Best three pistol drills?

Clobbersauras

Clobbersauras

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The thread about which 9mm you shoot the best or worst got me thinking about training (again). I've asked the mods before about making a training forum on this board but it didn't go anywhere so I'll post this here.

I'm curious to find out what people are doing to improve their pistol skills. So.....what are the top three pistol drills that you use when you train? If you use something fairly common please post a link to the target or a video of the drill, or a detailed explanation (just so I can steal it and use it for myself). :D

These are the three drills that I start my session off with (right now all at three yards)..

1) Dot Torture (take the space out of http):

ht tp://pistol-training.com/drills/dot-torture

The next two I picked up from Haley Strategic. These drills are deceptively hard. I've yet to shoot them anywhere close to satisfactory.:mad:

2) Shift Gears Drill:
[Youtube]qFRLMjGR8Zg[/Youtube]

3) Twister Drill:
[Youtube]2iSB0XzhX1s[/Youtube]

I'm not saying that the above drills are the best, or that they are even the right drills. I like them because I they make me focus on the fundamentals.
 
It really depends on what you're trying to train/hone. If you're working the fundamentals then the dot drill is great, as is the "shift gears" drill also known as the speed limit drill.

if you're looking to work your skills under stress due to cognitive thinking and beating the clock(or the other guy shooting at you). Then the twister drill or similar recognition type drills would work well.

TDC
 
TDC said:
if you're looking to work your skills under stress due to cognitive thinking and beating the clock(or the other guy shooting at you). Then the twister drill or similar recognition type drills would work well.

TDC
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Fair enough, but the twister drill really is hard, as you have to focus on the fundamentals to hit those little dots, it's really challenging even without the cognitive portion. At three yards the front sight on my pistol practically covers the whole dot, I can't imagine shooting it at farther distances. I have to admit, I usually just pick a colour and run it through then pick another colour and so on.
 
Clobbersauras said:
Fair enough, but the twister drill really is hard, as you have to focus on the fundamentals to hit those little dots, it's really challenging even without the cognitive portion. At three yards the front sight on my pistol practically covers the whole dot, I can't imagine shooting it at farther distances. I have to admit, I usually just pick a colour and run it through then pick another colour and so on.
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I agree, the twister works both the fundamentals and the shooters ability to work under stress. Although, all drills work the fundamentals to some degree. What I'm saying is that if you're looking to focus on the fundamentals alone, drills like the twister aren't the best choice as they introduce stress that seriously degrades ones ability to apply the fundamentals.

TDC
 
Clobbersauras said:
What type of target do you use?
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IPSC Standard Targets.

One of the nice things about taking the Black Badge training (wether you decide to take it up as a sport or not) is that it teaches you skills like 'flash sight picture' , a proper draw, and efficient reloading skills.

You take away a lot of very basic and mid level skills, and less bad habits to unlearn when trying to 'teach yourself'

To each their own, but I have started videotaping my own practice sessions and then self-critiquing/correcting myself.

I enjoyed my Black Badge course so much, I plan to re-take it again this year, as a reinforcement of those skills, and a re-evaluation by the instructor.

As a bonus, I get a 1 year membership to IPSC. Can't beat the value:)
 
Got Juice? said:
1. El Presidente
2. at the beep. draw, double tap, holster, repeat
3. at the beep. draw double tap,magchange, 2 double taps,magchange, 3 double taps.

targets at 10m record score and time.
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1. if scoring in the A zone, with a standard gun,major PF,anything under 8 second is good, and under 5 seconds is really getting it done

2. A zone hits, under 1.3 seconds is good/vgood

3. all A zone hits, 16 sec=avg 15 seconds=good sub 13 seconds=vgood
 
TDC said:
I agree, the twister works both the fundamentals and the shooters ability to work under stress. Although, all drills work the fundamentals to some degree. What I'm saying is that if you're looking to focus on the fundamentals alone, drills like the twister aren't the best choice as they introduce stress that seriously degrades ones ability to apply the fundamentals.

TDC
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Got it, thanks for the input TDC.:)
 
Got Juice? said:
1. if scoring in the A zone, with a standard gun,major PF,anything under 8 second is good, and under 5 seconds is really getting it done

2. A zone hits, under 1.3 seconds is good/vgood

3. all A zone hits, 16 sec=avg 15 seconds=good sub 13 seconds=vgood
Click to expand...

Ah, great, thanks for that. I'm going to try some of these drills my next time out.
 
Clobbersauras said:
Ah, great, thanks for that. I'm going to try some of these drills my next time out.
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I forgot to mention. I only perform these drills with 100 rounds of ammunition on me. I find that any more 'practice' than that, and my accuracy and speed starts to fall off.

I usually find that I peak at about my 4th or 6th run, and then the timer/score tells me to quit trying to improve any more.

I then pack up my gear and go for a rest period (bs with other shooters, help them out) and then do one last set (slowly with deliberate sight pictures, and trigger squeezes, slow mag changes, medium draw etc and then go home.

If you leave 'hungry' you will improve faster, than if you shoot yourself out, and start practicing mistakes (technique starts to slide after a while)

I find that now my rest periods become mental excercises of imagining the proper draw, mag changes, sight picture etc, and that also helps the improvement process.

Since leaving the range hungry for more, my El Presidente scores have imroved to 90% A zones, and 4 seconds faster, al in the space of a few weeks. Before that, I was leaving when /i ran out of ammo, and was at a 60% A zone, and 10 second time (which is less than mediocre)
 
I rarely shoot the pistol by itself, usually I work with rifle and pistol. Therefore for me, it's usually transitions using random dummy or snap caps in both primary and secondary.

What I have done is record myself on mp3 saying things like "two to the head, three to the chest, FIGHT!........pause...." and then another mp3 saying four to the chest, two to the head, three to the chest, FIGHT!......pause.....". And so on. I load these 5 or 6 mp3 into an iPod and put it on random. The pauses are long enough for the actions to take place, before the next one plays.

I also have other mp3 for colored steel gongs. "red, green, yellow....." and "green red yellow....." etc. for these ones I usually facing with my backs to the gongs, then pivot and shoot.
 
nza said:
I rarely shoot the pistol by itself, usually I work with rifle and pistol. Therefore for me, it's usually transitions using random dummy or snap caps in both primary and secondary.

What I have done is record myself on mp3 saying things like "two to the head, three to the chest, FIGHT!........pause...." and then another mp3 saying four to the chest, two to the head, three to the chest, FIGHT!......pause.....". And so on. I load these 5 or 6 mp3 into an iPod and put it on random. The pauses are long enough for the actions to take place, before the next one plays.

I also have other mp3 for colored steel gongs. "red, green, yellow....." and "green red yellow....." etc. for these ones I usually facing with my backs to the gongs, then pivot and shoot.
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You need a range partner.. ;)

TDC
 
My drills are published in Sitrep almost every issue but these are three of my favorites that work on the basics
1. Double Draw Master
2. Ultimate Bill Drill
3. Enos transition Drill
 
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My best exercises are dry fire and mag change exercises at home. I can't set anything up or draw from a holster at the range by myself so I pretty much get whatever IDPA sets up that week.
 
1) Double Draw Master - Brian Enos
This is from the old forum, and is one of my favorites for honing basic draw and shoot skills.
"Double draw Master."
(you have to have a timer that will "comstock go" like the PACT)
A single target at 15 yds
You have 10 seconds FLAT to -
draw and shoot 2 shots on the target, repeating that as many times as possible, using the "comstock go" buttom, until you run out of time. If necessary, as you get close to the 10 second mark, you can only shoot one shot (if you know shooting 2 shots would put you over 10 seconds.)
Each shot fired over 10.00 seconds is minus 5 points.
Your only score is your actual score on the target. My best is 80 points, 16 shots, all A's. I did it for days. If you really work it over, you'll learn quite a bit.
BE
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2) Ultimate Bill Drill is a Bill Drill shot at 15yds. A Bill Drill was a drill created Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat. Basically it is shot at 7yds, par time of 2 seconds, all shots must be in the A zone of a standard IPSC target, one dropped shot in the C zone and the drill doesn't count. If you can't make the par time pick one that pushes you to the limit of barely keeping the shots in the A zone. Unfortunately, thanks to Youtube, this drill has turned into squirting hits all over the target as fast as you can, this is not the point of the drill, thats the lazy way to shoot it.
Lately, Rob (TGO) and I have this joke about practicing - we only shoot at 15 yds because it's the ultimate distance. Why? Because in today’s matches you rarely shoot past 15 yds. If you do, a long shot is 25yds. So 15yds is far enough to keep you honest, but close enough to let you crank it up.

try some Bill Drills on a 15 yd target. (Surrender or Hands at Sides Start - 6 shots – only all A's count for a score, which is your time.) What is your best time?

Don’t worry about the 2 sec time for your Bill Drills, especially past 7 yds. Concentrate on shooing all A’s and see what your fastest one is (with all A’s) cold turkey, and then see what your best is after you’ve cranked some rounds downrange.

Some time ago, every time I would go to practice I would attempt to shoot a "cold turkey" Bill Drill at 7 yds before I began my practice session. This taught me quite a bit about the difference between being knee-deep in brass and shooting a "record run," or shooting a run in a match.
BE
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3) Transition Drill
Set up 3 IPSC targets at 10 yards, about a yard a apart, edge to edge. Only hits in the A box count. On the buzzer draw and shoot one shot at each target - left to right, then repeat left to right, then repeat again left to right - for a total of 9 shots. Check your time, add a half second for each non-A, and note your score. You don't really care about your score that much, just remember it for later. Shoot a 6 - 10 strings, to establish an average score. While you're establishing your average - you're just shooting like you normally would. Don't try any new tricks or anything at all. In the end just know your average score for the drill.
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