Getting up to speed

[Panhead Bill]

I've been shooting IPSC matches for a little over a year now. I'm shooting very well overall. In fact, yesterdays match I shot 3 of 5 stages completely clean, with only a couple C's in the other 2 stages. Now I need to start working on my speed to get my scores down. Any suggestions on getting my time to improve? I know I need to work on my reloads and draw by doing more dry-fire. Anything else?

Thanks,

Bill

[Chris]

Bill,
Speed is the smooth application of necessary movement and the avoidance of unnecessary movement. If you will scroll back to some of the earlier podcasts and blogs on Pro Arms News & Views you'll find some drills that will help improve that. I like the Gunsite Drills and the Mozambique Drill, when run with a timer. The combination of timer & score will help you fine tune your approach to reduce unnecessary movement. The clock doesn't lie. A reloading drill I like, again with a timer, is three targets at 7 to 10 yards... all mags loaded with only two rounds and in normal carry pouches. At the buzzer... draw and double tap T-1, slide lock reload, double tap T-2, slide lock reload and double tap T-3. Or, for USPSA, you can load to capacity and double tap T-1, then speed reload for T-2, etc. Good practice for fast gun handling, reload, re-acquaition of target... all while stressing accuracy and control. If you can run the 6 round slide lock drill at 7 yards in under 9 seconds with perfect hits you're looking pretty good.... under 7 seconds are you're approaching awesome.
Chris Christian

[SteveZ]

The greatest improvement that I can see for newer shooters is to develop proper fundamental mechanics that eliminate wasted motion, learning to "see" faster and learning how to more efficiently break down a course of fire.

Mechanics:  Much time is lost in a COF by just simply having bad mechanics and wasting motion.  This includes the draw (listen to Bob Maynes latest podcast for a discussion of two bad draw presentations), reloads, movement into and out of shooting boxes, shooting around a Bianchi barricade (do you pull the gun back toward your chest and then punch it back out as you transition or do you do the "Charlies Angles" sweep around the barricade?).  

Seeing:  you need to learn to SNAP your vision from one target to another.  Your eyes move faster than your gun.  When transitioning from one target to another, snap your vision to the next target, find the available scoring area of that target and wait for the gun to get there.  Learning to see quickly is probably the final "technique" that will yield speed benefits however learning to see properly as a beginner is key.

Breaking Down Stages:  Learn to shoot on the move and use it when its appropriate (don't get hung up on shooting on the move everywhere you could because sometimes its not the best option).  If you can shoot a target from up close, do it.  I've seen shooters shoot a target at 20 yards when they could have shot it at 5.  If you're shooting production/SS, reload as soon as you move from one position to another. Many people forget this point and find themselves doing static reloads when they should have already reloaded the gun earlier. Squad with experienced shooters (A/M/GM Classed) and watch what they do and don't do and then compare that to what you're doing.

Don't get hung up on thinking the key to being faster is to shoot (i.e pull the trigger) faster...it isn't.

[Panhead Bill]

Thanks guys. Chris, I actually just re-downloaded the training episode to listen to it again. I had remembered about it few days ago and the good info it contained.

Steve, great pointers, now the trick is to put them into practice. In the mornings before a match I'll tell myself to do this or that, then after I shoot a stage I think about it and realize I didn't do any of it. It's like my brain shuts off when the buzzer sounds. I need to spend more time practicing and spending time on those things I need to be able to do during a match so I don't have to think about it during the match.

Thanks for the advice. Now t practice practice practice.

Bill

[SteveZ]

In the mornings before a match I'll tell myself to do this or that, then after I shoot a stage I think about it and realize I didn't do any of it. It's like my brain shuts off when the buzzer sounds.

Hopefully this doesn't sound too confusing...but to a certain degree, you want your brain to shut off and let it just shoot the stage.  When you start thinking about things while shooting, you're not letting the subconscious do its job.  As an example, try to shoot a group and do simple addition in your head at the same time....your shooting will suffer.  The same thing happens if you think how to press the trigger while shooting.  You just need to let your mind take care of that for you....trust your subconscious. 

Note I said while shooting above.  You can think between target arrays (i.e. how you want to enter into the next shooting position)...but when you get there, just let your mind take care of the shooting task.  Program the stage in advance (visualize what you want your mind when you shoot)....figure out before you start, what foot you want to lead off on.  When the buzzer happens, you mind now has all of this programmed into it and should execute the program for you.  At the "are you ready", calm your mind, relax! When the buzzer goes off....stop thinking and start shooting and trust your subconscious to solve the problem. 

[Chris]

+1 to  Steve Z. I could not have said it better!
Chris Christian

[Panhead Bill]

Well said Steve. I understand exactly what you mean, and that actually speaks to what I think my problem is. It's not thinking (or trying to) while I'm shooting, but certain things aren't practiced enough to be planted into my subconscious, ie reloads, malfunction clearance, etc. For example, I had a magazine-caused malfunction yesterday, after "tap-rack" a couple times it didn't clear. Now, I know that if t doesn't clear by racking the slide twice, drop the mag, rack the slide again to clear, then insert fresh mag and move on. Of course I stood there for what seemed like forever slapping the mag base and racking the slide over and over again. Part of my brain was trying to tell myself to drop the mag, but I just wasn't doing it. Finally the SO said to drop the mag and I did. The way I see it is, when I practice malfunction clearance (by loading up a dummy round somewhere in the mag), it'll clear with the first rack if the slide. Accordingly, what has been etched into my subconscious is tap-rack (once)-bang, move on. So when I'm running on auto pilot during a stage and I get a more complicated jam, my subconscious only knows the first steps, and no further remedial action, so I got stuck in the cycle of racking the slide over and over again.

So, I understand what you're saying, the trick is now to get the right things programmed into my "auto-pilot"

Bill   

[SteveZ]

I think what you're describing...Chris calls "file not found".  You're right...many of these issues go away when the "auto-pilot" gets programmed...and that just takes time and experience.  There is no way to know everything without having experienced half of it.

[Chris]

Actually, my shooting Bro, Mas Ayoob, coined the term "file not found"... I use it because it is so elequently descriptive of the situation. The more you experience, and the more you have to react to those experiences, the better able you will be to instinctively deal with them. I liken running a gun effectively to driving a car.
When you are on the road you do not consciously think about the myriad of small movements required of your hands on the wheel to keep the car in it's lane - those small adjustments are made subconsciously. Nor do you think about the exact degree of pressure you need to apply to the accelerator or the brake to control the speed of the vehicle. Nor do you actually have to give conscious thought to the position of your hands on the wheel or your foot on the brake or accelorater... your subconcious does that for you.
That frees your conscious mind to watch for dickheads in the other lane who might veer into yours... or kids & dogs on the side of the road that might dart in front of you... and/or all the other hazards that are very real when you drive your vehicle down the road. Those are things that might happen... but the actual driving of the vehicle is pretty much subconscious. That's the way I want my gun to run.... and it takes the same amount of time to drill that into the subconscious that your time behind the wheel did for your driving your vehicle.
Chris Christian

[Panhead Bill]

Chris, your analogy makes perfect sense. Only difference is when I was a teenager and had only been driving a short time, I thought I knew it all and could drive like Andretti. At least now I know what I don't know about shooting, or at least where I need work. That change in attitude probably just goes along with the grey hairs.

Bill

[Chris]

Bill,
That "change in attitude" can make you a much better shooter if you apply some effective practice drills to your standard practice.... look at the time & scores on your strings... ask yourself how you can shave time and improve scores... and then work towards that goal by figuring out where your basic form sucks. When the "beep" goes, YOU are the only one who can draw the gun, align the sights, pull the trigger, and run the gun through the COF. It's all on YOU... and YOU has to come from within. That WITHIN comes from intelligent practice, building confidence, building skill, and applying all that at the appropriate time... like, when the buzzer goes.
Every shot you fire in a match is a shot YOU fired. Work to make them good ones. And, it does take some work. If it was easy, everybody would do it.
Chris Christian

[Panhead Bill]

Excellent points Chris. I don't disagree with you. I hope you didn't get the impression that I was looking for an easy answer - I know that it'll take work. I just want to make sure my practice time is productive.

Bill

[Dave Rose]

If your goal is to become a better IPSC/USPSA shooter look at three areas.

Technique: The technique of the top shooters falls into a very narrow spectrum. Don't invent your own style until you understand what they do and why they do it. Steal everything you can. You can dry fire 95 % of what you need. It will be boring, but it is free. Focus on doing the techniques correctly not fast and sloppy.

Mental Management: Brian Enos and Saul Kirsch have excellent books to help you. Doing only what you need to do, and doing it correctly the first time will always be faster than trying to be fast. Put your ego in a box and leave it at home, it is not your shooting buddy.

The Game: Learn the rules. Shoot matches with the best shooters you can find. Watch the way they shoot a stage. Make plans that are simple. Breaking down stages and remembering your plan will require practice.

Work on the first two the most they will become a foundation of skill you can take to any game you decide you want to try.