Books for fundamentals for a beginner.

[Suicycle]

I am looking for a book to give the basics of shooting form and grip to make sure I am not developing bad habits. I have shot 4 IDPA matches and one USPSA in the last year, 3 IDPA were local in the last 45 days. I have gone from the first time out shooting in the lower classifications to shooting times with highest MM and mid pack EX in SSP lately. I am planning a purchase of the dry fire drills book where some guy became a grand master in one year by doing what he had in that book. I need a focused way to gauge my practice and ideas on what to work on.... but I also want to know if my weight on my feet or stance is solid to build on. I am working on gripping harder with support hand and less with strong hand. I also am practicing watching the front sight more during recoil and feeling the trigger reset. That is a lot for me to work on when the beep happens though. I want a good starting point on if my elbows need to be locked or a pinch from it in the isosciles stance. If I can verify what I need to do when I practice dry fire practice before it gets out of hand I will be a lot better off. I also know the bood telling dry fire drills is needed for me because working on my draw is going better, but I am lost on productive things to do as I present the gun to the target. I realize most books and DVD's seem more IPSC orientated, but good shooting in one form should be the same if you are using cover or beating up a plate rack, the mechanics are the same just individual details are a pinch different.

I have never practiced dry fire using concealment garments before, it has been hard enough getting smooth without it in my way. I am at the point I need to start because it has been in the way with my draw and reloads at a match now. I just need a little guidance for my affliction.

[BritinUSA]

Beyond Fundamentals ---> Buy it here

[Chills1994]

I don't know so much that Steve Andersen's 2nd book teaches you anything about grip and stance, but there are 80 pages in it worth reading about all the Do's and Don't's to execute at a match. Lots of tips, etc.

I think that at some point you are just going to have to get a "mentor" to actually show you how to grip, stand, etc, in person.

[nashvillebill]

Here is an excellent place to start:

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/words.html#fundamental

Then go to:

http://www.brianenos.com/store/books.html

and buy Brian's book "Practical Shooting: Beyond Fundamentals".

It is what you seek.

edited to add: I type slow. Two posts came in as I was working on my answer.

Edited August 27, 2009 by nashvillebill

[Miranda]

Brian's book beyond fundamentals seemed to me to

include many pretty fundamental concepts.

I'd recommend it because it gives a lot of what you want do end up doing.

Then any questions you have can be answered by some reading and watching

As a plus you will know why the fundamental is important.

miranda

[benos]

Brian's book beyond fundamentals seemed to me to

include many pretty fundamental concepts.

I'd recommend it because it gives a lot of what you want do end up doing.

Then any questions you have can be answered by some reading and watching

As a plus you will know why the fundamental is important.

miranda

Thank you. Today, I no longer like the "beyond fundamentals" subtitle. At the time, we picked it because we wanted the title to imply that it wasn't a "how to" book. But unfortunately it's misleading, because it's impossible to go beyond the fundamentals.

be

[leam]

Maybe that's what's beyond the fundamentals? I enjoyed the book the first time and I'm setting about reading it again. Brian's willingness to try different things is really encouraging. Much better than the "stand this way, shoot that way" mentality of other books.

Leam

[BayouSlide]

Not a book, but Matt Burkett's DVD series on practical shooting is really worthwhile.

Curtis

[dand38s]

I am currently reading Brians book beyond fundamentals. I also found Matt Burkett's book "The Practical Shooting Manual" to be very helpfull and well illustrated. I still go back and reread it sometimes to refresh myself. You can get it in Brians store. http://www.brianenos.com/store/books.html

[Miranda]

Hi benos,

Your practical shooting book has a clarity unlike any how-to I have ever read.

Would that I were as good a student.

ahem....

have you considered how tough it would be to sell a book called

practical shooting

winning fundamentals

far be it from me to re-name your book.

miranda

[Ron Ankeny]

Saul Kirsch has some outstanding material too. I think I saw a combo deal in Brian's store that had Brian's book and Saul's book as a package.

[Suicycle]

Thanks for all the info. I found some info in the FAQ section. I think it was Words? Anyway there is a link to it above. I had the impression the Brian's book was beyond what I was looking for, but it seems to be spot on.

I also read somewhere here the feeling of pushing through. Refering to gripping the pistol and not totaly locking out your elbows but really close. That is exactly what I am looking for. Thanks to all for the guidance.

[mda]

Thanks for all the info. I found some info in the FAQ section. I think it was Words? Anyway there is a link to it above. I had the impression the Brian's book was beyond what I was looking for, but it seems to be spot on.

I also read somewhere here the feeling of pushing through. Refering to gripping the pistol and not totaly locking out your elbows but really close. That is exactly what I am looking for. Thanks to all for the guidance.

Brian's book is excellent but more about the cerebral aspects of shooting.

I suggest Matt Burkett's videos also. He is an great teacher of gun handling basics and able to show you how to break down the movements into steps. He has one targeted toward IDPA and how to deal with concealment garments.

MDA

[LadyinBlue]

Very small book teaches lots...

With Winning in Mind

by Lanny Bassham

Awesome!

[G-ManBart]

I need a focused way to gauge my practice and ideas on what to work on.... but I also want to know if my weight on my feet or stance is solid to build on. I am working on gripping harder with support hand and less with strong hand. I also am practicing watching the front sight more during recoil and feeling the trigger reset.

All great ideas so far on the recommended books and DVDs. Realize that for the stuff above if you work on sight tracking, shot calling and timing drills you won't necessarily have to think about or work on how much pressure one hand is applying or whether your stance is proper...the gun will tell you that as your tracking the front sight and calling the shots. It seems counter-intuitive, but if you're working on sight tracking (for example) your body will repeat whatever it did when you saw what you want to see (steady tracking of the front sight) and will change when you don't see what you want to see.

Lastly, totally forget about the idea of feeling the trigger reset point. That works for very slow, bullseye style shooting, but not what we do because it forces you to slow down and feel for the reset as you gradually let the trigger out. If you're trying to shoot two shots in something like .25s you can't waste time gradually easing the trigger out and it makes people speed up or accelerate the trigger press on the second shot which leads to all sorts of bad stuff. I spend much of my time as an instructor trying to fix that problem with our older agents because that's what we taught them to do years ago (or at least some were taught that).

Brian's book really does an amazing job of working through the absolute #1 most important fundamental in "practical" shooting....vision. It drives nearly everything we do when shooting a gun at speed. If you can learn how to track the front sight and call your shots all of the other things seem to magically fix themselves

[38supPat]

Brian's book beyond fundamentals seemed to me to

include many pretty fundamental concepts.

I'd recommend it because it gives a lot of what you want do end up doing.

Then any questions you have can be answered by some reading and watching

As a plus you will know why the fundamental is important.

miranda

Thank you. Today, I no longer like the "beyond fundamentals" subtitle. At the time, we picked it because we wanted the title to imply that it wasn't a "how to" book. But unfortunately it's misleading, because it's impossible to go beyond the fundamentals.

be

If it had been titled, Fundamentals or Basics it probably wouldn't have sold as well. A lot of shooters, for what ever reason assume they know all the fundamentals and want to know the "GM Secrets" (Lenny Magill was a master at marketing his videos back in the day)

If I put on a "Basic" course like I did this past fall, no-one signs up. If I put on an Advanced course, it fills.

Right or wrong, for marketing purposes, the title still works.

[benos]

Brian's book beyond fundamentals seemed to me to

include many pretty fundamental concepts.

I'd recommend it because it gives a lot of what you want do end up doing.

Then any questions you have can be answered by some reading and watching

As a plus you will know why the fundamental is important.

miranda

Thank you. Today, I no longer like the "beyond fundamentals" subtitle. At the time, we picked it because we wanted the title to imply that it wasn't a "how to" book. But unfortunately it's misleading, because it's impossible to go beyond the fundamentals.

be

If it had been titled, Fundamentals or Basics it probably wouldn't have sold as well. A lot of shooters, for what ever reason assume they know all the fundamentals and want to know the "GM Secrets" (Lenny Magill was a master at marketing his videos back in the day)

If I put on a "Basic" course like I did this past fall, no-one signs up. If I put on an Advanced course, it fills.

Right or wrong, for marketing purposes, the title still works.

That makes sense, although it wasn't my intention.

[XRe]

Brian's book is awesome - its something I read periodically, and I always seem to find several new tidbits in there each time I go through it (speaking of which, its about time for another read...). If you continue in this game and want to get better, its pretty much a must-read, in my opinion.

However.... I consider it to be a bit more advanced than I'd consider to be "beginner". That might seem a little strange, given the comments above. How many of you read that book for the first time, and just couldn't grasp most of what Brian was saying? Or, in hind sight, realized that you thought you knew what he was saying, but you didn't? The book is deep without seeming to be. And, for a beginner, it can be overwhelming.

For true beginners, I think the best combo is Burkett's Practical Shooting Manual and Saul Kirsch's Thinking Practical Shooting. Then hit Anderson's stuff and Saul's Perfect Practice for help on establishing a practice routine. Once you get some rounds downrange, attend a few matches, and start getting a feel for how things work.... then pick up Brian's book, and it will start to make more sense and be less overwhelming. Brian sells all of these books in his store, so... one stop shopping Buy 'em all at once and you'll be prepared...

If materials other than books work (the OP asked about books, so...), I agree that Matt's DVDs are awesome (better than his PSM) - specifically, the Volumes 1-3, Volume 4, and Volume 7 for this game. And, if you want to amp up your practice routine and keep it interesting, check out my Performance Deck

[TM262]

Shooting from Within: A Guide to Maximum Performance

J. Michael Plaxco

This book rocks and is all about the fundamentals.

[Duane Thomas]

I agree with the comments that Brian's book is great but WAY advanced for a relative newbie. As far as laying out decent shooting technique in a fashion the beginner can understand, I've never found anything better than Andy Stanford's Surgical Speed Shooting. Here are links to both books' Amazon.com pages. My review of each book is the spotlight review; reading them will tell you why I have this opinion of both books.

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Shooting-F...3076&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Surgical-Speed-Shoot...3110&sr=1-1

BTW, if I was writing the Surgical Speed Shooting review today, I would change my commentary on trigger prepping. Like Bart I've eventually found the concept causes more problems than it's worth, and since switched over to the concept of smooth, fast, back-and-forth trigger pulls with no prepping at all.

[Graham Smith]

I second the suggestion of Andy Stanford's book. There is also a very simple book called "The Mechanics of X-Count Shooting" by Charles Stephens that is worth a look if you can find it. It's small enough that you can read through in an evening but covers a remarkable amount of ground very clearly.

[Yoder]

Beyond Fundamentals is the best thing I have ever read regarding shooting. Brian's ideas can be applied to anything really. My friend is a teacher of Kung Fu and we find each other having the same kind of observations about training I've learned in Beyond Fundamentals. Every time I start having a problem I go back to the book and read that section over again. I always gain a little more knowledge each time I read it. A lot of things in the book you will not completely understand until you observe and shoot enough to see or feel what he is talking about. I recommend this book to everyone I know who shoots and is looking to get better. This book has truly made me a better shooter.