PDA

View Full Version : DotW's Future



tremiles
03-05-2014, 05:49 PM
(Posts copied from the "Passion of the Gun" related to Drill of the Week -- ToddG)


Also a very good point, SecondsCount. A couple weeks ago I put something up on my blog about how every round in practice should matter. One long time reader and genuinely good guy asked, basically, "Do you ever just shoot for fun?" And my response was that practicing to get better was the fun part for me. Given a choice between putting a thousand rounds through a Glock 18 for grins or taking that thousand rounds and practicing with my carry gun, I'm going to be a lot happier at the end of the day having practiced effectively.

But if someone is getting burned out, it's time to assess and make some changes. I've definitely known guys who got so wrapped around the axle about performance that it sucked all the joy out of their shooting. Some people could practice twelve hours a day and love every minute of it, some can't or won't or just don't. Sure there are times when it's good to push through and practice because you need to. But if you're doing that every single time you're at the range, you're really not getting your time & money's worth. Take a break, switch guns, switch drills, do whatever it takes to be find the motivation.

Well said, and DoTW is a great way to mitigate motivational factors while still focusing on increasing performance.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

ToddG
03-05-2014, 05:55 PM
Well said, and DoTW is a great way to mitigate motivational factors while still focusing on increasing performance.

Well, DotW is probably going bye-bye. Four or five people a week posting scores isn't really accomplishing much and it probably takes me more time to pick, write, and post than it's worth. But that's a topic for a different thread...

tremiles
03-05-2014, 06:06 PM
Well, DotW is probably going bye-bye. Four or five people a week posting scores isn't really accomplishing much and it probably takes me more time to pick, write, and post than it's worth. But that's a topic for a different thread...

OT, but are the existing DoTW threads going away to save forum space, or just new drills not going to be posted? I apologize for not personally contributing with my scores, bit the combination of shame and adapting most of the drills to a range that doesn't allow a holster draw prevent it.

Edit...

And thanks for all the work you put into EVERYTHING in addition to DoTW.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

ToddG
03-05-2014, 06:18 PM
Just probably no new DotWs.

JeffJ
03-05-2014, 06:21 PM
Maybe a Drill of the Month would work better - It's tough for me to justify changing my plan and allocating the ammo to shoot different drills on relatively short notice, but I find that I'll use them maybe a few weeks later

2alpha-down0
03-05-2014, 07:25 PM
Just probably no new DotWs.

http://youtu.be/kFT083GhycM


Sent from my iThingy using Tapawhatsit

ToddG
03-05-2014, 10:35 PM
Maybe a Drill of the Month would work better - It's tough for me to justify changing my plan and allocating the ammo to shoot different drills on relatively short notice, but I find that I'll use them maybe a few weeks later

Understood. Nonetheless, part of the point behind the DotW was to give folks something to do that might be outside their normal, planned routine. In many instances it was specifically about challenging folks.

When the forum was new and had less than a thousand members we were getting 50+ folks a week sometimes participating. Now we have far more members (and more active/current members), far more posts, but sometimes we see only two or three people reporting their results. Perhaps there are plenty of people who just don't bother reporting but from the Staff's perspective -- and especially from mine -- the effort isn't worth the result. The drills don't just get randomly chosen. Oftentimes there are intended progressions or purposeful changes in focus. There is an ongoing thread in the private Staff forum where we have the DotWs planned out more than a month in advance at times.

We've also worked hard to reduce the number of rounds required most weeks because we understand the ammo shortage has made a real dent in what people can afford to shoot.

What it really boils down to is that the vast majority of the forum doesn't seem to want it, so we're not going to keep trying to force it on folks. :cool:

poptopjr
03-06-2014, 12:17 AM
As someone that has just started participating I sure hate to see them go, but I can certainly appreciate not wanting to waste your time. I've looked back through a lot of the old drills and there was much more participation in the past. I won't insult anyone by pretending to have a clue as to why participation is down, I guess why doesn't really matter.

I enjoy the drills and appreciate the effort. At my level, every one of them is a challenge and they push me, they usually embarrass me.

On a side note Todd... I don't know if the quote in your sig, "Sometimes the fastest way to get fast is to go faster", is yours or not and I couldn't remember where I had read it before (until I saw your post tonight), but that is the exact quote I was thinking about today when I decided to push myself on my first shot from concealment. The drill this week was a complete flop for me, and the past two drills have showed a real lack of speed from concealment. Based solely on just going faster I proved to myself that I could get a shot off in under 2 seconds, now I just need to spend a bunch of time and energy dialing it in.

Thanks for the site Todd.

Andy in NH
03-06-2014, 09:13 AM
<--- Guilty for not always posting score / results.

I like the drills, but can't always get to them before the thread closes.

Normally, I'll copy them to a word doc and then when I have the time, go out and shoot them.

I appreciate the time and effort put towards making the DOTW progressive and relevant, but I'll be disappointed if it goes away.

98z28
03-06-2014, 10:04 AM
<--- Guilty for not always posting score / results.

I like the drills, but can't always get to them before the thread closes.

Normally, I'll copy them to a word doc and then when I have the time, go out and shoot them.

I appreciate the time and effort put towards making the DOTW progressive and relevant, but I'll be disappointed if it goes away.

Same here. I almost always shoot them, but can only get to the range every other week at most. I really appreciate the progressions, so I still shoot them in order. This means that I am almost always shooting drills after the time to post results has closed, but I still record my performance and compare to the folks that did post. I greatly appreciate the time and effort you guys put in creating and posting the drills. There are almost two years worth of DotW's posted at this point. That's enough to cycle back through and still keep things fresh.

This forum is awesome in so many ways. I can't thank the staff and membership enough. I am a better shooter today because of this site, and the DotW's have played a significant part in that. Thanks everyone for keeping them going as long as you have.

orionz06
03-06-2014, 10:11 AM
Make it monthly thing with a cold drill and a few drills after that. Shoot for 100 rounds.

BaiHu
03-06-2014, 10:15 AM
I'm guilty for a) not posting scores all the time, b) not having a friendly enough range to do all of the drills, c) feeling like I'm not on the range enough at times and want to focus on the fundamentals so I feel like I need forego the DOTW.

Would it be worth just keeping the DOTW thread up and then people can jump in and post their scores anytime? It might be an interesting experiment to see how/why certain types of shooters gravitate towards certain types of drills. I personally feel like I could spend 1-3 months on each one of these drills at any one time, but then I'm not easily bored with massive repetitions of the same thing.

Just my .02, but I totally understand the allocation of time/energy here on the forum.

ToddG
03-06-2014, 10:31 AM
Guys, don't feel any need to apologize! I just wanted folks to understand why they may go away. Or perhaps we'll take the recommendation to do them monthly.

Josh Runkle
03-06-2014, 10:51 AM
I shoot about 1/3 to 1/2 of the DotWs. I have never posted a score.

I really like Tom's suggestion.

BaiHu
03-06-2014, 11:07 AM
Guys, don't feel any need to apologize! I just wanted folks to understand why they may go away. Or perhaps we'll take the recommendation to do them monthly.

Apologize? Nahhh. Explaining why we love it but why it's difficult to execute in a timely fashion? Abso-kitten-lutely.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

ST911
03-06-2014, 11:50 AM
I like the DOTW and appreciate those who make it happen and participate. I shoot those that get posted, but like others am not always able to do a particular drill within the posting time frame. I would hate to see them go, but a monthly drill set is likely more viable overall.

Chuck Haggard
03-06-2014, 12:23 PM
I like the DOTW and appreciate those who make it happen and participate. I shoot those that get posted, but like others am not always able to do a particular drill within the posting time frame. I would hate to see them go, but a monthly drill set is likely more viable overall.


Me too!

orionz06
03-06-2014, 12:36 PM
Too bad no one knows anyone close to the community who could toss in some silly prizes now and again for random achievements...

BN
03-06-2014, 12:59 PM
There are almost two years worth of DotW's posted at this point. That's enough to cycle back through and still keep things fresh.


I'm another that doesn't get to always shoot the drills within the one week time limit. My range time is very erratic. I'll get to shoot all the drills for a month and then not get back to them for a long time.

What about opening some of the threads back up. Give people time to shoot them and Call it The Drill of Whenever You Get Time. TDWYGT. :)

ToddG
03-06-2014, 01:50 PM
OK, it sounds like "Drills of the Month" would be more popular.


Multiple drills.
One month to shoot them all.



That works for me. Then some people might shoot them all and some people might shoot select ones, meaning we can actually be less selective about which drills we can use. For example we've tried to keep it to things almost anyone could shoot in a single lane. Now as long as some of the offerings are that way, we can branch out and do El Prez, etc.

Thanks for your enthusiasm guys! This has definitely re-invigorated my interest in the Drill of the Whenever. :cool:

luckyman
03-06-2014, 01:52 PM
Regardless of the future of DOTW, I'd like to communicate my extreme gratitude for this section of the forum, and to everyone who has been posting their results. I joined last year as a new shooter having absolutely now idea how to go about making myself better. This forum has been a gold mine, not only for the drills themselves, but for the shooters of various levels posting their results, so I could see the progress and struggles other shooters go through, and so I could have examples of the kind of results "good shooters" can deliver. My expectations of myself are much higher, seeing what everyone else has been able to accomplish.

While I haven't tried to follow along with the current DOTW and post my own results, I always build my weekly practice session around one or two DOTWs that I think will help me the most at that given time, depending on my current relative weaknesses, and what progress I have been able to make during the week with dry fire that I want to solidify/confirm during live fire.

Thanks again everyone.

justintime
03-06-2014, 01:54 PM
Too bad no one knows anyone close to the community who could toss in some silly prizes now and again for random achievements...

Maybe for beating oragami he could pass off the leopard hat lol.

Mr_White
03-06-2014, 01:55 PM
I like this direction. Some months ago my daily circumstances changed quite a bit and I am no longer at the range almost every day. It's more like once a week now. I got out of the habit of the DotW and just haven't gotten back to it.

Mr_White
03-06-2014, 01:58 PM
Maybe for beating oragami he could pass off the leopard hat lol.

Oh hell no. Get your own leopard hat! :D

GJM
03-06-2014, 02:44 PM
I think a benefit of shooting a match or taking a class is you are "forced" to do someone else's drill. In this regard, the DOW has been valuable from my perspective, and I would be sorry to see it not continue. Doubly sorry, now that I have a CZ. :)

The PF DOW exercise has tended to emphasize low prob targets -- much more so than most shooting games. Participating in a number of the DOW exercises has definitely improved my "stand and shoot" skills, especially to low prob targets from the draw. In particular, I think many of the DOW exercises prepare you well for typical USPSA classifiers.

I have always been amazed how so few people participated in the DOW, not just the regular members, but also staff members, the "SME's," prolific forum posters, and folks using the forum to promote their services. I very much appreciate Origami's regular participation, because it often inspired me to raise my goal posts higher.

orionz06
03-06-2014, 02:56 PM
Oh hell no. Get your own leopard hat! :D

Gnome hats are the new thing. Leopard is 90's leftovers...

Mr_White
03-06-2014, 03:46 PM
Gnome hats are the new thing. Leopard is 90's leftovers...

The 90s were my formative time. I have an affinity for the 90s and 70s, but not really the 80s. So it makes sense. No one is going to troll me into wearing a gnome hat, either.

JeffJ
03-06-2014, 04:10 PM
The 90s were my formative time. I have an affinity for the 90s and 70s, but not really the 80s. So it makes sense. No one is going to troll me into wearing a gnome hat, either.

Interesting line in the sand...

ToddG
03-06-2014, 04:29 PM
The 90s were my formative time. I have an affinity for the 90s and 70s, but not really the 80s.

I cannot believe it: I think you've actually said something so egregious I may have to ban you.

Speechless.

I may just turn off the forum for a few days and try to recover.

NickA
03-06-2014, 04:31 PM
The drills don't just get randomly chosen. Oftentimes there are intended progressions or purposeful changes in focus. There is an ongoing thread in the private Staff forum where we have the DotWs planned out more than a month in advance at times


Make it monthly thing with a cold drill and a few drills after that. Shoot for 100 rounds.

Sounds like you could put together a group of drills (new or just recycle and re-group the past DotW's) that focuses on a specific skill- reloads, first shot, whatever - to provide a "workout plan".
Either make it a monthly thing or just leave them open and people can go at their own pace, or be able to come back and revisit the series of drills.

BaiHu
03-06-2014, 04:44 PM
Or.....a $1 submission per entry that goes to a charity of your (PF) choice and a random DOTW person gets a gift at the end of the year for submitting a minimum # of scores? Meaning I can't get a prize for submitting 0-10 scores a year.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

justintime
03-06-2014, 05:04 PM
Oh hell no. Get your own leopard hat! :D

Then you better not lose :D

DocGKR
03-07-2014, 01:46 AM
For a long while I shot every drill of the week; it was one of the greatest things going while I was experimenting with RDS pistol set-ups. Then I broke my wrist last year, got warned, and had my work time jump up to 60 hrs per week--all of which has greatly limited my training opportunities over the past 12 months. I would hate to see the DOW completely cease; even a transition to a DOM would be delightful.

Drang
03-07-2014, 02:27 AM
Too bad no one knows anyone close to the community who could toss in some silly prizes now and again for random achievements...
Best drill fired while wearing a shirt with banana trees on it...

ToddG
03-07-2014, 02:45 AM
Or.....a $1 submission per entry that goes to a charity of your (PF) choice and a random DOTW person gets a gift at the end of the year for submitting a minimum # of scores? Meaning I can't get a prize for submitting 0-10 scores a year.

For both ethical and logistical reasons that would be a nightmare.

Over the next few days I'll reboot the last DotW into a series of a few exercises to make up March2014 Drills set instead. Folks who shoot the current DotW can just incorporate it into their response for the March2014 thread.

TheTrevor
03-07-2014, 04:19 AM
I'll just put it out there that my biggest impediment to doing the DotW has been lack of regular access to ranges where I can draw from the holster and rapid fire. I've done some of these when I go up into the northern CA countryside every 2-3 months and can shoot on private land, but that's hardly a routine-training event.

At some point later this year I'll address this by dropping a goodly chunk of cash on an Awerbuck class, which will get me endorsed for use of a holster/rapid-fire permitted LE/training range. So really, I'm not whining, as it'll work out for me sooner or later. However, I'm pretty sure there are a bunch of folks in major metro areas who are in the same situation with no hope of improvement, though, and that's why I mention it.

ToddG
03-07-2014, 04:24 AM
Understood that there are limitations. However, if we only put up drills that people could do from extended ready with no rapid fire and at 50' (no more no less) we'd run out of drills pretty quick.

As I said earlier, the Staff who come up with drills have always tried to keep most of them balanced enough that you don't need your own Blackwater in the backyard but at the same time you work the core skills that we talk about so much on this site. With a move to multiple drills per month and no real requirement that every person shoots every drill, odds are that most months there will be something almost everyone[/ii] can do and some things [i]only a few people will be able to do.

BaiHu
03-07-2014, 08:00 AM
For both ethical and logistical reasons that would be a nightmare.


Totally understood. I just thought raising money for cancer awareness and being able to win a "Shoot Cancer Dead" or "I Shot Cancer and All I Got Was This Stupid T-Shirt" t-shirt would be pretty cool prizes AND classless all in one shot.


Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

Casual Friday
03-07-2014, 08:18 AM
got warned

I lol'd and almost spit coffee on my monitor.

Back to topic, I really like the Drill(s) of the Month idea. I'm not always able to hit the range every week so monthly would be awesome. (I also don't own a shot timer yet, please don't ban me)

JHC
03-07-2014, 10:30 AM
Guys, don't feel any need to apologize! I just wanted folks to understand why they may go away. Or perhaps we'll take the recommendation to do them monthly.

I'd vote for monthly. There have been a few I've shot & posted; but just as many that it took two weeks to get to and then the thread was locked anyway. No harm, no foul.

justintime
03-07-2014, 09:00 PM
I always shoot Mondays or Sunday which sometimes doesn't let me do it until it's closed. I get behind - but if they were monthly it wouldn't be a problem/