Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, Day 5, shooter choice.

Same as week 3 day 5, I’m going to work on basic routine using my snub.

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

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, 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 can see improvement in my repeatable index and trigger control. Speed getting better, grip staying consistent and strong. It’s all coming along nicely.

Yes, if you want to maintain skill you need to practice. If you want to improve skill you need to practice a lot more.

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, Day 3, low-light

1. 10 reps wall drill, SHO with flashlight
2. 10 reps ID, move right, engage
3. 10 reps ID, move left, engage
4. 5 reps ID, draw on the move, engage
5. 5 reps reload in the dark
6. 10 reps wall drill, SHO with flashlight

This of course requires knowing proper flashlight technique. For those curious, KR Training has AT-1A Low Light coming on October 20. The class can only be offered a few times a year due to the need for low light that comes at a time that 1. isn’t during deer hunting season (consideration of range neighbors), 2. isn’t very late at night (again, consideration of neighbors).

This routine again stresses what I like about TLG’s sample routine. It covers the majority of all needed skills, but puts a proper emphasis and perspective on the skills. Low-light flashlight skills aren’t likely to be needed (in reality, you will usually have enough light; and if you don’t, you shouldn’t be shooting at all), but they are still useful to practice as you may need them.

If nothing else, you get more SHO practice. 🙂

I couldn’t practice in true low-light given it’s daylight out, but I did draw the blinds and turn off the lights and got things as dark as I could. On the reloads, I just closed my eyes, but don’t forget the flashlight may still be in the mix and you have to contend with it (lanyard? stow under the armpit?).

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, Day 2, SHO (all drills WHO)

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 WHO. Man, that’s painful, especially the reloads and malfunctions…. yes, weak-hand ONLY, only one hand involved period. The one thing I wasn’t sure about was drawing. Was this supposed to be a true WHO draw, reaching across my body to a “backwards” gun? Or was it to be a regular SHO draw then transfer to my weak hand? I figured WHO-only since again everything seemed to point in that direction. And this post by TLG confirms yes, it’s WHO draw across your body. Fun! NB: if you haven’t been properly trained in these techniques, don’t necessarily think you can get it off YouTube. Learn from a proper trainer (I learned from Karl Rehn and Claude Werner).

One thing I focused on was my grip, as noted in yesterday’s session. I should clarify. It’s not that there’s some greater rearward pressure from my fingers. No, it’s still an evenly pressured crush-grip. However, what I need to feel is my fingers being active and involved. If I feel that, I know I’m gripping the dickens out of the gun. As noted in the past, one problem I have is getting my grip to be solid during dry fire — it’s too easy to slack off here and not grip much at all, which then can lead to great inconsistency. I’m sure that carries over into live fire, not so much the grip itself but consistency of grip. A consistent, strong grip leads to better recoil management and shot recovery. We’ll see how emphasis on this in dry work will translate to live work for me. Will take time to get there.

I must admit, it’s rare for me to work all these WHO skills, like the reloads and malfunction work — I can’t remember the last time I did it WHO. Again, a good rear sight (e.g. Dawson Precision Charger) makes a big difference. I think this is also the first time I ever did it with my M&P, and I learned a few things:

1. I do miss the true ambidextrous mag release of my Springfield XD-9. You can overcome it tho with the M&P, just using your fingers instead of your thumb. I discovered my middle finger works better than trying to get my index/trigger finger on the button.
2. I must remember there’s a slide-stop lever on the right side of the M&P (something the XD lacked), and my thumb here will work the same way as SHO.

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 4, 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

I try to dry practice in the morning but that didn’t happen today.

I really like the emphasis TLG’s routine puts on one of the most core skills: the press out. This basic routine and the skills within are so fundamental, and the heavy emphasis on it is starting to pay off.

While practicing tonight something hit me. I do struggle with trigger slap as I go faster. I try to do things like lighten my trigger press, but it just doesn’t work. In order to overcome the trigger break, the trigger weight, and with speed, there’s just gotta be a particular amount of force applied. I mean, if F = ma, there’s just gotta be a particular amount of force, and if I go faster it’s going to apply more force… the trigger and my finger and everything is just going to hit the end of the trigger’s range of motion with a particular (or increasing) amount of force. And so, the front sight dips.

For some reason this evening I was very aware of my right hand’s grip pressure — the way the ring and pinky (and to some extent the middle) fingers were applying pressure to the frontstrap, such that I felt this particular pressure in the palm heel of my right hand. It wasn’t so much that I felt a crushing grip, or that I felt my palm heel pushing forward. I mean, technically it was a very strong crush grip all around, but mentally there was some emphasis of the feel of those fingers pressing back. And that seemed to make all the difference in the world. Even doing 1H shooting and WHO especially… that sort of grip and mental emphasis made a big difference in things remaining steady.

I’m going to keep focusing on this and see where it leads me.

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 3, Day 5, shooter’s choice.

I can do whatever I want today (other than nothing). Given my recent increase in shooting my BUG and seeing what I’m seeing there, I opted to do the basic routine but with my S&W 442.

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

The main focus was getting on the trigger faster.

All in all, not hard to do… I think it’s a mental thing as to why I’m going slow. That I know it’s harder to press the trigger: heavier, longer trigger; lighter gun; smaller, harder to grip gun. So the press of that trigger is going to be harder to do, so go slower to ensure the sights aren’t disturbed and the trigger not slapped.  But even just letting myself go “at speed” today, I’m still not sure if It was good enough because the sights are bad enough and the grip angle is just slightly different (more downward cant needed). So… hard to tell. What might be good for me to try tomorrow is some live fire with the snub and just press it out fast and get on the trigger fast and see what I see. If what I see live matches what I see dry, and of course I’m getting acceptable hits, then I’ll know what to keep looking for in dry practice as acceptable visual feedback.

Following TLG’s sample dry fire routine.

Week 3, 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

This session went really well. I’m focusing on maintaining “the string” of the eye-target line and bringing the gun and sights right up into it. It’s a fine-tuned change that’s difficult to convey here, but I know what I’m after. Plus as always, working on getting on the trigger sooner, faster, and without slapping it. All strings were done “at speed”, and I can see some improvement… or maybe today was just a good day. 😉

For me the bottom line is having the discipline to do this every day. I don’t recall the exact statistic but it’s something like to just maintain your level of skill you have to practice a couple of times a week. If you want to improve, you have to practice more. If you practice less, expect your skills to degrade. I know I’ve been at a plateau for some time, so I expect with dry practice 5x a week and getting more regular range time (due to the structure of KRT classes this summer), I expect things should be well and in order.

Hey…. Tom Givens is coming back to the area in March 2013, and I want to be awesome.

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 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 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.