Can I speed up without a timer?

[JustOneGun]

Depends on what you're trying to accomplish. You obviously need a timer to measure your performance against an established standard or time constraint, but I happen to believe that you can do a lot of meaningful practice without a timer if all you're trying to do in improve your overall skill.

If we can agree that the goal of all shooting is about hitting, then practice that as a mindset when you go to the range. Regardless of the target you’re shooting; the A-Zone, a paper plate, a B8 center, a 2” dot, whatever ….. THE GOAL IS TO NEVER MISS. Misses are failures - pure and simple.

So, regardless of what you’re working on i.e. presentations from the holster, from low ready, single shots, controlled pairs, Bill Drills, whatever …. push yourself on speed until the wheels fall off and you miss. Repeat the exercise and then slow down just enough to hit again. Repeat this process over and over; every time you go to the range for every drill. You’ll soon learn where YOUR limits are.

Most of our shooting disciplines fail to emphasize hitting, as the penalties for misses aren’t severe enough. All shooting should be about hitting, and on a square range with no dynamic stressors at play – you should strive for NO MISSES.

Shooting fast is fairly irrelevant if you can’t discipline yourself to hit 100% of the time in the benign atmosphere of a static range. The truth is, in real-life most people feel compelled to shoot fast without having any idea where the wheels will fall off …… with predictable results.

A timer for most of us is largely a tool that enables us to only remember our best performances - not our true abilities. If you will view a timer as simply a means to an end and not the end itself, it will be more useful to you in the end.

Just one man's opinion - YMMV.

I agree with a lot of this. But I think it is more of the timer not being used well. Once a person is keeping their rounds during slow fire on a reasonable target (6"/8") then I like to see every round timed. At first they will make the easy gains on the timer and then those increases will slow down. I remind people that the purpose of timing every round isn't just the fast. But I am also a strong proponent of chaos/interleaved training. That type of training actually inhibits one's fastest time. But what it does show is the time of your screw ups. For me fixing the bottom line is better than having a world record time.

Both are important but IMO raising the bottom end of one's time is the most important.

[GJM]

Hit factor scoring, which makes sense for games and self defense, combines accuracy and time. Training without a timer or other way of accurately measuring your time, makes no more sense than training without scoring your hits.

[SC_Dave]

I have no shooting partner, therefore I have no one to push me, compete against or watch what I'm doing wrong. The only place I have to shoot is at an older indoor range and due to the lack of any extra room it's difficult to set up a tripod for a camera/phone to record myself. So it sounds like a timer would be my competition and force me to figure out what I may need to do to become faster. I shoot 1 a week. 150 rounds each trip. Not a lot compared to some. I don't shoot matches, I just want to get better for my own satisfaction of accomplishment.

Like everyone else if I go slow enough I can get acceptable (for me) hits at certain distances. Obviously the further the distance, the smaller the target the less likely I am to get consistent hits. So for the distances that I'm getting consistent hits I don't want to fall into the trap of going slow (relative term) because I know I can get my hits thus never pushing myself to get faster. Keeping in mind as mentioned above that speed means nothing if you miss.

SCD

[GJM]

Here is some Robbie Leatham wisdom. Common advice is speed up until you start missing, then slow down. His advice is different -- to go faster and faster until your shots get wild, then see the pattern of your errant shots, and fix the problem causing the problem. Proceed on, faster, until you fall off the tracks again, examine/fix and proceed.

Also, his advice to make progress as you get better, is to "live in the gray" for a significant portion of your practice time, as that is where the gains are made. At the same time, build a speed control, so you can on demand shoot at whatever pace makes sense for your accuracy and speed requirement of the moment.

[JustOneGun]

I have no shooting partner, therefore I have no one to push me, compete against or watch what I'm doing wrong. The only place I have to shoot is at an older indoor range and due to the lack of any extra room it's difficult to set up a tripod for a camera/phone to record myself. So it sounds like a timer would be my competition and force me to figure out what I may need to do to become faster. I shoot 1 a week. 150 rounds each trip. Not a lot compared to some. I don't shoot matches, I just want to get better for my own satisfaction of accomplishment.

Like everyone else if I go slow enough I can get acceptable (for me) hits at certain distances. Obviously the further the distance, the smaller the target the less likely I am to get consistent hits. So for the distances that I'm getting consistent hits I don't want to fall into the trap of going slow (relative term) because I know I can get my hits thus never pushing myself to get faster. Keeping in mind as mentioned above that speed means nothing if you miss.

SCD

To me your situation cries out out for a bit of competition. Adds a bit of pressure, they will time you and you get to shoot, move and manipulate the pistol. If you're not into competition I think it still has merit. Think of it as a test. I also think the best thing a shooter can do is get a trainer (someone to watch you from time to time and give suggestions). Second best thing is to find a place to shoot outside with a timer (desert, forest, blm, etc.) Sometimes a range will allow you to shoot and move on a range if you're part of the competition at that club.

[Peally]

They're only 100 bucks, and yes they're required if you want to really improve. Phone apps aren't a substitute beyond temporary dry fire.

[okie john]

Timers matter because our sense of speed isn’t reliable: we can think we’re fast when we’re slow and vice versa. A timer puts numbers on speed and it doesn’t lie. It’s the equivalent of scoring rings on a target.

Your gear shows that you’ve made significant investments to follow smart trends. I’m not sure that wondering whether you can get faster without a timer is the right question. A better question might be “Why have you put off buying a timer for so long when it’s widely considered a key part of understanding and improving performance?”


Okie John

[BWT]

I'd agree that timers help you quantify progress.

I generally have a great sense of time; I can kind of keep time in my mind most of the time.

But, when doing athletic activities for short periods of time (maybe a few seconds). It's hard to quantify.

If you're looking to build skill; I'd recommend a timer because progress can be slow.

You can encourage yourself (because progress can be very small and hard to perceive. Therefore discouraging.) or identify areas to work on by looking at your results. Maybe you shave off .05 off your splits at 10 yards and close by consistent practice (going from like .28 to .25). That's huge but not noticeable to the human mind.

I'd buy a timer from Brownells because they have a lifetime replacement policy and their timers get broken. That advice came from a highly respected forum member. I'd also buy this book (https://www.amazon.com/Dry-Fire-Trai.../dp/1497319633) and start doing drills. I have that book and it's great.

Ben Stoeger and Bob Vogel both emphasize dry fire very heavily.

Now if only I did those things...

God Bless,

Brandon

[SC_Dave]

I'd agree that timers help you quantify progress.

I generally have a great sense of time; I can kind of keep time in my mind most of the time.

But, when doing athletic activities for short periods of time (maybe a few seconds). It's hard to quantify.

If you're looking to build skill; I'd recommend a timer because progress can be slow.

You can encourage yourself (because progress can be very small and hard to perceive. Therefore discouraging.) or identify areas to work on by looking at your results. Maybe you shave off .05 off your splits at 10 yards and close by consistent practice (going from like .28 to .25). That's huge but not noticeable to the human mind.

I'd buy a timer from Brownells because they have a lifetime replacement policy and their timers get broken. That advice came from a highly respected forum member. I'd also buy this book (https://www.amazon.com/Dry-Fire-Trai.../dp/1497319633) and start doing drills. I have that book and it's great.

Ben Stoeger and Bob Vogel both emphasize dry fire very heavily.

Now if only I did those things...

God Bless,

Brandon

All good information. From everyone. I ordered a Pact II from Brownell's. So it'll soon be time to do work.

SCD

[Surf]

It is a good investment Dave and I am sure you will be happy. Combine video with a timer and you can make some excellent strides with self diagnostics and improving technique and speed. Of course we should look to improve technique first and foremost which will inherently make you faster. After which learning to be faster via a timer and seeing where we can make improvements. You already understand this but splits are not where we really need to be concentrating and are often quite meaningless in the scope of things. It is all the peripheral things that make us more efficient and ultimately faster. As an example shooting the FAST drill isn't so much about splits but making up time first comes from draw speed and reload times. The timer is great for giving hard numbers to verify our modifications to our techniques.