WayneBullock Posted June 5, 2001 Share Posted June 5, 2001 Just finished a big match over last weekend. Shot right at 90% of points for the match...but slow. Do youall have any good drills for addressing target acquisition? I think this is where some of my wasted time is creeping in. Thanks, Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted June 5, 2001 Share Posted June 5, 2001 A drill I like to do is set up a few targets in the house while I'm dry firing. I'll practice some draws then I actually just keep the gun up and do acqusition drills. Remember to let your eyes find the target first, then bring the gun on target in front of your face. I read somewhere that you can only shoot as fast as you can see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38supPat Posted June 5, 2001 Share Posted June 5, 2001 A favorite of mine is set up 3 targets at 7 - 10 yds about 3m apart. Shoot two on each L to R, reholster, two on each R to L, reholster, two on each starting in the middle and go L then R or R then L. This makes you swing a good distance and stop the gun, and get you used to going any which way. Starting in the middle simulates hitting a popper then going to an activator without having to set all that up. Next move in to 5 yds (it will create a bigger swing even though the shots are easier) or move the targets farther apart. and repeat. You can also change this up by shooting B-zones only instead of center A. Finally keep the targets separated by 3 m roughly put L or R one at 5 - 7 yds the other outside target (L or R) to 10 - 15 yds, and the middle back to 25 (more if you feel confident. Now repeat the exercise, this will get you used to target aqusitions at different distances, far to near , near to far, outside - inside, inside to outside etc. This will cover just about any direct target to target situation you will come across. If you have access to it substitute 8" steel plates and just shoot one on each and follow above patterns. This is a real target to target workout. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted June 7, 2001 Share Posted June 7, 2001 Wayne, Here's a drill I got while watching Robbie teach some military guys. After reading the drill, you'll get the picture of where it's taking you - if you don't have the exact requirements - improvise. (Does anyone know Monty Python’s robbery sketch? - "Adapt, modify, and improve.") Set up 4 full steel (18" x 24" rectangles), about 3 yds apart, at about 10 yds. And then set four 8 " discs so that they are directly above the plates. Lacking this set-up, you might set up IPSC targets at about 5 to 7 yds. The drill is - set your timer for a par time of 10 secs - on the buzzer, draw and begin shooting the big plates either left to right, one shot per plate, or right to left until the buzzer sounds 10 secs. (When you get to the end of the target array, you can either shoot the last target twice—reversing the order each time you reach the end, or swing back to the target you started on and continue until the time runs out.) (If you choose this latter method, be sure to shoot the drill both ways.) See how many targets you can hit in 10 secs. (You will need a friend to help keep count.) Then try this same drill on the round plates. Big fun. If you do this on the paper targets, count only A/C hits on the body string, and any hit in the head box for the plate string. These two difficulty levels of accuracy vs speed should teach you a thing or two. Keep pushing. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted June 7, 2001 Share Posted June 7, 2001 That figure 8 drill is around here somewhere. Two IPSC targets. Go from the body of T1 to the head of T2, then to the head of T1, and then the body of T2...all one string. I think it is two shots per. Good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolan Posted June 17, 2001 Share Posted June 17, 2001 I worked on target acquisition today and noticed something that may be helpful. Set two targets at 7 yards 8-10 yards apart. When I engage a target, snap my head to the second target and make the big swing to the target I have a hard time picking up the sights and tend to over or under swing resulting in bad hits (no visual patience.) But when I engage a target, snap my head to the other target, then pull the gun in almost to the high ready position, then push out onto the target I get much better hits. It feels slow, but the splits between targets and the hits are much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detlef Posted June 17, 2001 Share Posted June 17, 2001 Nolan, you may have discovered angular momentum! --Detlef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted June 17, 2001 Share Posted June 17, 2001 Angular momentum. That sounds deep. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Moneypenny Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 actually its a very simple concept, which i hadn't thought of. but makes a LOT of sence now that you did! think of it this way, when everyone links hands and does that circle thing when on roller skates, the first few people are going slow, but the last guy is going really fast! hence, the further you are away from the axis, the faster you, or the object would be moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talon Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Ummmm, wouldn't this be changing your index between targets ? Quote: from Nolan on 10:50 pm on June 16, 2001 I worked on target acquisition today and noticed something that may be helpful. Set two targets at 7 yards 8-10 yards apart. When I engage a target, snap my head to the second target and make the big swing to the target I have a hard time picking up the sights and tend to over or under swing resulting in bad hits (no visual patience.) But when I engage a target, snap my head to the other target, then pull the gun in almost to the high ready position, then push out onto the target I get much better hits. It feels slow, but the splits between targets and the hits are much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Thompson Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Talon, I have found the eyes closed indexing drills in Brian's book excellent for target aquisition and indexing. With your eyes closed you can really focus on indexing because all you can go by is feel. When you can go fast with your eyes closed it will feel like warp speed when they are open. I started the drill about six months ago and since then it has been rare for me to have look for the front sight when aquiring targets; especially when engaging the first target after entering a box or shooting around a barracade. Be sure and practice the drill behind simulated barricades, while sitting down, or whatever you can think of. Cut out little ipsc targets or dots from cardboard to use as dryfiring targets. (Edited by John Thompson at 5:01 pm on Aug. 27, 2001) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Wayne, I hope those drills help you out. Seems this thread has moved up to the next level. ---------------- On momentum...let me take a crack at it to clarify it in my head. Think of a weight (gun) on the end of a stick (our arms). The stick rotates around a central axis (the body). When you move the stick from one point to another quickly (target to target), the weight on the end will tend to whip around as you try to stop it dead at the new point. The more momentum an object (the gun) has, the harder it will be to stop quickly. So we want to decrease momentum. Momentum = MASS x VELOCITY We can't change the mass of the gun. We can change the velocity (without losing any time). Velocity = DISTANCE x TIME Back to the stick rotating around a central axis... Think constant RPM's (revolations per minute). A point on the stick two inches from the central axis doesn't cover as much distance as a point on the stick twenty-four inches from the central axis. The further away from the central axis, the more velocity you have (a greater distance is covered in the same amount of time). When we swing from target to target we have to fight the guns momentum along the horizontal axis (left to right). If we pull the gun in, there will be less momentum to have to fight. Same thing on the draw. If you straighten your arms before you bring the gun up to target the gun will want to whip up and down. ------------ Talon, You are absolutely right. This would be breaking your mount. In the book, Brian does this on target with a large swing. One would have to weigh the time it takes to swing and stop vs. the time it takes to break your mount and then index on the next target. I would think that how fast you see would also work its way in there. If you just swing the gun, maybe your eyes won't focus on the front sights until the gun has settled down on the target anyway. So, we have momentum vs. re-indexing vs. eye speed. Sounds like something each of us will have to work out. ---------------- The awareness exercises in Brian's book (p. 170) seems like they would be a good place for me to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talon Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Flexmoney, Yes I see. Excellent post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38supPat Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 oh man! now i gotta do math to shoot...i'm screwed!...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Be careful of consciously breaking your arms while indexing on big swing targets. I put that in the book to "not leave something out" that I had experienced, but I much more "experience" it than consciously do it. It happens as a result of your intent to get the gun there as quickly as possible. It's not different than swinging a baseball bat. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talon Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Thanks for the clarification Brian. I'm pretty sure that once I get my index I'm not going to give it up until I have shot all the targets I know I'm supposed to shoot at which time I will go to a ready position so that I could index on another set of targets if I needed to. Forgive all of my, I thinks and pretty sures, but I'm too new to this to have any iron clad opinions. After reading your posts on stance I don't even think about stance anymore I just think index and maybe someday I won't even think about it I'll just experience it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singlestack Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Quote: from Pat Harrison on 6:24 pm on Aug. 27, 2001 oh man! now i gotta do math to shoot...i'm screwed!...lol My sentaments exactly......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Yep...keep thinking old school...then one day, when you least expect it, I'll sneak into a match and shoot with my Hewlett Packard equiped race gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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