Practice vs. fun shooting

[JimConway]

There is a very important difference between practice and fun or recreational shooting. Most people that I know say that they are going to the range to practice when what they are really going to do is have some fun. Please do not think that I have anything against fun shooting. Few, if any, people will gain any real improvement from just shooting for fun. Just think about it for a moment. When an athelete goes to practice he has or should have set specific goals for the practice session. He has identified a specific weakness that he wants to improve and he works on that weakness.
As a specific example, one of the elements of the Front Sight Time test is to fire 2 shots at 7 yards from the ready position (all A hits) in less that 1.2 seconds. I had not done well with this aspect of the time test. I spent a lot of time just shooting this drill and after about 2 weeks my time had settled at about 0.8 seconds. One small weakness was no longer a issue and now I was able to address other items for improvement.

The important message of the post is to have a plan when you go to practice. If you are honest with yourself about where you need improvement, you will improve. Be sure to set reasonable goals that are possible. Do not make the goals to easy. The goal that you set should be such that you are pushing yourself.

 

[Adam_MA]

Great topic!

I know each persons goals for a practice session are individual to there personal needs, but do you have any hints on some good solid drills and results of those drills we can work on if we have an extra hour or so to hit the range?

Thanks
Adam (who will have an extra hour today to hit the range)

 

[GTOShootr]

Be sure to set reasonable goals that are possible. Do not make the goals to easy. The goal that you set should be such that you are pushing yourself.

I can relate to that even though my goals may be a little different than some. I have found myself dedicating range time for regimented practice and getting caught up in areas where I just didn't need it as much as others. We tend to repeat drills that we do well. One thing I do is take a break and when I come back I change whatever I had been doing. When it gets tiring I take something I like to do and vary it. For instance, I like shooting plate racks and it is easy practice as far as set up time goes. For a change I shoot it weak hand half the time, add a reload after three plates, or drag a barricade over. Barricades are nice because it changes up your stance too. I like three plates, reload, three plate from the other side.

 

[C-pher]

Yea, I think that some easy things to work on would be great.

And when I say easy, I mean things that are easy to convay in writen format that we can translate to the range and make it work.

 

[JimConway]

Adam
I would love to give you a list of drills, but the list would be incredibly long.
There is one simple drill that is zero cost to do. Dry fire every day for no more than than 15 minutes a day. You can practice you presentations, your trigger press until there is virtually no movement of the front sight, and improve your time to the first shot. All of this is free. Jeff Cooper once stated that you should dry fire a 100 times for each real shot. He is right. When you do go to the range it is simply to validate your dry fire.

About 3 weeks ago I shot with a fellow that I have been coaching occasionally. I commented about how much his shooting had improved since the last time that we had shot. He just smiled and said that he had been doing what I told him to - FRY FIRING. Mike, you know who you are and I have only one thing to say. GREAT

You asked for a drill. This one is by Matt Burkett. Start every shooting session bt shooting you best group. This will ensure that the gun is working properly and is still sighted in. Additionally, this will get your vision working with your trigger control to improve accuracy.
When shooting groups, be sure to have precise aiming point and DO NOT look for your bullet holes between shots. Do not try to shoot quickly when the sights are perfect as this will lead to a trigger jerk. Simply allow the gun to move in it's wobble zone and focus on smooth undisturbed trigger control.
You should also end your practice session by shooting groups. This will leave you assured that your gun is sighted in and working perfectly.