What Goes Right & Wrong at Maximum Speed

[ToddG]

In this week's DotW (http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?5396-Week-45-F-PAR-High-Draw), a number of people have commented that they were upset to find themselves reverting to a non-visual index to get their fastest hit.

I don't think that's something to be upset about.

Think about it in terms of using your sights in general. As the need for precision increases, the need for visual control increases. Conversely, for really easy shots, the amount of visual info you need is close to nothing. Knowing how to be fluid and use only the necessary amount of precision is a major part of being fast & accurate.

So if you're pushing to get the fastest possible single hit you can on an easy target from the holster, you might be able to go faster than you can see. One of the benefits of doing drills like this, in fact, is learning to see faster as you drive the gun harder. It also forces you to do a lot of the other (non-visual) parts of the draw faster than you're used to.

[MDS]

Good to hear. I felt OK shooting faster than I could see because a) it wasn't so fast that I was being unsafe; and b) it's practice, and stretching out of your comfort zone is...uhh...uncomfortable. I don't think I would ever shoot faster than I could see in the real world, though. One good thing about this drill is it really let me explore way past my comfort zone, and that really helped me better understand just where my comfort zone really is, exactly. I got a hit in 1.03s, but I start to lose confidence around the 1.4-1.5s mark - and that's fully warmed up. I need about 2s to make a head shot at 7yd cold. This is all good info to have!

[Mr_White]

I think that's a great point Todd. This issue fits neatly into the 'see what you need to see' concept. Most of the reps in this DotW I didn't see a lot, though what I did see was usually enough to hit. It was a major part of the exercise for me to try to see something. On a lot of them it was just a visual input of seeing the back of the slide and blur of the sights projecting to the target spot. On some of them I was able to see a little more detail - the sights in some degree of alignment, which to me, represented tiny incremental improvement in my ability to see quickly, just like you are saying.

[Josh Runkle]

I think it would be interesting to see the next DOTW be the same thing, but on a two inch circle. Mostly just to hear shooters evaluate the differences in what they are doing. Obviously, times would be slower, but I'm more interested in what techniques would change for precision.

[ToddG]

We have a number of floating par drills upcoming, including multiple shots, low% targets, and multiple shots on low% targets.

[Josh Runkle]

We have a number of floating par drills upcoming, including multiple shots, low% targets, and multiple shots on low% targets.

I'm not necessarily interested in the drill itself, but really an informal poll of many subjective experiences (since quantifiable data would be hard to find, and what is available is disputable) on what people really see change between moderate precision from the holster and extreme precision at full-speed from the holster, when it comes to things like a press-out.

[CCT125US]

I'm not necessarily interested in the drill itself, but really an informal poll of many subjective experiences (since quantifiable data would be hard to find, and what is available is disputable) on what people really see change between moderate precision from the holster and extreme precision at full-speed from the holster, when it comes to things like a press-out.

You mean like when I saw what I needed to see I made the hit, but when I screwed that up I missed?

[BN]

I might try this drill again accepting hits on the minus zero and the minus one of an IDPA target. My misses were only an inch out of the 8 inch circle. I'll see what I can see at greater speed. :cool:

[Josh Runkle]

You mean like when I saw what I needed to see I made the hit, but when I screwed that up I missed?

Well...I was looking for something a little more specific :cool:

I was thinking back to when we were doing a low-light/night shoot last week and we were looking at the differences between press-outs or half-press-outs between target changes and "swinging" the gun on target.

Obviously nearly any technique can be practiced and refined...

But, what do you subjectively find yourself wanting to do to increase speed at 8", and is this just the exact same technique on 2" or 1" - performed to a higher level of precision at 1" or 2" and a "lower" level of precision at 8", or...do you find yourself using differing techniques?

Obviously speed and target acquisition time vary as precision varies...

I'm interested in seeing who's TECHNIQUE begins to vary. Just trying to challenge what we already "know" about shooting...what is a truth and what is a perception...what techniques are irrelevant and which ones hold true.

[CCT125US]

Ok, I will expand on the simplistic. As you know, shooting is seeing what you need to see. The level of what needs to be seen will vary from shooter to shooter, and change over time. For example, on a 3/4" dot, I know from experience what I need my sights to look like on target as the shot breaks. Sometimes the press is imperfect and disturbs that alignment and causes a miss. Now going to the other extreme, say a 4x8' sheet of plywood, set at 2yds could pretty much be hit by anybody from the draw blindfolded. As technique, experience, training, rounds down range, dryfire, etc happen, the plywood sheet can shrink to smaller and smaller targets. Think of the very first time we tried the FASTest. It took forever to get those first shots near the 3x5 right? Now I am currently trying to get 2 hits under 2 seconds consistently. On the DotW using the 8" circle, some shooters will only need to draw and body index the gun toward the target to get a hit. Others will need input from the relationship of the slide rear and the target. While others will need varying degrees of a sight picture to get the hit. I truly wish I could see what the shooter sees when shooting at top speed, but that technology is probably expensive. I found some first person video of Cpl Travis Tomasie using such a set up to demo shot calling http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=9q1XC8k-tZc&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9q1XC8k-tZc Each shooters vision and ability to shift focal points and acquire targets and sights is going to vary. Hence the simplistic see what YOU need to see.