People are using all sorts of different distances and targets---and that's fine. This isn't a competition, so we aren't trying to see how can crowd the timer the most.
The point is, how can you make good defensive choices if you don't know your draw? A guy is 15 feet away and starts moving toward you with an impact weapon.
Do you draw?
Draw and move?
Flat-out run away?
Do you close and work empty hand defense?
Which do you choose? How's your sprinting ability? Do you have any empty-hand practice? Is your draw fast enough to make a difference? Is your shooting on the move accurate enough?
Working shooting skills on a timer won't tell you how you will do under life-and-death stress, of course. (And hopefully, you'll never need to find out.) But it WILL tell you if you don't have any chance at all.
If the guy has a baseball bat, is starting to accelerate at you from 15 feet away, and your draw (whether moving or not) is 3 seconds----then you need to either close and work empty-hand, or you need to flat-out
run. Maybe you can draw as you run, but your normal draw is just too slow. Unless the guy stops on seeing your hand movement, he is going to reach you before you get the gun out---and there you will be, with your hands occupied at waist level when he is swinging a bat at your head.
If you don't know your skill level, then you can't make appropriate defensive decisions---unless purely by accident. And personally, I don't like to leave my life to chance.
