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Thread: Best drill for improving draw/first shot time?

  1. #1

    Best drill for improving draw/first shot time?

    I will never be lightning fast, but I seem to be stuck on this issue. From under an untucked T-Shirt, Draw & Fire an AIMED shot at an 6" Circle at 3 yds - 1.6 Sec (consisitent). I beat it occassionally, but would like to do it consistently. Right now I do lots of dry fire practice with snap caps in the gun, but I am not improving (I use the Par Time function on the timer).

    Is there a drill that you guys might suggest or is this one of those cases of practice, practice, practice and hope it improves?

    I don't think 1.6 is terrible, but as has been mentioned before - you can't bee too fast in a gun fight!

  2. #2
    My take on this is an index card (3x5) at 25'. I'm stuck at 1.3-1.4 seconds from concealment as timed by VMI-MO.

    What i have found that helps is the press out. As you are bringing that pistol up into your workspace (in you field of vision, directly in front of you, and I'm sure I'm explaining this wrong but that's why we have SMEs), catch sight of that front sight right there, and follow it with your eyes as you press out the pistol in a linear, roughly horizontal fashion to full extension. Saves you time versus swinging it up and acquiring the sights in my experience.
    #RESIST

  3. #3
    Murder Machine, Harmless Fuzzball TCinVA's Avatar
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    Aside from ensuring that your draw has no wasted movement, pauses, or anything of that nature, the greatest gain you'll see in improving your time is likely to be working on the press out.

    The term "press out" refers to the act of bringing the weapon's sights up into your line of sight as soon as possible and then in a deliberate and controlled fashion pressing the pistol out toward the target while simultaneously refining your sight picture and manipulating the trigger. Todd did a writeup about the press out on his blog:

    http://pistol-training.com/archives/3899

    The best way to practice the press-out is with the slow press-out shown in the video of Todd's blog...your goal is to train your brain to look for the sights early, align them, and manipulate the trigger while the gun is presented to the target. Practicing it nice and slow helps get you used to doing all of that at once. I practice press-outs every time I go to the range. I practice on 2" circles at 7 yards and I range from 1.6-1.8 seconds from concealment.

    To really improve it's likely that you'll need to reevaluate everything you are doing with the draw and shot. The key to a fast draw is to know what to do fast and what to do right. It's an efficiency game. If you do everything as fast as possible, it won't be efficient. If you do the important bits as efficiently as possible it may "feel" slower because you aren't completely out of control (that feeling is mistaken for speed by a lot of folks), but the end result will be a faster hit on target.
    Last edited by TCinVA; 03-04-2011 at 12:07 PM.

  4. #4
    Banned
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    The key to speed is economy of movement. If you know the basic fundamentals of the draw, a good idea is to draw, with and without a timer, in front of a mirror (use an unloaded gun, obviously). Look for anything other than your arms that is moving, and keep it still (no head movement, no shoulder movement, no hip movement, etc). Make sure your arms are moving in the most efficient way possible (directly to the gun, directly to the grip, and directly to the target). Start slow and build up smoothness while staying as efficient as possible. Eventually you will be moving fast, but it will still feel like you're going slow. That's a good thing.

    Next, move on from the mirror, and practice drawing to a target. Keep that same smooth, efficient movement, and work on getting your eyes to the front sight as soon as possible. Eventually your hand/eye coordination will be developed to the point that your eyes will "guide" your front sight onto the target without conscious thought, but it takes a lot of correct repetitions.

    Once you're comfortable that your movement is efficient, and that you are getting your eyes to the front sight, try backing up a bit from your 3 yard target. At three yards, if your index is good, you can point shoot a 6" plate. Of course it takes practice to get your index to that point, but it's yet another goal.

    A good way to practice is to Index on a target, close your eyes, and memorize how that body position feels. Move your focus from your hips all the way through your shoulders and out to your trigger finger, being sure to feel every aspect. Do it several times, and then slowly start drawing to that same feeling. Your goal is to be able to draw, at speed, exactly to that position. When you can do that, your movement will be efficient, and when you get the gun into position at the end of your draw, your front sight will just be "there." This doesn't take the place of finding your front sight with your eyes, but it helps massively for all kinds of applications when speed is of the essence.

    Anyway, that's a great way to avoid a lot of the common pitfalls of a slow draw, such as inefficient movement, non-existent index, and slow sight confirmation on the target. Unfortunately there isn't a quick fix - it takes time and correct repetitions. Fortunately you can do almost all of this at home in dryfire practice, and then take your new skills to the range to cement them with live fire training.

  5. #5
    I have some very good videos on the different aspects (Matt Burkett, Jerry Barnhart, etc), so I have a good basis for practice, I just can't seem to get the body to move any faster!

    I will keep at it for sure, and hopefully by the end of summer I can get down below 1.5 consistently

    Thanks for the suggestions.

  6. #6
    We are diminished
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    I would urge caution working on any 1-shot draw drills. Obtaining great speed is possible with a bad grip and no ability to control or follow through.

    Some of the times being reported here are already spectacular. If I can hit a 3x5 twice in less than 2 seconds from concealment, I feel like I'm doing an outstanding job.

  7. #7
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    For context:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU3jceN4JAc

    Dave Sevigny running the F.A.S.T. Drill - 1.36 from draw on both runs.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by ToddG View Post
    I would urge caution working on any 1-shot draw drills. Obtaining great speed is possible with a bad grip and no ability to control or follow through.

    Some of the times being reported here are already spectacular. If I can hit a 3x5 twice in less than 2 seconds from concealment, I feel like I'm doing an outstanding job.
    It depends on the distance, though. I think the OP who is in the 1.6 second range on a 6" plate at 3 yards is smart to want to improve that. It's not "slow" per se, but there is definitely room for meaningful improvement.

  9. #9
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    One small detail that really worked for me was getting on the gun as soon as the shirt was clearing my gun.

    I'm wasting less time getting that grip because I'm still moving the shirt out of the way with my left hand.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by ToddG View Post
    I would urge caution working on any 1-shot draw drills. Obtaining great speed is possible with a bad grip and no ability to control or follow through.

    Some of the times being reported here are already spectacular. If I can hit a 3x5 twice in less than 2 seconds from concealment, I feel like I'm doing an outstanding job.

    Great point Todd - I don't feel that I am just flinging the gun out there to get the time. I don't break the shot unless the sight picture and grip are there. I will work on the 2 shot drill to make sure all is in order. I am not trying for blazing fast, just improvement.

    Also, in regards to Sevigny's times...I think I am probably fine where I am at

    The nice thing, about where I live, is that I can take a 30 min drive, visit the folks, and shoot out in the back of their 20 acres (daily if necessary).

    BTW - what distance are you placing the 3x5 card - 7 yards?

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