So far, I'm pretty confined to pistols.
Working from the top of that
The DC list:
I do close-range (3 or even 2 yards) absolute accuracy/precision self-games, as what Ayoob suggests. I do it SHO (including WHO), too. Shots are taken at my leisure, and I typically end up punching 1/2-inch diameter
Shoot-N-C pasters, which I always seem to have an over-abundance of. This bridges over into various "dot" drills (see Stooger, page 2), but where the canonical Dot Torture, for example, should be shot from the holster, I would need to modify it due to range rules, so I find more value in simply just playing my own game.
I do a "group" at the 25 yard line, kinda like what Golob suggests. My pace is about 1 to 1 and 1/2 seconds per shot for 10 shots on an NRA B8 Repair Center. My goal is to get as close to a score of 100 with as many Xs as possible. I try to mind as many of the fundamentals here (see Morris's take on page 2 of the article) as I can.
For both dry- (Cheng; also Brokamp and Jessee both on page 3) and live- (Burlingame) fire, for me, trigger control is always the name of the game: I can
always improve, and the "coin on the front sight" dry-fire is a staple. Dry-fire is where I am most mindful of the reset (see Janich, also page 2), and live-fire is where I'll occasionally play the ball-and-dummy (Hall, page 3).
Givens (and Michael Jr., on page 3) essentially meld together to form perhaps my all-time favorite, which is also an objective way to help me keep track of my progress - or backslide
- the Hackathorn/Vickers "10-10-10," which is sometimes called "The Test." Greg Ellifritz did an excellent write-up of it just a short while ago:
http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/1 ... ting-drill" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The "negative target" that Zins speaks of is great for pure speed, but working by myself at the range, with the exception of putting in my group at the 25, shooting the 10/10/10, and executing the Bill Drill, I'm much more focused on my fundamentals, per Enos' blurb a bit further down down on page 2. I rarely shoot off the bag, but I'm very,
very critical of the shots that I put downrange. For me, personally, while I do strive for speed (and also work to build speed, when I can - this is difficult, as it can run afoul of range limitations), my core belief has always been that speed is a by-product of being able to execute perfect fundamentals at an ever increasing pace. So the upshot is that while I truly believe that slow-is-smooth and smooth-is-fast, I also absolutely believe that slow is just slow, and that unless one practices to increase his/her speed, one will never
really improve.
Rhythm, as Ovalle points out, is very important, and it's something that I have trouble with no matter what I'm doing - dancing, shooting, it doesn't matter.
This is something that I try to work on as a part of my Bill Drill, which I never really and fully understood until I saw Kyle Defoor's presentation, below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsO4KC-XmAI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I use the 10/10/10 as my quantified baseline. It's the first thing I do when I get to the range. Typically, I am "cold" when I go to the range. I rarely am able to get to the range within 7 or even 14 days since the last session. To be frank, it's more like 20 to 40 days.
The best part of "The Test" is that it's capable of being executed at virtually every/any range, and that it is absolutely quantifiable. Shooting it "cold" does two things for me - it not only allows me to see what my actual baseline is, but also allows me to see what that "first shot" (Towsley, page 1) looks like. Both Bill Holcomb (Three Tango Firearms Academy) and Keith Campbell (Commence Firearms Training Academy) - two of the good guys here in NE-Ohio
- are understandably
absolutely big on this, and have ingrained this into my mind: that the first shot out of the holster may well be the most important shot.
From the 10/10/10, I'll shoot the 25. While I don't really quantify this one (I've been tempted to add in a quantified time element, but I can't decided on exactly what interval to allow for myself), I do take my score into consideration and also record it for future reference.
At home, I practice drawing from concealment, reloads, basic manipulations, and dry-fire (carbine, I practice shoulder-to-shoulder transitions as well as primary-to-secondary transitions; shotgun, I practice loading [and I confess to not doing this nearly enough
]). I supplement working the fundamentals of marksmanship at the range (static - yes, I really need to find a local club or training group
) with dynamic movement using my airsoft at home.
----
This all said - and while I truly believe in self-guided practice - I'm also a huge believer in getting the right help and getting quality help.
I spent an hour alone with Keith and his son last winter to correct a combination flinch/grip squeeze that I somehow developed and could not self-solve. In just a single hour, he eradicated the flinch, and put me at least 75% on the path towards eliminating that grip-squeeze I had.
Similarly, years ago, Bill was able to solve my then habit of dropping shots after the reload in only the time it took for the rest of my classmates to eat half their lunches.
There's a number of great instructors here in NE-Ohio and spread over Ohio in-general, and I can't stress enough to shooters both new and experienced alike that these individuals are awesome resources and can be had at near bargain-basement prices.