Over Aiming...

[benos]

This thread was started by Ron Ankeny and lost in the conversion:

Over aiming...

Ron Ankeny:

My first shot in matches is still slow and it's killing me on the fast classifiers.

When I first started shooting IPSC almost 18 months ago, the time to my first shot on a popper at 10 yards was about 1.8 seconds. I practiced reacting to a buzzer and got the reaction time down. I have spent countless hours drawing and dry firing to instructional tapes. I can't tell you how many thousands of rounds I have fired on the range drawing and firing one shot at paper, plates, and poppers.

In practice I can draw and hit the A zone at 5 yards very consistently in under one second. I draw and hit a popper at ten yards over and over in 1.1 to 1.2 seconds and I can turn and shoot a popper in 1.3 to 1.4 easily. We are talking par times here and I can go faster. I have really worked at getting faster on the draw.

Still, in a match I am slow with the shot to the first target running around 1.6 and sometimes more (unless it's paper at arm's length). The guys who watch me tell me that I get on the target very quickly then I seem to just freeze up for a short time, then go like hell.

I am really frustrated so I enrolled in an IPSC class by Ron Avery and I'll be begging him for help, but that's not until spring. I know my draw in practice is a skill that I can transfer to a match, but it just isn't happening. I am wide open to suggestions.

Pat Harrison:

It’s a mindset, you are putting more pressure on yourself to perform "at speed" in a match instead of just doing what you know you can do. If you can draw in 1.2, just do it in a match, don't make it more important than in practice.

Erik Warren:

What are you seeing, or waiting to see, for that first shot that causes the hesitation? How is it different from practice?

Your draw times are very similar to mine and I've noticed a similar hitch in my draw.

benos:

Ron,

In practice, train to develop the feel for the "Arnt Myhre" first shot. He developed it to perfection during the Steel Challenge. Basically, it involves being able to fire the first shot by feeling when your upper body has hit your freestyle index. You're not depending/waiting on the site read to fire the shot, even though it's (sites) there and you do see it. Practice drawing to your index forever, paying close attention to how your upper body feels when it's in perfect position. Once you've "got the feeling," shift your attention to how soon you can become aware that you have the feeling/position. Eventually you begin to rely on your body's feel to fire the shot as much as the site feedback. When the two correspond, that's the shit! Practice (at the range) on a 10" disc at 10 yds. Draw and shoot on it over and over. Then start closing your eyes as your gun is coming into position and still fire the shot. Stop your gun as soon as it fires and then open your eyes and see where the sites are aligned. (Even if you hit the plate.) Basically, most of this stuff will come with more training. But you can accelerate it by directing your attention to the appropriate area. And, it makes practice more fun! And one more thing to try on the practice range. Set up an IPSC target at 10 yds. Using your timer, just crank a round AT the A zone as fast as possible. Don't wait to see or confirm anything, although the funny part is (the part you don't yet know and trust), you'll probably be able to call the shots pretty well without WAITING to confirm because you can see where the shot goes as the shot is happening, or in progress. Get used to this feeling - make it yours - take it to the match and crank without fear! But don't forget to SEE, in the process.

Pat Harrison:

I've noticed a good number of shooters will slow down the entire draw stroke when faced with a difficult shot. The process here might be the same. I like what BE said above because it will get you past this. Your draw speed is always (or should be) a constant, the only variable is how much time it takes to refine the sight picture, which of course is based on difficulty of the shot required. The feel described above should get you by this. Just draw and refine the sights at the end but watch that you are not alternating speeds depending on the relative difficulty of the shot at the end of the draw stroke.

Ron Ankeny:

Thanks guys. I am going to begin by taking a chill pill. Then I will mix equal parts of this post with the NPA post and combine them with a couple thousand rounds of ammo. I'll let you know how it works out.

bonedaddy:

Ron, look at the bright side. You've already diagnosed your own problem. And you're well on your way to fixing it! That proves you have the ability to create yourself and be as good as you choose to be.

I've seen you do plenty of sub 1 draws and A hits, it's no trouble for you at all. I think I might have been present for one of the first really fast ones you ever did with a witness. Man, I loved the look on your face! (wow, did I do that?) I think there is probably still alittle amazement in your mind about how quickly you've progressed. Just a wee bit of doubt that you'll actually shoot the "A" at warp speed. And that's what is happening when people see you "freeze up for a short time".

You may be waiting for your eyes to focus. (you're a Presbyterian right? Do what Brian says and practice letting your body's feel align the shot. Then trust the feel. Remember when we were practicing together a few months ago and I pulled a couple of pretty fast draws? I was seeing my sight in the"A" zone AFTER the shot was fired. It had to be my index that aimed those shots. There must be more to this than meets the EYE! hehehe

j1b:

One more thing to try -

I've noticed when my draw times start to suffer that I am no longer "popping" the gun out of the holster. That simple phrase works for me, and when I focus on it - it works.

I noticed the same trend for myself - great practice draws but bad match draws. Eventually I learned I had to focus on "popping" the gun out of the holster at a match - just like I did in practice. Eventually it became a habit.

Singlestack:

Ron,

I was doing the same thing. Something BE said in the book helped my draw. I can't remember exactly but it was something to the effect that his hand never slows down when he grabs the grip, his hand does not seem to be changing directions and it is all one motion. Before I read THE book, my draw had 3 sections, 1 grab the pistol, 2 hands meet in front of my chest, 3 punch pistol to target. After reading BE's description it is one motion and I knocked .3 off of my draw and I quit hesitating when I was on target. I don't know why the hesitition went away but it did and I'm not going to try and figure it out either

Maby its like j1b said, I did not pop the pistol out of the holster and I had a jerky draw. When I smoothed it up, it got faster and the hesitation went away....

bonedaddy:

Jack, that sounds like something that might work for me too. Sometimes I just can't do the draws like I did 'em last week. I'll focus on popping the gun out tonight. Thanks for the tip!

talon:

BE, kewl post.

First shot equals index ? Right ? With the limiting factor being the fast twitch muscle one may possess ?

And that other quality I don't understand. On that day your hot or your not

benos:

"With the limiting factor being the fast twitch muscle one may possess ?"

Yes, or inhibit.

Edited March 29, 2003 by Erik Warren