Identifying weaknesses

[Bill Schwab]

In the past I practiced the usual drills, and at the time felt I knew my weaknesses (for instance my draw has always been on the slow side), but now I doubt how well I really knew my weaknesses (for instance I don't know how fast my reload was). In other words I've never analyzed times to really know my weaknesses. This year, to make my limited practice sessions more productive, I want to try a different take on things.

My goal this year is to do better on classifiers, so to identify my weaknesses I thought I would shoot a bunch of Vice Presidente's, get the times for every skill (draw, splits, transitions, reload, points), put it all in a spreadsheet to see what my average times for each skill are (while also looking at my points), and then tailor my drills towards the weaknesses.

I know shooting only VP's limits the scope of my data, but it seems to test most of the basic skills needed to shoot a classifier well, allows standardization, and is something I can repeat (say once a week) to gauge progress.

What are your thoughts on my approach? Is there a better way to do this? Is there a better stage that would be an ideal test for overall classifier effectiveness? I expect to make Master in Limited this year, but would like to be working towards GM.

[pjb45]

Well if you practice the VP a lot, you will be very good at the VP. But that is not going to get your where you need to be.

Steve Anderson's book is quite good. There is a difference between be good at clasifiers and being good in a match.

IMO, claissifers are about draws and reloads. If you want to excel at classifiers then do a ton of work on your draws and reloads. All the draws; hands at side, surrender, off a table, draw and shooting with a mag in your weak hand during a freestyle, spins. Same with the reloads. Most M class can draw in the 1 second range and their reloads are about the same and shoot 95% of the points avalable.

All of this you can do with dry fire. When you get to the range, record all your draws, splits, transitions and reloads. Start the benching marking process. Try this, do 10 draws and one shot. Record your times. Then do 10 draws and 2 shots. You will probably notice that your draws slowed down quite a bit.

Classifiers seem to be getting more movement in them. So practice going from box to box. Go to TJ's website, he does a nice session on entering a box. Does your shot break when you pick up your lagging foot? In talking with a lot of GMs, they place a lot of emphasis on their footwork. This is where they excel.

Every practice session should have a goal. Specify what skill you want to improve then design drills to acquire then re-enforce the skill. Always do the fundamentals in each practice no matter what; draws, reloads, weak and strong hand shooting, precision and speed. Then move to your drills.

I would recommend acquiring a .22 conversion. It allows you to use the same gun while the cost of shooting goes down. This allows for more trigger time while you are re-enforcing your abilities and acquiring new skills.

Go to Mike Seeklander's site. He got some great ideas and techniques. The guy is great to have as a mentor.

[Flexmoney]

I think XRe posted about a spread sheet to track progress with?

Stave Andersons 1st book (R&R)...the first dozen or so drills are geared toward moving up in the classifiers.

I lot of clasifiers have a turn and draw (does VP?)...many have a barricade...strong and support hand.

I'm a big fan of taking whatever is most fundamental (skills closer to the foundation) and making those into strengths.