Running

[Kirk]

reposting this here

This is an excellent post from Graybeard. This sort of confirms my prior thinking -

“Movement needs to be relaxed and athletic. This does not mean it isn’t explosive. What it does mean is that it shouldn’t be tense or rigid. Movement is movement, and the principles don’t change from other athletic endeavors just because you are operating a firearm.”

My powerlifting coach has a top 100 total overall now and is the head S&C coach at a major HS in the Midwest. He tells people constantly that being strong and fast translates to virtually any endeavor. Graybeard confirms it in USPSA. I guess if you take USPSA as serious as some people do, with a small car worth of guns and a boat worth of ammo per year, you should spend a few hours a week getting more explosive. As previously mention by BWT, being fit with a solid resting HR would help all of us in all shooting sports.

[Clusterfrack]

Great post, Glenn. Here are my responses.

1,2: Agree. And also being safe while running: finger out and away from trigger guard, and the ability to fall safely. Practicing falling with a gun in hand is critical, and few people do it. When a shooter falls, how will they maintain muzzle discipline so they don't ND or sweep self/others?

3: There's already been a ton written about the tactics of reloading. I'm not sure running changes any of that.

Your points about doors, pies, etc. are good. As with running in competition, if we overrun the position or aren't ready to shoot as soon as possible after movement, high speed of movement may not pay off. Examples are bleeding off speed to stabilize the gun, and having gun up with dot/sights near where target will appear.

Good question - if you separate out competition reloads vs. 'fighting' reloads - they are different paradigms.

1. In competition, moving between shooting positions is a way to save time.

2. Maintaining the 180 in the confines of the shooting layout is of prime importance

3. Clusterfrack - you are wandering into, if you mention fighting - the horrible IDPA debate of tactical reloads. When would you release a mag with available ammunition? The tactical reload, reload with retention, shooting to slide lock to get a better reload (dumping - had that called on me) are all supposedly fighting issues.

Thus reloading with known positions is different from 'fighting'.

Running - again, that depends on your ability. Moving with alacrity is important in fighting when called for. Sometimes a cautious approach is better. Coming up to a corner, do you charge to it and in front of an opening? I said running speed should be such that you, in fighting, arrive at the shooting position (which may or may not have known vs unknown opponents) with an ability to deal with what that may be. You may or may not know where the targets are. There may be unknown opponents who shoot you - been there on that in FOF and 360 shoot house.

In competition, you arrive such that you can engage the targets. You should not fall on face as I have seen happen as that scares the bystanders. You care little about cover - the great IDPA debate.

So, competition running has some different components from SD movement. In either, skill in drawing the mag, inserting it, racking if necessary need to practiced.

Good discussion.

[YVK]

Was tempted to come in a gaming rig...


P.S. There's one thing that I tend to forget in matches. Sprinting should be done with a forefoot strike. Sometimes I try to push hard out of a position and it ends up to be a rather long step. Which usually lands me on a heel, and by the time I change to forefoot, I am about to stop for the next array. Most people who never sprinted but ran and jogged use heel strike and it is not a fast stride. Something to look at.