Measuring progress

Learning to shoot well is not a linear journey. It’s proving to be a messy process, with lots of challenges and failures along the way, along with small, incremental successes. No sudden ascent into the top echelon of shooters.

I started competing two years ago and I’ve participated in about 20 matches. My training and practice look like this: I’m at the range practicing live fire about once a week shooting 300 rounds with a purpose. That means going in with a specific plan for what I want to work on, focused on some aspect of accuracy, speed and movement. I generally dry fire 4-5 times a week. Again, with a plan. I spend a lot of time working on grip and vision, specifically developing a consistent, repeatable index and hard target focus. And I compete once a month. Add to this mix the shooting I do when demoing for my students.

So what has my progress looked like? My shooting has improved and that’s reflected in classing up, better scores and higher placements in matches. It’s measurable and quantifiable. But I’m really just getting started. And it’s important to consider that better scores and placements in matches aren’t the only metric. I also take into consideration improvements in how well I’m able to articulate various skills and explain aspects of fundamentals, like grip, vision and recoil management to my students.

My progress isn’t going to follow a straight upward trajectory. Along the way I’m learning new skills, improving, sometimes practicing incorrectly, developing injuries, taking a few steps back, understanding techniques with greater depth and detail, practicing correctly, improving, challenging myself to shoot more aggressively, uncovering and addressing weaknesses and gaps, improving — over time. It’s not pretty and it’s not easy. What’s important is engraining daily habits, staying committed to the process and persevering. And then appreciating the gains in skill and greater confidence.

Last week I competed with 44 other shooters at all levels at a USPSA Level I match. It was a blast. I came away with a very accurate, reliable assessment of my skills. There’s no place to hide when you’re on a stage in front of other shooters. Your skills are what they are in that moment. This is an incredibly important part of what progress looks like. Because you can’t improve what you don’t measure.