Dry Fire Week 2 Friday - Competition is in the AM

Here we go. Ta-da! Here we are, just like that. It says you are live for 8 whole seconds already. So replay viewers— oh wait, no, hold on, not replay viewers. Folks like Tactical Fudd and Gun Websites and DJ actually get to see the beginning of this live because they're out hanging out waiting for me to come on and show you guys and share with you. So here I am. For those who've never been here, my name is Brooke Cheney and I am the owner instructor here at A Great Start Shooting School. And I am super excited, unlike yesterday where I was very tired. Um, this is the final, uh, final episode of the dry fire, um, videos that I've been doing for the past 2 weeks. We did Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday last week, and this week today is the end of these. Um, so if you missed any, feel free to go back, check them out. So what is our grand finale? Tomorrow is competition, and voilà, I'm going to shoot my first match of the season tomorrow morning and throughout the day. So where did we start? Last Tuesday I went and I shot my IDPA classifier, and we talked about it a little bit, and I said how I'm not even qualified to be— or I am qualified to be a novice which is when you haven't practiced for like 2 years, is probably where you should be. So here was my target from last week. For those of you don't know, these are my 2 worst shots because we didn't talk about this a lot, but because I'm talking about competition for tomorrow, I'm going to teach you all how this all works. The way IDPA works is it is your raw time plus the points that you get on a target. So these 2 points, these 2 right here, that's 6 points because each one is worth 3 points. So I could have taken probably 3 seconds and put them at least in the negative 1 or the down 0. There are 3 targeting— there are 3, um, what are the scoring places here? We have the down 0, which is where we'd like everything most of the time. Then we have the down 1, and then we have the down 3. On the head, which is way harder to see— well, if I get closer to you, the 0 is the middle of the head. Outside that circle is the 1. So I'm, I'm happy with that 0 on this one. So sadness here— I knew that doing this, the reason I got novice is because I missed it by 0.28 .28 hundredths of a second. And I knew if all I did was either drop one of these or do a better reload, that I would get to Marksman. So for the past 2 weeks, we've been practicing, talking about dry fire. I've been handling my gun more than I have in the past 2 years. So are y'all ready? Would you like to know what the new target looks like that I just did about, I don't know, 2 hours ago. Hi Vanessa Kitty, how are you? DJ, put her up so that everyone can say hi Vanessa Kitty. Um, so anyway, um, yeah, so do y'all want to know how did I do? Because I have the new target right behind here. Oh wait, I think I've just showed you like the best shot possible. But yes, um, I also have a new score sheet. So I'm just curious, if you dare tell me, do you think that I maybe possibly after 2 weeks of dry fire shave off 0.28 of a second? What do y'all think? Go ahead, comment below, even if you're watching the replay, because I still want to know what kind of faith y'all have in me. So, all right, are we ready? Oh wait, I can't see what she says. Yes. All right, ta-da! So do y'all remember what did I want? I didn't want any holes here. I managed to not have any holes here in the down 3, so that was better. Um, on this target, first one, I had 13 penalty points, which means I took my raw score and I added 13 seconds to it. This guy, which I avoided the down 3, and I got to show you really close up, the down 0 couldn't be much more down 0 because it's literally in the 0 of the down 0. So I'm sorry, but that's the best shot of the day. And for this one, I— thank you, DJ— I shaved off 2 points. So on my first attempt cold, I had 13 penalty points, and my raw score was 28 seconds and 28.89. For today's, I actually shaved off time and points, so my raw score on today's was 26.45 with 11 penalty points, giving me a final score of 37— yes, 37.45. I'm like, I just realized I did the math wrong. Um, yes, I'm, I'm very— I love that. That's like totally awesome. Like, that's the best shot of the day, for real. So, so yes, the dry fire worked. Handling your gun works. Um, because I did zero live fire between, uh, Tuesday when from when I shot that to today. Uh, so because I was waiting to shoot that, I've done zero live fire. So now once I did that, I'm like, ooh, I can shoot things now. So the other thing that I did is I went on to my plate rack because just like last week how I started it with just shooting the classifier, this week now that I'm actually allowed to do dry fire because I promised y'all I would not— or live fire I, until today, I now started working on the plate rack. And for those of you who don't know, Bianchi plate rack has 6 falling steel plates. And so for today, I'm like, just like last week when I got my baseline for my, um, classifier, today I got my baseline for how I'm doing with a plate rack. And there's a couple different things I'm looking at because last week we just knew that I wanted to go from novice to marksman, and that's what I did in the past 2 weeks. By huge leaps? Yes and no. Um, definitely better time plus less penalty points is a bonus for sure. Dry fire, however, is just like dieting. Yeah, don't eat a salad and lose all the weight. Uh, dry fire is something that you have to build on. So did I make a little bit of progress? Yes. And how do I know that? Because I knew what my times were and I knew what my points were. So in order to get better, you must measure what you're doing. So sorry, I'm going in circles, but I'm just so excited because I also got to shoot my plate rack. In my first, uh, go at my plate rack, I cleaned it 6 shots. In 7.24 seconds, and my draw, which is another thing that we measure, was 2.64— 2 seconds— 2.6— you all understand, 2 seconds, 0.64 hundredths. So I'm like, that wasn't a bad start. But like all practice goes, really what we're looking for is where do we fail. So that would be round 2. I did round 2 in 10.5 seconds, and I did 10 shots to clear that rack. So going from a perfect score of 1 for 1 to 10 for 6, um, it's sort of humbling. And one of the things you're trying to do is figure out, okay, what is the difference from the first round that I did to the second round? So part of it is paying attention to what was my draw, and in the first set it was 2.64. In the second one, it was 2.54, which sometimes that's enough to make you miss, but you don't know unless you're actually looking at this stuff. So I went on, I did 7 rounds, and my best round was my 6th go, and it was 6.5 seconds with 1 extra shot at 7, and it was also my best draw at 2.33. So this is where if you pay attention and measure stuff— and this is in all the books I've been showing you all this past 2 weeks— is you need to know your metrics so you know if you're getting better. So now, well, I'm going to shoot my match tomorrow and hope to get through it because the other thing I realized being on the range this afternoon, um— oh, Vanessa Kitty, I love that idea, definitely nice improvement. Totally what I want for it— not winning a thing tomorrow. Only because my only goal is to actually get through the match tomorrow. For those of you don't know, I am recovering from knee surgery, and considering one of the things you're timed on, right, is getting through the course of fire, and I'm only going to be walking through my course of fire, I can't run. So as per usual, my expectation is to look at the score sheet go to the bottom and find out how far up from the bottom I actually am. I never go to win. It's not a thing. I actually got— and I'm so glad you said that because I got into handling firearms so that I could pick it up without shooting myself or anyone else. I am not here to be a Max Michel, a Julie Gottlieb, a Kay Miklik, or any of that. I'm never going to be a master or champion.. But I love the fact that competition has given me that freedom to get comfortable shooting and moving, understanding I know how to draw a gun and keep it pointed in a safe direction and know that I'm looking at my target and beyond it. It's not the self-defense stuff, but it's a great way, and it has helped me be super confident with firearms. Unlike, I think you were talking about before, um, you know, indoor target, indoor shooting where you're just standing there and and looking at stuff. And yeah, so experience at each match is spectacular. My, uh, my plan is try to be as accurate as possible, but I always have that plan and I rarely stick to that plan. So here you go. Um, always, always, always, when you go to the range and you're doing your live fire, write something down. Write down how many rounds you went through, What is the purpose? What was the distance? Because this is a Bianchi plate rack, 10 yards. And what are my times and what are my, um, my draws? Because I want to get my draw at— for my first goal, my first goal is going to be under 2 seconds, and then my second goal is under 1.5, and then my third goal would be sub-1. But that's like June, July-ish, probably. I prefer that. Hard to say. So always do that. What else did I learn today? Uh, yes, I did my improvement. My knee is unhappy from being on the ranch. So yes, DJ says pushing it through my injury, go easy. Absolutely, 100%. Um, so now I realize tomorrow morning I have to get up, leave my house. So what do I have here? I have my handy-dandy checklist. One of the things I offer to my students is, um, whatever this is called, a basic range safety list. Because DJ and I were just talking before this, and it's funny how those of us who shoot all the time take for granted that we know what to put in our bags. So I have a simple checklist: eye protection, ear protection, hat. So many people don't understand why this can be a safety thing in that, um, if you're indoors especially and shooting semi-auto, when the brass falls out, it will come back and it can get on your face and your head, and a hat just makes it so much nicer. So I always include a hat in my checklist. Um, and the other reason I put this together is gun and magazine for the gun, unless you're shooting a revolver, obviously, but— I can't tell you, well I can, probably 2 or 3 times. But getting to the range and having your gun and not having the magazine that goes with it totally sucks. So what was G-Web's question? When practicing for the match, you include reacting to malfunctions. So maybe at some point I did. I think that because I've been doing this for so long, I just do it because I've had so many malfunctions. I don't think that I practice it very often. Um, instead, for the most part, because we reload for ourselves and that sort of stuff, I just make sure my, my ammo is good, that my gun is oiled so that I'm not going to have malfunctions, and I know that's what everyone plans to do and it doesn't always work, but I have very few malfunctions and running and gunning, as so many people call these sports, you just get really good at, okay, click, all right, let's fix that and let's get going. So I actually don't think I practice malfunctions at all. When I'm teaching, I get to practice because I show my students what they're doing. So kind of in default, I guess I do practice, just not when it's my practice time, because for me it's seeing, working on that accuracy, working on the speed of my transitions. The way I choose what I'm practicing is when you go to a match, think about what are you doing the most of. So since tomorrow's IDPA, we'll talk IDPA. Oh look, I'm wearing my IDPA hat. Um, so a majority of the course is pulling the trigger. Right, so let's say 18-round course, I've got 9 targets, 2 shots each, right? So I've got 18 shots, I have 9 transitions, and I have 1 reload. Yes, because I start with 11 in the gun, I have to shoot it till it's empty, and then I reload my next 10. So that's 21. Yeah, so I practice accordingly to that, right? So the biggest thing is that accuracy thing. The second thing is then transitions and accuracy, because that's the second thing that I'm doing. And then for each stage I'm doing— oh wait, and then I'm doing at least one reload. USPSA is different, there's a lot more reloads than that, but, um usually 4 to 5 a lot of times, but for IDPA it's just usually just 1. And then I'm also doing 1 draw per stage that I'm doing. So when I'm looking at what I'm going to take my time to practice, it's what I'm doing the most of, which is shooting accurately, and then reloads, and then drawing, because you're only drawing once per stage. As far as malfunctions Ideally, maybe that will happen once every couple matches, if it happens at all. So, um, and those are usually the frustrating matches. But so yeah, so that would be why I don't, um, practice malfunction so much, because you want to break up your time. Because what do we all have? We all have 24 hours in a day. What is the one thing no one can replace or buy from or anything else? We only have so much time. So just like when I'm talking about suicide prevention and 2 out of 3 deaths are suicide, so why aren't we focusing on the bigger number? Or when we're talking gun violence and I'm like, well, in Connecticut, 75% of violent crime is without a gun. Let's focus on the bigger number. So there's a really long question or answer to your really short question, but thank you for that, G-Webs. All right, so range bag checklist. This is just going on the to the range for an hour, and I always, always suggest you have a notebook. And it can be super simple, it can be one of these little itty-bitty like 99-cent notebooks and a pen that you can just shove in there. Um, no, IDPA is better than IPSC. It's different. So, um, whether you're just going to range for an hour or whether you're going to competition, you want to bring a notebook and a pen so you can write down what you're doing. And because if you're having a really great day, like, you know, that awesome headshot, you want to write that down. If you're having a crap day, like those, uh, 3-pointers over here, yeah, you want to write that down too. Write in rain. Notebook's always on my person. Write in rain. All right, well, I don't know. Oh, I mean like you have notebooks you can actually write on the rain— in the rain or in range. Anyway, wow, that's like a tongue twister almost. Um, so yeah, know what you do and that's how you get better. My nice long, long range bag checklist for going to a match. And the reason it's so much longer than going to the range for a day or for an hour is because we are there all day. So starts the same— eye, ear protection, ammo. Make sure you've got the right ammo, enough ammo. You need to know how many rounds is the round count for the competition you're going. Um, I've never heard of waterproof paper. That's very cool. I'm not sure I'm that dedicated because rain matches suck, but, um, You know, we all do that though too. All right, so firearm mini first aid kit. One of the things I learned today, because it's been so long since I've been doing live fire, I need a Band-Aid because if I do not put a Band-Aid on my finger tomorrow morning before we start shooting, I'm gonna have a blister by the end of tomorrow. What else is in my first aid kit? Ibuprofen, Advil, Imodium, moleskin. Um, tweezers and Band-Aids, like, and Neosporin. Like, those are the main things that get used in there. There's other stuff in there, there's tourniquets and, you know, um, all sorts of stuff. But really, you want a first aid kit that has the stuff in it that you actually, um, actually know how to use. Water, water, water, water, water. The top 3 reasons that an ambulance shows up at a gun range are heart attack, which is why many gun clubs have the AEDs, heat stroke, and hypothermia. In the wintertime— in the summertime, it's the heat stroke, but stay hydrated. Wintertime, hypothermia, stay hydrated. Water is the number one reason really that causes those other things. Bring your logbook. When you run a match and you do a really good stage, write down how that felt. Anchor that. Like yesterday, G-Webs and I were talking about when you envision how it goes. It's like when you have that perfect stage, which doesn't happen often, but when it does, you do want to record that because you want to burn in that feeling so you want to remember how to do that again. Um, de-lead wipes, usually because you're going to be eating on the range. Sunscreen, it's hot here today, not compared to you Southerners I suppose, but pretty warm. Bug spray, hand warmers if it's wintertime. And one size never fits all. The stuff that's on my list is not necessarily going to be all the same stuff that's going to be on your list if you're going to go do this. But an eyeglass cleaning kit, for example, for when you put your sunscreen on and then you touch your glasses and you forget. Rain gear, check the weather. I got to still do that for tomorrow, for example. Um, all sorts of stuff. Dry hands. There's, there's a million things. So anyway, I warned DJ this was going to be longer than the other days. Um, favorite drink at the range besides water? Honestly, it's pretty much just water. If I were to— and what happens is they usually have Gatorade. A lot of the ranges I go to have Gatorade, so blue Gatorade would be my second favorite, and I don't know what flavor it is, I just know that it's blue. So, um, but in general I just do water just because it's the easiest thing.. And if it's— and it depends what kind of range you are, what kind of competition you go to. Tomorrow is just a little small club match. I think we're doing 4 or 6 stages. Again, I have to look that up to verify that I bring enough ammo with me. And just to give you an idea, if it says it's like a 150-round count, bring at least 250, because one of the things that can happen is if there's a prop failure or you have a malfunction or something, there are times when you will need a reshoot. So you want to bring at least 100 rounds more. Oh, and also the other part is if it's 150-round count, chances are you're going to take extra shots from time to time. So, um, so yeah, so that is— that the ammo is super important. Um, but here's the other thing, the thing I love about the competition community: you can show up and forget something And I mean, literally, you can forget anything. There was one competition that I went to in Massachusetts and had all my gear. I had everything. I have, you know, my— it was called the Munson Monster Mash match, and it's like 32 rounds per stage, kind of crazy thing. So I've got all my ammo, everything's packed. We head up there. I get there and put my belt on, I'm loading my magazines, no gun. I'm like, hmm, it's sitting in a locked box on my kitchen table. It didn't make it to the car. So when I say you can forget just about anything, you really can. I happened to be shooting an M&P Pro at the time, so it's relatively common. So someone had an extra one for me to shoot. So I'm not saying that you should do that. I'm saying you should make your checklist and get it make sure you check your checklist twice before going. So, um, yeah, and I'm not sure that I'd go as far as putting double of everything in vehicle so I forgot something a second has it, but I would say there are plenty of competition shooters who totally have that mindset, which is kind of why I actually was able to borrow somebody else's gun for the day. So, um, and yes, the notebooks, absolutely, uh, help for the checklist as well. So sorry. So I'm like, I could go on, but I realize I already like 23 minutes into this thing. I do have a hard stop at 6:30, so I don't want to go on forever and ever. Sorry, I just looked at the thing. So DJ, throw up G Web's thing about how he intentionally shoots. So yeah, I find myself often having to shoot poorly intentionally in matches so other shooters don't have the heart heart attack from how much better of a shot I am. So here's the other thing for those of you who are watching who may never have been to a competition. The one thing you have to remember is this is for you, right? I know most guys I know, they've got to win, and I'm just like, yes, maybe. But, uh, in my instructor series that I've been doing interviews for, One of the things that everyone's talking about is know why you're there. And like I said at the beginning of this, I'm not there to win. I just want to handle my gun safely. I want to be able to hit some of the targets most of the time and get better. And I like hanging out with folks. I'm not there to become a master or anything like that, but I'm super happy even though I'm just a marksman. And I think that yes, I should get to a sharpshooter, and maybe I will do that this year, but I won't unless I practice to do that., right? So, um, yeah, so you are the only one who knows how you shot. One of the things that I have definitely learned is that I would— when I started, I would see these amazing shooters. I'm like, oh, oh my God, that's so great! And they're like, they missed a shot. I'm like, they missed a shot? I can't even believe they missed a shot. How did that happen? And then I realized there's like No matter where you are in the game, whether you are a Max Michel or Alina Mikulik or a Jeri Mikulik, you're always trying to be better. And so when I was brand, brand, brand new and I was like, I have a gun and you want me to move and it's loaded, are we sure about this? Because I was not sure about this. And all the safety officers like, nope, all we care about is your gun is pointed downrange., and you don't break the 180. And that's all anyone cares about. As much as it may feel like everyone's watching you, nobody gives a crap about your shooting, really and truly. Well, unless they're highly competitive and you're one of their competition. But most of us, nobody cares about our shooting except for us. So if you choose to go, no one's watching your score because nobody cares besides you. 2, all we care about is safety, safety, safety, safety, because you're moving and shooting., and it's a big deal. And 3, you're the only one you get to beat. This is so much of a head game. Oh, and I'll bring out one more target. The head game thing— I shot the classifier I showed you, and then I'm like, I can do better, I know I can. So I shot another one because I wanted to get all in the down zero and get less penalty points. Well, because I was trying so much harder. Notice this is not a perfect headshot like on my first one when I was just doing what I could do. And then, oh, I'm trying so hard. Oh, there's my 3-pointer. So, um, it's— yeah, um, it is definitely that the initial experience was crazy. Like, I remember it was the Monday After Christmas 2010, I'm in Bridgeport, Connecticut at an indoor range, and I literally had that thought of, I have a loaded gun and I'm going to be moving. Who thinks this is a good idea? Because see, in my head, I did not think this was a good idea. I was so freaked out, like, and, and I couldn't tell you what my score was. I couldn't tell you how many targets I actually hit. I just know that I didn't get any safety calls. And that's all I had to do. And that was the beginning of learning how to handle my firearm without going— being afraid of it. And then growing from there and growing from there. And I just go to have fun. If I do well, yay! Like, you know, I do have some trophies here and there. If I don't, not so much. All right, DJ, what's a quick question? Um, So don't know. I mean, I do average around here in New England, anywhere between— well, yeah, it actually varies widely. Go to an actual IDPA club that has actual IDPA rules and safety officers, because there are lots of clubs that you can get to for $5, but it's an action shooting type thing. And the reason I do this is because unless it has actual rules, lots of people get mad and angry, and it may or may not have the same level of safety as something that's being run by actual certified safety officers, whether it's IDPA or USPSA. So you can get into some matches for $5, um, but on average, the IDPA USPSA that I go to around here, anywhere between $20 and $35. I did not go a lot in the last 2 years. There were not a lot in the last 2 years, so I don't know. Um, and G Web says under $3,000. So it's sort of facetious and sort of not. If you go to some of the national events, um, then yeah, you can— like, I put my calendar up and it is for all of this year. And like for tomorrow's match, I think I paid $25. But then my next match, it's a big match. We're talking 12 stages, all sorts of stuff. And that one's like $125. And then it's a charity match though. So trying to raise money and that sort of stuff. There's some USPSA Area 7, I want to say is expensive, but I don't remember how much. But the average club match, anywhere between $20 and $35 generally.. And again, you can go some steel challenges, it's like $5 depending on the club. So yeah, there's a huge difference. That's why I'm like average the $20 to $35. And remember the other thing that I didn't know when I started, that entry fee is not going towards all those people who are running you, who are setting up, who are breaking down. So when you go, please be a good competitor. Help break down, help set up if you can, volunteer. We're all volunteers. Even though you're paying for the match, all the folks there are not getting paid, which I was shocked. Like, I probably competed for like 2 years before I learned that. So, all right, like I said, I got a hard stop. I might be rolling out a brand new website today. So thank you all. If you liked this series, let me know. If you'd like to learn something else, let me know. And like, subscribe, send your friends. I see I'm getting better at that. All right, y'all have a wonderful weekend, and I'll do some kind of update at some point randomly on how the match went. All right, bye everybody.