Fundamentals, Accuracy, & Speed Test (F.A.S.T.)

[Prdator]

John,

Very nice run man!!!!!!!! keep that up and a Coin is in your grasp.

Here is what I see in the Vid that is costing you time.
1, you have a bit of a "bobbal" on the press out, try and bring the gun a bit higher and then go strait out.

2, as others have said your looking at the 3x5 card hits..DONT... move strait to the reload.

3, it looks like the mag pouch is a bit tight as when you get your mag you can see your whole belt lift before the mag comes out of the pouch.

4, work on clearing that shirt more on the reload, I do this with dry practice and a weighted mag, using custom dummy rounds. Have some one that reloads make you some.

5, work in some "Bill Drills" and your body shots will improve as well as your splits during them.

Just my 2c man!!!! You really have some great shooting going on there.

[John Ralston]

Thanks for the insight - I am going to lay off the FAST and focus on getting my technique better (for a month or so), and see if I can't hit something in the 4's...

I have been doing a TON of dry fire practice lately...ammo budget isn't where it needs to be

[ToddG]

Thanks for the insight - I am going to lay off the FAST and focus on getting my technique better (for a month or so),

Absolutely the best plan. Folks who try to get better at the FAST by shooting the FAST a lot are missing the boat. The way to get better is to improve the individual fundamentals. Plus, by working on the skills rather than the test, you develop better skill rather than just a better test score.

Good work and keep it up!

[jetfire]

Absolutely the best plan. Folks who try to get better at the FAST by shooting the FAST a lot are missing the boat. The way to get better is to improve the individual fundamentals. Plus, by working on the skills rather than the test, you develop better skill rather than just a better test score.

Good work and keep it up!

Plus, those people are dirty, dirty grandbaggers.

[ToddG]

Plus, those people are dirty, dirty grandbaggers.

Failed ones, at that. If my multiple "50 FAST Days" showed me anything it's that drilling it over and over again isn't going to improve things. Working on the discrete skills:

• draw to a lowprob target
• followup on a lowprob target
• reload
• multiple hits on a highprob target

... is going to give me useful everyday skills that apply to a lot more than just the FAST and improve my FAST times simultaneously.

[jetfire]

Word. For example, when I'm preparing for an IDPA match, I'll do lots of practicing drawing and firing two shots to the 3x5 card. If I can hit that on demand from concealment in 2ish seconds, it helps my FAST times sure, but more importantly it makes hitting an IDPA head box a trivial exercise.

[DJR]

My personal best is 6.13: 2.23, .74 / 2.27 / .32, .29, .28

I shot a 6.30 clean at AFHF this weekend. It looks like the 3x5 shots are where I can pick up the most time. More press outs to small targets for me in the future.

[beltjones]

Failed ones, at that. If my multiple "50 FAST Days" showed me anything it's that drilling it over and over again isn't going to improve things. Working on the discrete skills:

• draw to a lowprob target
• followup on a lowprob target
• reload
• multiple hits on a highprob target

... is going to give me useful everyday skills that apply to a lot more than just the FAST and improve my FAST times simultaneously.

Not to try to one-up Todd or anything, but I'd like to offer a perspective that helped me a lot on this drill.

I found myself consistently dropping the second shot on the 3x5 card. I realized it was a matter of follow through on the shot before the reload; in other words, getting the support hand off the gun too soon was causing me to miss the card. I now think of this test as the following steps:

1. Draw to a lowprob target
2. Shot on a lowprob target, reload, shot on high prob target
3. Half a Bill Drill.

Following through on that first shot in step number two means maybe .05 seconds, but the result is I stopped dropping that headshot. Once I stopped dropping the headshot, it meant I could go faster everywhere else because before the problem was diagnosed I would go unnecessarily slowly on both headshots, instead of going at my normal speed and having the discipline to follow through on the second shot.

That one little change is a big part of what allowed me to go from low 5's to low 4's high 3's.

[John Ralston]

I ran some press out drills today on a 3x5 card...first half of the exercise wasn't so great, until I realized I wasn't shifting my focus completely to the front sight. Once I moved past that hickup I was able to get consistent hits on the 3x5 card at 7 yards. I think this will help me to keep from checking out my hits during the reload, and should allow me to focus completely on the reload portion of the drill. I will be working on reloads at my next session.

[Ray Keith]

So I bum a shot timer, print a target and run this drill for the first time. I wrote down the splits but don't have them in front of me. I was not doing the drill properly because I had no cover garmet...but it was humbling enough. 6.98 with a seemingly panic stricken bumbling reload that resulted in a blood blister on my support palm...all with no one watching...OKC at the end of the month should be traumatic...

After that I did some 1 R 2 to remind myself that I am capable of a decent reload...

A humbling test, I hope attempt #2 at it some other time is a more smooth process. I plan to go home and review more of the drills on Todd's site and while I'm at it take my first crack at enumerative combinatorics to polish off the day...