Dry fire advice

[Coach]

It was requested on another thread that folks give their dry fire routine. So those that feel like sharing their drills and their experience with dry fire here is the place to do it. I have not dry fired since October and I don't plan to start until February. I am a firm believer in the effectiveness of dry fire. It will help a lot and it only costs time.

Some things I believe are best practice regarding dry fire:

1) Use full size targets at 10 yards or more if possible.
2) Remember that dry fire is largely about driving the gun with your vision not about trigger pulling.
3) More times per week and few minutes per session is better.
4) Always do SHO and WHO in each session. (fewer reps is ok)
5) Work the essential skills, draw, reloads, transitions.
6) Take notes on what you are seeing on each drill. What are you seeing when it goes well, what are you seeing when it is not.
7) Be honest about where the sights are when you are pulling the trigger.
8) On your full size targets black out the Charlie and delta zones. You don't need to practice shooting C's and D's.
9) Six inch paper plates are also good targets and there are good drills to work transitions with plates.
10) Get a good dry fire manual and use it in the cold months at least. (Ben Stoeger, Steve Anderson)

 

[riverman67]

I don't have 10 yards to work with so I use reduced sized targets to simulate distance.
I have been using mike seeklanders book and I like it because it incorporates some movement and isn't quite as boring,to me , as some of the others.

 

[Craigh]

It was requested on another thread that folks give their dry fire routine. So those that feel like sharing their drills and their experience with dry fire here is the place to do it. I have not dry fired since October and I don't plan to start until February. I am a firm believer in the effectiveness of dry fire. It will help a lot and it only costs time.

Some things I believe are best practice regarding dry fire:

1) Use full size targets at 10 yards or more if possible.
2) Remember that dry fire is largely about driving the gun with your vision not about trigger pulling.
3) More times per week and few minutes per session is better.
4) Always do SHO and WHO in each session. (fewer reps is ok)
5) Work the essential skills, draw, reloads, transitions.
6) Take notes on what you are seeing on each drill. What are you seeing when it goes well, what are you seeing when it is not.
7) Be honest about where the sights are when you are pulling the trigger.
8) On your full size targets black out the Charlie and delta zones. You don't need to practice shooting C's and D's.
9) Six inch paper plates are also good targets and there are good drills to work transitions with plates.
10) Get a good dry fire manual and use it in the cold months at least. (Ben Stoeger, Steve Anderson)

Thanks for starting this thread Coach.

Craig

 

[Coach]

I don't have 10 yards to work with so I use reduced sized targets to simulate distance.
I have been using mike seeklanders book and I like it because it incorporates some movement and isn't quite as boring,to me , as some of the others.

If you don't have the distance reduced size will be necessary.

 

[Coach]

Thanks for starting this thread Coach.

Craig

You are welcome. I am sure others will have much to offer. I used the Steve Anderson book for the drills because BS was not around at that point. I was thinking about dry fire tonight and I ordered the BS book. When I get it and look through it I can offer some compare and contrast. I think results are the most important. Steve Anderson is a GM and has not won anything. BS is a GM and has won a lot. That is why I ordered his book. I have not looked at the Seeklander book but once again results matter and Seeklander is a GM without major titles.

 

[Que]

BS?

 

[sporter]

BS?

BS=the unicorn

 

[gregkl]

BS?

BS=the unicorn

Neither of this tells me anything...

 

[Bosshoss]

BS?

Home

 

[gregkl]

Home

This does!

 

[Que]

Home

Thanks.

 

[Coach]

Ben Stoeger

 

[romack991]

I have not been very disciplined on routine dry fire but when I do it, it is an effective way to improve. Couple comments to add.

-Try to have good lighting. I have a large basement but I dry fire in a small room with reduced targets due to the lighting being better. Poor lighting on the sights makes it very tough to see what is going on.
-Load your mags with dummy rounds so that the weight is correct. That way reloads and gun handling are representative. (Your mags are going to get beat up, I have a spare dry fire set)
-Use a camera and film yourself. If you are pushing for speed, it can be hard to spot some issues. Watching it on film helps you notice where you are making mistakes or have inefficiencies.
-If your gun is moving when you pull the trigger, you need to work on your trigger control. Likewise, if you are transitioning to a target and overswinging it, you're probably are muscling the gun too much. Grip the pistol like you would in a match.
-Keep the same gun handling discipline, don't break 180's, etc.
-Don't have all your targets at the same height, you need to practice vertical transitions, not just horizontal.
-Also don't just stand in a "box" and practice everything in a static position. You need to have a little room to move around. You don't need a lot but enough to have a few steps.
-Have some standard drills you can measure yourself on but also have some random variety as well.
-Try to push your transitions to the max, up to 180's if possible. Pay attention to your lower body and footwork.
-You're going to make mistakes, throw mags and pull off targets. That's okay. It's better to do it in dry fire than in a match. Just understand what you did wrong and work to correct the issue.
-You need to incorporate live fire practice to make sure what you are working on in dry fire works in live fire.

There are a few things my preferences differ from Coach's, I wouldn't work on SHO/WHO each session. It's not a big factor in most matches so I don't focus unless I want to (Maybe once or twice a month). Also I try to use targets that are representative to what I see in a match. So a mix of open targets, partials, and no shoots. It can be difficult to be "honest" on open targets when pushing for speed, but you have to do that in a match so I try to do it in dry fire as well.

Ben's books are good to give you an idea of what to work on. His Training to Win video also does a nice job of tying in live fire and dry fire "loop".

 

[rvb]

-You're going to make mistakes, throw mags

Mags have been thrown after missing my pars.... Especially those #%&$ 2R2 drills.

 

[Snizz1911]

What do you suck at? That's where I would start. You can replicate most things with dryfire. If you need a plan or par times to motivate you buy the Stegger book. Good starting point with good drills, I think it's the best dryfire book. A little bit of creativity and you really don't need anything except a timer.

A couple points coach hit on:
I always start a practice with fundamentals, draws/reloads. All different start positions, moving reloads etc. Sometimes that might be an entire practice. Have you ever went a week or two without shooting... It takes a bit to get comfortable again, if your doing basic drills for a few minutes a day you'll maintain that comfort.

I try to throw in a SHO/WHO drill every session.

The rest of what I do is mostly trying to get my eyes to see faster and transitioning to alpha. So things like Blake drills, distance change ups, etc. If I'm in good graces with my wife I'll set up a "stage" and break it down just like a match. It's kind of a nice break from drills, I like to do it before matches.

 

[Fuzz]

I found this helpful.

An app for your phone that $8.99 but works very well and is flexible and adjustable to your program you are on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZrjvemaKNo

 

[Coach]

I have not been very disciplined on routine dry fire but when I do it, it is an effective way to improve. Couple comments to add.

-Try to have good lighting. I have a large basement but I dry fire in a small room with reduced targets due to the lighting being better. Poor lighting on the sights makes it very tough to see what is going on.
-Load your mags with dummy rounds so that the weight is correct. That way reloads and gun handling are representative. (Your mags are going to get beat up, I have a spare dry fire set)
-Use a camera and film yourself. If you are pushing for speed, it can be hard to spot some issues. Watching it on film helps you notice where you are making mistakes or have inefficiencies.
-If your gun is moving when you pull the trigger, you need to work on your trigger control. Likewise, if you are transitioning to a target and overswinging it, you're probably are muscling the gun too much. Grip the pistol like you would in a match.
-Keep the same gun handling discipline, don't break 180's, etc.
-Don't have all your targets at the same height, you need to practice vertical transitions, not just horizontal.
-Also don't just stand in a "box" and practice everything in a static position. You need to have a little room to move around. You don't need a lot but enough to have a few steps.
-Have some standard drills you can measure yourself on but also have some random variety as well.
-Try to push your transitions to the max, up to 180's if possible. Pay attention to your lower body and footwork.
-You're going to make mistakes, throw mags and pull off targets. That's okay. It's better to do it in dry fire than in a match. Just understand what you did wrong and work to correct the issue.
-You need to incorporate live fire practice to make sure what you are working on in dry fire works in live fire.

There are a few things my preferences differ from Coach's, I wouldn't work on SHO/WHO each session. It's not a big factor in most matches so I don't focus unless I want to (Maybe once or twice a month). Also I try to use targets that are representative to what I see in a match. So a mix of open targets, partials, and no shoots. It can be difficult to be "honest" on open targets when pushing for speed, but you have to do that in a match so I try to do it in dry fire as well.

Ben's books are good to give you an idea of what to work on. His Training to Win video also does a nice job of tying in live fire and dry fire "loop".

Romack991 is exactly right about SHO/WHO for matches. In major matches it is not often relevant. I do it for classifiers and for the EDC situations. EDC situations often happen in lowlight and that means a flashlight or weapons Mounted Light. If you use a flashlight it has to be done SHO. I feel like I own the 12 yards around me SHO and I think match results bear that out. But if you are competing solely for score. Don't bother with SHO and WHO. The flip side is that SHO and WHO is a great place to separate yourself from the pack if it slips into a major match.

No one got better in the last year or two than Romack991 so pay attention to what he says. He does sandbag very well so his classification might speak in a soft low voice.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

Thanks guys. I'm taking notes and ordering books.

 

[BillD]

Mags have been thrown after missing my pars.... Especially those #%&$ 2R2 drills.

I don't throw $125 mags. $15 Glock mags, sure. Toss them mothers.

 

[rvb]

Something that I think separates those who believe in dryfire from those who say they've dryfired for a long time and not seen results is the willingness to push youself. Don't just set pars that you can achieve, even at your best, but set times/goals that push your physical limits and your limits for seeing/calling the hits. That's when I start to see real improvement. Then pay attention because eventually you'll hit that "impossible" par and it'll start to click and you want to understand why.... Did you focus on something diffrently, change your technique slightly, etc? Now make that par that used to be impossible your new baseline and keep pushing.....

-rvb