinUSA]

I think there are a few shot timer apps available for IOS and Android. Maybe get one of those with a par time and use it with some Bluetooth earbuds, that way you won’t annoy your neighbors… unless of course you forget to check that the chamber is empty before you start.

[rpm8300]

I think dry fire without the timer can have value - I use this along with 50% speed dry fire to really strip away things and focus on the basics.  We train ourselves to spring in to action with the buzzer - if you take that away, it may allow you to get a little more insight on your draw and presentation.  I would add the buzzer back in to see if anything changes - what percentage of the times with the buzzer and without the buzzer do you have a less than perfect grip for your first shot after draw?  The point of aim exercise is also great to measure with and without a buzzer.

[Kirk]

I typically split my dry fire between a timer session and a no-timer session. Basically I consider this speed (timer) and reps (no-timer). I find I can get in a lot more reps I’d practice without the timer. 

[WDG710]

Using the MantisX for dry-fire practice has improved my trigger control and overall accuracy immensely / Highly recommend

[Checkpoint]

On 10/22/2022 at 7:05 AM, Randyflycaster said:

Is there a timer that allows me to set the volume? My Pact timer is very loud and my dog goes crazy. I tried covering up the speaker with paper and painter's tape but it didn't do much good.

 

Randy

 

I really like "Par". It's stupid-simple and has gigantic buttons so I can keep my phone on my gun belt and not have to fiddle with tiny buttons. Touch anywhere in the top 90% of the screen and it works.

 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/par-timer/id959404082

[Nobody909]

On 8/4/2022 at 11:25 AM, motosapiens said:

perhaps it's an individual thing, but I started getting better quickly when I started using a timer less in dryfire. I still use it for a few drills to try to improve my natural sense of urgency, but 80% or so of my dryfire is without a timer.

100% agree with this. I used par time to initially push speed. Once you learn how to be efficient and fast I would think you could be able to tell if which ever manipulation is within your acceptable times. 

[BigHand]

Generally, I try not to do any one thing too much or too little. I use a timer for draw practice and for some "jerk the trigger" and transition/vision drills, but ya, other than that not much. I do like it when doing dry fire from the holster just to add a little bit of perceived urgency. My take is, the more I get used to it, the less I'll negatively react to it.