What was your "aha" or breakthrough moment?

[Gio]

1. Coin-level FAST runs on-demand from concealment
2. 100 on a 25yd B8
3. Turbo-pin level on Gabe's stuff (with our without concealment).
4. A sub-2.5 Bill Drill clean

I don't think any of these are unobtainable, and I would consider myself able to consistently do each one on demand most of the time. We are all subject to making mistakes from time to time though, that is just the nature of shooting at a high level. I would say if you can hit those things 80-90% of the time or more cold then I would consider that the ability to do it "on demand."

My first USPSA match in 2013, I already considered myself a pretty decent shooter by my agency and IDPA standards. I was already an IDPA master at the time and had shot a sub 90 second time on the original IDPA classifier to earn that. I squadded in that match with Matt Mink, who shared the same range/club I went to. Matt was coming off a 3rd place finish at USPSA production nationals that year a month or so before that club match. I remember watching Matt and thinking it made me look like i picked up a pistol for the first time yesterday. He was 10+ seconds faster than me on a 20-25 second stage and only dropping a couple C's per stage. It was eye opening to realize there was a whole different level of performance out there and was the motivating factor for me to really start training.

I think practicing static drills like the ones listed above over and over is not going to net you much improvement. When I started focusing on the skills I needed to excel at USPSA, my ability to shoot static drills like this went exponentially higher. USPSA is where the best pistol shooters in the world are. If you aren't trying to improve and be competitive there, then you are just not going to be able to touch the level of performance even an average M or GM shooter can lay down.

[rob_s]

Maybe the first 90% is easy and it's the last 10% that takes hours, and hours, and thousands and thousands of rounds. If that's the case, cool just tell me and I'll keep plugging away. However, if there's a magic switch that I'm missing somehow, someone have mercy and tell me what it is.

The magic switch, as most of the more recent information I've come across seems to suggest, is being born good. That's your 90%. The 10% is the hundreds of thousands of hours.

Michael Jordan, or Tiger Woods, would NEVER be who they are if they didn't have natural, innate talent COMBINED with the work ethic (which, I would argue, is also a natural, innate trait) to keep at it, at the exclusion of pretty much all else, to be the best.

That said, actually being the best is also a matter of luck. Check out Fooled by Randomness for more on this subject, as well as the sports series of Freakonomics Radio. In the latter, one of the top athletes they interview talks about the random chance things like whether or not you happen to get injured, or the flu, right before the Olympics and how that affects who really comes out on top.

So maybe you're not trying to be "the best", but the same principals apply. That guy you see at the range that you think is burning it down may work at a convenience store, be single, and have no kids. it's great that he's a world-class shooter, but maybe your priorities are different. Maybe you have a 60 hour a week job, a wife, and 4 kids plus a 2 hour round trip commute. Maybe he's grossly out of shape (skinny fat?) and you're spending an hour a day in the gym or on a bike.

One of the worst things about the internet (which commonly gets referenced in regards to social media, but is also true of forums like these) is that you only see what people want you to see, and as you can see by the responses to this thread by some of the top shooters you mentioned, the performance goals you list aren't really what you think they are. I don't think that any of those guys are trying to intentionally mis-represent their performance, but when you only see people's vacation pictures you start to think they live on vacation. Nobody is posting a video to instagram of themselves doing the laundry.

I say all of this as someone who also at one point in my life decided to "buckle down, work hard, and improve my shooting". What I found was that I had some physical limitations that came into play, a pretty severe lack of natural ability regards to shooting, and eventually life situations that put constraints on my time. Couple that with a more realistic understanding of the world and business of "self defense" and I became perfectly content with my Marksman-level classification/performance.

Now I just shoot for fun, and I'm far happier.

[Clark Jackson]

I don't think any of these are unobtainable, and I would consider myself able to consistently do each one on demand most of the time. We are all subject to making mistakes from time to time though, that is just the nature of shooting at a high level. I would say if you can hit those things 80-90% of the time or more cold then I would consider that the ability to do it "on demand."

My first USPSA match in 2013, I already considered myself a pretty decent shooter by my agency and IDPA standards. I was already an IDPA master at the time and had shot a sub 90 second time on the original IDPA classifier to earn that. I squadded in that match with Matt Mink, who shared the same range/club I went to. Matt was coming off a 3rd place finish at USPSA production nationals that year a month or so before that club match. I remember watching Matt and thinking it made me look like i picked up a pistol for the first time yesterday. He was 10+ seconds faster than me on a 20-25 second stage and only dropping a couple C's per stage. It was eye opening to realize there was a whole different level of performance out there and was the motivating factor for me to really start training.

I think practicing static drills like the ones listed above over and over is not going to net you much improvement. When I started focusing on the skills I needed to excel at USPSA, my ability to shoot static drills like this went exponentially higher. USPSA is where the best pistol shooters in the world are. If you aren't trying to improve and be competitive there, then you are just not going to be able to touch the level of performance even an average M or GM shooter can lay down.

Competition is not training.

However, competition breeds excellence.

Overwhelmingly, real gunfighter work is done by those who are not USPSA GM/M level shooters. Not bashing USPSA (I love it and participate in it) but let's not fetishize USPSA and its influence with two-way shooting solutions. Simultaneously, let's not discount USPSA/IDPA influence in those real-world shooting events.

The desire to improve your technical shooting (to "get better") is one of the greatest gifts competitive shooting gave to the larger shooting community. Getting better at technical shooting is a good thing, but it is not the only thing.

[Clusterfrack]

Competition in one match isn’t a lot of training time, but it is time well spent.

Training to be competitive in USPSA can yield remarkable improvements in shooting skill, beyond any tactically oriented coursework I’ve seen. Of course, competition isn’t fighting, so we have to train in other ways as well.

I just listened to Mike Seeklander interview Pat MacNamara, and learned how when he was in the Unit he ran a USPSA club. Interesting interview for sure.

I think there’s a good synergy between competition and defense training.

[Clark Jackson]

I read a smart quote somewhere: "Not every competition is a gunfight, but every gunfight is a competition."

A lot more to that statement than what you think with a single read through.

Each person who reads it will immediately assume a certain meaning(s) based on what side of the technical/tactical coin they predominately fall on.

Shelve the personal bias for a moment and give that quote a couple of looks. Do some legitimate introspection. Find the answers... or find the right questions. It might help.

[eclecticmoose]

I've had lots of plateaus and climbs, without a single breakthrough moment. When I first got serious about shooting a handgun the only one I had was a S&W Model 10-5. I got some snap caps and focused on working that double action trigger in dry practice. Another learning progression was regarding my grip--I learned that there was a way to grip each gun that helped to set myself up for success for the shot(s). Finally, truly understanding front sight focus and the letting go of the target focus.

Still learning, listening, reading, and shooting.

[Gio]

Competition is not training.

However, competition breeds excellence.

Overwhelmingly, real gunfighter work is done by those who are not USPSA GM/M level shooters. Not bashing USPSA (I love it and participate in it) but let's not fetishize USPSA and its influence with two-way shooting solutions. Simultaneously, let's not discount USPSA/IDPA influence in those real-world shooting events.

The desire to improve your technical shooting (to "get better") is one of the greatest gifts competitive shooting gave to the larger shooting community. Getting better at technical shooting is a good thing, but it is not the only thing.

This thread isn’t about gun fights, it’s about shooting performance, and I didn’t mention gun fighting at all in my post. However, I do plenty of training for that as well, and I probably fall as squarely in the middle of tactical and competition as anyone on this forum. Gun fights are won by a combination of mindset, tactics, and skill. Competition shooting improves the latter better than anything else you can do if done correctly because it motivates you to compete against the best in the world. Ive always found that when you can run your weapons subconsciously at a high level, it frees up your mind to focus on tactics.

The reason most “real gunfighter” work is done by people who are not an M or GM is because most shooters are simply not at that level. The two shootings I’ve been intimately aware of with an M and A level shooter were overwhelmingly one sided. Those shooters were also excellent tacticians as well.

[JAD]

. Competition shooting improves the latter better than anything else you can do if done correctly because it motivates you to compete against the best in the world. .

Competition is a very effective motivator but not for me at least the best way to develop skill. That, again for me at least , was in a small group of like minded people who workshop drills.

[JAD]

Competition is a very effective motivator but not for me at least the best way to develop skill. That, again for me at least , was in a small group of like minded people who workshop drills.

@vcdgrips need to get the band back together.

[WDR]

I'm in no way qualified to talk about what it takes to shoot really well. I'm probably better at it than Joe Sixpack off the street, but I'm in no way master of the craft. I've shot quite a few sub 6 second FAST tests... but not under pressure of standing in front of a class. I've shot some decent scores on various drills I've seen posted here, but nothing to brag about. I've made some really good snap shots, long range shots, and shots from crap positions while hunting with both rifles and handguns. I consider myself a far better rifleman than pistol shot. I have shot some steel challenge and and USPSA matches, but never took it seriously, and mostly used it as a way to add a little pressure to my training.

I made it a goal to shoot sub 6 second FASTs a few years back. I dry practiced a couple times per week, and went live once a week. I didn't just grind out a bunch of FASTs... I shot them cold at the beginning of my sessions, and worked on other drills that broke down the individual parts. I missed a LOT of shots to the 3x5, and it took me a while to slow down and work the problems one at a time. I think my fastest run was 5.6ish seconds, and I figured I could maybe get down to 5 seconds if I put in a bit more work. Life happened, and I had my daughter, and my priorities changed. She's now almost six, and I've only been able to get back into shooting in the last couple of years. Shooting is a perishable skill, and requires upkeep if you want to shoot at a high level consistently. My current FAST could probably be measured with a sun dial.

My two "ah ha" moments in learning how to shoot faster and more accurately came when I figured out how much wobble zone and sight misalignment I could get away with, and still make decent hits, and also when I was finally able to see the sights lift and track them through recoil, while keeping both eyes open. Visual focus/sight does play a huge part in going faster. Learning recoil control and grip was also a huge improvement for me. I'm currently shooting a lot of DA with a J-frame to learn better trigger control.

All that said, as most are saying, you have to put in the time/reps/ammo/work to squeeze out those last little bits of performance. There probably isn't a shortcut. Having a good training partner or coach would also be a great help.