Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 3, Day 3, retention

1. 10 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
2. 10 reps draw and fire from retention, slow
3. 10 reps draw and fire from retention, 3/4 speed
4. 5 reps draw and fire from retention while stepping L, 3/4 speed
5. 5 reps draw and fire from retention while stepping R, 3/4 speed
6. 10 reps beginning at full extension, draw back to retention, and fire, 3/4 speed, 2H
7. 10 reps wall drill from press-out 2H (not standard part of TLG’s routine)
8. 10 reps wall drill from press-out 2H 3/4 speed (not standard part of TLG’s routine)

It was good to work retention. We do a retention drill at the end of Defensive Pistol Skills 1 and it’s good to get practice on that drill. #6 is a new one on me tho.

I added some more wall drills at the end because that’s a fundamental skill and I think one good to end on. I am trying to pick up my speed without sacrificing good hits… watch that front sight, no dipping! I’m really working on trying to work at faster speeds and not slapping the trigger… but I still get more front sight dips that I care for. It’s a combination of loose/inconsistent grip, and too much trigger finger. I’m also playing a bit with my finger placement, but I think that may be a red herring… that I’m trying to fine-tune something that isn’t a relevant part of the present equation. Hard to say at this point tho.

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 3, Day 2, SHO (all drills SHO)

1. 20 reps of wall drill from press-out
2. 10 reps draw & fire, slow
3. 10 reps draw & fire 3/4 speed
4. 5 reps reload from slidelock, slow
5. 5 reps reload from slidelock 3/4 speed
6. 5 reps TRB
7. 5 reps LRW
8. 10 reps wall drill from press-out

All drills are strong-hand-only. So I reckon that means the weak-hand is 100% not involved. So all those reloads, all those malfunction clearances, one hand only. This is where a good rear sight like a Dawson Precision Charger is quite useful.

This is also illustration that while these skills are unlikely to be something you generally need, there’s merit in knowing and practicing them but with perspective. Note the skill is only worked once in the 4-week session (well, twice technically since you’ll do it again WHO next week), and when it is worked, it’s not worked for many reps. This way you don’t ignore the skill completely, but you also don’t spend more time than is warranted, instead spending that finite time on highly important skills like the press-out.

But of course, this is just a generalized routine. Your goals may necessitate a different approach. I think it’s a good template to start with, and eventually I’ll refine and change it to suit my needs.

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 3, Day 1, basic routine

1. 20 reps of wall drill from extension 2H
2. 5 reps of wall drill from extension SHO
3. 5 reps of wall drill from extension WHO
4. 20 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
5. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out SHO
6. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out WHO

After my performance on Saturday I wanted to work on speed of the press out and getting on the trigger faster. Sure enough I got on the trigger faster, but I see the sights dip. Ugh. I can tell part of it is not having a consistent “crush grip”… a common problem I have when I dry fire because my brain knows I’m dry firing.

So… more things for me to work on. There’s always a list of stuff.

 

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 2, Day 4 (basic routine) and Day 5 (malfunction clearances)

1. 20 reps of wall drill from extension 2H
2. 5 reps of wall drill from extension SHO
3. 5 reps of wall drill from extension WHO
4. 20 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
5. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out SHO
6. 5 reps of wall drill from press-out WHO
7. 10 reps of TRB, 3/4 speed, 2H
8. 5 reps of LRW 3/4 speed 2H
9. 10 reps of wall drill from press out, 2H

I just realized that I didn’t dry fire yesterday. Oops. That’s what I get for being in a hurry to get to work. I also didn’t get it done this morning… work’s been engulfing this week. So, let’s just combine the two sessions and get things done.

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 2, Day 3, reloads

1. 10 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
2. 20 reps reload from slidelock, slow, 2H
3. 20 reps reload from slidelock, 3/4 speed, 2H
4. 10 reps reload from slidelock, slow, 2H
5. 10 reps of wall drill form press-out, 2H

While the session calls for different speeds, I did all my reloads fairly slow or even slower. I wanted to ensure the entire orchestration of movements was correct and solid.

I also did some Burkett Reloads and played around with where my eyes look. Do they look at the top edge of the magwell? the bottom edge? or somewhere “in” the magwell? Results inconclusive, but you do need to focus somewhere, not just have nebulous eyesight in the area. I think having a point “in” the magwell works best because that’s where you want things to go… aiming with your eyes, and if you aim to an edge, you’ll hit the edge. I’ll want to play with this more. To this point I’ve just “looked”, but I’m playing with a refinement of the look.

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 1, Day 2, draws.

1. 10 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
2. 20 reps of wall drill from holster 2H
3. 5 reps of wall drill from holster, SHO
4. 5 reps of wall drill from holster, WHO
5. 10 reps draw & fire at 3/4 speed, 2H
6. 10 reps draw & fire slow 2H

I’m trying to make the strings that don’t specify speed be at “full speed”. Granted, they aren’t as good as they could be, but I am seeing the sights and able to call my shots, which is still of use. But it just means on the 3/4 speed and slow speed to make them all perfect. From that will come the correctness.

Following the TLG 4-week sample dry fire routine.

Week 2, Day 1

Basic routine

1. 20 reps of Wall Drill, from extension 2H
2. 5 reps of Wall Drill from extension, SHO
3. 5 reps of Wall Drill from extension, WHO
4. 20 reps of Wall Drill from press-out, 2H
5. 5 reps of Wall Drill from press-out, SHO
6. 5 reps of Wall Drill from press-out, WHO

Today felt like a bit of regression for some reason. I was in a hurry for sure. Was not a quality session. My own fault.

Following the TLG 4-week sample dry fire routine.

Week 1, Day 5

Movement

1. 10 reps of wall drill from press out 2H
2. 10 draws stepping right, 3/4 speed, 2H
3. 10 draws stepping left, 3/4 speed 2H
4. 10 reloads stepping right (reload on the move), 3/4 speed 2H
5. 10 reloads stepping left (reload on the move), 3/4/ speed 2H
6. 10 reps wall drill from press out 2H

Karl responded to my question about the trigger, so that’s something for me to work on.

I also thought about something last night while standing on the back patio watching the dog frolic. And this is probably something that should have hit me a long time ago, but for whatever reason it opted to hit me now.

I work at 2 speeds. I work at dry fire speed. I work at live fire speed.

I find that in dry fire I work slower. Maybe it’s because I’m trying to trying to ensure everything is done right, or maybe it’s because I don’t feel the pressure and live feedback.

I find in live fire I work faster. There’s more pressure. There’s usually a timer and a set drill (whereas dry it’s just working some fundamental skill).

Yes sometimes I work with a timer dry and sometimes live is slow and no pressure. But it just hit me that I do this, and I think it may be causing me some leve of impasse.

I grant to some extent this is how things are and should be. That I should do some things slow in dry practice because that’s how you ingrain the right movements and motions. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast and all that stuff. But this should be a deliberate choice in practice. For example, how in steps 2-5 above they are done 3/4 speed, which TLG defines as “go at a pace you are doing things right and not fumbling”. So of course, that implies steps that don’t denote speed are done full speed.

But then I get to the range and I find I go faster, and it’s not always smoother or I find myself going “gee, I had no problems with this dry”. Well, it’s because I’m not doing it like I did in dry.

My challenge to myself. Work hard in dry to do it like I should do it live, but this means doing it more correct and 100% acceptable hits, not going faster than I can handle. But the bigger challenge? Next time I do it live, I need to do it exactly like I did it in dry… at least, as far as I can perceive and measure it to be the same pace. So it may feel slow, and if it does then it does. But I want to try striving to do it all the same (except where explicitly different, like 3/4 speed) and see how it goes.

Probably not articulated very well here, but I know what I mean. 🙂

Following the TLG 4-week sample dry fire routine.

Week 1, Day 4

Basic routine

1. 20 reps of Wall Drill, from extension 2H
2. 5 reps of Wall Drill from extension, SHO
3. 5 reps of Wall Drill from extension, WHO
4. 20 reps of Wall Drill from press-out, 2H
5. 5 reps of Wall Drill from press-out, SHO
6. 5 reps of Wall Drill from press-out, WHO

I need to ask Karl about something with trigger work during dry fire. Because we don’t have reset and because I’m so conditioned to “the break” and then other artifacts of dry fire, like holding the trigger back, manually cycling the slide, then reset and fire again, I notice that I always hold the trigger back. I started instead pressing the trigger, click, then releasing the trigger to about where the reset point is. So basically, working the trigger like you really would, tho there’s no reset. I think that’s better and more correct, and creates less training artifacts. But could it have any other side-effects? Hrm.

Anyways, I did that through most of the practice, and I noticed my front sight moving less. I think when I hold the trigger back I end up holding the trigger back. Coupled with my grip, it basically forms a big tight squeeze and my brain is basically thinking to clench the hell out of the gun… which causes front sight to dip, which is no good. But when I just press and release, like a real trigger press should be, dip goes away. Hrm.

Maybe I’ve been doing my dry practice wrong all this time? *sigh*

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 1, Day 3, reloads

1. 10 reps of wall drill from press-out 2H
2. 20 reps reload from slidelock, slow, 2H
3. 20 reps reload from slidelock, 3/4 speed, 2H
4. 10 reps reload from slidelock, slow, 2H
5. 10 reps of wall drill form press-out, 2H

I need to get another set of weighted practice magazines, but I wish I didn’t have to buy through RINGS given my prior poor experiences with them. Well, I don’t need, but it does help to have magazines of full weight and that can also allow the slide to be cycled without locking.