Consistency

[GJM]

Something that came out of a recent class with JJ Racaza was his absolute devotion to repeatable performance. When I looked critically at my recent match performance, what would make the biggest difference was not upping my max speed but rather executing a reasonable percentage of my max speed consistently.

For the last month or so, my wife and I have restructured our practice sessions towards repeatable performance. As we worked through that process, we have focused on the actual elements of a successful shot — which are appropriate sight alignment and appropriate trigger manipulation. It really isn’t rocket science, to align the sights and press the trigger appropriate to the target, but the aha moment is to consistently exercise the discipline to do those things so you can with a high degree of certainty predict the outcome of the shot before you fire it. Related, is doing all that without worrying about how long it takes, since removing external time pressure allows you to better execute the fundamentals, and likely do it faster.

So for discussion, how may of your shots in practice hit as you planned, and how many are errant? Our goal is to have as few surprises as possible, and when there is a surprise to treat it almost like a gun malfunction where you diagnose what went wrong.

[GNiner]

Are you now not tolerating non-A zone hits, and diagnosing what went wrong when you get C's?

I have always enjoyed reading your posts because you are probably just a couple of years younger than me but judging from your videos are a MUCH better shooter. I have lived a little vicariously through your various training adventures with the big dogs, and whenever you figure something out through the pages of PF.com I usually pay attention the next time I'm at the range to see if it works for me. I am very analytical by nature and have benefited from both yours' and other PF.comers' experiences.


However, I remember sometime within the last couple of years where you religiously espoused "if you are shooting all A's, you are shooting too slow". Large thread discussions on Accuracy vs Speed, and how you really needed both. But some level of misses necessary to balance speed with accuracy (say 85-90% As?). My practices take this into consideration regardless of whether I am using USPSA targets or 5 inch circles. If I am shooting 85% hits into the appropriate target zones at speed, I usually consider it a good day. Of course on "Tests" such as Gabe White standards, FAST, etc that require 100% hits, then 85% is not acceptable.

Are you talking about a match-mode specific practice session when you treat non-A's as malfunctions? And if so, how often do you practice in this manner compared to your overall practice?

[BN]

I've won a lot of matches and placed well in a bunch more because of my consistency. ;) I'm not always the fastest, but I'm usually pretty accurate. I just let the other competitors screw up and beat themselves. :)

[GJM]

Are you now not tolerating non-A zone hits, and diagnosing what went wrong when you get C's?

I have always enjoyed reading your posts because you are probably just a couple of years younger than me but judging from your videos are a MUCH better shooter. I have lived a little vicariously through your various training adventures with the big dogs, and whenever you figure something out through the pages of PF.com I usually pay attention the next time I'm at the range to see if it works for me. I am very analytical by nature and have benefited from both yours' and other PF.comers' experiences.


However, I remember sometime within the last couple of years where you religiously espoused "if you are shooting all A's, you are shooting too slow". Large thread discussions on Accuracy vs Speed, and how you really needed both. But some level of misses necessary to balance speed with accuracy (say 85-90% As?). My practices take this into consideration regardless of whether I am using USPSA targets or 5 inch circles. If I am shooting 85% hits into the appropriate target zones at speed, I usually consider it a good day. Of course on "Tests" such as Gabe White standards, FAST, etc that require 100% hits, then 85% is not acceptable.

Are you talking about a match-mode specific practice session when you treat non-A's as malfunctions? And if so, how often do you practice in this manner compared to your overall practice?

There can be good reasons to shoot a C, like you are surfing the edge of the A/C border because of an adjoining no-shoot, or the hit factor is high enough that you prioritize speed. What I am talking about is knowing what will happen before you fire the shot, as opposed to only knowing when your sights or dot lift after the shot. So, for example, if I am practicing flat out speed and have some wide shots, versus trying to shoot an A and getting something totally unexpected. This is especially applicable to shooting steel, where you either hit or miss.

[GJM]

I woke up this morning at 430, excited to dry fire, thinking about being absolutely certain of the outcome of each shot, before pressing the trigger. Then mid morning, hit the range, to validate the theory with live fire. The session went great, and through a lot of difficult shooting, was consistently certain before the shot left the barrel.

As a hard test, I decided to shoot the entire Garcia dot drill. For those not familiar, this drill is to draw and shoot six rounds into a two inch dot at seven yards, in under five seconds. The whole test is repeating this for six two inch dots, for a total of 36 rounds. I started whipping them out clean, and as I was ready to shoot the sixth and final dot, the security guard at the range pulled up in his vehicle. I walked over to see the problem, and he had a pistol in his hand. I asked what was wrong, and he said he wondered if I could check the zero on his pistol for him. I said sure, pulled it out, and determined it was some sort of Ruger 9mm. I shot the one inch square four times, and then started whacking an eight inch steel at 25 yards, and pronounced it “good to go,” much to his relief. Then I realized I needed to shoot my sixth Garcia dot, with only that dot between me and a clean drill. Without any worry about time, which I had been consistently well under, I shot the sixth dot clean, for my first ever totally clean Garcia dot drill! I then decided to see if I could extend it, and shot four more clean dots, for a total of ten successive clean Garcia dots, crushing my PR.

What I attribute this to is my focus on calling the shot before pressing the trigger, and consciously disregarding self imposed time pressure. This consistency thing may just be trick of the day, but I am going to keep riding this pony for a while longer.

[Doc_Glock]

That is incredibly impressive.

I have kind old given up on trying to hit times and just focusing on going as fast as I can assure myself I can get the hits. For me, that is at least twice as slow as the 5 second par time.

[feudist]

That is incredibly impressive.

I have kind old given up on trying to hit times and just focusing on going as fast as I can assure myself I can get the hits. For me, that is at least twice as slow as the 5 second par time.

With the occasional miss for me!

[GJM]

That is incredibly impressive.

I have kind old given up on trying to hit times and just focusing on going as fast as I can assure myself I can get the hits. For me, that is at least twice as slow as the 5 second par time.

I think the big gains come from fast trigger prep.

[Alpha Sierra]

I think the big gains come from fast trigger prep.

Incidentally, Ben Stoeger advises against prepping the trigger on the draw stroke in his new book. I'm not sure I buy into that at the moment. Got more shooting to do before I buy into it.

[GJM]

Incidentally, Ben Stoeger advises against prepping the trigger on the draw stroke in his new book. I'm not sure I buy into that at the moment. Got more shooting to do before I buy into it.

The prepping I am referring to is on successive shots, so you are ready to fire as soon as the sights come down in recoil.

On the draw, I want to be neither waiting on or leading with prep.

[Doc_Glock]

I think the big gains come from fast trigger prep.

I am noticing this as well. Not sitting around admiring the work with the trigger fully back gives one more time for that prep as well. Get off the trigger fast! Prep fast, break gently.

[Alpha Sierra]

The prepping I am referring to is on successive shots, so you are ready to fire as soon as the sights come down in recoil.

On the draw, I want to be neither waiting on or leading with prep.

Gotcha. Some people do advance the concept of beginning the trigger press as they present the gun, but that depends on the path they take the gun to the target.

I don't do the straight up out of the holster/straight out to the target draw so getting on the trigger (even a DA) on the way out is a no go for me.

[Jay Cunningham]

I ditched consciously conducting trigger prep a long time ago.

There is also a lot of misunderstanding between what constitutes trigger prep vs. staging.

[Alpha Sierra]

There is also a lot of misunderstanding between what constitutes trigger prep vs. staging.

I'm all ears and willing to learn. PM if you prefer.

[Jay Cunningham]

Todd and I went back-and-forth a little (largely agreeing with each other) a few years back:


https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?7708-Dry-Practice-Misconceptions-Updated-01-22-19&p=129549&viewfull=1#post129549

[Alpha Sierra]

Todd and I went back-and-forth a little (largely agreeing with each other) a few years back:


https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?7708-Dry-Practice-Misconceptions-Updated-01-22-19&p=129549&viewfull=1#post129549

Got it. Thanks.

[Sal Picante]

Man... I look at my recent USPSA performances: I'm a bit of "match" practice, slower than I used to be. But, I shoot a lot of alphas and generally don't make mistakes - it might make my shooting somewhat boring, but, that's ok.

I trained consistency for years and I think it gave me something that I can hang my hat on: practice with a lot of pressure, learn to accept mistakes as feedback during "general maintenance training", learn to be accountable for every shot.

Yes, there is a lot of time spent trying to speed up, work on movement, where I "allow" myself to make more mistakes, but, generally, I try to be able to give 85% performance 100% of the time. Tired or not, hungry or not, into it or not, angry or happy.

[GJM]

For me, my biggest near term opportunity is to know what is required to make any specific shot, and then have the discipline to make sure I then do what is needed with sights and trigger before sending the shot.

[okie john]

For me, my biggest near term opportunity is to know what is required to make any specific shot, and then have the discipline to make sure I then do what is needed with sights and trigger before sending the shot.

I'd guess that you've got enough experience "to know what is required to make any specific shot" and that most of your work will be integrating that knowledge into the discipline side of it.

Kind of like developing a focus articulating the thinking behind a shot fired in self-defense.


Okie John

[GJM]

I'd guess that you've got enough experience "to know what is required to make any specific shot" and that most of your work will be integrating that knowledge into the discipline side of it.

Kind of like developing a focus articulating the thinking behind a shot fired in self-defense.


Okie John

Obviously the amount of sights and trigger required varies by shot, and I am trying to build an internal data base that can quickly accept or reject the amount of sights and trigger I have dialed in, and subconsciously decide whether to send the shot or further refine sights/trigger.

[miller_man]

I've won a lot of matches and placed well in a bunch more because of my consistency. ;) I'm not always the fastest, but I'm usually pretty accurate. I just let the other competitors screw up and beat themselves. :)

When I first started shooting competitively - one of the first things I noticed was - the guys doing better were mostly just making the least amount of mistakes.

Making less mistakes, being comfortable shooting my current speed + skill and trusting my skill has led to my biggest improvements in matches lately. I've still got tons of room for improvement though. But doing those things has definitely given me more consistency - and it does feel a little boring and kinda slow to shoot that way.

[Clobbersaurus]

This is a thread that is near and dear to my match strategy for the last few years. My last match I shot 82% Alphas, which is a little under where I need to be, unscored errors and a few misses on steel tanked my match for me and I came in second. So I have a bit of work to do. :cool:

I don’t really agree with live fire training for consistency as a valid strategy for everyone. In GJM’s case he is doing what he feels he needs to focus on. In my situation, my ammo budget is limited. A strong mental game and dry fire training for consistent performance has helped with consistency at my matches. As a result, I am consistent and methodical at matches, with a reasonably strong mental game, so all of my current focus is on speed, and I need to maximize my limited training ammo budget to be fast enough that my consistency wins matches.

To be clear on the last statement, I need my speed to be ingrained, and be good enough that my match pace worries the competition. I want the competition to at my matches to feel like they need to go as fast as possible to edge me out. Hopefully that forces mistakes, and allow me room to slide into the win. This strategy can backfire if the competition “hooks up” and shoots a clean match despite going balls to the wall with speed. However, that has been fairly rare in my experience.

I don’t find my match videos that fun to watch, I look slow and methodical, but my training methods have given me consistent positive progression over the last three years and I’ll go with it until it does not work anymore.