Brandon Breeze
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As many of you know, dry fire is one of the most effective ways to improve, not just for competition, but for shooting in general.I've always done some amount of dry fire. The difference since getting into competition is the intent behind it.
Before competition, my dry fire was primarily about maintaining proficiency: draw the gun, change a magazine, get on target, etc.
Now, I'm still practicing those same skills, but I'm specifically trying to make them faster, more consistent, and repeatable under pressure.
That's where things have gotten really interesting.
Take reloads, for example. I started working specifically on getting my reloads under 0.4 seconds, and then began pushing toward 0.3 seconds.
0.4 Second Reload Practice & Results
0.3 Second Reload Practice
One of the biggest things I've learned is that you have to be willing to push yourself to failure.
If I only practice at a speed where I know I can succeed every time, I'm really just reinforcing the speed I already have. Going faster than I think I can go exposes exactly where the technique starts to break down, and that's where I can figure out what needs work.
When you're working within tenths of a second, you start noticing things you probably wouldn't notice otherwise. Grip, hand movement, mag presentation, insertion, getting the support hand back to the gun, visual processing... suddenly a tiny inefficiency matters.
And sometimes you discover that the thing you thought was limiting you isn't actually the limiting factor at all.
That's what I enjoy most about this type of practice. You're essentially experimenting to find the edge of your current ability, then figuring out how to move that edge.
And honestly, it's a lot of fun.
How do you define success when you're practicing a specific skill in dry fire?
Do you have a particular metric you're chasing, a par time, a percentage of successful repetitions, or something else you're working toward?
What specific element of your shooting are you currently trying to improve?
