Training Program/Schedule?

[Tomcat088]

I agree with some of what the others said here. Instructors are definately a good thing, just realize that you'll only benefit from them if you trust that they are a competent shooter AND instructor and if you apply what they teach you. I personally believe one of the best ways to improve is disciplined range time. I spend ALOT of time shooting .22lr, just because I believe that rimfire can build very good habits. As long as you're using the exact same grip as you do with your other pistols, I really don't see how it can hurt. Just focus on the grip, breathing and manipulating the trigger, a .22 can help you get this down without having to worry so much about recoil but still giving you some feedback. I do think you should also shoot a 9mm or some other caliber while doing rimfire, so that you know your grip technique is correct. I would recommend warming up with some .22 rimfire, then pull out another pistol (9mm, .40 or whatever) and shoot. Focus and shoot as long as your groups are good. If you notice that your groups are spreading out or hitting in a different place, then go back to the rimfire and fix the problem, then switch back over. Remember that when you start, one of your largest concerns should be consistency and then accuracy coming in a close second. If your bullets aren't hitting where you want them, it's probably a flinch or push, BUT, you really want to work on constitently grouping tight. Then you can fix whatever problem you're having with trigger manipulation, etc.

If you like to shoot out of iscosoles stance, Loves2shoot has a great video on grip and controlling recoild on the XD forum. You can find this video here http://www.springerprecision.com/video.asp. These are made by a man that shoots on a master level, and is very knowledable. First watch the Basic grip video and then the grip video part 2 (they're a little slow loading but are good). Here's a video of Todd Jarrett doing some instruction over grip also that might help you http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...psc&pr=goog-sl . Also here is a link for some dryfire work that you can do http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/pistoltrainingtg.htm. Dry firing helps you work on sight picture and trigger manipulation without the noise that can cause flinching, it's also cheap because you don't have to have ammo. In some pistols, it is recommended to use snapcaps or a dummy round, in the XD's it won't injure the pistol to do so without snapcaps. If you use the drill I showed you, you don't need snap caps because the eraser on the pencil will absorb the energy from the firing pin and keep you from damaging your gun.

When I go to the range and am practicing marksmanship, I always take a silver sharpie with me. When first starting, I load 3 rounds up, take my time and fire each round, making sure each one counts. Then since I go to an indoor range, I bring the target back to me, and circle each of the shots and put a 1 beside it. Then I put the target back out there, load up 3 more rounds and do the same thing, only this time they get a number 2 next to them. This way you can see exactly how you shot in the group, if you pulled one, etc, and you can see how you're grouping overall throughout the shoot. If you'd like a more detailed regime, I'm sure we can definately get more detailed, but just remember that training needs to be flexible since you'll pick up some things very quickly and others might need a bit more time. When you would like to start with the rifle or shotgun when you get a bit more proficient, let me know and I'll be happy to offer any insight and training tips that I can.

[TotalNewbie]

Wow, thanks a lot danp, TonyF, dgg9 and Tomcat. You guys are great!

[danp]

TN, you should meet up with me and possibly Diego sometime at SPAG. We'll do some shooting.

[dgg9]

TN, you should meet up with me and possibly Diego sometime at SPAG. We'll do some shooting.

Count me in too.

A by-product of these range get-togethers is also to develop a cadre of in-city CCW references. Think of it as planning ahead.

[dgg9]

I personally believe one of the best ways to improve is disciplined range time.

Just so. Undisciplined range time -- just going and shooting in a desultory way -- has a place: it keeps your current state fresh and it's fun.

But you don't advance. Disciplined shooting means: going in with a plan, even a rough plan, of what you're going to do and what you want to practice; having some way to make it measurable; and then quitting before you get stale and unfocused.

Here's one example. If you want to make shooting pathologies like flinching visible (visible = measurable = fixable), try the "dot targets." These are sheets of 1" - 1.5" black dots. The goal is that all rounds fall entirely within the dot. The target only goes maybe 10 - 15 feet away and you take as much time as you need for each and every shot. If there's anything wrong with your sight picture and trigger control, you'll know right away. When I find myself flinching, I'll spend as much as 2 or 3 range trips shooting nothing but dots. 50 - 100 rds is about all I can take of that before losing focus. And that's just one example. The good thing about training is that teachers will give you drills like this to take away and practice.

[TotalNewbie]

Here's one example. If you want to make shooting pathologies like flinching visible (visible = measurable = fixable), try the "dot targets." These are sheets of 1" - 1.5" black dots. The goal is that all rounds fall entirely within the dot. The target only goes maybe 10 - 15 feet away and you take as much time as you need for each and every shot. If there's anything wrong with your sight picture and trigger control, you'll know right away.

I'll give that a shot. It seems interesting.

A query: the only thing I could find on dot shooting is on the Classic Pistol site ( http://www.classicpistol.com/matches_dot.asp ). Is this still a pretty young sport?

[TonyF]

I just read on another forum that Jeff Gonzales of http://www.tridentconcepts.com has a two day handgun class scheduled at west shore sportsmen's later this month.

Check the schedule at his website for details.

[dgg9]

I'll give that a shot. It seems interesting.

A query: the only thing I could find on dot shooting is on the Classic Pistol site ( http://www.classicpistol.com/matches_dot.asp ). Is this still a pretty young sport?

So young in fact, that this is the first I heard of it. However, it's a fairly common training drill of instructors, which is where I learned of it.

As a sport/drill, think of it as the equivalent of rifle slowfire bullseye.

[dgg9]

I just read on another forum that Jeff Gonzales of http://www.tridentconcepts.com has a two day handgun class scheduled at west shore sportsmen's later this month.

Check the schedule at his website for details.

His CP1 is, IMO, the best of its kind, BUT it's definitely not a beginner's course.

[dgg9]

Something to aim for:

http://www.defense-training.com/sched/schedform.html

24-25 Mar 07 Urban Rifle and Shotgun, Philadelphia, PA

27-29 Apr 07 Basic/Intermediate Defensive Handgun, Harrisburg, PA


....I plan on NOT missing the Urban Rifle/SG class.