TGT Drill Day - April 19th (This Saturday)

[breakingcontact]

Thanks for coming out everyone. I hope our guests we had today join the TGT community. That was a great time and im always glad to see safe gun handling.

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[breakingcontact]

I "joined" BOTW so I should be out there more. I think we are planning on trying to make outings like today's more often but I plan on making it out more as well. Send me a PM if you want to go shooting sometime.

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[SIG_Fiend]

Thank you all for coming out! I definitely want to make this a regular monthly thing. Also, one thing I'd like to get us in the habit of is, after a range event, lets have a quick recap of maybe some of the highlights, some important points that stood out, good things, AND the bad things. The more we do this, the more we can figure out what works best, what doesn't, and how we can keep making these events run more smoothly and be more effective.

Some of my takeaways:

-The pace of at least the first hour, IMO, was way too slow. As I said, I tend to go off on tangents. On the way home I realized a good summary for this. Behind any single question you might have, or any single topic we might discuss, I probably have at least 1-2hrs worth of discussion we could have on just one little thing. I'm highly analytical. For most people, THAT IS BORING AS HECK! You're there to shoot, and learn, but I feel today I talked a bit too much, and unfortunately we didn't get to cover as much or shoot as much as I would have liked. I definitely want to hear your opinions on that as well. I don't really have an ego, so give it to me straight. The more I know about what's working and what isn't, the more we can fix what isn't.

-Put a lot of thought into the feel of these things. How does the gun feel when you're shooting fast? How does it feel trying to pull the trigger really fast? We can go into a lot of detail on that, but just remember to keep the "feel" in mind. For a lot of people, I find once they've experienced doing things the "right" way, or maybe a more effective way, if they keep that feel in their mind and just try to replicate that, it will take them quite far in building their skills.

-I'd like everyone to keep in mind that each of you shot anywhere from 2-4 rounds PER SECOND! :-) Sounds fast, but you did it! It's always good to recognize the "bad" things, or deficiencies, so you know what the problem is and can work on fixing it. Don't dwell on that though. Dwell a bit on your success, and keep that in the back of your mind. Most of you also managed to get to 3-4 rounds per second! Pretty quick when you think about it, and everyone was pretty much keeping their shots within the silhouette. Over time, and with practice, those groups will start shrinking down. The fact of the matter is, though, YOU did that, so use that as a base of confidence to start building from, knowing that you definitely can do it since you already have.

-Everyone's accuracy improved substantially when we focused on pure fundamentals, slow fire, and taking our time. Everyone pretty much got down to ~fist sized groups, and maybe a little smaller. Some of you actually managed to maintain those small groups for 2-4 out of of 5 rounds when shooting at 2-4 shots per second! So not only have you all experienced pushing yourself at a faster speed, but you've also experienced shooting to a higher degree of accuracy. So you now know for a fact that you can work both ends of the spectrum. Again, build confidence with this! :-) It's really good to keep these things in mind when the self-doubt starts to set in. You can do it.

Thank you all for the help with setup and tear down. That helped a lot and saved quite a bit of time. Also, I'd like to hear anyone else' thoughts on how today went, what they might have learned, whether I just bored them to death rambling on. Lay it on me!

Looks like we'll need to try and develop a schedule, so we can schedule these events at least 1 month in advance so that we ensure there aren't any problems at the range. I can only do weekends but, it would be good if we get a show of hands for what day people prefer, Saturday or Sunday, and we can plan around that.

Also, last thought. I think for some of these events, it will probably be a lot more effective if we focus on one thing for one drill day. For example, one drill day could be focusing purely on drawstroke and how to optimize yours. Another day could be shooting 1 stage of the IDPA classifier. I think we'll get a lot more done, in greater detail and with a lot more reps to start building familiarity with some of these things, versus trying to cover 10 different things in one day. Anyone have any thoughts on that, or does that sound like a plan? I'll start another thread or two here soon and we can plan this out and figure out what people want to focus the most on.

 

[coachrick]

Dang...I hate that I missed today's outing; but Saturday mornings are committed to intown bike rides. Would be tickled to get out there(again, thanks Don) and get some outdoor shooting in. I do plan on getting a frequent shooter's card for Shady Oaks as soon as they open; but outdoors is a whole different animal. *Jealous*

 

[breakingcontact]

So...who's up for IDPA next Saturday?

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[SIG_Fiend]

So...who's up for IDPA next Saturday?

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I was thinking about going, though my wife and I were also gonna go to the airshow at Mabry, so I'm not sure if I'll make it.

 

[breakingcontact]

Airshow at Camp Mabry? Nice.

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[breakingcontact]

In a way I feel like I shouldn't go but I need to go to the matches on Saturdays since Sunday doesnt work for me. So im planning on going. Ill keep an eye out for air show air traffic.

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[TheDan]

Sun. Burn.

Yeah I noticed you didn't even have a hat on. I assumed you were one of those folks who just tan well. I burned through my hat and shirt

I'll be sure to bring the 85spf next time.

Also, last thought. I think for some of these events, it will probably be a lot more effective if we focus on one thing for one drill day. For example, one drill day could be focusing purely on drawstroke and how to optimize yours. Another day could be shooting 1 stage of the IDPA classifier. I think we'll get a lot more done, in greater detail and with a lot more reps to start building familiarity with some of these things, versus trying to cover 10 different things in one day.

I like that idea. Since we officially only have 2hrs on the bay I think sticking to one subject at a time would be good.

 

[coachrick]

If anyone is looking to head there during the week, I'd like to tag along. I've only been on the pistol bay and would like to branch out! As many of you know, I don't have a regular money-paying job; so my schedule is often flexible. Shoot me a line if you want to head that way. Thx, Rick

 

[40Arpent]

-The pace of at least the first hour, IMO, was way too slow. As I said, I tend to go off on tangents. On the way home I realized a good summary for this. Behind any single question you might have, or any single topic we might discuss, I probably have at least 1-2hrs worth of discussion we could have on just one little thing. I'm highly analytical. For most people, THAT IS BORING AS HECK! You're there to shoot, and learn, but I feel today I talked a bit too much, and unfortunately we didn't get to cover as much or shoot as much as I would have liked. I definitely want to hear your opinions on that as well. I don't really have an ego, so give it to me straight. The more I know about what's working and what isn't, the more we can fix what isn't.

Travis, I am not sure if you have someone assisting you with the training, but if you do, one thing that might help is having that person act as a timekeeper...reminding you of how much discussion time you have left, and moving you along from one question/topic to the next.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

Travis, I am not sure if you have someone assisting you with the training, but if you do, one thing that might help is having that person act as a timekeeper...reminding you of how much discussion time you have left, and moving you along from one question/topic to the next.

:-) Definitely.

 

[breakingcontact]

If we get a fairly regular crew, working and practicing one aspect of the fundamentals each session will build up nicely.

I really like the shoot one round/dry fire 5 drill.

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[TheDan]

:-) Definitely.

Let me know the secret signal you want me to give you when you're going too slow

 

[breakingcontact]

We can gauge the timing off of my degree of sunburn.

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[SIG_Fiend]

I need one of these LOL:

 

[breakingcontact]

Need a shot clock.

 

[duckknot]

Overall I think it was very helpful, especially for the first time putting this all together (huge thank you to BC for gettin the ball rollin)!

Sig, I learned a great deal from you in a relatively short amount of time. You are obviously highly knowledgeable and HIGHLY analytic which can be a little boring for the ADD folks like myself, but for some people that might be the way they learn best! Yes, there were times I was little bored (once again, ADD...squirrel!) but I also have taken courses on the things we were learning so it was somewhat repetitive to me, in no way am I saying I don't need the extra help/time but a lot of those things were "review" for me so it was tougher to stay engaged. There were a few people there who it seemed like that was all fairly new information and it helped them a great deal and seeing as it was our first training day that is EXACTLY what it is supposed to be about. As we get more consistent with our training days and progress to higher levels, the speed and amount of shooting will greatly increase and so will your delivering/teaching of the techniques, i.e. you will get better at teaching and we will get better at learning which will make us all better at shooting.

I would like to say that I thoroughly appreciate your "slow it down" "back to basics" approach....in today's day and age I see nothing but tacticool "instructors" with their 5.11 pants, tactical coyote boots and enough kydex to make a surfboard "teaching" people how to empty a magazine as fast as possible. I, for one, want to partake in things like IDPA because it will make me more proficient with my handgun, more accurate/deliberate with my shots and will teach me how to move and shoot while remaining aware of my surroundings all of which will allow me to remain calm under pressure and to respond safely and effectively should I ever need to use my weapon to defend myself, my family or someone who is in immediate danger. The key to mastering any sport or activity is to master the basics to the point that they are second nature (ask Michael Jordan to shoot a free throw and I'll bet he is still pretty damn good) so it was really nice to start from the bottom knowing we are going to work our way up, we will all be better for that!

Once again Sig, thank you, it takes a lot of knowledge and cojones to stand up in front of 12 armed people and teach them to be better at something!

 

[coachrick]

Once again Sig, thank you, it takes a lot of knowledge and cojones to stand up in front of 12 armed people and teach them to be better at something!

Interesting perspective...I did just that for most of three decades...only my students were armed with tennis rackets.

Dang, I'm sorry I missed the drill day

 

[SIG_Fiend]

Sig, I learned a great deal from you in a relatively short amount of time. You are obviously highly knowledgeable and HIGHLY analytic which can be a little boring for the ADD folks like myself, but for some people that might be the way they learn best! Yes, there were times I was little bored (once again, ADD...squirrel!) but I also have taken courses on the things we were learning so it was somewhat repetitive to me, in no way am I saying I don't need the extra help/time but a lot of those things were "review" for me so it was tougher to stay engaged.

Thanks for the heads up. In general, I think it will end up working best for the future if we focus on just one main topic per drill day. That way, the people that want to learn or practice more with that one topic can come out, and those that are already beyond that or looking for something else can always come to another one that's covering something they do want to learn/practice. :-) Thanks for the kind words and the honest review!

Don't even get me started on 5.11, tactical pants, and the dynamically dynamic tactics of being operatively dynamic... LOL That stuff is good for a laugh, but with all the posturing, ego-stroking, etc. it does nothing to change the fact that at the end of the day it's put up or shut up.