betterment Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 (edited) I have been shooting IPSC for a little over a year. As of right now I am a C shooter in Limited. I had a wonderful friend and teacher in Stewart Lewis (please read about what a great man he is in the "Last Shot Fired" forum). I know how to execute the core machanics I just need to get to the place mentally where I can execute them consistantly under preasure (a relative term for sure). I hope to accomplish this through dry firing atleast 4 times a week and live fire twice a week. As of right now I am shooting 3 matches a month, 2 USPSA and 1 Steel. I feel like the steel and dry fire will be my best tool. I know that when I become more "aware" I will move up in class appropriatly but my real goal is to become a smooth consistant shooter. I shoot a worked up HK USP in Limited, I don't have the resources to make the jump to an SVI yet. I also am very much aware that at this point my gun will not put me any higher on the results page. I just bought Steve Andersons dry fire book and Brian's book as well. Having a structured dry fire routine helps more than I would have imagined. I am having a hard time getting past the first chapter of Brian's book though as I want to give the reading and the heavy subjects that lay within their due re-gaurd. Feel free to post what you will and I will mull it over and hopefuly apply it to my shooting carefully and constructivly. Phil Edited August 18, 2007 by betterment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
get2now Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 Definitely read the books. When I read Brian's book it really helped. It was like thing just started to click. Also take some classes. Good luck, G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 I started Brian's book on 13 August and I am only on page 85. I find myself going back to reread sections. I'm really trying to wrap my head around this book. I normally will read a 500 page fiction piece in 2-3 days tops. This is one deep book, I'm already picking up on some things I want to try different. I've been shooting pistols forever and now I think I've been griping them wrong the whole time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micah Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 Brian also sells several other books that I would strongly recommend: With Winning In Mind-Lanny Bassham Thinking Practical Shooting-Saul Kirsch Refinement and Repetition 1 and 2-Steve Anderson The first two books, and well as Steve's 2nd book, will greatly enhance your understanding of the mental aspects of the game. All three are life changing and a must have for the serious competitor. Steve's books will give you the tools to get the most out of your dryfire sessions. You mentioned that the steel matches and dryfire will do the most for your shooting, but I would maintain that shooting the USPSA club matches will be your strongest asset to the mental game. Getting a feel for breaking down a stage, identifying tatics to your advantage, and mentally rehersing a COF comes with experience...experience that you will build upon every time you LAMR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSeevers Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 When all else fails, aim. Aim means verify sight alignment, use proper trigger control and have a good grip and stance, followthrough, and call your shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Di Vita Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 Don't be afraid of reading Brian's book several times. As a good rule of thumb, try and read it every 6 to 8 months. It will mean something different to you every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted August 18, 2007 Author Share Posted August 18, 2007 My last two nights of dry firing have not been in ideal settings and both sessions have only lasted 15 minutes. I was not using an IPSC target, but instead a small statue at 20 feet (so atleast it is smaller right?). I need to get back down to the garage and away from all distractions. So far I have just been working and focusing on the draw, next week I will get into squeezing the trigger and relaods and weak hand only and strong hand only and... Shooting a steel match tomorrow, if I can stay focused, patient and aware it should go well by my standards. Steel matches are a great tool for me because that is what I have the hardest time with at an IPSC match. Slowing down and taking the shot at 8" steel. I have always moved well and for the most part my stage planning is appropriate. Perhaps next time some week I should spend some time figuring out weather or not I want to be a one eyed shooter or both eyes open shooter...more one that later. It will also be interesting to rapidly experience muscle memory devlopment from dry firing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted August 19, 2007 Author Share Posted August 19, 2007 Just got back from a steel match at Guthsville. I shot it poorly needless to say, however two stages did go well for me. The biggest thing I took away from today (and I have realized this before) is that my perception of how fast other shooters are shooting and how fast I shoot when I try to shoot "fast" are two different things. When I do commit to myself and shoot my game my times are in a acceptable window by my standards, but when I rush it it can be hit or miss. Find the front sight everytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZ Bagger Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Training in a vacuum has its place, but if all you ever do is train with zero distractions you may find yourself unable to get ready for the starting bell. Same thing with training dogs. Start them without distractions so they can be taught the basics, but there is a next step. It's called Proofing. We gradually add distractions to ensure that the dog will be able to perform at the next level...no matter what's going on around them. Should be the same for two leggers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz-0 Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 read brian's book at whatever level you can absorb it without getting away from it because you aren't "ready" for it. It's the kind of book where you will read it many times and get new things out of it. Also, what you find useful at any given iteration of reading it isn't necesarily in order, so you may be denying yourself some insights or useful info that will make a difference to you NOW. I've read through it 5 or 6 times, and it was only on the last go round that something new didn't jump out at me and make me think "i understand that now." Steve Anderson's dryfire books rock. They seem like a total no-brainer idea when you go through them, but he did all the grunt work of filtering it down to basic skills to practice, and did so with a pretty keen eye to what has good return on investment with regard to time spent practicing. With winning in mind was a very good read, and I'm glad I took Steve's recommendation on it when buying his dryfire book. Not a real nuanced book, but I have been through it a few times to get me back on track regarding attacking the mental side of the game. Probably the number one contributor to improving my ability to control my perfomance and devlop consistency (well as much as I do, but it's a hell of a lot better whne following the book's advice). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted August 20, 2007 Author Share Posted August 20, 2007 Dry fired tonight for 25 minutes. It seems like I will need to set a side almost a whole hour to get a good "work out" in. I did realize tonight though that when engaging multiple targets under the presure of the clock and can duplicate the same "got to be quick" feeling I get at matches. This is causing me to pay attention to and examine my mechanics, and to ask my very favorite question...why? (as in why does it work that way). Better luck Wed night And for all those who have made comments about completing Brian book, fear not I continueing to think/read through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted August 21, 2007 Author Share Posted August 21, 2007 I got what I feel like is my first structured constructive dry fire practice completed today. In the past week I have noticed my draw get a tenth faster. I started to work on reloads again too. Last season my reloads were a "strong" point for me so I had been neglecting practicing them, so naturally by not practicing them they have turned to crap but I can tell there will be much improvement there in the near future. I am still finding myself in trouble when it comes to "fitting it all in" as far as getting everything that I want to get accomplished done. I am comming up on a real deciding point though...I am running low on ammo. I had sold my 650 about a year ago when I thought I was going back into the Navy. Before I sold the press though I loaded every single piece of brass I could muster, about 3500 in total. Well I am down to 800 rds. My wife and I will be moving back to the mid west soon so I am not sure if it is worth the time and resources to buy another press ritht now or if I should just go out and buy WTB for the time being. On the plus side I still do have 15 pounds of powder, 2000 primers and 2700 bullets, so I know what I should do shooting wise but it is the finacial/life side of it that is holding me up. Live fire practice hurts a little more when you know you just shot $50 worth of WTB, not so much when you just go home and "make more." Well thinking goes on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 When all else fails, aim.Aim means verify sight alignment, use proper trigger control and have a good grip and stance, followthrough, and call your shot. The best advise you will ever get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 There is a SDB for sale right now on the Forum. Buy it. Better loads tailored for you and your gun... Cheaper. Cheaper means more ammo. More ammo means progress. (done correctly.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted August 23, 2007 Author Share Posted August 23, 2007 I got the opportunity to do some live fire with a friend yesterday, at first I thought it was going to be a waste becuase I forgot my timer. To my pleasent suprise it went really well. I went there with the intent on getting base line times for a draw and fire 2 alpha's as well as the base line time for 2 alpha's reload 2 alpha's. Through these dry fire exercises it has helped to ingrain a proper sight alignment in my mind and I noticed a personal improvement. While I am no doubt slower, I do enjoy hitting a's. 116 rds only four c's I'll take it. Reloads went well for the most part. Next match for me is on the 2'nd so we'll see what kind of improvement happen then. The biggest thing I took away from this exercise was that it is not 2 shots per target, it is two a's per target. My friend Jason and I had a brief conversation before shooting it went like this. Jason: What are we working on today Me: Draw and fire two alpha's Jason: Draw and fire two alpha's no matter what, right? Me: Right. Like I said it went well for both of us. I know the speed will come but I hope do see some results (other then just personal satisfaction) by taking some more time to get the A's then just runnin' and gunnin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted August 24, 2007 Author Share Posted August 24, 2007 Got a good dry fire practice in tonight. I have been doing a sight picture index as the first drill to all of my dry fire (as recommended in Steve Anderson's book). I started with my "base line" time at 1.6 sec and only after a week I will be ready to drop my base line down to 1.5 maybe 1.4 sec. I might go the range tomorrow night (and hopfully remember to bring my timer this time) and it will be interesting to see what my live fire time is. Before I started these exercises my times for live fire sight index was between 1.24-1.67 sec. I did have a couple quick ones from time to time .90 seconds but it was pretty much point shooting at 7 yds (Alpha hit though), but I need to be in the practice of seeing the sights. I do believe there is a place for point shooting, however it is not as common as circumstances allow. Should have more "thought" on paper during the weekend, so that way those of you who do keep up with this (I am sure there are only one or two) can know my outlook a little better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted August 28, 2007 Author Share Posted August 28, 2007 Finally got around to dry firing again, it was a good solid practice though. My draw is getting faster...it has no doubt been an awakening to draw and get a sight picture on an IPSC target no closer then 20 feet. Finding that sight picture faster and faster will obviously make me a better shooter. That is some of what I was missing before, I could get the gun out of the holster as fast as can be but if I don't train my mind to find the front sight then I will still end up having a 2+ second draw (or faster but with shacky hits). The other drill I worked on tonight was this: 3 targets about 2 feet apart. Draw, 2 "shots" per target, reload and 2 "shots" per target. Last week I was around the 7.8 second range (which I was happy with) and tonight I was hovering around the 8.3 second range. This is slightly fustraiting me because I can feel that my reloads are going alot smoother this week then last but my "shots" just are not happening as quickly. Betther luck next time right... For anyone who has read this far... I have my sub heading on the title of this diary as "Acountability" becuase to me it is just that. It allows me to see how often I have attempted to make progress and this motivates me to not have any significant lapses in time between doing something productive for my shooting. Four days between dry firing is too long, over the weekend I sat on the couch and practiced transitioning the gun from strong hand to weak. This is a skill worth practicing for sure, but I would have liked to have a little bit more of a productive structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boz1911 Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 After reading Steve Anderson's book I finally subjected myself to dryfire practice. Albeit only 20 minutes a day, the improvement is radical. One suggestion though, keep changing things and experiment, focus on your weaker(less fun to practice) areas. I've been working hard on a weak/strong hand dryfire routine of my own that has greatly improved my live fire results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted August 30, 2007 Author Share Posted August 30, 2007 Did some live fire shooting tonight with my friend tonight. It went really well all 10yd shooting 100 shots and only 3 charlies, I am happy. There were two other shots that did not feel right but ended up being alphas by luck. Dry fire is helping me tremendously, my friend has noticed that us shooting 3 times in the past 3 weeks my groups have gotten noticiby smaller and smaller. I am going a little slower then I used to but not too much slower but the a's are comming more easly now and that feels great. The biggest reward came when at the end of practice I shot my friends new XD 9 Tactical (nice and soft by the way) I grouped five shots well, but at the end I just wanted to dry fire the gun. When I got my sight picture and squeezed the trigger the gun just went "click" there was none of the normal flinch just rock solid sight picture. 2 months ago that would have not happened especially after 100 rds. That is what I call progress. A happy shooter, Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted September 2, 2007 Author Share Posted September 2, 2007 (edited) I shot a seven stage match at Guthsville today. I got to shoot with a master today for the first time in a little over a year so that was nice and somewhat refreshing. The match went okay, but more then anything it was very productive. I noticed alot of smaller things that happened or didn't happen that I wouldn't not normally be aware of. I am shooting much slower and for the most part I am getting my hits (mostly A's, I think I did have 6 mikes to day though mainly on swinger and disapearing targets). I would like to get to the point where I can speed things up. I need to actually practice a field course to see how fast I really can go. Relaods all went well and I moved through the stages well but these two things should just about never go poorly for they are two "strengths" that I do have. Strong and weak hand shooting went well too, I just really feel like I need to pick up the pace some more (and I feel like I will be ready to soon). I am hoping to have press already here or atleast on the way by the end of the month, so needless to say practicing will become easier. Until then I have 450 rds (might have to swing by Walmart). Atleast September will be a lite month for me. I will be getting my wisdom teeth pulled next weekend and then then I will be out of town for some time so hopefuly after September I can get on the road to B class. It is funny saying "get on the road to B class," today I shot a classifier in the high D's. I am classified as a C shooter and I feel like I am capable of shooting a B game when I remain mentally aware. Mental awarness was the key thing I noticed fluctuate today, when I was focused and aware everything went smoothly but when I was just "going through the motions" it showed. I became visually impatiant getting a good sight picture but I did have good sight alignment. It felt more like I was aiming at the targets rather then the A zone. After reflecting on this last paragraph it makes me realize that the flux happens in the middle of the stage too... just need to work on that. Back to the garage and dry firing, Phil Edited September 3, 2007 by betterment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted September 3, 2007 Author Share Posted September 3, 2007 Brian also sells several other books that I would strongly recommend:With Winning In Mind-Lanny Bassham Thinking Practical Shooting-Saul Kirsch Refinement and Repetition 1 and 2-Steve Anderson The first two books, and well as Steve's 2nd book, will greatly enhance your understanding of the mental aspects of the game. All three are life changing and a must have for the serious competitor. Steve's books will give you the tools to get the most out of your dryfire sessions. You mentioned that the steel matches and dryfire will do the most for your shooting, but I would maintain that shooting the USPSA club matches will be your strongest asset to the mental game. Getting a feel for breaking down a stage, identifying tatics to your advantage, and mentally rehersing a COF comes with experience...experience that you will build upon every time you LAMR. Right you are about USPSA match giving you the best practice. There were two stages today that challenged me in a few ways mentally and that is not something I can just sit on my couch and think about. As I become more exposed to different stages the quicker I will be able to cut through the bull and just shoot the stage in the best way I know to be fit. Touching on my last post it surely will become easier when I can become more focused and aware on a more consistant basis. Thanks for the words, kind of really picked up reading it for the third time two weeks later. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted September 4, 2007 Author Share Posted September 4, 2007 I dry fired today for 45 minutes and was happy about the whole practice. Drill #1 from SA's book is down to a 1.5 second base line which is an improvement; as well I worked on drawing strong hand only and drawing and transitioning to weak hand only and that went well too. Concluded with 50 mag reloads and that went well but not perfect. Probably over my down time this weekend I will work on printing out a large spread sheet to hang in my dryfire area. This will help me to further structure my drills. I have had some trouble sticking to the drills in SA's book so I figure if I have a summury printed out and posted right next to where I typically start my draw then I will be able to stream line the process. Hopefuly I will be able to commit to myself and begin getting some dry fire practice in before work during the week. I leave the house at 0630, so I will need to get up earlier by a long shot but it will be worth it (if I want it bad enough). I have begun to read Pharoh Bender's range diary and have really begun to admire and respect the amount of effort he has put forward in his development as a shooter. It is reassuring to know that all of this can pay off with the right dedication and the right goals. Goals...This brings me to a subject I really need to develope. While taking some time to think about yesterdays match I realized that I did not care much about how I did compared to others. In other words yesterdays local match just felt like an opportunity to gage myself and my progress. I shot Little Big Match in Cortland NY last season with a friend and that has been the closest I have came to shooting a big match. I have not had any desire to shoot any large matches ever, that is until yesterday. I do know that if I were to go to a big match I would want to be competetive in what ever class and division I was shooting in. I need to take some time to sit down and think about setting some goals for myself. I do shoot limited with an HK USP 40 - not a competetive gun in limited, however it is the only IPSC ready gun I own and I very much do enjoy shooting limited. Getting my self a STI/SVI will take some time, savings and some understanding on my wifes behalf. I know that I need to update my equipment but like I said at the beginning of this journal, I am not currently capable of out performing my current gun. I hope to have goals listed by the end of the weekend (but probably sooner knowing me) and to have a shooting related mission statement in my personal message section of my member profile. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted September 5, 2007 Author Share Posted September 5, 2007 Went to the range tonight and was going to work on weak hand and strong hand shooting but I had some mild/moderate joint pain from work today. I did some strong hand only shooting and then some free style, just wasn't in it since my training plan fell through. 60 rds later I packed up went to dunkin donouts for comfort food and then went home. Better luck next time, Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted November 28, 2007 Author Share Posted November 28, 2007 I have not fired a gun in three months, life just gets in the way sometimes. Sadly it will still probably be another month. Ut oh, I have an itch Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterment Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 I still have not fired a shot since September of 07! The wife and I are planning a big move out West at the end of the summer, I don't have much free money laying around or time for that matter (work/school). I still feel an urge to be involved in shooting, but I feel like my desire to compete is gone. I feel that because of the finacial/family obligation, I know I will NOT be competitive in any way, shape or form because of my lack of ability to obtain ammo for practice. Dry firing will yield some results, but hearing the gun go "click" over and over just to compete with live ammo in half a dozen matches over the summer is not worth it in my opinion. My free money was spent wisely (I feel) on a JP and ACOG. Again, really nice race car and I can't afford the gas to put in the tank. I feel like perhaps I should be spending my free time and "free money" on building my inventory. XL650, SVI Limited Gun (and as many mags as I can afford), holster, spotting scope, oh wait I have the pistol and the rifle now I need a shotgun for 3-gun. So, after that $8,000-$10,000 -- and much forgivness from my wife -- then finally I can enjoy shooting with a purpose? Shooting without a purpose just seems like a waste of money. A man without much time or money it would seem and a slight conundrum, Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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