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Thread: How do you stress test your technical shooting skill level?

  1. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by JAD View Post
    I think to GJM’s point though competition does a lot more to improve technical shooting skill than other stuff. It doesn’t pretend, I don’t think, to improve tactical thinking under stress, or more correctly but nuancedly *fighting* under stress. I think that’s the province of simulation (of all sorts, including role playing of the NTI school etc). If I wanted to get better at shooting I think competing regularly is at least a primary component of a good effort. I don’t think shooting well is all that important*, and if I wanted to get better at thinking during a fight I think BJJ would probably be my best path.


    *good thing, too
    Yes, I am strictly referring to technical shooting.
    Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.

  2. #12
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    I’m on the road for work, and after contemplating this over dinner and beer(s), here’s my input.

    I’m a firm believer in stress testing one’s skill on a regular basis, and have incorporated it into my training regimen.

    My “stress testing” consists of three tiers:

    Tier 1. Weekly practice, ending with a standardized time/accuracy test that gets hung on the door from my garage into my house. This helps me emphasize that “you’re only as good as you shot this week.”

    Tier 2. Competition
    A. Monthly local matches - lets me compete on unrehearsed courses of fire, and see how I stack up against other good shooters. Once I started winning matches occasionally, the pressure went up even more.
    B. State- or regional-level matches. The bar is much higher on these, and getting my ass kicked within my current classification (Master) keeps me from thinking that I’m actually very good in the grand scheme of things.

    Tier 3. Periodic formal training (Ernest Langdon and HiTS this year, hopefully Gabe White next year). Great for raising my game. I mention it under “stress testing” because an “on demand” assessment in front of the class (like Langdon administering the FAST test) is more stressful in the moment than any stage in any regional-level match I’ve ever been in. For this reason, I find it to be a great assessment of “what can you do right now, today, under stress?”

    Another thing that I’d offer to those looking for ways to “stress test” on a regular basis: add a timer to your regular practice sessions. There’s a world of difference between practicing without a timer, and shooting for score “on the clock.” Even if you can’t work regular competition into your schedule, shoot a selected “test” (like a “Bill Drill” or “The Test” or another “speed and accuracy” test) once, for score, at the beginning or end of your practice sessions. Then record the score, and/or post the scored target where you’ll see it daily until your next practice session. I find that knowing that I’ll be looking at that target every day for the next week adds some nice stress when the “beep” goes off.

  3. #13
    There are parallels with how folks competing in BJJ or other martial arts tend to get better at a faster pace vs the rest of the gym.

    Probably part of it ends up being more time spent practicing, but I’m sure some of it is the mental focus of knowing you have to perform by a certain day of competition...

  4. #14
    Site Supporter SeriousStudent's Avatar
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    Any time I want to stress test my skills, I just listen to my friends laughing while they watch me shoot.

  5. #15
    Gucci gear, Walmart skill Darth_Uno's Avatar
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    Competition gives you the best structured results. Force on force doesn’t record your score but you learn things you can only get by being in a “fight”, and you can’t get in a square range match. .

    All part of a well rounded education.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  6. #16
    Member JHC's Avatar
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    While it doesn't apply to extended strings of fire, I think hunting, especially big game tests one's on demand performance. With deer in the big woods where the range is short, you will usually have a couple seconds max to thread a shot through a gap in the cover. It may not test F2S skill but it tests mental control.

    Another one I use is running and gunning. My personal favorite is to line up against two plate racks and shooting one plate at a time, run to another position to hit one plate, run to another position to hit another plate, etc etc. I especially enjoy it shooting this with friends and there is a natural, if unstated competition. (shooting degrades and it usually surprises the shooter how much when they first do this)

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/780361...posted-public/


    This one was "administered" by Kevin B to my younger son and I earlier this year. It's big advantage was the added task of processing the commands from the "administrator". I think anytime an "ad hoc" stimulus requires one to decide and act is a big advantage. I can tell you, shooting with this administrator puts the match stress on me as much as the matches I've shot. Probably more as I care a great deal more about how I shoot in front of him than I ever did in any match.

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/780361...posted-public/


    I agree about matches serving this role too. No argument there.
    Last edited by JHC; 12-17-2018 at 06:56 AM.
    “Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais

  7. #17
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    For the average person, competition is as good of a stress test of shooting under duress that you can get.

    I get to matches between 4-5 times per year. The primary reason I participate is to stress test my capabilities. In concert, it also gives me feedback on my training. It highlights areas of weakness.

    Amusingly it never fails--large improvements in range practice only begets a small increase in hit factor.

    The other stress test for me is a cold, on demand, drill run at beginning of range session. For me this is a single shot at 25 yds, drawn from concealment, in under 2.5 seconds. 2.5 par time is about the best I can do right now-- on demand, and still stay on target reliably.

    Lastly, I also try getting adrenaline up during range sessions by running, jogging, etc and then performing a given drill. I'm very fortunate that the range I practice at has these huge lanes that enables such a routine.
    Last edited by fixer; 12-17-2018 at 07:09 AM.

  8. #18
    Member JHC's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GJM View Post
    Yes, I am strictly referring to technical shooting.
    When you chose the word "stress" in the thread title, you were inferring mental and physical stress correct? So if technical shooting in practice while chill is X, what is it when mental or physical stress is added and how does one inject said stress.
    “Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais

  9. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by GJM View Post
    My main point is that it is easy to kid yourself about your ability, when you only shoot by yourself. I get it that some don’t have time to regularly shoot matches, but figure out a way to simulate competition by shooting with others, doing structured tests and drills, and recording results.
    This times ten. About eight years ago when I starte to get serious about becomimg better with pistol, I started looking around for any kind of matches at the the closest gun range (northern NH). Unfortunately, the closest ones membership had little interest in doing anything but static line fire. Then I found one that was just a little further away, but was dedicated to running spring through late fall pistol matches. They call it action pistol, and borrow from IDPA and USPSA in stage design, but are not affiliated with either. It's more than adequate as far as fulfilling the need to compete.
    A small group by comparison to other places, but I have met more people who have seen the light, so to speak, regarding the importance testing oneself on the timer. Wish I would have started 25 years ago. Love everything about it.
    It doesn’t have to be fun to be fun ― Mark Twight

  10. #20
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    [QUOTE=Dismas316;822303]Your on fire with your recent posts. I couldn’t agree with you more..



    George, Dismas beat me to it 're: your recent (actually, ALL of them) posts. Thank you for sharing all you've learned. This total lack of selfishness is why and how PF is different from any other forum.

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