Use of Shot Timer.

[David S.]

If you're just dressing up like GI Joe on the weekend to play square range gun games and your goal is to just be fast. . .

If the goal of the drill is to develop some sort of "tactical" gun handling skills. . . the timer is there to measure individual progress and induce a measure of stress, but the total time on the drill is largely irrelevant. . .

Discuss.

It might be noted that I ripped the above quote out of its original context because I'm not particularly interested in discussing that context, except maybe tangentially.

[Peally]

It depends.

Timers are for measuring speed. If you're not measuring/testing speed there's no point to using one*. Whether or not it's relevant is based on what specific skill you're trying to improve in that drill. For drills testing fundamentals they're extremely relevant. If the drill is to take a non-full pace to make sure you fully understand how to move around without hurting yourself/others in some sort of situation they're not.




*Unless you're so easily stressed that mundane beeping noises alone raise your blood pressure. Or you just want an easy drill start noise.

[TAZ]

I’m a low speed high drag guy, so this needs a train load of salt. Timers are good tools to induce stress and measure progress in a somewhat objective manner. I’m not sure what is meant by “tactical” gun handling in the quoted portion.

You can measure how fast you get on target. How fast you can switch targets. How fast you can identify friend from target. How fast you can identify cover from concealment... Over a time period you can then track progress and see if you’re improving or sucking at things you deem important to your survival.

To me all the things that you can measure with a timer fit into the “tactical” world. A tactical dude will benefit greatly from being able to identify and engage a threat from cover at a faster rate than the threat. There is some truth to the whole speed, surprise and violence of action saying.

[JohnO]

One of the ways a timer induces stress is through an individual's own concept of time. Ask a guy to shoot 10 shots on a B-8 bull at 25 yards and say there is no time limit. Some folks will finish in 30 seconds or less. Then ask that same guy who finished in 30 or less to do it in 30 or under. Some people just fall apart. Others comfortable performing the task in the allotted time will do fine.

Ken Hackathorn considers "The Test" to be one of the single best drills ever devised. 10 shots, 10 yards, 10 seconds. You need a timer to participate.

Aside from inducing stress the timer provides a quantifiable result. How fast can you put 6 shots in the A-zone at 7 yards? How fast can you get two good hits on a target? If one is looking to improve they must have a reference.

[David S.]

The original quote said "the timer is there to measure individual progress..." "Measuring" and "providing quantifiable results" are understood.

[BN]

When I was a little kid, way back when, I would draw my Fanner 50 cap gun from my faux leather holster in less than a second. I knew I was that fast. Because.

Fast forward to now where I have a timer that actually measures my draw speed. Alas, my draw with a real gun takes longer than that.

They say that there are no timers on the street. However, there is a time limit and you need to be able to beat it. Only practice with a timer will tell you if you are improving.

[nwhpfan]

Scoring zones are to accuracy as a timer is to speed. You can't evaluate either without something measure your performance.

[Jared]

I was watching a Jerry Miculek video in another thread where he repeatedly said "anything works if you have time.". Thinking about that and the fact that shooting faster has a lot to do with good technique (meaning if you just try to be fast without applying good technique the results are likely to be poor or at least inconsistent) I think a timer is very important for development regardless of the end goal.

You can use the timer to measure whether this technique or that technique gets you the desired results on target in more or less time. PAR times can force you to do something, even as simple as a single trigger press, in less and less time to see how your technique holds up when it's pushed. The timer gives you another data point to measure your progress and see if your practice regimen is truly paying dividends.

It also strips away the ability to lie to yourself about how fast you are. Every time it records is plainly displayed, along with data on every shot fired if you look at it. For these reasons and several more, I use a timer on at least some of the drills I do every time I go to the range. I'm also not aware of any credible instructor of either self defense or competition shooting that doesn't include at least some time elements in their skill tests.

[voodoo_man]

If the drill requires a time then the timer is obviously required.

Timer stress and "tactical" stress are different things in my opinion. I use the timer to indicate start of a drill for most people, for serious training I start the drills off with a gunshot or some other indicator than a timer.

Timers and timer beeps do not exist in the real world and conditioning yourself to not have an accelerated or adrenaline response to a gunshot or otherwise is potentially a form of self sabotage. I want people to start to act instantly when they hear a gunshot or see another type of indication of violence. A timer is not a substitute for that, it does serve as a tool for timing and helps in the progression leading to a more serious form of instruction.

A quote a heard from someone whose name I don't recall right now - many people live the timer but none of them will ever die by it.

[txdpd]

"Tactical" being non range use of a firearm, i.e. police, military, security, self defense, etc.

Being a well rehearsed shooter and shooting a drill quickly, is different than developing the skills that allows a shooter to shoot a drill quickly. IMO time is drills is largely irrelevant. Shooting a drill until the shooter is used to going through the motions does not develop many transferable skills and can be counter productive to progress, so the time doesn't really matter. A shooter that wants to develop skills to shoot a drill faster, doesn't need to worry about the total time, they will focus on improving individual skillsets within the drill.