improve my FAST

[fuse]

With my shiny new shot timer, I ran the FAST several times to establish some baselines.

My new goal is a reliable sub 6 second FAST.

all runs clean.
1). 6.61 : 2.24, .71 / 2.45 / .43, .41, .37
2). 7.00 : 2.20, .65 / 2.90 / .44, .41, .40
3). 6.50 : 2.18, .65 / 2.52 / .45, .38, .42
4). 6.58 : 2.06, .58 / 2.71 / .42, .42, .38
5). 6.36 : 2.23, .62 / 2.54 / .40, .32, .25
6). 6.58 : 2.23, .57 / 2.60 / .40, .41, .28

On run #5, I tried to really speed my splits up. My comfort zone seems to be .40 - .45.

at this time going faster feels quasi out of control. of course the only way to go faster is to go faster.

Also, it would appear my reloads are pretty slow. I have worked on them alot since this class (hint: I am student #1) and I don't think they're currently as awful as mentioned. It seems like the main thing that slows me down is the target re-acquisition, not necessarily gassing up the gun. Which is kind of odd, since its such a big target. I am trying to get clean runs every time, and I think I am trying to get an unnecessarily clean and perfect sight picture on the first body shot. When I do this, I feel I am most stable, and the following body shots are usually still hits.

Or, its very possible my reloads are simply still really really shitty.

What needs the most improvement?

[DocGKR]

Have you spent a lot of time doing what student #2 did?

[fuse]

I have a love/hate relationship with the press out. I love to hate it. so, no.

From the draw I basically punch the gun out there, I think. I may aquire the sights on the way out, but more likely I am just relying on a fairly consistent index.

I'm not actively trying to do a press out as I have had so little success doing it. though admittedly its something one must dedicate hours upon hours of slow, dedicated, repetitive practice at. Which I am very very bad at doing. hence the not doing a press out.

***

but point taken.

so thats one vote for 'do a press out'. any others?

[JConn]

You know I think the press out is the key. However, maybe we should attempt to video tape you and attempt to diagnose problems that way.

[John Hearne]

For me, the FAST drill is 3 things:
1) Two head shots in 2.0 seconds (with draconian penalties for missing)
2) 2.0 second reload
3) 4 rounds in 1.0 second

Feel free to practice each of these and more importantly, the components of each of these. They seem to come in order of hardest to easiest to me.

[GJM]

For me, the FAST drill is 3 things:
1) Two head shots in 2.0 seconds (with draconian penalties for missing)
2) 2.0 second reload
3) 4 rounds in 1.0 second

Feel free to practice each of these and more importantly, the components of each of these. They seem to come in order of hardest to easiest to me.

I think you need to add .2 to the two first shots, and subtract .2 from the reload.

[YVK]

For me, the FAST drill is 3 things:
1) Two head shots in 2.0 seconds (with draconian penalties for missing)
2) 2.0 second reload
3) 4 rounds in 1.0 second

Since reload is measured at the time of a third shot, one has only 3 shots left after that. So, if I understand you correctly, your FAST is two in 2.0, 2.0 reload and then three shots with 0.25 splits for a total time of 4.75.

Fuse, my opinion is that first three shots make or break FAST drill and I believe your biggest gain will be in reload improvement. Having said that, I think your splits on a big target can be faster and you can shave down at least 0.30 sec there. Whether you use pressout or not is up to you; if you address those two things that seem on a slower side, you'll be in 5 sec range with your current approach to your first shot.

[JAD]

What needs the most improvement?

I can imagine that there are quite a few people who survived because they could place precise shots quickly from the leather. I never heard about the guy who died because his emergency reload was 2.2 seconds rather than 1.8.

[JV_]

I never heard about the guy who died because his emergency reload was 2.2 seconds rather than 1.8.

Nor have I. But the thought of sending 2 additional bullets downrange, in that .4s, seems pretty nice.

[Dropkick]

I remember being told once that the best way to improve a FAST time is to break it down into it's components and practice those piece by piece repeatedly instead of running the whole drill over and over from start to finish.

While you might think your reloads need work, you might find that with the same levels of practice it could be easier to drop time from your draw, vice versa, etc.

That is to say, practicing all the parts separately will help you improve no matter what, but you might be able to make improvements on one part quicker than another.