(Bill Drill) What did you learn.

[Collecting A's]

With a topic that is going on about Bill Drill times I shot a few at practice the other day.

It would be good to hear what others learned from shooting some Bill Drills.

Here is what I came away with after a few tries:

I shot a few to see what kind of time I could pull off.

Then I shot the remainder just trying to see what I could learn.

I did quite a few seeing what it took to get the gun to have a slight pause before the next shot.

From bringing the sight back down controlled and taking the shot as soon as possible.

This was much more enjoyable to shoot/see than the constant gun movement of the all out speed

and just slightly slower splits.

To having a definite pause.

This consistantly gave me groups of 5" or less.

Both of the above really helped seeing what grip pressure and arm tension do for me.

From the "fast as I can drills" it was constant gun up and down.

This to me was more about making sure the gun/sight was tracking good.

This confirmed that I wouldn't pull the trigger that fast at a match

[JD45]

Take this with a grain of salt, because I'm in C-class and don't want to push bad habits. After getting lots of advice here, I tried shooting a seven yard Bill Drill with a pure target focus. But take it even further. Don't hold the gun quite as high; look over it and watch each hole appear.

It helps to start without the draw. When you see a hole appear your brain will make the correction to push the next shot closer to center. Forget the timer and splits. The only goal is to see six holes appear in the A-zone as fast as possible.

The drill helped me get in time with the pistol better, and seemed to reveal some things about my grip.

Don't do this forever. It was just a "trick of the day" for me.

[gunsablazin]

Take this with a grain of salt, because I'm in C-class and don't want to push bad habits. After getting lots of advice here, I tried shooting a seven yard Bill Drill with a pure target focus. But take it even further. Don't hold the gun quite as high; look over it and watch each hole appear.

It helps to start without the draw. When you see a hole appear your brain will make the correction to push the next shot closer to center. Forget the timer and splits. The only goal is to see six holes appear in the A-zone as fast as possible.

The drill helped me get in time with the pistol better, and seemed to reveal some things about my grip.

Don't do this forever. It was just a "trick of the day" for me.

I have shot many target focused bill drills, never intentionally, that is just what I saw at the time. It feels good to shoot like that and not realise it until after the fact. When tension creeps back into my shooting I use the bill drill to focus on relaxing at high speed. Shoot some at longer ranges and when you move back in close its like shooting at wall.

[Flexmoney]

With a topic that is going on about Bill Drill times I shot a few at practice the other day.

It would be good to hear what others learned from shooting some Bill Drills.

Being aware and learning from what is going on ?!!!!

That is where it's at. Thanks for posting.

[Kingman]

This drill was one of the ways I learned to really track what the dot was doing full speed on paper.

I learned a lot with it shooting a JPoint on an open gun. I got to the point that I could time the slide somehow based on where the ring around the Jpoint was moving and predict where the gun was returning, really odd actually to see.

Switching to the Cmore I had to adjust to not seeing this sort of movement. But really learned to track any dot movement.

[Flexmoney]

You guys might be interested in a drill that Brian and Robbie used to do (that Brain talks about).

You set a time for the drill...with the goal to get as close to that time as possible without going faster than the time.

For instance, if you had a 2.00s goal for a Bill Drill, a 1.99s run would be a loser.

I think the idea with that drill is pure awareness.

[tightloop]

You guys might be interested in a drill that Brian and Robbie used to do (that Brain talks about).

You set a time for the drill...with the goal to get as close to that time as possible without going faster than the time.

For instance, if you had a 2.00s goal for a Bill Drill, a 1.99s run would be a loser.

I think the idea with that drill is pure awareness.

Kind of like bracket racing at the drags...go faster than the best time for your bracket....you loose.

[BSeevers]

I remember making great strides shooting into the bank, including with my eyes closed.

[LPatterson]

It's easier for me with only 6 rounds in the mag or use a revolver then I don't have to worry about the count.

[Jake Di Vita]

I think doing them will full mags are actually important. Your awareness really needs to be turned up to make sure you shoot only 6 shots.

[Ron Ankeny]

Being aware and learning from what is going on ?!!!!

Yup, yup. When I went down the "timing drill" and "Bill Drill" road it was to become more aware of what had been going on right in front of me all along. For me, Bill Drills really helped me to maintain a neutral grip, isolate the action of the trigger finger, and to truly see the relationship of the pistol to the target and my body. I did a lot of Bill Drills with a pure target focus, then I learned I could shoot them faster and with a greater degree of accuracy by watching the sights and calling the shots.