I shoot way too slow!

GoSlash27 · May 23, 2006, 07:06 PM

Anybody have any suggestions for training drills to speed me up? I draw and present well, but then I spend too much time aiming

This is for IDPA-type stuff

mete · May 23, 2006, 07:12 PM

A disappering target is probably the best way as it forces you to move quickly. If your objective is SD ,then remember that if you put all your rounds in 2" at close range you're shooting too slow.

Lycanthrope · May 23, 2006, 07:22 PM

Buy a shot timer.

Set it to par time and dry fire. Work your way down in time so you can get an acceptable sight picture faster.

Do some live fire with the timer to see exactly what type of sight picture is necessary at what ranges. I don't box the sights at 5 yards for example. I just index on the front sight.

rhgunguy · May 23, 2006, 08:50 PM

Goslash, you should have come to this weekends IPSC match. Two targets that swing behind no-shoots and a disappearing spinner. That made me have to be fast. Question, how is your accuracy? 50% A's? More or less?

There is no such thing as to much time aiming. The top practical shooters see the front sight lift and remember every sight picture. I thought it was complete bunk until I saw my sight lift. So far it has only happened once.

Get a timer(I need to get one also) and set up an IPSC target at 7 yards. Draw and fire six into the target, only A's count. Keep doing this until you get all A's and are going at a speed that pleases you. Then move the target back and repeat. There is some great stuff on www.brianenos.com/forums. Look into getting Brian's book. It deals with some pretty heavy stuff but if you are willing to learn, it will be a great tool to help you on your way(I would loan you my coppy but glockopop has dibs).

glockopop · May 24, 2006, 12:01 AM

Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire. Get some snap caps and work on it all the time. For any kind of practice, dry fire will make a huge difference, trust me. And rhgunguy--you wanna split the cost of a shot timer and share it? The cheapest one I've seen is like $150, but I haven't looked at a lot of them.

GoSlash27 · May 24, 2006, 05:38 AM

rh,
My accuracy and groups are very good and my initial sight picture is good. It's just getting over the mental block of pulling the trigger on a good sight picture instead of a perfect one.
And yeah, you're right. I should've been at the CRAPS shoot but I didn't know it was this weekend.

HSMITH · May 24, 2006, 06:40 AM

Dryfire!!!

Refine your index to the point where your presentation has the gun aimed already, then there is no further alignment needed. Your draw and first shot time will plummet. Then shoot with the sights intentionally misaligned slightly, shoot with them more and more misaligned so you can see for yourself exactly how good the sight picture needs to be for a quality hit at each distance. Once you know how precise your sight picture needs to be for any given shot you only spend the time necessary for a quality hit and no more.

I have yet to see someone start in action shooting that didn't have decent times actually shooting. It has been the transition between targets and finding the sights on the next target that are slow. Set up a couple targets and swing between them working on getting to the next target as fast as you can WITH sight alignment the instant you get on the next target.

rhgunguy · May 25, 2006, 02:37 PM

I'll PM you a week before the next CRAPS shoot. If you need directions or somone to follow (it is easy to get lost) PM glockopop or I. I would go to Hell's Half Acre this month but I am celebrating my Grandparents 50th wedding anniverary.

That wouldn't be a bad idea glockopop. I'll get online and look at a few timers.

Joe D · May 25, 2006, 08:29 PM

Couple of "standard" practice drills I do just about every session. I shoot several El Prez. I want to stay under 8 seconds with points down included. We have a couple of plate racks with plates that swing rather than fall. I like double tapping the plates. The plates are about the same size as the -0 on an IDPA target. There are several target companies that offer a single swinger. I try to finish with a 2 second Bill Drill.
Don't get too hung up on sub .20 splits. I would much rather have a target with 0 down and a .25 split than a -1 and a .16 split. Do the math. That .16 split becomes .66.
Target distance is a real factor. Sure you can hose those sub 5 yd. targets with .16 splits. See what happens when you try that at 15 yds.
If you had a timer you could set the Par time on an El Prez for 10 sec and try to always be under that. As you get faster lessen the time. Same can be done with the Bill Drill. Start with a 3.0 par time and go from there.

OJ · May 25, 2006, 11:56 PM

If you're hitting your target, does it matter how fast? I believe it was documented the Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hikock weren't particularly fast on the first shot but took time to aim and usually didn't need more follow up shots.

Instruction would probably help if you feel the need to shoot faster.

glockopop · May 26, 2006, 12:25 AM

Hey Joe...

Umm, I didn't understand half of what you're saying. I missed the last IDPA shoot here, but it was in early April, and I think that was GoSlash's first, so he probably doesn't know either. I am aware that a Bill Drill involves 5-10 rounds into a man-sized target at about 7 yards, but the rest of your post is Greek to me. I'm sure it's good info that would be very useful, but I think I speak for most of us when I ask you to explain yourself a little further.

Joe D · May 28, 2006, 07:16 AM

The EP is shot at 10 yards. Three targets are set 2 yards apart from edge to edge. They are set at 6', 4' and 5' heights. Start facing up range with 6 rounds in the gun, hands relaxed at side. At beep turn and shoot each target twice, reload and shoot each twice again.

The BD I do is 6 rounds fired at 7 yds.

Do you know what par time is? If not that means you set your timer to start and stop at a specific time. You get two beeps one at start and one at stop.

If you want to work on transitions take the steel swinger and set it up 5-7 yards to the left or right of the three targets you are using for the EP. Back up 10 yards from the targets. At beep shoot swinger then transition to first paper target, go back to the swinger, then back to the second paper, back to swinger, then to final paper. Put two rounds on each paper target. Move swinger to the other side and repeat. You can use a timer and set the par time to put a little pressure on yourself.

To practice shooting on the move place a couple of markers/barrels 10-12 yards apart 10 yards or more from the three targets. Travel from one barrel to the other shooting the targets as you move. Go both directions.

If you have a shooting partner don't use par time, just shoot these drills like a mini match. Keep score.

I really like the Pact timer. It runs a little over $100, but is well worth it. I shoot all of these drills using a vest.

May 23, 2006, 07:06 PM	#1
GoSlash27 Senior Member Join Date: November 26, 2004 Location: Iowa Posts: 3,118	I shoot way too slow! Anybody have any suggestions for training drills to speed me up? I draw and present well, but then I spend too much time aiming This is for IDPA-type stuff __________________ Bill of Rights Must be 18. Void where prohibited. Not available in all states. Some restrictions apply.

May 24, 2006, 12:01 AM	#5
glockopop Senior Member Join Date: December 15, 2005 Location: Southern Indiana Posts: 922	Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire. Get some snap caps and work on it all the time. For any kind of practice, dry fire will make a huge difference, trust me. And rhgunguy--you wanna split the cost of a shot timer and share it? The cheapest one I've seen is like $150, but I haven't looked at a lot of them. __________________ I've only got two hands, but I've been known to carry three Glocks. RZA

May 24, 2006, 05:38 AM	#6
GoSlash27 Senior Member Join Date: November 26, 2004 Location: Iowa Posts: 3,118	rh, My accuracy and groups are very good and my initial sight picture is good. It's just getting over the mental block of pulling the trigger on a good sight picture instead of a perfect one. And yeah, you're right. I should've been at the CRAPS shoot but I didn't know it was this weekend. __________________ Bill of Rights Must be 18. Void where prohibited. Not available in all states. Some restrictions apply.

May 25, 2006, 08:29 PM	#9
Joe D Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 1999 Location: Alabama Posts: 455	Couple of "standard" practice drills I do just about every session. I shoot several El Prez. I want to stay under 8 seconds with points down included. We have a couple of plate racks with plates that swing rather than fall. I like double tapping the plates. The plates are about the same size as the -0 on an IDPA target. There are several target companies that offer a single swinger. I try to finish with a 2 second Bill Drill. Don't get too hung up on sub .20 splits. I would much rather have a target with 0 down and a .25 split than a -1 and a .16 split. Do the math. That .16 split becomes .66. Target distance is a real factor. Sure you can hose those sub 5 yd. targets with .16 splits. See what happens when you try that at 15 yds. If you had a timer you could set the Par time on an El Prez for 10 sec and try to always be under that. As you get faster lessen the time. Same can be done with the Bill Drill. Start with a 3.0 par time and go from there. __________________ Miss? That can't be a miss. Looks like a perfect double to me.

May 25, 2006, 11:56 PM	#10
OJ Senior Member Join Date: December 25, 1998 Location: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, USA Posts: 1,570	If you're hitting your target, does it matter how fast? I believe it was documented the Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hikock weren't particularly fast on the first shot but took time to aim and usually didn't need more follow up shots. Instruction would probably help if you feel the need to shoot faster. __________________ OJ - SEMPER FI - DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY NRA ENDOWMENT LIFE MEMBER

May 23, 2006, 07:12 PM	#2
mete Senior Member Join Date: June 14, 2004 Location: NY State Posts: 6,575	A disappering target is probably the best way as it forces you to move quickly. If your objective is SD ,then remember that if you put all your rounds in 2" at close range you're shooting too slow.

May 23, 2006, 07:22 PM	#3
Lycanthrope Senior Member Join Date: October 1, 2001 Location: PA Posts: 1,752	Buy a shot timer. Set it to par time and dry fire. Work your way down in time so you can get an acceptable sight picture faster. Do some live fire with the timer to see exactly what type of sight picture is necessary at what ranges. I don't box the sights at 5 yards for example. I just index on the front sight.

May 23, 2006, 08:50 PM	#4
rhgunguy Junior member Join Date: March 7, 2006 Posts: 1,057	Goslash, you should have come to this weekends IPSC match. Two targets that swing behind no-shoots and a disappearing spinner. That made me have to be fast. Question, how is your accuracy? 50% A's? More or less? There is no such thing as to much time aiming. The top practical shooters see the front sight lift and remember every sight picture. I thought it was complete bunk until I saw my sight lift. So far it has only happened once. Get a timer(I need to get one also) and set up an IPSC target at 7 yards. Draw and fire six into the target, only A's count. Keep doing this until you get all A's and are going at a speed that pleases you. Then move the target back and repeat. There is some great stuff on www.brianenos.com/forums. Look into getting Brian's book. It deals with some pretty heavy stuff but if you are willing to learn, it will be a great tool to help you on your way(I would loan you my coppy but glockopop has dibs).

May 24, 2006, 06:40 AM	#7
HSMITH Senior Member Join Date: June 21, 2002 Posts: 2,019	Dryfire!!! Refine your index to the point where your presentation has the gun aimed already, then there is no further alignment needed. Your draw and first shot time will plummet. Then shoot with the sights intentionally misaligned slightly, shoot with them more and more misaligned so you can see for yourself exactly how good the sight picture needs to be for a quality hit at each distance. Once you know how precise your sight picture needs to be for any given shot you only spend the time necessary for a quality hit and no more. I have yet to see someone start in action shooting that didn't have decent times actually shooting. It has been the transition between targets and finding the sights on the next target that are slow. Set up a couple targets and swing between them working on getting to the next target as fast as you can WITH sight alignment the instant you get on the next target.

May 25, 2006, 02:37 PM	#8
rhgunguy Junior member Join Date: March 7, 2006 Posts: 1,057	I'll PM you a week before the next CRAPS shoot. If you need directions or somone to follow (it is easy to get lost) PM glockopop or I. I would go to Hell's Half Acre this month but I am celebrating my Grandparents 50th wedding anniverary. That wouldn't be a bad idea glockopop. I'll get online and look at a few timers.

May 26, 2006, 12:25 AM	#11
glockopop Senior Member Join Date: December 15, 2005 Location: Southern Indiana Posts: 922	Hey Joe... Umm, I didn't understand half of what you're saying. I missed the last IDPA shoot here, but it was in early April, and I think that was GoSlash's first, so he probably doesn't know either. I am aware that a Bill Drill involves 5-10 rounds into a man-sized target at about 7 yards, but the rest of your post is Greek to me. I'm sure it's good info that would be very useful, but I think I speak for most of us when I ask you to explain yourself a little further. __________________ I've only got two hands, but I've been known to carry three Glocks. RZA

May 28, 2006, 07:16 AM	#12
Joe D Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 1999 Location: Alabama Posts: 455	The EP is shot at 10 yards. Three targets are set 2 yards apart from edge to edge. They are set at 6', 4' and 5' heights. Start facing up range with 6 rounds in the gun, hands relaxed at side. At beep turn and shoot each target twice, reload and shoot each twice again. The BD I do is 6 rounds fired at 7 yds. Do you know what par time is? If not that means you set your timer to start and stop at a specific time. You get two beeps one at start and one at stop. If you want to work on transitions take the steel swinger and set it up 5-7 yards to the left or right of the three targets you are using for the EP. Back up 10 yards from the targets. At beep shoot swinger then transition to first paper target, go back to the swinger, then back to the second paper, back to swinger, then to final paper. Put two rounds on each paper target. Move swinger to the other side and repeat. You can use a timer and set the par time to put a little pressure on yourself. To practice shooting on the move place a couple of markers/barrels 10-12 yards apart 10 yards or more from the three targets. Travel from one barrel to the other shooting the targets as you move. Go both directions. If you have a shooting partner don't use par time, just shoot these drills like a mini match. Keep score. I really like the Pact timer. It runs a little over $100, but is well worth it. I shoot all of these drills using a vest. __________________ Miss? That can't be a miss. Looks like a perfect double to me.