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What do you do to increase or maintain your shooting skills?
JTH:
Well, apparently only 15 of us on this forum do anything to increase or maintain our skills. :)
Reading the answers (and thanks to those people who provided answers!) has been interesting for a number of reasons.
It really would not have occurred to me to state "training classes" as an answer to my question, because I know very few people who actually have enough time and money to take training classes on a regular basis, which is what the question was about. Even people who get sent to training by their departments generally don't get to do so on what I would consider a "regular basis."
However, I'm glad to see that plenty of people get additional training. Based on what I see at the range, I wish a lot more would do so. :o
I'm going to reply to a bunch of people here, as reading answers got me curious about things. Please don't take any of these as criticisms, they are more understanding fails on MY part.
--- Quote from: gsd on February 05, 2016, 11:50:42 AM ---I use live fire practice, such as altering my grip or finger placement to learn how the firearm reacts, or slow fire weak hand unsupported for handgun. For rifle, I do much the same, with the addition of cleared manipulation of the firearm. Mag changes, sight acquisition, charging the rifle, and transitioning between irons/optics.
--- End quote ---
So, lots of gun-handling skills and technique changes in live fire?
Questions:
1) How often do you live fire?
2) Do you work both pistol and rifle in the same live fire practice? (How long do you practice?)
3) Do you find that changing your grip and finger placement often is helpful for consistency under stress (because you have to think about doing it properly in a more focused fashion), or that while it gives you a better idea of what is optimal, it is detrimental to fast responses under stress?
--- Quote from: sjwsti on February 05, 2016, 12:01:01 PM ---In order, most to least in a year; Dry fire, live fire, training courses.
--- End quote ---
Any approximates on relative ratios of practice? How often each gets done?
--- Quote from: Mudinyeri on February 05, 2016, 12:40:34 PM ---All of the above with the exception of nothing and the addition of training.
--- End quote ---
You do all of that on a regular basis? How do you find the time?
Or do you just switch from one thing to the next, so that you are doing at least something each week? Do you do something at least once a week? How often?
For example: I shoot a lot of competitions--pretty much two locals a month, plus 6-8 major matches per year. Yet--I wouldn't say I really do those on a regular basis like some other people who do a competition match every week. For them, that "regular basis" of matches helps keep their skills maintained. For me, I don't compete enough.
So are you saying you do all of those, each enough on a regular basis to maintain your skills?
--- Quote from: Bagntag on February 05, 2016, 01:00:14 PM ---I try to dry fire at least ten times a day, three mag changes, ten holster and re-holster drills and I do all of this in front of a mirror. I also work on my footwork throughout the day. Footwork to me is one of the things people often forget about especially when their training is focused on a one way range or a "static shoot". Have to be able to move. All of this minus the footwork drills takes about ten minutes.
--- End quote ---
When you say "footwork throughout the day" what do you mean? Any good drills you'd like to share? How do you practice? How do you relate your footwork and movement to the skills you'd like to practice in terms of firearms? I assume you mean that footwork is important for self-defense practice, considering your use of the terms "one-way range" and "static shoot"--has your research found that for your lifestyle, movement should be an important priority?
....I'll get some questions for the other respondents in a bit. :)
abbafandr:
I got talked into some dry fire practice this year :o.
I generally shoot about 3 local matches a month.
Live fire, sadly not nearly enough. :-[
Lorimor:
One choice should have been "all of the above." I dryfire, live fire, get professional training and shoot competition.
Sometimes I even see moderate improvement in my skills. :)
JTH:
Do I need to go back and put "on a regular basis" in bold with a larger font? ::)
Maybe there is a difference between what I mean by "regular basis" and what other people are thinking.
I can't think of a single person here other than sjwsti who takes training classes "on a regular basis" (and I'm not sure exactly how many he does a year). For training classes I wouldn't consider "on a regular basis" to be less than once a month.
I suppose that should be the question then, really: What does "on a regular basis" mean to you?
For me, I dryfire almost every day (dang it, I've missed two days so far in 2016) and I try to get to the range in the cold months at least once every two weeks. So far this year it has been better than that, though. In the summer, I go at least 3x/week for live fire. Competitions (like I said above) 2 locals a month (or so) and about (thinking about it further) 5-6 majors per year, most of which occur around summer. And then I try to get at least one training class every year. (And then I spend the rest of the year trying to integrate what I learned. For me, I don't see much useful result in taking many training classes per year in new material, because I need time to integrate old material.)
So for me, I dryfire on a regular basis. During the summer I live fire on a regular basis. I do a number of competitions, but not often enough for it to be a regular basis sufficient to increase skills. Similarly for live fire during the cold months. I definitely don't take training classes "on a regular basis".
What do you consider "on a regular basis"? For people saying "all of the above" how do you fit doing all of those on a regular basis into your life? How much life do you have?
When I say "on a regular basis" I don't mean "scheduled periodically." Regular basis to maintain shooting skills, or build shooting skills---which means you can't simply do it once in awhile. Or even merely periodically, if the period is fairly long.
Lorimor:
--- Quote from: jthhapkido on March 03, 2016, 04:41:12 PM ---Do I need to go back and put "on a regular basis" in bold with a larger font? ::)
Maybe there is a difference between what I mean by "regular basis" and what other people are thinking.
I can't think of a single person here other than sjwsti who takes training classes "on a regular basis" (and I'm not sure exactly how many he does a year). For training classes I wouldn't consider "on a regular basis" to be less than once a month.
I suppose that should be the question then, really: What does "on a regular basis" mean to you?
For me, I dryfire almost every day (dang it, I've missed two days so far in 2016) and I try to get to the range in the cold months at least once every two weeks. So far this year it has been better than that, though. In the summer, I go at least 3x/week for live fire. Competitions (like I said above) 2 locals a month (or so) and about (thinking about it further) 5-6 majors per year, most of which occur around summer. And then I try to get at least one training class every year. (And then I spend the rest of the year trying to integrate what I learned. For me, I don't see much useful result in taking many training classes per year in new material, because I need time to integrate old material.)
So for me, I dryfire on a regular basis. During the summer I live fire on a regular basis. I do a number of competitions, but not often enough for it to be a regular basis sufficient to increase skills. Similarly for live fire during the cold months. I definitely don't take training classes "on a regular basis".
What do you consider "on a regular basis"? For people saying "all of the above" how do you fit doing all of those on a regular basis into your life? How much life do you have?
When I say "on a regular basis" I don't mean "scheduled periodically." Regular basis to maintain shooting skills, or build shooting skills---which means you can't simply do it once in awhile. Or even merely periodically, if the period is fairly long.
--- End quote ---
My "regular basis":
Training (be it shooting/legal/emergency trauma care/mindset/hands on physical) is about 2x/year for the last several years. I like to support local training events (the ones that are publicized anyway) and trainers when I can. I'll travel to exotic locations like Kansas for training as well.
Dryfire: 5x/week average.
Livefire: Average 3x/month in decent weather. Winter: 1x/month
Competition: About 3x/year these days. I need to get my butt out of bed on weekends and drive. :)
Reloading: 2-3x/week in the reloading kingdom year 'round.
Brass whoring: All the time!!!
In fact, I'm headed to the range today to run my dirty 1911 some more and shake the Texas dust off my shoes.
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