• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • Training
        • In-Person Training
        • Tactical Training Classes
        • The Journey: Season 1
        • Tactical Hyve's The Journey
        • Training Guides
          • Basics
          • Personal Defense
          • CCW
          • Accuracy
          • Speed
          • Combatives
        • Training Videos
          • Billy's Tips
          • Byron's Tips
          • Coch's Tips
          • Dave's Tips
          • Fred's Tips
          • Greg's Tips
          • Jason's Tips
          • Joe's Tips
          • Matt's Tips
          • Myles's Tips
          • Scott's Tips
          • View All
  • Reviews
        • Class Reviews
        • Class Reviews
        • Gun Reviews
        • Gun Reviews
        • Gear Reviews
        • Tactical Gear Reviews
        • Vetted Directory
        • Vetted directory of shooting lessons in your area
  • About
        • Our Story
        • About Tactical Hyve
        • Our Experts
        • Tactical Hyve Subject Matter Experts
  • Shop
        • Online Training
        • Tactical Hyve Store
        • Tactical Hyve Apparel
  • Newsletter
  • Training Directory

Tactical Hyve

You are here: Home / Training / Want to Shoot Fast? Then Stop Going Slow!

Want to Shoot Fast? Then Stop Going Slow!

May 24, 2021 by Myles 2 Comments
Last Modified: May 24, 2021

Shoot fast or slow

Today, I want to share a little ‘brain hack’ or perhaps a ‘paradigm shift’ that should help you.

The other day I was at the range when I heard someone tell an experienced shooter, “just go slow.”

For anyone learning something new, I agree, they should approach learning new skill sets, slowly.

However, when someone can already safely and confidently manipulate a firearm and understands what to do and how to do something, I share the same sentiments as the best shooters in the world.

One shouldn’t think about going slow. Instead, they need to see more, i.e. they need to see what they need to see.

Let me explain…

See What You Need to See

Private training with JJ Racaza

World Champion shooter, JJ Racaza, was the first to introduce me to the concept of seeing what I needed to see.

While drilling during a class, he really liked my speed but many of my shots were off target.

I asked him if I should slow down to get my hits.

To my surprise, he sternly said, “No. I don’t want you to slow down. I want you to see more.”

At that time, I thought he meant I had to focus on improving my processing speed and my ability to see faster.

While that was part of it, I didn’t completely understand the importance of “seeing what I needed to see.”

A Different Way of Thinking

Private training with Rossen Hristov

It wasn’t until I practiced with my friend Rossen Hristov from Tactical Performance Center that everything made more sense.

We were getting ready for a competition and practicing until we couldn’t get things wrong.

I was having trouble getting all my hits consistently, and said out loud, “I have to shoot slower to get my hits.”

Rossen heard this and immediately echoed what JJ told me.

This time, it completely clicked.

By “seeing what I need to see”, I will adjust my speed accordingly to get my shots on target–and this might mean slowing down.

However, the key difference here is perspective. How we think about our shooting.

When we think go slow, we will be slow.

By seeing more, we aren’t thinking “go slow.” It means to be more disciplined and make sure our sight alignment and sight picture are acceptable before we break a shot.

In the beginning, for many shooters, being more disciplined about our sights may slow us down, but we aren’t thinking slow.

These days, unless I’m learning a new technique, tactic, or drill,  the word “slow” no longer exists to me in shooting.

It’s All in Our Head

It's all in your head

As I mentioned earlier, it’s a ‘brain hack’ of sorts.

Everything starts with our mind. You may have heard that shooting is 90% mental.

(The percentage is obviously made up, but the point is that shooting at peak performance has much more to do with our minds than our bodies.)

Here’s an example. Pistol recoil will not knock down any adult, yet, why do we always push back against recoil, i.e. recoil anticipation.

It’s our mind playing tricks on us, so to speak. We know recoil won’t knock us over, but our mind still tells us to push back.

We need the mental discipline to train this reaction out of us.

If we want to shoot fast, we can’t think slow and we can’t go slow.

To get fast, we need to perform as fast as we possibly can while still seeing what we need to see.

Stop thinking and going slow if you are not learning something new.

To Shoot Fast, You Need to Practice Shooting Fast

ludicrous speed

Some instructors have a common rebuttal against going fast. They say that one will pick up speed naturally if one is required to shoot fast.

Yes, I agree. One will speed up naturally especially with an adrenaline spike.

But, that is no reason not to practice going as fast as one can.

To these instructors, I pose a question:

Do you think Formula 1 race car drivers practice going 50% to 75% of their speed when practicing because they will naturally reach 95% to 100% of their speed during a real race?

If they did that, the results would be disastrous. I know–I raced cars for a while.

If someone always shoots at 50% to 75% of their speed, do you think they will be as accurate shooting at 95% to 100% of their speed if they don’t practice near their limits?

The answer should be obvious.

These days, I understand why those with much more experience say the physical act of shooting is simple while the mental game is the most challenging.

This little mind hack has helped me, and I hope it helps you, too.

Let me know what you think in the comments section below!

Filed Under: Training Tagged With: shoot fast don't suck, speed

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Karl J Opitz says

    December 10, 2021 at

    In the video 5 Common Pistol Shooting Mistakes We See At Classes
    What style / brand of holster did Myles use.
    Thank you

    Reply
    • Myles says

      December 10, 2021 at

      It’s an Everglades MRH. It’s a competition holster and not meant for any other kind of use.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FOLLOW US

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Popular Posts

Tactical Hyve: "The Journey" - Episode 1 with Retired Navy SEAL Coch

“The Journey” Episode #1: Intro to Combat Pistol with Retired Navy SEAL Mark Cochiolo

Yousef Badou

“The Journey” Ep 10: Situational Awareness 101 with Yousef Badou

"The Journey" Episode 2: Intro to Carbine with Retired Navy SEAL Mark Cochiolo

“The Journey” Episode #2: Intro to Carbine with Retired Navy SEAL Mark Cochiolo

Our trip to the Philippines is wrapping up. It was Our trip to the Philippines is wrapping up. It was a great trip!

We’re heading back stateside soon and are looking forward to sharing some content with you.

It was great hanging out with 6X World Speed Shooting Champion, Jethro “Jet” Dionisio (@jet_dionisio) and World Shoot young gun, Bro Tecson (@brotecson)!

Got to meet with some old friends from the local BJJ/MMA/FMA community as well.

Already looking forward to our next trip back to the islands!

#tacticalhyve #philippines #ipsc #uspsa #worldshoot #boracay #training #fma #bjj #mma #islands #beachisland #beaches #speedshooting #pewpew
SIMUNITION VS. AIRSOFT What are the pros and cons SIMUNITION VS. AIRSOFT 
What are the pros and cons?

What hits harder?

Which one should you use?

These questions, and more, are answered in our latest video.

Check it out on YT!
In our latest video, Retired Army Ranger and forme In our latest video, Retired Army Ranger and former member of the Army Marksmanship Unit, Dave Steinbach, shares his top 5 AR-15 upgrades to make on a stock rifle.

If you’re wondering what you should really consider upgrading with your AR-15, check out the video on your YT channel!

#tacticalhyve #rifles #ar15 #rifle #rifleupgrades #gunsandgear #guns #firearms #ar15upgrades
Rifle magazine on the ground when shooting or not? Rifle magazine on the ground when shooting or not?
In our latest YT video, retired Navy SEAL Mark "Co In our latest YT video, retired Navy SEAL Mark "Coch" Cochiolo runs through some home defense training scenarios, specifically, how to deal with stairwells if you hear someone break into your home.

Coch covers a couple of home defense considerations and uses airsoft to demonstrate what he covers.

Check it out! 

#tacticalhyve #navyseal #sealteam6 #homedefense #security #protection #trident #frogman #protectyourhome
HOLSTERS Looking to buy a new gun holster but conf HOLSTERS
Looking to buy a new gun holster but confused or overwhelmed by all the feature options? 

Our latest video (on YT) is a practical guide to gun holsters that covers a lot of the common features you’ll encounter when shopping for a new holster.

There are so many holster features that it’s impossible to include everything in the video, but we cover the major options you should know.
5 TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM FORCE ON FORCE After receivin 5 TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM FORCE ON FORCE
After receiving feedback from more than 200 civilian force-on-force students who have been placed in everyday, civilian scenarios, we’ve gathered the 5 top takeaways.

Check the images to find out what they are!
Realistic Training Vs. Real-Life Considerations 👊
Retired Army Ranger and Member of the Army Marksmanship Unit, Dave Steinach (@stonybrook73) and Myles are both big proponents of realistic training, such as Force-on-Force.

Despite being realistic, force on force training has some limitations and there are valid real-life considerations one should account for that are not practiced often for a variety of reasons.

Watch our latest video on our YT channel!
This serves as a reminder… 1. Pay attention to This serves as a reminder…

1. Pay attention to pre-threat indicators. What does the guy in the right do to show aggression?
2. When you’re really close to someone, you might miss certain indicators because you look away or develop tunnel vision because you are so close.
3. Distance is your friend. At close distances, he who strikes first, usually hits and usually come out on top.
4. Violence is real. It can come at anytime and when it does, it’s usually quick.

#realfight #argument #reactionarygap #stab #awareness #selfdefense #alert #distance #safety #violencw
Connect with us on Instagram!

Footer

Tactical Training

Training Videos

Training Guides

The Journey: Season 1

Tactical Training Classes

Tactical Reviews

Class Reviews

Gun Reviews

Gear Reviews

Vetted Training Directory

Resources

Our Experts

Tactical Hyve Store

Online Tactical Training

Newsletter

About Tactical Hyve

Contact Us

Disclaimers & Disclosures

Terms of Use

Privacy Policy


235 W. Market Street
San Diego, CA 92101
Email: [email protected]

Copyright © 2022 · Tactical Hyve

This copyrighted material may not be republished without express permission. The information presented here is for general educational and informational purposes only. What you do with the information is your responsibility.
MATERIAL CONNECTION DISCLOSURE: While we will only showcase products and services we believe in and use, you should assume that this website has an affiliate relationship and/or another material connection to the persons or businesses mentioned in or linked to from this page and may receive commissions from purchases you make on subsequent web sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. You should not rely solely on information contained in this website to evaluate the product or service being endorsed. Always exercise due diligence before purchasing any product or service. This website contains advertisements.