How long did it take you to get to: C, B, A, M, GM

[Chris iliff]

Made "C" open first year, then a grueling 3 years at 58% shooting 4 matches a month April-October, 28 matches a year. Made "B" after realizing that you get what you give and starting a dry fire routine and practice schedule. In fact, I thought I might blow right through "B" in a couple months as I shot up to 73% almost overnight. Gee, that practice pays off. Then winter hit and so did the lazy bug. Starting to get back in the routine and hope to make the B stop a short one, under 1 year.

A good practice routine will really pay off, as will a class with a GM. Of course I waited allmost 4 years to do that. Doing something once a week will only get you so far, got me to "C". The rest is just going to be me wanting it and doing the work.

[Anubis]

Been shooting since August of 08 but I've only really got the chance to shoot for about 6 weeks of the time between now and then due to living in England

Finally got my 4th classifier in March of this year and came out with D class thanks to completely blowing my first classifier, woulda been C with a decent score on that one

[Neomet]

Started shooting about 2 years ago. Other than when I was a kid I had not shot a pistol. Started as a low D in Limited. Took me about 8-9 months to make C shooting one USPSA match and two SC matches a month. Very limited live fire practice and the same for dry fire. Moved to the center of the shooting universe right about the time I started shooting Open a little over a year ago. Started Open as a just over the line C. I am now flirting with B with a couple classifiers over and some at 58% or so. Lots more dry fire, live fire and many, many more matches a month along with training with a local GM who in an obvious display of poor judgement on his part has become my friend and gives me ongoing feedback.

[ima45dv8]

Every progression I've made in classification was a direct result of the effort I put into it.

It takes as exactly as much time as we're willing to commit.

[JeffWard]

200 draws/dry-fires per day, last 2 days, with at least 100 mag changes. Nightly...

I'm just drawing and dropping the striker on a light-switch at 12-15 ft. Figure a light switch at 5 yds is smaller than an A-Zone at 20.

I'm shopping for a timer, so I can practice to a beeper, and par-times.

I've got 4 mags on my belt. I draw and snap, reload, squeeze, reload, squeeze, reload, squeeze, reload squeeze... until all 4 mags are gone. I keep doing this until I do 20 flawless reloads (5 sets in a row). I plan on building to as high as 80-100 flawless "reloads", with a sight acquisition/dry-fire in between.

Not much room to do movement drills in my condo, but I'm also working on maintaining sight picture while advancing and retreating. I have a Crimson Trace Laser on my M&P 9c Carry gun (same grip angle and similar size)... I'll draw the 9C, and walk backward, maintaining the laser dot in one spot, best I can...

I figure doing a couple hundred reps per night, and shooting 2-3 matches per week...

What other indoor dry-fire drill do you do? What's the best?

THANKS!

Now if I just get rid of this damn cold... I guess all the 90+ weather down here has gotten me! (Actually alternating between A/C at 74, and outside at 105 heat index will get you.)

JeffWard

[Leozinho]

I figure doing a couple hundred reps per night, and shooting 2-3 matches per week...

You didn't mention live fire practice. If that's the case, from my humble experience, you would be better served dropping some of the matches in favor of live fire practice if you truly are trying to maximize your improvement. The match fees and the hours spent standing around at a match could be better served paying for ammo and working on the fundamentals and weaknesses you have.

It's like the difference between playing a round of golf versus hitting balls on the range (if that analogy makes any sense to you). One is more fun, but the other will lead to greater improvement.

Regarding your dryfire routine and given your lack of space: practicing transitions would seem to come higher on the hiearchy of things to work than movement drills. (By all means, practice movement, too. I just noticed you didn't mention practicing transitions.) Good luck.

Edited June 29, 2009 by Leozinho

[shred]

IMO, shooting local matches is important to getting good. I advise people wanting to get better to shoot several local matches a month, though 2-3 a week might get excessive fast. They're a great way to learn what you really can or can't do when it's on the line, one try only. When you learn what you can't do when the buzzer goes off is when you get your next set of practice drills.

[Hi-Power Jack]

Live fire practice is hard, since I cannot use our USPSA/IDPA bays without a RO present.

Jeff

Jeff, I'm not sure what the name is, but there's a club near the Orlando airport

that has openings and allows you to practice IPSC type shooting - send

Cliff Bordwell a note since he's a member of that club (I shot there last

Winter with him and his wife).

Very nice club, they have great IPSC matches once/month

and great bunch of guys - all very helpful.

Took me two years of C to make it to B, just in time for me to attend

the Nationals in September as a B instead of a C ( I shoot right

around the 60% mark, so I would have had a shot at it as a C, but

am dead in the water as a B. I'll never make A - just not fast enough:((

But, I love the game and very happy that I finally made B (in Open);

still a C in limited. Going to work on that next, try to be a B in Limited.

Jack

[JeffWard]

I figure doing a couple hundred reps per night, and shooting 2-3 matches per week...

You didn't mention live fire practice. If that's the case, from my humble experience, you would be better served dropping some of the matches in favor of live fire practice if you truly are trying to maximize your improvement. The match fees and the hours spent standing around at a match could be better served paying for ammo and working on the fundamentals and weaknesses you have.

It's like the difference between playing a round of golf versus hitting balls on the range (if that analogy makes any sense to you). One is more fun, but the other will lead to greater improvement.

Regarding your dryfire routine and given your lack of space: practicing transitions would seem to come higher on the hiearchy of things to work than movement drills. (By all means, practice movement, too. I just noticed you didn't mention practicing transitions.) Good luck.

Live fire practice for me IS my evening matches. We shoot 2 nights per week, 5 and 3 stages, no classifiers, so I see them as practice. Some nights I focus on Alphas, and some nights speed. I get a little better in general every week, but I'm searching for the right balance (shooting Production) of accuracy and speed, and attempting to find my personal limits. My weekend matches are where the Classifiers are. These I consider competitive "matches". I have no access (yet) to bays where I can practice shooting more than 1 round every 2 seconds... gr.... The cost is less of an issue. As a member, the evening matches are $5.

I completely understand the driving range analogy, but I admit.. I'm a single digit handicapper, who HATES to hit range balls. I'd rather work out issues on the course... likely the reason I've never become a "scratch" golfer. I see a direct correlation between A-Shooter and a single-digit handicapper in golf. A M-Class shooter, is a scratch golfer. A GM.... Playing professional. Then of course, like the golf world, only the best of the GMs (Pro golfers) ever make a serious living at it (not a goal of mine). Most just kick a$$ at their local course, and then finish pretty well in a Hooter's Tour event and take home a few bucks.

Question: How do you practice transitions with an empty gun??? I can definitely see live-fire transition practice as hugely helpful, and shooting plate rack after platerack, etc, for time... But inside??? What do you do?

Thanks again!

Jeff

[lugnut]

[Question: How do you practice transitions with an empty gun???

No different than live fire. Same thing except no recoil to manage. Try small targets, hard targets and mixes. Movement adds to the fun. Try different positions for shooting. Be honest with what you see.

[CHA-LEE]

Be careful what you practice as that is what you are training your subconscious mind to do during the heat of the moment on a stage run. For example, when you dry fire and do one shot draws onto a target you are training your brain to process the sight picture on the target and “Look the shot off” once you see the sights aligned in an acceptable manner. Now step back and think about this. If you do your dry fire practice by drawing to a light switch what are you training your brain to do? Shoot light switches really good. How many light switches do you see on a course of fire??? None. The same can be said for only pulling the trigger once during these one shot draw dry fire drills. How often do you draw onto your first target and only shoot it once? Very rarely as most stages have you starting off on a paper target that needs two hits.

When I dry fire I will always leverage a standard USPSA target as that further burns in the “Looking the shot off” process when I see the sights aligned on the A zone of the target.

The same can be said for performing static reloads. If you are performing a static reload during a stage run you are probably not running through the stage correctly. You need to practice performing reloads while you are moving from one shooting position to another as that is what should happen 90% of the time during a stage run. Who cares if you can perform 50 perfect static reloads in a row if you can’t do the same thing while running at full speed to the next shooting position? Put these practice items into context. Practice them in the same conditions you will be using them in a stage run.

[JeffWard]

Be careful what you practice as that is what you are training your subconscious mind to do during the heat of the moment on a stage run. For example, when you dry fire and do one shot draws onto a target you are training your brain to process the sight picture on the target and “Look the shot off” once you see the sights aligned in an acceptable manner. Now step back and think about this. If you do your dry fire practice by drawing to a light switch what are you training your brain to do? Shoot light switches really good. How many light switches do you see on a course of fire??? None. The same can be said for only pulling the trigger once during these one shot draw dry fire drills. How often do you draw onto your first target and only shoot it once? Very rarely as most stages have you starting off on a paper target that needs two hits.

When I dry fire I will always leverage a standard USPSA target as that further burns in the “Looking the shot off” process when I see the sights aligned on the A zone of the target.

The same can be said for performing static reloads. If you are performing a static reload during a stage run you are probably not running through the stage correctly. You need to practice performing reloads while you are moving from one shooting position to another as that is what should happen 90% of the time during a stage run. Who cares if you can perform 50 perfect static reloads in a row if you can’t do the same thing while running at full speed to the next shooting position? Put these practice items into context. Practice them in the same conditions you will be using them in a stage run.

Okay... printing half-scale USPSA Targets for dry-fire (instead of light switches...), and squeezing twice... Transitioning and squeezing twice again, three times, and THEN... my girlfriend will laugh hysterically instead of just snicker... as I practice reloads running around my condo... I need a yard... With a tall fence!

[CHA-LEE]

JeffWard> If your girlfriend is sitting there with nothing else to do but laugh at you, then put her to work. Get her involved by running the timer and giving you the RO range commands. Have her setup little COF's in your apartment for you to navigate through and have her RO your runs. Your practice can be this "Funny" thing you do that she does not understand. Or, you can get her involved in what you are doing so she understands what you are trying to achieve and why.

I will take my lady with me to the range some times and have her run me through drills or just made up COF's she comes up with. She can get pretty diabolical in creating little drill style COF's that I would never even think of. Like "Only head A-zone hits count" or "Only hits on the Letter A in the A zone count" or "3 sec par time for engaging 8 separate targets" Sure, a lot of them wouldn’t be USPSA legal stages or even achievable but I still have to go through the same process of programming the stage and executing on the plan once the buzzer goes off. Plus its good to have someone else set shooting challenge that is WAY above what you think you are capable of as you may be surprised at how close you actually get. Walking up on an relatively unknown situation and solving the COF is really what we do at matches so that type of creative problem solving is always good to practice.

[benny hill]

Started in 92-3 in A class & made GM in 95 when almost everybody shot open class.

[JThompson]

Sometimes if you're stalled or just getting tired the best thing you can do is take a break every once in a while.*

I got my A-card at the first match after taking almost a year off.

I got my GM a few months after taking a 3-months not-even-touching-the-guns break.

It can get you back to the fun and clear away a lot of the head-noise and get back to what matters.

*YMMV, results may not be typical

That's interesting Shred... I hadn't thought about it, but I made a pretty good jump after taking some time off for my wrist. I guess now I should take off a year and get my GM card.

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: It took me 4 classifiers to make "C" in Limited. It took 4 classifiers to make "B" in single stack. It has taken 2 1/2 years to make "B" in Production. My goal is to make "A" by the end of this year in any of the divisions. So to answer your questiion 3 years to make "A" I hope. I don't dry fire and really don't practice. I have only been shooting a handgun just about 3 years now since it was difficult to shoot/own a handgun in Canada. I have shot with some really good shooters who have helped me along the way though. I think you do need to shoot locally and with different shooters in your local club. You can learn from everyone. It does help to shoot in some out of town matches to see others shoot. It also helps to shoot with a friend to help push you along(thanks Bruce C) and even makes jokes when you shoot bad In the end I think if you are having fun that is the most inportant part or else you will end up not enjoying what you do for fun Thanks, Eric

[Tactical Timmy]

[quote name=

I made A Initially in open and 12 ish months later I made master.

As soon as i made master i started having gun issues. Just recently got it all working again.

[Filishooter]

Started in 08/07 classified as a "C" Production (and Sharpshooter IDPA). Made "B" in about a year (and Master IDPA 4 months later). I'm at 70% and working towards "A" before 08/09!

[GmanCdp]

L10 SS 45acp..started at "B",stuck in "B",stopped going out of "B" had fun while shooting it..

[ebg3]

Started as B in Limited and stayed there for 1.5years then went to A for two weeks and on to M where I have been for a long time. I tried Open and started as A and went to M after 6 months or so. I shot one classifier match in L-10 and was classified as M. Started as M in Production thanks to a 100% score at a Classifier match. Not classified in SS or Rev.

[Shootingirons45]

Started as B in Limited and stayed there for 1.5years then went to A for two weeks and on to M where I have been for a long time. I tried Open and started as A and went to M after 6 months or so. I shot one classifier match in L-10 and was classified as M. Started as M in Production thanks to a 100% score at a Classifier match. Not classified in SS or Rev.

He's my HERO!!!!

[DVC247]

4 years to make B

Another 3 years to make M

Another (ahem) 9 years to make GM.......

next up, Double Secret G

[ebg3]

Started as B in Limited and stayed there for 1.5years then went to A for two weeks and on to M where I have been for a long time. I tried Open and started as A and went to M after 6 months or so. I shot one classifier match in L-10 and was classified as M. Started as M in Production thanks to a 100% score at a Classifier match. Not classified in SS or Rev.

He's my HERO!!!!

The great Gray Fox has spoken! You are MY Hero!!!

[Shootingirons45]

Started as B in Limited and stayed there for 1.5years then went to A for two weeks and on to M where I have been for a long time. I tried Open and started as A and went to M after 6 months or so. I shot one classifier match in L-10 and was classified as M. Started as M in Production thanks to a 100% score at a Classifier match. Not classified in SS or Rev.

He's my HERO!!!!

The great Gray Fox has spoken! You are MY Hero!!!

Nay Nay Sir..you are my hero..I wanna be just like you, when and if I grow up..

[mhop]

classified C production in august 07, classified B production march 08, classified A production may 09