What book to buy first, training advice?

[lokigoesrawr]

New shooter here looking for advice.

Being a broke college student, I'm trying to figure out what to buy first:

• Brian's Practical Shooting
  
• Saul's Thinking Practical Shooting
  
• some other book, if so, which?
  
• a timer for dry practice; PACT worth the money?
  
• competition sights to replace my current ones that are reminiscent of GI 1911 notch sights (that came on a used CZ75B)
  

I just shot my 3rd IPSC match a couple weeks ago (http://youtube.com/watch?v=FytAC8qO2xU) and guesstimate I'm a high-D or, at best, a mid-C shooter. (I seem to mess up badly on classifiers, but somehow end up around a high/mid-C range in the overall production results.) My draw is slow, transitions mediocre, and most importantly, cannot consistently call shots (among other things). I figured I would need to learn mechanical skills first and foremost, so went ahead and bought a copy of Anderson's first book and queued up Burkett's DVDs on smartflix.com.

I know I'll benefit immensely from Brian's book over time, but I'm not sure how much I'd benefit from an in-depth discussion on mindset just yet.

I'm shooting the NC Sectional (level III) Oct 5 as my 4th match ever and want to do a lot better than I have. What should I do in that timeframe?

Absolute love the forum by the way, thanks guys.

Edited September 14, 2007 by lokigoesrawr

[shred]

As a new shooter, you're absolutely correct you want to get the mechanics right. That's going to occupy the majority of your brain for quite a few more rounds and matches downrange. The more you get used to the minor explosion in front of your face, the more attention you can turn to non-mechanical things like calling shots and so forth. That's when the two books you listed get to be useful. Brians book has a good technique section in it, but that's not the key part. You should also look at Saul's other book-- Perfect Practice-- you'll need a lot of that . Movement, Reloads, Draws, etc can all be done dry-fire. Shot calling is going to take live rounds and is probably where you should be working now, slow-fire off a bench, whatever it takes to get it.

[JD45]

If you really want to save time and money in the long run, you could use decent sights first. The old tiny G.I. sights ain't gonna cut it.

Get Brian's book. And a good DVD on basics like Burkett's (sold here), or I hear Barnhart's are great too.

Edited September 15, 2007 by JD45

[lokigoesrawr]

Cool, thanks.

Would you recommend I get Perfect Practice before the two other books, or would there be enough overlap in Anderson's drills and Burkett's DVDs?

I'm going to run out to the range to call shots right now.

Edited September 14, 2007 by lokigoesrawr

[Paul Burtchell]

Cool, thanks.

Would you recommend I get Perfect Practice before the two other books, or would there be enough overlap in Anderson's drills and Burkett's DVDs?

I'm going to run out to the range to call shots right now.

For what it's worth. I would recommend some competition style sights and a trigger job. Those two items will give you the biggest bang for the buck and you will see an immediate improvement in you scores. I would then purhase a CED 7000 timer and Saul's book.

[FranDoc]

I'm relatively new to this as well. Hung out with the tactical guys & LE for the first ~1.5 years. Shot a WWII vintage mil-spec .45 and couldn't see much with the little iron sights (and progressive bifocals, eeek!). Got into the run-&-gun and competition this year, shoot Production with an XD, fiber optic front sights are much nicer, IMHO. Worth the expense.

If I had to do the last ~2 years over again, I'd get more formal training sooner. If you're a visual learner, if seeing something real-time is more beneficial for you than reading a description, the DVD's may be more productive than a book on technique. If you can take a portable DVD player with you to the range, watch a little, practice it, watch a little more, practice, repeat ad infinitum, that may be a good use of limited training resources.

There are also a number of video clips on the web from Max Michel, Todd Jarrett (occasionally spelled Jerrett elsewhere on the Forum), Saul and others. There are links to these in other threads; use the search function to find them.

If reading helps more, any of the books previously listed are very, very good.

Anderson's book gives you a structured way to practice, and that's very helpful when you know you need to practice, but you don't know what will be the most productive. Need the timer, it's also worth the expense. Check the classifieds here, they show up occasionally.

Ammo: you'll need it, watch for sales (good luck). Shoot it when you have it.

[Jake Di Vita]

If I were you I would buy Steve Anderson's book (refinement and repetition), a timer, and new sights. In that order. Watch all the videos you can get your hands on and work your ass off.

[Micah]

If I were you I would buy Steve Anderson's book (refinement and repetition), a timer, and new sights. In that order. Watch all the videos you can get your hands on and work your ass off.

+10⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹

Find shooters who are better to practice with, and dryfire until your hands bleed.

[uscbigdawg]

Another vote for Jake's advice. Another great book that I'm finishing now is Shooting From Within by J. Michael Plaxco. Awesome book, especially on the mental aspect of our game.

Rich

[Steve Anderson]

I found that watching video of top shooters was more helpful than watching instructional video...

I'll never forget seeing the footage of Blake at the end of the first Burkett DVD...that was so inspiring.

It also help me realize that GMs didn't fly around on magic carpets. (well, everybody but Jorge, who does!)

The single best thing you can do is set a practice schedule and stick to it. Do not practice when you feel like it, practice because it's 6.30 and that's what you do at 6.30.

That WILL work.

Ditto on the sights...bad sights will make it so march harder.

Feel free to ask questions anytime...

[schmitz]

I found that watching video of top shooters was more helpful than watching instructional video...

I'll never forget seeing the footage of Blake at the end of the first Burkett DVD...that was so inspiring.

+1

and Saul's "Perfect Practise"...my guideline!

[markcic]

[*]a timer for dry practice; PACT worth the money?

I have a CED7000 because it ton smaller than the PACT which makes it easy to travel with. The free option is to look on Matt Burket's website. He has a flash based timer under dryfire drills.

[BSeevers]

I would get Brian's book, read it, but before approach a M and ask for some advice on grip, trigger, stance. You would be surprised how many would help. Some you won't connect with but that's that.

Riding along to matches and practicing with me(or any old M) has helped a few guys make M.

[Micah]

Riding along to matches and practicing with me(or any old M) has helped a few guys make M.

I'm on that list! Shooting under Bill's direction has played a significant role in achieving Master. Shooting with better shooters is a HUGE advantage!

[kz45]

RUready has a timer you can download, works great.

[lokigoesrawr]

Thank you so much for all the replies guys, I really appreciate it.

I ended up ordering Brian's book and Saul's Perfect Practice for the 10% discount. I think I exaggerated my sights to sound worse than they actually are: they do leave a lot to be desired, but aren't as bad as GI low profiles, and have small yellow dots on them. It'll be awhile until new sights.

Micah, I saw your garage dojo setup in the other forum. I'm green with envy and I'll try and emulate a smaller setup like your's. Steve, thanks for the insight on building a systematic routine. I'll set a designated time every day and dry drill--not because I'm bored and feel like doing it, but because it'll be routine.

I'm currently dry firing with the RUready timer program. I can't quite justify putting a real timer on my credit card right now, but it's the next thing on my shopping list. Need to figure out which timer to buy...the CED7000 looks nice. Turns out my room and dresser (shelf) have the perfect dimensions for a scaled CM99-21 Mini-mart setup--it'll be the classifier at the NC Sectional. I'll build that tomorrow and run the classifier 50 times a day.

I went to the range again today and was actually calling shots on my CZ Kadet .22 conversion. Mag after mag I can really track the sights and press rapid shots. Still an inconsistent mess with the CZ75, though. After every mag of 9mm, I dry fire and start flinching again on the first shot. Ugh. I thought I was over that phase. [edit- re:flinch, http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=53246, maybe it's a post-shot dipping?]

I'll try asking better shooters for some advice/critique next match.

Edited September 17, 2007 by lokigoesrawr

[Steve Anderson]

Loki,

A lot will depend on how you learn...I've never been a great student of organized learning. (classes)

I do much better with a curious mind and a burning desire to learn.

You should surely ask advice from the best shooters around and be sure you squad with them.

I would also recommend you keep a journal that details your strengths and opportunities for imrovement (weaknesses)

You can go very, very far chipping away at your OFI list every time you practice. Be sure to phrase these positively in your reflections: I made progress today at my weak hand only drills, I am becoming a better WHO shooter.

You need to protect your self image at this phase to avoid attaching negative emotion to your shooting.

Improving is not easy, but very simple.

SA

[Matt Griffin]

For the basics, it's hard to beat the first 3 Burkett vids. Brian's book can supplement those fundamentals, and then take you well past them. Saul's book (Thinking Practical Shooting) is probably a later purchase, once you've grooved the fundamentals and shot quite a few more matches.

Airsoft is a great bang-for-the-buck tool at first, it's hard to beat the feedback of a hole in paper, and you get to shoot 10k rounds for less than a penny per round. I recommend getting a propane adaptor for airsoft, it will save you 5$ or so per tank.

I'm also a big fan of the grip being the place to start. Concentrate on that and the rest will come much more easily.

H.

[kurtm]

To fix your 9mm flinch MAKE SURE you have good hearing protection, maybe even double up muffs and plugs. Next when you do your dry practice, do it against a white wall, with NOTHING on it. All you want to do is see what the sights are doing, and remember to focus on the front sight as hard as you can, you should be able to see the striations or depth of the dot hole. Next apply 80,000 times dry and loud, you are doing what needs to be done. Find a good shooting partner.

I have two friends ( maybe more, but two will do) one asks questions all the time and wants me to help him out, over the last 2 months he has gone from low C to about a B shooter, speed and accuracy is coming along nicely. The other friend loves to shoot, but feels like he is imposing on me when he asks questions, and wants advice, I give it all freely as do MANY in this sport, I may not be the best but I got a clue. Now friend 2 is getting better but he is fighting it for sure,. The point here is ask, ask, ask, have them show you, don't let your feelings get in the way. Almost all the guys I know that are really good will go out of thier way to help out...because we were all there at one time! Good luck on the shooting trail! KURTM

[j1b]

Loki,

I'd like to vote for Steve's advice. I am no benchmark, but the first few years of shooting I spent a ton of time simply watching video of shooters. Good, bad, and ugly (sometimes a combo deal!!!).

The 1990 nationals is by far my favorite tape. A fantastic match. All of them are good though and with today's internet you can basically get a lot of what you need online.

I was golfing with Meg Mallon the other day (an LPGA pro) and she was astounded at how complicated people make the game of golf. She asked if I had to toss a ball in a basket 5 yards away would I really focus on all the mechanics of the game or would I just think about what I wanted to do and then just let my body do it? By watching video you can begin to "train" your body about what it needs to do. Let your mind do the rest.

Shoot and dry fire. The rest will take care of itself.

Oh - and I've done that broke and shooting thing. Sometimes it's tough, but when every bullet you fire means something it really forces you to focus. Not a bad thing. Use that to your advantage!

Welcome!!!! Good to have you!

J

[benos]

In addition to the great suggestions in this thread, try this simple practice drill, which will provide an endless opportunity for improvement.

(This is assuming you've zeroed your pistol off a bench/sandbags.)

Take (or maybe borrow) a pair of binoculars with you to the range. Set up a target just far enough so you can't see the bullet holes (without binoculars). (25 yards is probably good.) Get a nice firm grip on your pistol; extend your arms into a comfortable position; look right at the front sight and don't think about anything else until the shot fires. (i.e., Allow a shot to fire.) Say in your mind where the bullet went. Then look through the binoculars and see where it actually went.

If the bullet didn't go where you thought it went (or if you couldn't say where it went) ask yourself: What didn't I do or see which would have enabled me to call the shot? Keep your eyes open and repeat the process.

Even just doing this for a little bit, each pratice session, will be a big help.

You can also do the same drill with the target a closer distance, where you can see the holes without binoculars. Just do not look at the target after the shot fires. Look right at the front sight - bang - immediately withdraw your focus inward, and call the shot. Then look and see where it actually went.

be