Ben Stoeger

[Shawn Knight]

I am rocking some SPEED drills this week. I am forgetting about the accuracy shit I always preach about and just trying to put holes in cardboard as fast as I can. I got hopped up on Red Bull and went to the range and tore up about 400 rds.

Here is the video:

I am setting some personal bests. 1.47 bill drill, 3.55 el prez, 2 As at 5 yards in .85 seconds….and so on. A few more days of this type of training and I am going to work on normal accuracy based drills in preparation for area 5 coming up soon.

Where is your focus when you shoot at those speeds?

Front sight or target?

Ben can slow down time and space. It makes the front sight stand out more.

[MemphisMechanic]

This week so far:

Here you can have 2 days <snip>

Excellent. Keep it up for the rest of the week, please. I'm curious to see how much time is actually spent where, in a "typical" week.

How does the amount of practice you're doing now vary from what you did when you were pushing from B->A->M classifications?

Would you do more, less, or BETTER practice than you did back then, if you were at my skill level, and pushing toward GM all over again?

Sorry for the loaded questions. I know each answer to those could easily turn into a three-page article.

Edited June 11, 2009 by MemphisMechanic

[Ben Stoeger]

I am rocking some SPEED drills this week. I am forgetting about the accuracy shit I always preach about and just trying to put holes in cardboard as fast as I can. I got hopped up on Red Bull and went to the range and tore up about 400 rds.

Here is the video:

I am setting some personal bests. 1.47 bill drill, 3.55 el prez, 2 As at 5 yards in .85 seconds….and so on. A few more days of this type of training and I am going to work on normal accuracy based drills in preparation for area 5 coming up soon.

Where is your focus when you shoot at those speeds?

Front sight or target?

Target.... usually...

[Ben Stoeger]

I don’t know about my training before in terms of growing my ability. I came into USPSA as a GM… so my trip was a little bit screwy.

As far as what I would change? I don’t know…. I would certainly do MORE practice. I just didn’t have the chingaling to shoot as much as I do now. I thought that 200 rounds a day twice a week was enough… but now I shoot way the hell more.

One thing I can say about my training now is that it is much less speed focused (the last couple days aside) and much more movement and accuracy focused. I like to slap up hardcover and no shoots during practice to make things extra difficult.

A couple years ago my whole thinking revolved around constantly putting up better times than I could before. 2 As at whatever distance… Fastest el prez… fastest bill drill….etc.

Now I just go out and shoot. I change things up a lot more. I am not as concerned with being able to measure progress from day to day.

This week so far:

Here you can have 2 days <snip>

Excellent. Keep it up for the rest of the week, please. I'm curious to see how much time is actually spent where, in a "typical" week.

How does the amount of practice you're doing now vary from what you did when you were pushing from B->A->M classifications?

Would you do more, less, or BETTER practice than you did back then, if you were at my skill level, and pushing toward GM all over again?

Sorry for the loaded questions. I know each answer to those could easily turn into a three-page article.

[Ben Stoeger]

I did some more hosing today. I set up a 20 round field course with targets from 3 to 7 yards. I put up a few no shoots to mix things up.

Video:

I feel like I am learning a ton from this stuff. It is all about being aggressive physically and relaxed mentally.

I worked in a shot that I actually had to aim at (a 7 yard head shot). You can see on the video where I slow up for one target in the last position. Getting on the sights and making the hits and then getting cranked back up again didn’t seem to be a problem.

[MemphisMechanic]

I came into USPSA as a GM… so my trip was a little bit screwy.

Where the hell did you do all the work? Shooting IDPA up to the Wisconsion '06 match? You had to be competing in something at the sharpshooter/D-class level in order to want to improve...

Never knew that. I guess I assumed you cut your teeth on the A-to-GM progression in USPSA like virtually everyone else here.

One thing I can say about my training now is that it is much less speed focused (the last couple days aside) and much more movement and accuracy focused. I like to slap up hardcover and no shoots during practice to make things extra difficult.

A couple years ago my whole thinking revolved around constantly putting up better times than I could before. 2 As at whatever distance… Fastest el prez… fastest bill drill….etc.

I'd actually learned that one myself. But it's good to have it reinforced by a more experienced shooter.

I feel like I am learning a ton from this stuff. It is all about being aggressive physically and relaxed mentally.

That is HUGE

I've never been able to put it into words before, but MY biggest struggle with USPSA (and why jumping ship from IPDA has been so much fun) is exactly what you just described. As you noticed from the video I PM'd you, I'm really not pushing on those wide steel-to-steel transitions. My movement could be faster, although it's not sluggish. But going balls-to-the-wall leads to enormous mental tension, which leads to enormous mental mistakes (engaging one target from 3 positions, WHAT PLAN?!?, reloading in the wrong spot, etc).

*ahem*

Now...I'm honestly going to try not to carpet bomb your journal with posts for a while - almost half the posts on this page are probably mine. I know you're glad to know that SOMEONE is actually reading this thing, but I feel like I'm posting in it more than you do. I'm really not trying to stalk you. Promise.

Edited June 12, 2009 by MemphisMechanic

[Flexmoney]

Ben,

Now that you have cranked up the aggression, how about cranking up the awareness to go with it and sharing as much of what you experience as you can recall?

[Franklin D Wolverton]

I've tried this method of practice... I call it "spray and pray..." I'll get a nice level of shooting really fast with decent accuracy... then at matches, go RIGHT BACK to what I used to do. I start thinking about score and placement instead of execution.

Yes... I know... need to practice more and change the attitude... it'll come...

I think I blame the military... we never trained that much on second shots. Most of our range time was slow fire. Even the rapid fire was 10 shots in 60 seconds... (I'm talking rifle here). The Army qualification course (both rifle and pistol)... you only need a second shot if you miss with the first one.

I've been over-trained for first shot speed and accuracy. Now I need to work the hell out of a speedy yet accurate second shot. Never really trained on it.

Yes... we had double tap field exercises, but those were always with blank ammo... so you could never tell if you would have hit anything. It was more "bang-bang" your dead...

Frank

[Ben Stoeger]

Ben,

Now that you have cranked up the aggression, how about cranking up the awareness to go with it and sharing as much of what you experience as you can recall?

I noticed a few things during these drills:

I can hit faster than I thought I could.

When I tensed up my body and tried really hard, things fell apart.

Misses came from throwing shots over the targets on the draw or from throwing them in between targets on the transition

My brain can work faster than my trigger finger can keep up.

A high level of aggression on these drills carries over to drills with harder shooting. (I still shoot faster when I have to aim, I just am aiming faster)

The bottom line, it seems to me that this speed has been available to me for quite some time, I just never let it come out until right now. We will see how much of this speed and aggression level I can carry into a match. That seems like it is going to be the real trick.

[Ben Stoeger]

Can you count is finally done:

And the 100 project marches on.

[Lawdawg112]

Ben-

Love your videos and your site, you have taught me a lot, Thank You!

I have a question for you. What is your favorite drill for working on/improving your shooting split times. I'm currently a prod B and have been working on the reloading, movement and dryfiring a lot which has paid off, but when I watch my own videos I can see that my split times are really slowing me down. I shoot a G34 with warren tactical sights.

I appreciate any advice you have.

Thx

[Ben Stoeger]

Ben-

Love your videos and your site, you have taught me a lot, Thank You!

I have a question for you. What is your favorite drill for working on/improving your shooting split times. I'm currently a prod B and have been working on the reloading, movement and dryfiring a lot which has paid off, but when I watch my own videos I can see that my split times are really slowing me down. I shoot a G34 with warren tactical sights.

I appreciate any advice you have.

Thx

The "bill drill" and its variations are what I use to crank up the split times.

Check out this drill http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25162

[Lawdawg112]

Thanks Ben, I appreciate it.

[Lawdawg112]

On another topic, not sure if you've seen them yet but the MN sectional stages are posted online at http://www.mnuspsa.org/.

Can't wait to try the Heftagon, looks pretty cool. On these type of stages do you like to pick up and stow a bunch of mags back in your pouches or do you just place them around on all the different barrels?

[Ben Stoeger]

On another topic, not sure if you've seen them yet but the MN sectional stages are posted online at http://www.mnuspsa.org/.

Can't wait to try the Heftagon, looks pretty cool. On these type of stages do you like to pick up and stow a bunch of mags back in your pouches or do you just place them around on all the different barrels?

Looking over that stage diagram, I really doubt you will see me standing there stuffing mags in my pouches. I bet they will all be grabbed as needed of the barrels.

The stages look good this year. I think the head shot one should be nutzo. =)

[Lawdawg112]

On another topic, not sure if you've seen them yet but the MN sectional stages are posted online at http://www.mnuspsa.org/.

Can't wait to try the Heftagon, looks pretty cool. On these type of stages do you like to pick up and stow a bunch of mags back in your pouches or do you just place them around on all the different barrels?

Looking over that stage diagram, I really doubt you will see me standing there stuffing mags in my pouches. I bet they will all be grabbed as needed of the barrels.

The stages look good this year. I think the head shot one should be nutzo. =)

I agree on the head shot stage. Going to just try and stay focused and get the best sight alignment I can and try and get as many alphas as possible without wasting too much time on that one.

The bed stage looks cool too.

Good Luck!

[Ben Stoeger]

Worked my bad mojo a little bit yesterday:

Even when shooting while running along at a good clip, I was able to call my shots with good precision. I haven’t tried an exercise like this in the past where I focus on moving fast and then just shoot as well as I can. My usual approach is just to focus on shooting and move as fast as I can while I am doing that. This new way yields better hit factors. Strange right?

[MemphisMechanic]

I have a question for you. What is your favorite drill for working on/improving your shooting split times. I'm currently a prod B and have been working on the reloading, movement and dryfiring a lot which has paid off, but when I watch my own videos I can see that my split times are really slowing me down.

This drill from a Rifle guy recently caught my eye. It was posted in the 3-gun forums, and looks promising to play with using a pistol. Lots of transitions and splits, without setting up a crapload of targets. And a 9mm Glock can just barely finish it without a reload.

Damn if those VTAC guys don't like to burn ammo, though. All their youtube drills are... uh.. lengthy.

And I'd be willing to bet money that your transitions need more work than your splits. Better split times (with hits) come from seeing more/faster, which simply comes through practice. Transitions can be improved pretty damn quickly, with proper technique and focus on the problem. I've been doing a lot of work in the backyard with an airsoft Glock since Ben pointed out my sucky wiiiiide transitions recently. 2 small steel plates almost 180 apart, and a timer.

Edited June 18, 2009 by MemphisMechanic

[Ben Stoeger]

I got back about 230 this morning from Area 5. The match was a marathon, with 15 stages shot in only one day. Here is some video:

Overall, a pretty lame effort on my part. I had some problems, too many to be able to challenge Dave for the win. The most annoying issue I had was my first ever jam in a match. I had a case fail to extract (worn out extractor spring, it will be fixed soon) and that caused a double feed. 6 seconds later, I was back to shooting. I estimate that stage will cost me 30 pts in the final standings. That sort of margin is not recoverable. I ended up with a miss and one D as well, so not my most accurate shooting. I had some good stages, and a couple great stages. But mostly I had just so so stages.

Overall, it was a positive learning experience for me, and I had a good time catching up with people. I hadn’t seen flex $$ in 2 years, so it was good to catch up with him. I was squatted with Canadians. They were fun, but perhaps a little bit foul mouthed for some peoples tastes.

Either way, I am going to prep my gear for MN Sectional tomorrow.

After this weekend I should have a good idea of what I need to do with my training from here. I just am waiting on the results from today’s and tomorrow’s shooting at area 5

[waxman]

Wow Ben, I am sure you still did great. It is really funny you mentioned the malfunction, and the miss. My SV did the same thing to me today, first time ever in a match as well, mine cost me almost 10 seconds, on the first fricken stage!! I also shot a Mike, actually 2 of them. I really felt like driving into a bridge abutment on the way home. Thanks for making me feel a little better. You are going to do great at the MN section, the stages are almost like you designed them 3, 6, and 5 all have your kind of targets. Good luck tomorrow. Dave

[Dan Hefta]

Well it is no shocker that Ben smoked all of us MN shooters at the MN Sectional. Great job Ben, you and Matt are a class act, great seeing you shoot again. Dan H

[Flexmoney]

Good video, Ben. Now I get what you were saying on Stage 1 (Area5) with taking the target to the right after the popper...that left you with 10 on the finish. (I wasn't in 10-round thinking and didn't picture it from our conversation.)

... Canadians. They were fun, but perhaps a little bit foul mouthed for some peoples tastes.

Ha ...

[Ben Stoeger]

Minnesota video here:

I have a new movement setup. I will be working it hardcore for the rest of the summer. I am looking forward to the training.

On another note, at the Minnesota section match, I noted 2 things I really liked. First, it was an accuracy driven match. There was only one stage that didn’t have any “hard” shots. I liked that a lot. A big pucker factor on stages is a really good thing in my book.

The other thing I liked was that production was the biggest division. How cool is that?

[eerw]

Minnesota video here:

I have a new movement setup. I will be working it hardcore for the rest of the summer. I am looking forward to the training.

On another note, at the Minnesota section match, I noted 2 things I really liked. First, it was an accuracy driven match. There was only one stage that didn’t have any “hard” shots. I liked that a lot. A big pucker factor on stages is a really good thing in my book.

The other thing I liked was that production was the biggest division. How cool is that?

Great shooting Ben!!!

so what's the movement drill??

[Ben Stoeger]

Minnesota video here:

I have a new movement setup. I will be working it hardcore for the rest of the summer. I am looking forward to the training.

On another note, at the Minnesota section match, I noted 2 things I really liked. First, it was an accuracy driven match. There was only one stage that didn’t have any “hard” shots. I liked that a lot. A big pucker factor on stages is a really good thing in my book.

The other thing I liked was that production was the biggest division. How cool is that?

Great shooting Ben!!!

so what's the movement drill??

I have a diagram of it up.. but due to forum rules, I can't tell you where.

ETA: I am not trying to start a bitch session about forum rules, so please let this issue drop with this post.

Edited June 23, 2009 by Ben Stoeger