Gotta Go Fast, To get Fast - A Steel Challenge Sports - Mind In The Box Episode - Training For Speed

[@CompShooter54]

I don't like the idea that "it's ok to go fast, even if you miss". When you get to the match and have a penalty on the first string, the other 4 must be shot more conservative to avoid keeping the penalty. That first string will always be on your mind when shooting the other 4.

[@mindinbox]

My counter -at some point - a shooter looking to improve - has to practice going faster than your comfortable with to grow you abilities. Mentally, to get to your max speed to have to shift focus to speed mode, see what your capable of actually shooting 5 shots at speed. After 20 or so stage strings you will finally get 1 clean run, then 2, then 4. You begin to experience the pace / cadence it takes to achieve faster speeds. This leads to being able to actually go faster in a match, as you already used to seeing the stage at the faster pace. Not saying this is an every practice thing, but definitely a drill set to have in your practice day rotation. Thanks for the comment - more to come on this topic in the next few months.

[@CompShooter54]

@@mindinbox Hey Karlos, first off I love your channel and your content. We need more channels like this to attract more shooters to this shooting sport! I should have mentioned that I was referring to newer shooters, not experienced shooters. A newer shooter, while shooting at a slow pace is still missing plates, can not benefit by going faster and missing more plates. As an example, there is a 16 year old boy who shoots RFRO and is being coached by his father. He is the fastest shooter I have encountered so far, but also misses an unacceptable amount of plates per stage. It's just my opinion that f you don't yet have the basics and mechanics down first, you are only making nose by gong faster. I have been coaching 2 shooter new to SC, but not new shooters. I make sure that they can hit all of the plates in a string without any make up shots before we move on to adding speed. I have yet to see anyone shoot a faster time with a makeup shot, than shooting clean just going a LITTLE slower. And with newer shooters, misses start creeping into their heads, usually causing more misses. I have also found, mostly with me, that I cannot replicate the times I shoot in practice at a match without having misses. As an example I can shoot showdown in the low 1.6's to high 1.5's in practice, but will be a disaster for me if I try to go that fast in a match. But that's just me. I have heard you talk about your practice times and not shooting those times in a match so it happens to all of us at some time. So, in closing, I agree that if you never try to go faster you will never get faster, but there is a right way and a wrong way to teach it, and who you are teaching it too. Keep up the good work, and keep those videos coming!

[@harveylee2345]

What Karlos is alluding to is what is coined as “SPEED MODE” (Steve Anderson). This concept is used only in”PRACTICE” and not during a match. In speed mode, “SPEED” is the goal not accuracy. You are training your eyes to see the targets faster, which will equate to faster times until it becomes the “NEW NORM “ and ingrained into your subconscious mind…then faster times come! If you go to the match with “SPEED MODE GUY” you are correct you will most likely miss…trust me I know. At the match I try to shoot in “MATCH MODE” which is “TARGET FOCUSED AND CALLING THE SHOT”. It prevents me from visually out running my sights which leads to misses. Every time I try to “Go Faster” it leads to rush, try, hurry, miss! Still assimilating these concepts as I’m almost an “A” class shooter in RFPI at 67. Give it a try. Best wishes on your steel challenge journey!

[@CompShooter54]

@@harveylee2345 I am 69 and I am at 100% (GM plus 5%). You are never too old to keep improving! Do you know why you are missing? IF you are missing plates that is. If you are not missing any plates, then yes, try going faster. If you are missing plates and still shooting "B" times, then going faster will only make you miss more plates. YOU need to figure out why YOU are struggling. It could be the equipment you are using, your practice routine, or many other factors. Do you dry fire? If you don't, then you should do at least 30 minutes a day of dry fire. I went up 10 points (from M to GM) in 3 months from my last match in December to my first match the following year in March, and I never fired a live round in between. It was all dry fire practice INDOORS, from between 30 and 90 minutes a day, almost every day. Keep at it and you will figure it out. You will be amazed at what you will learn about yourself! Get a target set from Go Fast, Don't Suck targets and set them up per the instructions. Shoot at them until you want to throw up, then shoot at them some more.

[@Mark-Milw42]

Watched this again before venturing out to compete in a 6 stage Steel Challenge today. Letting my mind out of the box, going to have "fun"! "Looking for that "B"!

[@jonbreazeal6031]

Jon Shoots with the Havasu Steel people in Lake Havasu City almost every month. He's a great guy.

[@mindinbox]

Hello Jon, can't agree with you more; Jon is awesome, his stories are even better. We shot this year three times in Arizona, but also in Colorado and Nebraska as well. Have to work hard to stay ahead of his great shooting. Thanks for the comment, hope to shoot there myself one day soon!!

[@CurtisBrandt]

Wonderful presentation, Karlos. Those were some smokin' RFRO runs on Smoke and Hope! Your ideas about "speed mode" are likely helpful. I think it helps to shoot the rhythm and pace that you eventually desire to shoot at, then work on bringing your hits up to match. My friends and I also do this when we are practicing. Fixing your problems "at speed" seems like a productive mindset. It's a little harder when your practice is at a local match, but maybe it still applies? String 5? LOL. Thanks for another great video, sir.

[@mindinbox]

Howdy Curtis, Hahaha, only die hard SC shooters know the secret of String 5 - Go blazing Fast cause you already have 4 good times! Have you checked out part 2 of this video, I clarify a few of concepts that I wanted to point out in this video but missed? Honestly, You stated the full point of this video already; you have to practice and adjust mistakes at the speed you desire to shoot. That requires you stop trying to practice perfect strings and instead practice fast enough that you do miss often, allow your eyes to start focusing and understanding the new speed. Thanks as always for the support and interaction.. Job hunting at the moment, so not shooting as much this year. Thanks for popping up this video, sometimes I enjoy watching these and remembering the good days at the range..

[@CurtisBrandt]

@@mindinbox I will look for part two! I enjoy your presentations. This year I am working on making a break through. I have reached a decent pace, but want to see if I think "outside the box" (see what I did there?), can I make further progress? You are shooting strings and stages well faster than peak times and I've decided not to rule that out for myself. I don't see how it's possible, but I think it IS possible. Your idea to practice well faster than I am currently able to shoot, is a good direction to push and it's encouraging to hear you talk about it. I'm actually going to apply that to my dry fire using the banners - doesn't waste ammo or anything! Just seeing what happens if I go through the strings much faster than my par times and see if I can see sight pictures in there. Trying to train my eyes and seeing if this is a productive path. Good luck in your endeavors and I hope we all have a great year "in the box"!

[@mindinbox]

@@CurtisBrandt Last year I watched multiple people in the same match, girls and boys, shoot these stages at 140-150% of peak times, and I thought - How ? How do they do it. So I keep working on my speed, one day I will get there. Your theory of dryfire practice at incredible speeds using the banners is exactly how I am able to consistency get faster. The key for me in DryFire that really helped was occluding the red dot. That alone helped me notice misses on the banner targets easier, it streghthened my left eye become better at target focus, and keeps you from being focused on the dot, keep that focus on the targets. My tips to you :)

[@CurtisBrandt]

@@mindinbox thank you for your thoughtful replies. I am working on my vision this year and am almost 100% occluded in dryfire. I have also shot multiple matches (steel and USPSA) occluded. Thanks again for your thoughts.

[@jimcatpsu]

Love it Karlos. I wish I had a place to practice stages like that. Being a new shooter with only regular access to an indoor range, I can only do so much. Good luck to you , Mark and your friends this season.

[@mindinbox]

Hi Jim, I too ! wish I had a local range like this to practice. Took me 17 hours to drive to that range :). Thankfully, I stayed with Mark for couple of weeks & had a blast / great time getting to know the Arizona crew. DryFire practice at home works great . I have found that this had helped me make the biggest improvement in my shooting performance. Try a banner from either steelshootbanners.com or LASRapp.com. These helped me improve the most, got me focusing on the targets - not the reddot.. Best of luck in your steel challenge journey. Thanks for saying hello - Karlos

[@user-pr3ho5pz4m]

Very good advice. Will put this info to good use.

[@mindinbox]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ironmonkey1512]

I tried the 5 shot approach and saw results immediately. Also saves time loading 10 shot mags for more strings! Thanks great channel.

[@mindinbox]

Glad to hear you liked this method of practice. Beyond just shooting five shots, did you push speed too? Did you find yourself shooting faster by the end?

[@ironmonkey1512]

@@mindinbox I try going fast enough to miss shots on average, pushing to set some new personal record. I only count the ones where I land all five : )

[@ironmonkey1512]

@@mindinbox I carry a small notebook and record my best strings.

[@budybudrofox]

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to give your compact stance a try for a while. It looks like it would be advantageous on Smoke N Hope also. I'm looking forward to more training ideas from Mind In The Box!

[@mindinbox]

Thanks for the Comment & Your welcome on the tips! Update - Gave the tight stance a priority at the MS State Championship this weekend on Pendulum, shot an 8.56 with RFRO which was pretty solid in my book. Also shot a GM time with RFRI, definitely going that direction for some stages.... For other sticking with my usual form.

[@charlesdesalme6405]

Interesting video on speed and stance. Going to the range this week to practice your suggestions. The Prescott Range is top notch. However, the road leading to the range has allot of curves.

[@mindinbox]

That’s exactly what I’m doing practicing new techniques to see what I like and don’t like about my current shooting style - never got enough reps in to make it add value until this trip. We shall see how the next match goes . Keep me posted on your thoughts

[@speculatorking]

Great video, are you getting use to the new magwell?

[@mindinbox]

Thank You, Appreciate the Feedback. On the Pistol Magwell, Oh Yea! I have to wear a glove to make it fit my hand properly,;it's been cooler so sweat hasn't been an issue. I tried several gloves throughout the trip, A golf glove that is white, a brown mechanics glove, and a black new model mechanics glove. All provided the same level of performance, but the aluminum grips visually shredded up the golf glove after a few days. Also really careful with inserting the mags, no magazine mishaps in ~10 matches.

[@Freakingstang]

What is your classification in production, open and carry optics.,

[@mindinbox]

Haven’t gotten into the center fire pistol divisions yet - pcc rifles and rimfire divisions keep me busy as they are most shot divisions at steel matches - I shot production once without any prep , just to test out a couple of theories, got a D.

[@roadking62]

Great tips & I'm going to shorten my stance. I played around with changing here at home (no fire) & was pretty surprised that it seemed to help. Too many tips in this video for just one watch. I will definitely replay this a couple of times. Brand new to SC. One match down, & signed up for 2 more! Thanks Karlos! Thanks