...a small hit beats a big miss? Discuss if you like...I was just pondering on stuff and that ocurred to me. I guess it's just a way of saying use what you can hit with.
...a small hit beats a big miss? Discuss if you like...I was just pondering on stuff and that ocurred to me. I guess it's just a way of saying use what you can hit with.
I find the "slow hit beats a fast miss" to be overused, and often out of context for people. For instance, Clint Smith of Thunder Ranch. He says, "I've never seen a stopwatch in a gunfight." I can only take that in the worst possible manner. Just because you've never seen a stopwatch in a gun fight doesn't mean you should practice your reloads to be as slow as physically possible. The speed at which you move needs to be relative to the enemy, and I think not giving any importance to speed is plain dumb and ignorant.Originally Posted by DWB
I find this to be different from "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast." That makes sense.....if you're fumbling, then slow down. In the end your time will be quicker given no fumbles, so that mantra makes sense and I've become a huge fan of it in other stressful activities, like cave diving. That mantra doesn't give you the excuse to be negligently slow and I think a lot of people will use it as such. But Clint Smith just seems to be agonizingly slow, with placing absolutely no importance at all with developing skills at speed. Unlike his range, some gunfights have rounds going back at you, and you just may want to utilize the infinite time allotted before you catch one between the running lights.
Granted, I've only ever watched his videos on youtube, but he shouldn't put up those video's if he doesn't advocate in real life what he's purporting on Youtube.
"Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll."- Last words of Todd Beamer
I think a good comparison is rock climbing. You should go slow enough to ensure you get your holds and shift your weight correctly. jerky movements never really work well. However if you go too slow, you get too tired and you could fall.
Evil requires the sanction of the victim. - Ayn Rand
I think some gunfights require an element of speed to be successful. Some don't. One thing that will always be a factor in successfully walking away from a gunfight is not speed, but rather lots of hits into the vitals of your adversary.
You can get much more of what you want with a kind word and a gun, than with a kind word alone.
Yeah, and a fast "good enough" hit (or two or three or four...) beats a would-be perfect shot that never materializes (because you get shot before the perfect sight picture settles down and you never get a chance to finish the perfect slow, deliberate trigger squeeze). The whole "speed vs accuracy" thing is really easy to debate over the internet, and makes for a lot of cool soundbites but soundbites don't make for a perfect "answer."
DVC
I think F2S's sig line is all we really need here
You can't miss fast enough to hit, but you still have to hit faster than the other guy does.
I think that about sums it up. How fast is fast enough? Depends on how fast the other guy(s) are. The answer to many questions starts with "Depends..."
what about those that argue the first loud noise is important?
meaning, even if you miss completely being the first guy to generate a loud noise puts you ahead.
(neither championing nor berating this position)
I have found that the thing that works the best in real gunfights is being "clean". Clean fast hits. Clean fast draws. Clean fast reloads, etc.... For example, there are guys who can run blazing fast reloads.....until you jack one up in a fight. I just had this happen to me in a class. I have a way I do my reloads that is very consistent, and very clean while being relatively quick and usually fumble free. One of the instructors gave me a little hint to make my reload faster. Worked good until I tried it at speed in a man on man shoot off. I boffed every reload. I may end up sacrificing the nano second and going back to my previous way of doing things. I remember watching the guys from LAPD "D" Platoon from a catwalk above their shoot house back in the late 80's when the true legends of that team were in their prime. They walked fast. They were disturbingly smooth and every movement was clean. They were never out of control, no fumbled movements, no increase or decrease of speed, just smooth precision. They actually looked kind of slow, but they were in fact smoking fast through the house. It didn't matter how many targets were in the house, how many shoot /non-shoots (these were all "cold" un-rehearsed hits), nothing mattered. Same speed, same smoothness, and simply flawless performance. I learned a lot about being efficient and clean equating to being consistent and fast in dealing with diverse and changing scenarios. It is different than being fast at running range specific drills.
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