Like many, I don’t have the money to invest in ammo to train with 200 rounds a day, or even a week. When every Bill Drill is $1.20 to shoot, it adds up quickly, so I want to maximize the return on that ammo investment by having done as much prep work possible before slinging lead down range.
One thing to remember is that there are several ways to skin a cat and what works for some does not work for others, listening to top shooters you will see several of these items contested, all from outstanding shooters.
Draw stroke
Grip Tension
Appropriate sight picture
Trigger press
Recoil management
GRIP - TARGET - SIGHTS - TRIGGER
The transition from iron sights to red-dot has been a step learning curve for me as the dot gives too much feedback and distracts me from hitting the target often.
Unlike irons where you can focus on the front sight or slide as confirmation of your index and then press when the target appears, dot shooting is just the opposite. You need to focus on the target and then confirm the dot on it before pressing the trigger.
How refined that sight picture is depends on the distance and accuracy requirement just as the iron sight continuum does.
I’ve recently found Ben Stoeger on YouTube and really like his ability to describe the process on how to target focus. I’ve been trying many of his methods for improvement and believe in them.
This post is going to be a place to track what has been working and what doesn’t seem to matter as I get better at shooting a pistol fast and accurately.
If you have advice, please add it to the comments!
WHAT I’M DOING
Below is what I’m currently focusing on in various areas from dry-fire to live-fire to USPSA techniques. For anyone that still thinks “games will get your killed” like the mantra was 20 years ago, I say catch up, shooting is shooting. He who makes the first good hit and can follow up the fastest… wins the match! Be it on the range or street.
DRY-FIRE ITEMS:
1. STRONG HAND GRIP TENSION
Is a big one. You see people saying to grip the gun as hard as possible to “fight” the recoil, keeping the gun level during recoil by using brute force to return it to POA quickly.
You also see the other extreme of “just be connected to the gun” and grip it with the strong hand just enough to secure the pistol and preserve trigger finger speed by not tensing up the whole hand.
In the short term, both methods work, but I believe the key to consistency is to use a “Natural / Neutral” grip that works in all conditions.
Even though I will eventually not be thinking about the grip tension I’m applying with enough practice, if it’s not excessive it will come more naturally and likely be more consistent, or so I am hoping.
I see it like shacking someone’s hand, you have to think about applying pressure when you want to impress a “firm handshake” onto someone, verses a natural handshake you don’t think about.
That doesn’t mean you can have “soyboy” grip strength though. The actual pressure applied will still rely on your overall grip strength and the stronger your grip the more securing it will be even when it’s applied at a “natural” force. For this reason I’m a believer in grip strengthening tools as being able to maintain a very secure grip by using 30% (arbitrary value) of my total grip strength is a win-win for shooting a pistol.
2. WEAK HAND CONNECTION
While the Bob Vogel grip in theory makes the most sense, getting the weak hand high and forward to put weight over the barrel for recoil management, it’s not very natural to most and likely why it’s an exception in the shooting sports not the rule.
The traditional placement seems more natural to me and unlike what I had learned 20 years ago shooting USPSA, you don’t need to crush your shooting hand finger with your weak hand.
You just need the “drumstick” to make as much contact with the weak hand side of the guns grip and to apply some clamping pressure to the gun by rotating the elbows up/out ever so slightly. If I do not concentrate on this, I tend to extend the arms to their max and end up with my elbows down, which creates a hing in the direction of recoil giving me more travel after each shot. Adding torque by raising the elbows up/out slightly makes the recoil transfer seemingly better and the arms absorbing more with less lifting of the sights.
Grip tape or anything that ads surface tension is a major factor here. I find having Safety Walk tape on this part of the grip enough to give a good connection to the gun and control recoil. This tape does not bother me with an OWB holster even with not garment between it and bare skin.
3. DRAW STROKE
The goal is to have a sub-second draw to shot from a retention holster. I start at a 1.2sec par then work it down to 1.0sec when I can see the trigger press is not disturbing the sights.
I’m using a “bullet laser” to register actual hits verses dot sight picture as I do the drill. It works well at giving me feedback if I’m not pulling the trigger straight back and allows me to stay target focused not dot focused.
Adding in an occluded dot helps me see how often I’m looking at the dot also and force my concentration back onto the small part of the target I have chosen to concentrate on. In dry-fire that is a 1” paster, on the range it’s the top A-zone.
The bullet laser also adds a layer of safety to make sure nothing is loaded into the chamber, requires a tool to remove, and helps divide dry-fire time from “going hot” again at the end of a session.
4. RELOADS
I don’t add this to the draw/press drill, but focus just on the reload. From extension bring gun into work space, depressing the mag release on the way, look a mag into the well.
Initially I use an empty gun and do about 30 reps without dropping a mag from the gun, just pressing the release button in simulation to get more reps in, then do 10 or so with a mag to be sure the timing is correct to drop a mag easily.
Less time picking up mags and more reps!
5. TRANSITIONS
Draw to target, trigger press first target, observe laser impact for movement low/left usually, transition to 3 more 1” squares in room while pressing trigger on each watching the dot for dips on press.
LIVE-FIRE
GRIP CHECK
To check that my grip is working, I take slow-mo footage of a Bill Drill and watch muzzle rise as well if the gun is rocking in my hands (too loose) or my hands are rocking with recoil.
Still playing with pressures & elbow rotation on this one as it doesn’t take much rotation to cause pain on the weak hand drumstick due to my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
ONE SHOT RETURN
For checking trigger control and proper driving of the gun back to the target. Often I notice a loose grip by seeing the dot fly up and take a long time to settle back on target. Usually when I’m dot focused and not target focused or not following through on target focus.
USING DOUBLES
To diagnose over driving, lack of target focus, excessive trigger slap. A lot going on in this simple drill.
This post is going to be added to the OFTEN UPDATED links on the front page and changed as the regime does.
IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD, I’D APPRECIATE THE HELP IN THE COMMENTS, AND THANKS FOR READING!
I HOPE IT GIVES NEWER SHOOTERS AN IDEA OF WHERE TO START ALSO.
There is a lot to chew on from your training routine and I’ll cherry pick it to try some new techniques. Thanks.
I know it caused a big kerfluffle on the Telegram group, but grip tends to be very personal. We're all trying to get the same outcome, but we get there in different ways.
Bob Vogel is a freak. He grips so hard he actually flexes the grip on Glocks. Rob Leatham crushes the hell out of guns.
*For me*, I have found that push/pull, along with inboard pressure (what you describe as raising the elbows), and a dash of strong hand pinky pressure is what works. I am able to put tons of pressure into a gun, using primarily arm, chest, and back strength, without excessive grip strength. Basically, all that stuff goes into play, and if I get muscular tremor, I back off.
I know really good shooters that swear by 60/40 grips. I know others (Steve Fisher) that Mongo grip with both hands. I know some that relax the elbows (Frank Proctor), I know others that lock them. Gotta find what works for you...
One thing never changes - it's a highly perishable skill. Good for you for putting in the work.