Gun equivalent to Starting Strength - organized beginner program

[ford.304]

In lifting, there's something known as "fuckarounditis"

http://www.leangains.com/2011/09/fuckarounditis.html

The gun equivalent to this is the guy who goes to the range and spends 200 rounds making noise, maybe even running a drill or two, but has no plan. I've seen numerous posts on the theory of how to fix this -- ToddG goes on about tracking your progress and having a plan before you get to the range. There are a bunch of drills in the Drill of the Week section that you can pick and choose from to build your skill level and really train.

But I submit that while this is great for someone with a moderate level of experience who wants to build a program to get better... for a novice, it's overwhelming. Should I try to do FAST, or Bill Drills, or just a 3x5 walk back? How many times should I do it? When do I know how to progress to the next drill? Most importantly, a novice has no idea how to turn those drills into a program and a progression. Fuckarounditis in the gym isn't doing *no* exercises -- it's doing a random set of actual exercises without a goal and program in mind.

The solution to this in the strength community are several similar, well-known beginner programs. Starting Strength is one book. Strong Lifts is similar but free online. These are a simple, progressive approach to learning - do your three compound exercises 3-5x a workout, 3 workouts a week, get out in 45 minutes, and next time doing the same thing just a little bit harder.

What is the shooting equivalent to that sort of organized *program* for getting better? Are there any books that take that philosophical approach?

[BJJ]

Ben Stoeger has written some books that fit the bill. Mike Seeklander has books that lay out a step by step, day by day plan for training. Seeklander's stuff is time and resource intensive.

[RJ]

Good thread topic. I'll take a whack at this, as I'm a complete novice.

I think it starts with what you want to achieve. If you are happy just fooling around with guns with your friends, and goin' shootin', then you don't really need any kind of "program" to "get better", since if you go to the range and blast away, you've done what you wanted to do that day.

My goals have evolved a bit, in particular since I started participating in this forum.

In 2013, I bought my first ever handgun, an M&P FS9. I started shooting at the range first so, my attention was drawn to why all my shots went low and right, consistently.

I had read enough online to suspect, well, you know, it's not the gun. So I started investigating, and reading, and so forth. I came across this book, "The Perfect Pistol Shot", by Albert League:

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Pistol.../dp/1610045718

I started to apply this and was able to get my groups onto the target. Maybe not grouped real well, but at least bracketing the target. Very useful book.

In 2014, I started to get a little bored with the square range concept, so I took a couple classes at a local club-based non-profit outdoor range here in Tampa (Wyoming Antelope Club).

I also started recently to read this book, "Practical Pistol", by Ben Stoeger. As a novice, this book ties together a lot of good, basic info in an easy to digest manner, and since it was oriented to competition/USPSA style shooting, was very appropriate for what I was looking for.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Peally]

I think the shooting community needs to adopt the term "fuckarounditis", because a lot of people that always say they want to be better are afflicted.

[ToddG]

You might want to check out the forum's Reference Section for a lot of free advice on just those kinds of topics.

[ford.304]

You might want to check out the forum's Reference Section for a lot of free advice on just those kinds of topics.

Todd, I compiled the post in the Reference section (from your excellent articles) that most closely matches what I'm talking about ;-)

I guess my point is, the best part about those strength programs is that they give you a simple plan and a schedule. They say "do this and stick to it." The online resources I've found (including your site, and other excellent beginner resources like Cornered Cat) give a novice all the tools they need to develop a plan. But they don't hand the novice a "Plan." For me, at least, removing the temptation of trying to make decisions on this was really helpful when it came to strength training. Novices are the least qualified people to make any decisions.

This isn't just my asking for resources -- although I do intend to use these resources. I'm curious what people think about that style of guidance when it comes to pistol training.

I'm not qualified to be a firearms trainer, so I don't know why things are done how they are. But my experience in fitness has been much... clearer, I guess, than pistol. For pistol, I took a couple classes, found all the great resources online... but felt kind of on my own to figure out how to practice. I do structured drills, but my overall progress never felt quite as... clear as my fitness plan, if that makes sense. I feel like it's a gap in at least the online resources.

I've done some of Steve Anderson's dry fire book, and that is more structured -- but it also feels aimed at someone trying to pull the last tenth out of their competition run.

Of course, I am also talking about it because I've been a member here for 4 years now and I'm heavily afflicted by it. Reading about training on my breaks at work is always easier than making time to go practice.

[Peally]

Stoeger covers this in Skills and Drills, and while he lays out an entire book of resources he intentionally mentions this, and that you're not going to get what you need out of someone else's plan if you honestly want to be good.

[MDS]

I know what you're saying, ford. I started my journal with a post outlining my "get good" plan. I don't follow it nearly as carefully as I could, I feel like I'm at a point where I can self-diagnose what's crappiest about my recent shooting, and choose appropriate drills to work on that. But if you're looking for a predefined plan, maybe my old work can provide a starting point... hope it helps!

[ford.304]

you're not going to get what you need out of someone else's plan if you honestly want to be good.

See, I get this at the advanced levels, definitely. To me, though, beginners need pretty much the same plan -- they may just need different cues to get them back onto it. Intermediates need a few specialized plans for different disciplines, and advanced shooters should be able to figure out their own plans. I feel as though that's been pretty true for every skill or discipline I've ever learned.

@MDS - Thanks, I will look into it.

[ToddG]

The problem with handing some a rote plan is that it needs to be highly customized to that person's time & ammo resources, current skill & comfort with various fundamentals, handgun, accessories (timer?), range rules, and most importantly his priorities. That's why there are a million different weight training "programs" out there. Different people want/need/can do different things.

Start a journal as MDS suggested. Shoot the 3x5 Card drill (don't worry about the 1-handed stuff) and tell us how far you got before you had your first miss; try to describe what went wrong on the miss(es). Go shoot Dot Torture at 3yd and report your specific results (not just "I got 42 points") but what circles you missed, by how much, and what you saw/felt go wrong on those shots). Shoot the 99 Drill using an 8.5x11 sheet of paper as your target and report your scores for each of the four strings of fire; try to explain what was going on when you had misses or other difficulties.

From there, folks will have a general idea of where your skill level is and can probably start to give more specific information on how to get dialed in.