Going into class "cold"

[rob_s]

I think the cramming comparison is a good one. Maybe I'm spoiled shooting at least twice a month, usually 3 or 4 times, but if I had to tune up before a class I would think about maybe distributing that tuition money across some local range time to keep the fundamentals up to par.

[Treehopr]

If it's a TigerSwan pistol class I would expect that they would spend some time in the beginning doing ball and dummy type drills. Shooting from 25 yards at NRA Bullseye targets.

"Brilliance in the Basics"

"Perfect execution of the fundamentals under stress"

Every drill is scored for time and/or accuracy.

It's only a 2 Day class...

Knowing that, I would spend some time doing dry fire just to knock the rust off. Getting "warmed up" during class is fine but if I've got time before a class I'll work on draw stroke, trigger press, reloads, use of light (hand held or weapon mounted), strong hand only, other strong hand, from the prone.

This may be the first time the instructor ever sees you, he doesn't know how good you "can" be; he knows how good you are right there in front of him so if he sees you struggling with basic skills that's what he'll be coaching you on.

If he sees that you've got the fundamentals down he can pass on higher level tips or nuances that a new shooter may not be ready for.

I've trained with a lot of folks and I learned more about the mechanics of shooting from TigerSwan than anybody else.

Use your time wisely.

[YVK]

This may be the first time the instructor ever sees you, he doesn't know how good you "can" be; he knows how good you are right there in front of him so if he sees you struggling with basic skills that's what he'll be coaching you on.

If he sees that you've got the fundamentals down he can pass on higher level tips or nuances that a new shooter may not be ready for.

I think this is worth repeating.

[Gutshot John]

It all depends on what you mean by "cold". It's a false choice to equate preparing for a class with cramming as I don't really view shooting classes as exams. You might cram for exams, but you prepare for the classes you attend during the semester. You do your weekly readings, you do your homework, you write your papers and you participate in classroom discussion. If you do all of this than you're not really cramming when it comes time for the exam. When you prep for a class you're just refreshing your memory and knocking some rust off your skills. How is this a bad thing?

From my perspective is that if you're shooting regularly throughout the year than you're not really shooting the class "cold". YMMV.

If you don't shoot at all for the whole rest of the year and only go to the range a week before you go to a class well I guess that beats nothing at all but I don't know that anyone here is really advocating that. I agree that I could care less about someone who is safe and doesn't hold up the class. I've also been in classes where there is "that guy" sucking range time away from everyone else and at least in one case...almost shot me.

I think people also tend to view round counts as some sort of objective measure of how well prepared they may be. I've known plenty of people that shoot much more than I do in a given month but don't shoot any better than I do. Is that a question of quality? or quantity? I think (and have seen) that some shooters are far more likely to train in bad habits by obsessively shooting 10K rounds a year than by shooting less and focusing on things like dry-fire etc.

I've taken a lot of classes over the last 5 years. I've never met anyone that said to themselves "damn I wish I prepared less". I've met plenty and have said myself "damn I wish I prepared more" as they would have gotten a lot more out of the class.

[Gutshot John]

I think this is worth repeating.

Truth.

[orionz06]

From my perspective is that if you're shooting regularly throughout the year than you're not really shooting the class "cold". YMMV.

There is that thought, but what is cold?


Now what about the idea that you are taking the class to improve your ____. Is the warm up/evaluation period for the class enough to get you back in a groove if you shoot weekly? Monthly? I'm not saying shooting a case of ammo over the course of 3 nights before the class, but why break up your normal routine to purposely shoot "cold"?

If the class is focused on speed, why wouldn't I show up shooting to my full potential? I want the instructor to improve my very best, whatever that is. The idea of the class is to improve upon my current skillset. I don't wanna pay someone $600 for a weekend to see me at my peak for less than 100% of the class time. The same goes for an accuracy oriented class. Do I skip dry fire for a week to show up cold and risk being really sloppy? How much of my money is wasted trying to get in a groove? How much of my classmates money is wasted? What if I have a bad day paired up with being cold? Is half of the first day spent having the instructor tell me things that I legitimately know but can't show them because I am shooting cold?

Now, if the instructor likes to run a class contest for score, is it worth practicing that drill over and over and over to win the golden douche award? Probably not, but to each his own.

Would I show up for a high performance driving class and take a cab all week before hand?

[SHIVAN]

I got it now, you were talking about practicing drills, outside your normal shooting for the sole purpose of gaming it up, right?

If so, no chance I do that. I shoot my fundamentals, practice my reloads some, do some index card multi-round stuff and maybe some draws from the holster. Normal stuff.

For carbine classes, I get to NRA and confirm I am zeroed at 25yds, and my POI's at 50yds. Some double-taps, some failure drills at short range to account for offsets, and call it good.

These are all normal range sessions for me though. I don't go out and shoot the MEU test, or anyone's standards on the timer.

[rob_s]

I don't do anything to prepare for a class other than zero/check zero if it's an old/new gun. If it's the gun I shoot allthe time indont worry about it. Every carbine class is going to confirm anyway.

If there was some fundamental I felt I needed to practice prior to a class I'm either not ready for the class or need to retake a lower level class. This is why all I take are level 1 pistol classes. I haven't progressed past level 1 pistol accuracy.

[Jay Cunningham]

This is why all I take are level 1 pistol classes. I haven't progressed past level 1 pistol accuracy.

Acknowledging this reality, perhaps you should consider de-emphasizing carbine for a year.

My apologies for the derail, it's just that I've read similar statements from you for several years now, and I'm at a loss as to why you haven't addressed your self-identified issue with your usual logic and tenacity.

[RogerinTPA]

I got it now, you were talking about practicing drills, outside your normal shooting for the sole purpose of gaming it up, right?

If so, no chance I do that. I shoot my fundamentals, practice my reloads some, do some index card multi-round stuff and maybe some draws from the holster. Normal stuff.

For carbine classes, I get to NRA and confirm I am zeroed at 25yds, and my POI's at 50yds. Some double-taps, some failure drills at short range to account for offsets, and call it good.

These are all normal range sessions for me though. I don't go out and shoot the MEU test, or anyone's standards on the timer.

Agreed. I think most will practice fundamentals and drills that was learned in previous training, at least I do, often using posted notes for my pistol drills. I normally shoot 200 rounds pistol and 180 rounds carbine every week when home. I try to shoot at least a few mags left handed in both pistol and carbine. I was reminded last week of one of Kyle Lamb's axioms "Practice what you suck at!" I normally take an advanced draw fire pistol course locally, about 3-4 times a year. The reason I do is because the instructors change up the scenarios each class. We were made to shoot half of the instruction weak hand only, around barriers, to include mag changes and malfunction clearances. I did just fine with the latter, but found out that my "weak hand only" shooting in these scenarios had deteriorated and sucked ass. After the course and later that day, I took an additional 200 rounds, drew and shot left hand only.