35 replies to this topic

[Ben]

Hey guys,, what are the most effective dry fire drills you have been doing?

What part of the drill do you like?


Thank you.

[Roons]

The Hopkins Drill.  Really forces you to lead with your eyes and not force the gun into position.

 

I'll vary up the dots (white thumbtacks) to make them wider, lower, different combos, etc.  

[Sweet T]

I have been getting back to basics in dry fire, and the drill I always make sure to hit several dozen reps of is the standard practice setup transitions drill.

I like it because it demands a sporty draw, a solid grip, and snapping the eyes to an exact point. Mess up on any one of the discrete elements and you won't make the 1.6 par.

I like the standard target setup in general because I can run several drills without having to fiddle with my targets. Just set a new par and move on to the next drill.

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[nwhpfan]

Trigger control at speed. Pull the trigger before the beep.

[Jay870]

DF El Pres because it forces you to put all the skills together. It's one thing to stand and pound out a bunch of fast draws or a bunch of fast reloads, but it takes another level of execution to chain the bits together into a solid El Pres.

[busdriver]

I've been doing shooting on the move drills with steel and paper targets mixed.  Working on adjusting movement speed based on different target difficulty, using the same array left to right and back again.  It seems to end up being an entry/exit drill, with shooting on the move between "positions."

[aceinyerface]

White Wall- for learning to run the trigger straight back. Actually SHO/WHO White Wall may be better

Reload challenge- isolating the reload and working it.

El Prez- transitions, I might omit the turn half the time

[Peally]

It depends. Like Sweet T I do like the transitions drill lately. If you screw up just a little bit the run is blown, it's a crazy tight par time (at least for me).

 

It's all good though. They all help you out.

[redrider]

set ups and exits, to multiple targets, with a reload in there somewhere because Prod.

multiple positions, multiple targets, movement, reload. all places to pick up 1/10th of a second on my competitors.

 

i don't really like any part of the drill. what i like is the benefit that i get from doing it. so results.

[ThumblessKorean]

White Wall- for learning to run the trigger straight back. Actually SHO/WHO White Wall may be better

Reload challenge- isolating the reload and working it.

 

 

+1 here

[SlivGod]

White wall, "back and forth," "mover sequence," transition drill, distance changeup, and El Prez. 

 

Seeing as the weakest link in my shooting repertoire is actually hitting the fucking Alphas, the stand & shoot drills are getting a lot of extra love recently. There's also few drills I do with open targets any more. 

ThumblessKorean dug up an ancient Ben post on Enos discussing doing dry fire on harder targets, leans, and barriers. I'm experimenting with that and liking it so far. The 1.0s par time on a draw to sight picture @ 25 yards becomes a lot more demanding when you add a tight lean. 

[Ben]

I am reworking "Dry Fire Training" right now.

​You hookers should try this and let me know what you think. There is instructions for a diagram... obviously I don't have a diagram in there yet.

​Also, you don't have the full context for this drill. That's ok, just try it in isolation.
 

Target Transitions
 

DIAGRAM SHOULD BE A FEW TARGETS (MAYBE EVEN A POPPER) SET UP AT RANDOM WITH THE WORD “RANDOM”. MAYBE HAVE SOME PARTIALS.

NOTES SHOULD BE DATE/NOTES/  (DON’T HAVE A PAR COLUMN)

Setup Notes:

The targets should be set up in a random fashion. It is NOT necessary or even desirable to have the targets set up the same way every time. Change things up! Be sure to vary the target spacing, distance, and difficulty.

 

Procedure:

Start with your hands relaxed at sides, facing “downrange.” At the tone, draw and get a sight picture on each target. The sight picture should be appropriate given the simulated distance and difficulty of the target. The instant you get a sight picture on that target, go to the next target. Set a PAR time and work to lower it over the course of your training session. Do not touch the trigger during this drill or attempt to simulate actually shooting the targets in any way. Get sight pictures only!

 

Focus:

Develop the ability to look at a spot and drive the gun to that spot.

 

Goal:

Your goal is to gain the ability to look at a spot and have the gun “cleanly” go to that spot. You should observe and correct common mistakes such as pushing the gun too far, stopping the gun too early, and aiming in the wrong spot.

 

Commentary:

Learning to transition the gun around aggressively is one of those things that will make a huge difference in your stage times. Speed from one target to the next is something that holds back many mid-level shooters.

This drill requires that you get a proper sight picture on one target, then the next, and then the next. Obviously the focus is on speeding up that process. The one thing you can’t get from dryfire here is to know what your sights need to look like on a given target distance/difficulty. Is it ok to just do target focus or do you need a sharp sight focus? How much sight misalignment is acceptable? You get the answers to these questions during your live fire training. You can then bring that knowledge to your dryfire. In general it is fair to say that you can get away with a lot more than you think! No matter what you decide regarding sight pictures, you need to consciously decide before you start training.
 

When doing this drill, be sure you get your sight picture on the targets and then immediately move to the next one. Do not stare at a “good” sight picture on the target confirming what you already know. The instant the sights look ok you should be looking to the next target. The goal here is to shoot with that same level of immediacy. In addition to building speed you should be looking to shift attention from one target to the next with no delay. You are going to train yourself to work faster than conscious thought.

In terms of technique, it is critical that you keep most of your body loose. You only hold the gun with your hands! Adding in muscle tension in your abs, your back, or your shoulders is not productive. That additional tension makes it difficult to stop the gun in the center of any given target if you are aggressively transitioning the gun to that target. Watch out for “over transitioning”. This occurs when you put too much muscle in to the gun and swing it past your intended target. If you see the sights go past your target and then travel back to your aimpoint it is an indication that you are too tense.

Regarding the PAR time setting, you are looking to push that down until you find your limit. You should see the sights smoothly settling in the center of each target and then immediately moving to the next target. If that is happening then set a faster PAR. That having been said, keep in mind the only purpose here is to work on the transitions. If you are screwing up your draw/grip in the pursuit of speed then you can switch to starting with the gun already in your hands. That isn’t an issue.


 

[SlivGod]

I am reworking "Dry Fire Training" right now.

​You hookers should try this and let me know what you think. There is instructions for a diagram... obviously I don't have a diagram in there yet.

​...

I'll give this a try on Tuesday (when my life starts again) and report back.

FWIW, I think the computer mouse analogy was incredibly useful for this drill during your class. 

[busdriver]

Gave it a whirl just now, I like it.  Variation:  Instead of dropping the par time, add targets into your sequence.

 

It feels similar to the movement thing I mentioned earlier, but isolating the eye movement.  

 

I think I'm going to try using it as a building block and add movement to the same target set/par time and do a super-set sort of thing.

[Peally]

Interesting, will give it a run tomorrow. I like the idea to vary targets, after a while your body kinda figures out how to nail just the standard setup.

[aceinyerface]

Tried it.

I always assumed the no pull trigger thing was "less than" with respect to drill selection.

If you think it is worthy, maybe I need to reevaluate.

Who do I make the check out to?

[JoeyBagODonuts]

I'll give this a try on Tuesday (when my life starts again) and report back.

FWIW, I think the computer mouse analogy was incredibly useful for this drill during your class. 

 

Wasn't in the class and didn't hear the analogy - but damn, if this drill isn't what I do everyday with the mouse (and no buzzer or purpose).

[ralloway]

"Do not touch the trigger..."

At all?

For drills without a trigger pull (and no movement), I have been touching the trigger and sometimes taking up the slack in the trigger and keeping it taken up to simulate being ready to squeeze off the shot.

Bueno? No bueno?

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[teenlaqueefah]

For drills without a trigger pull (and no movement), I have been touching the trigger and sometimes taking up the slack in the trigger and keeping it taken up to simulate being ready to squeeze off the shot.

Is that how you shoot in real life? There's your answer.

[ralloway]

Well, therein lies the complication: I don't transition from target to target without touching the trigger when I shoot. I understand that Ben doesn't want us taking the time to pull the trigger during this drill, but don't understand where the trigger finger should be. Perhaps (probably?) it doesn't matter.

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