It is good to hold yourself to a consistent dry-fire routine and live-fire routine. If you take long furloughs in-between, then you will find yourself spending time to get right back to the same spot you were at instead of excelling. It does not take huge investments of time to begin to better yourself. Even if you can only do 15 minutes of dry-fire each day, you will begin to notice how much smoother you are on your range trips. If you can afford to do 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at night, that is even better. Even if your schedule only allows for 15 minutes every other day, this is still going to net you bigger gains than doing a weeks worth of dry-fire sessions then not touching your gun for a month.
If you do not practice enough, then your actions will not be consistent. You might find that sometimes your shirt falls in the way of your gun on the draw or sometimes your clothing might get caught when going for a magazine on the reload. As you practice, you might find clothing that is not working to access your firearm or equipment. You might find that you have to tweak a technique or clear your cover garment a little differently on the draw as you wear different garments. A lot of times you won’t notice these issues until you have completed many repetitions and find them to be an issue intermittently. Techniques that work most of the time are not good enough, it is ideal to choose a technique that is going to work for you every time.
Also, with practicing on a more consistent basis, you won’t feel as rushed to achieve the par times you are hoping to achieve. The more times you practice a task, it won’t feel like you are pushing yourself so hard and getting inconsistencies in order to achieve your par time. It takes many repetitions of a task to chip away at the time comfortably without sacrificing proper technique. I know if I push myself way too fast, I make big mistakes which really slow me down and take away from my consistency. I like to pick a par time that I am comfortable with but still pushing myself to meet. After many sessions of meeting that time, I will drop my par time down another tenth of a second and stick with it until I am very comfortable meeting that time. Once I am comfortable meeting the new time, I will repeat my process of dropping the par time down.
As the seasons change take this into account for your training. As we enter Fall, we are creeping closer to Winter each week. This means it would probably be a good idea to start practicing in attire besides t-shirts and sweaters. It would be a good idea to spend a little time practicing with coats and gloves as well. This way you will know yourself on your draw with your winter clothing instead of being put on the spot of drawing your firearm for the first time in your winter coat or with gloves on when you are trying to defend your life or the lives of loved ones.
Have a great and safe Weekend!
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