I think I failed the Wizard Drill

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WrongHanded

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For those who (like myself, until recently) do not know what the Wizard Drill is:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAAegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw1F_YsgpNBoAIWvJe6LVVh5

The drill goes like this.

From your usual concealment carry holster, with your usual carry gun and carry ammo, fire the following stages. Each stage timed from draw to last shot in 2.5 seconds or less. Using an official IDPA target.

- 1 headshot, strong hand only, @ 3 yds
- 1 headshot, one or both hands, @ 5 yds
- 1 headshot, two hands, @ 7 yds
- 2 torso shots, two hands, @ 10 yds

As you can see in the video, a circle is drawn for the headshot using the outside of a roll of masking tape. That's about 4.5" in diameter. For the torso shots, the center circle is used, which is 8" diameter.

I bought a shot timer specifically to start doing timed drills like this. I was shooting a G23 converted to .357 Sig, from an OWB strong side kydex holster. I was using my own target ammo rather than my usual carry ammo, but it's actually a faster load than my carry ammo (POI is about the same though). I prefer an open front cover garment where possible, so this is what I wore. I used 8" dirty bird targets, not an IDPA target. Based on the rings of that target, I have a pretty good idea of what constitutes a hit or miss. I took 50 rounds to the range and used it all on this drill.

I ran the drill through once, then ran various stages repeatedly. So how did I do?

Stage 1: The majority of the one handed shots at 3 yards were hits. All were within time. I threw several shots low and right (leftie). I don't believe these were due to flinching, I think I was jerking the trigger to try and stay under time. It got better as I shot more.

Stage 2: This was the easiest stage. Shooting two handed, I was under time and on target. So I stopped focusing on it and spent my time on the other stages.

Stage 3: One or maybe two of these were just a hair over time due to messing up my draw. I wasn't keeping my shots quite as tight as I'd like on this stage, and hitting low on a few. Not bad, but not great.

Stage 4: I had a really hard time with this stage. I was over time on the second shot for all of these, though I got close on a few occasions. But I do believe I kept almost everything inside the 8" circle at 10 yards. I think the reason I was so slow is that during dry fire practice, I don't (and can't because it's a Glock) practice controlled pairs. I also think I was aiming too small (like I was shooting for the earlier stages) instead of using the whole 8" target. That certainly effected my time getting through the first shot. All the first shots were under time, but it's supposed to be two shots in 2.5 seconds, not one. Unfortunately, due to the range being busy, I was recording other people's shots too. And therefore couldn't check my splits. No reliable data for that.

So I'd say that I failed the drill. Repeatedly. However, this is exactly why I bought the shot timer. To get better. I have to work on one handed trigger control, and on controlled pairs whilst focusing less on accuracy and more on speed.

But hey, I like the direction I'm going. Thanks to all those High Road members who push other shooters like me to go further and get better.
 
Did you learn anything? Will you improve from it?

If so, I wouldn't say you failed.

His 9th Symphony was not Beethoven's first attempt.

I absolutely learned something from it. Actually I learned quite a lot from it.

It's interesting that I can imagine myself easily succeeding at something like this, just as I can easily imagine myself failing horribly. So on the one hand it was a humbling experience. And on the other hand, it was reassuring to see that when I came under time, I didn't miss by much when I did miss; and when I was over time, I at least hit where I wanted.

But there's nothing like exposing the truth with measurements of distance, target size and time. And I'll be working with my new shot timer and at least 50 rounds per week (and dry fire), to get more proficient with my carry and HD pistols.
 
Thanks for posting. I'll have to give that a try. I need to get back into the routine of drills with my shot timer. There was a noticable improvement in my skills when I used it regularly.
 
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