# To Learn to Shoot Faster, You Have to Slow it Down



## BackyardCowboy (Aug 27, 2014)

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2...zYWQtY2QzNi00ZjQyLThjODMtNTg4MDAxYTM1YTU4In0=


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## tony pasley (May 6, 2006)

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.


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## TheReaper (Nov 14, 2008)

Smooth is accurate.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

tony pasley said:


> Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.


I agree completely.
Actually, what I learned was: "_Smooth_ is faster than _fast_."



TheReaper said:


> Smooth is accurate.


While that's true, very precise accuracy is not required in save-your-life, close-range self-defense shooting.
You need to slow down and be very smooth to make a head shot at 10 yards; but for center-of-mass hits you need to be quick. And you get to be quick by practicing to be smooth (rather than precisely accurate).


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## Cait43 (Apr 4, 2013)




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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

He was called Tortoise because he taught us.
While the rabbit stayed Hare, and never went anywhare.

Q.: Meanwhile, what's keeping Achilles? He should've arrived hours ago.
A.: He's still only half-way here!


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

Slow is slow and smooth isn't always fast.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk


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## BackyardCowboy (Aug 27, 2014)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> He was called Tortoise because he taught us.
> While the rabbit stayed Hare, and never went anywhare.
> 
> Q.: Meanwhile, what's keeping Achilles? He should've arrived hours ago.
> A.: He's still only half-way here!


I heard he lost by a heir.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

VAMarine said:


> Slow is slow and smooth isn't always fast.


Smooth is the route to fast.
If you practice slowly to be smooth, and stay smooth, your quickness (I don't want to say "speed") will increase automatically.
Smoothness eliminates wasted motion, and keeps you from jerking the trigger or milking the grip. That materially increases your accuracy, which contributes to your eventual quickness.

However, if you practice to be fast, you will not be able to correct your errors in technique-you may not even see them-and you will end up wasting time, energy, and motion. You will even get sloppy, and, practically speaking, inaccurate.
Learning good technique depends upon taking the time to analyze your efforts, and correct your mis-steps as you go along.
You can only do that by practicing to be smooth.


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## tony pasley (May 6, 2006)

The other old saying that goes with this topic is " you can't miss fast enough".


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> Smooth is the route to fast.
> If you practice slowly to be smooth, and stay smooth, your quickness (I don't want to say "speed") will increase automatically.
> Smoothness eliminates wasted motion, and keeps you from jerking the trigger or milking the grip. That materially increases your accuracy, which contributes to your eventual quickness.
> 
> ...


Most people that deal in this platitude are never going to be fast on any actual standard of performance. There are plenty of people that have smooth down that will never hit a 1 second draw or even a 1.5 second draw.

The whole slow down and get the process right is correct, but the implication that speed just shows up one day without actually working on the speed part if of the process is a false implication.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk


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## crewchief (Jul 25, 2018)

Oh hell guys,,, just spray and pray the cops prove that works well for them on the mean streets of Chicago, New York, Baltimore and Phily..It's been all over the news...


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

VAMarine said:


> Most people that deal in this platitude are never going to be fast on any actual standard of performance. There are plenty of people that have smooth down that will never hit a 1 second draw or even a 1.5 second draw.


Well, I learned by the "smooth is faster than fast" system, and I sure as heck could make one-second presentations, which included an accurate shot.
I kept at "smooth," and turned out to be quite quick enough in IPSC/SWPL competition to win a few significant trophies.
And, yes, quickness came to me "automatically" as I practiced being smooth. I never had to work at being quick.

I admit that I can no longer do anything like that now, due to arthritis issues and general old-age debility, but I'm still smooth, quick enough to be able to defend myself (from concealment), and accurate enough for folk music.



VAMarine said:


> The whole slow down and get the process right is correct, but the implication that speed just shows up one day without actually working on the speed part if of the process is a false implication.


I admit to the fact that not everybody becomes quick-or fast-no matter how much they might practice to be smooth. Some people are more physically adept than others, which I know because I am decidedly _not_ one of the physically adept ones.
But I do know that practicing assiduously to be smooth will make anybody more _effectively_ quick than will practicing to be fast. I've seen it often enough, among competitors and among truly practical shooters.
In truth, it's all in how much practice you put into the equation. The more you practice, and the more you practice to be smooth, the quicker you become.


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## tony pasley (May 6, 2006)

It is not the first shot fired but the first effective hits that count. It is much better to learn the right way then practice the right way till speed comes.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

tony pasley said:


> It is not the first shot fired but the first effective hits that count...


Amen!

I think that we both studied at the same school, Tony.
...And I used to be able to ride a horse, too.


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## BackyardCowboy (Aug 27, 2014)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> and accurate enough for folk music.


Dueling Banjos comes to mind.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

BackyardCowboy said:


> Dueling Banjos comes to mind.


You know, no matter how much I practiced on my banjo, I never could get the rhythm and speed...not to mention the tune itself...that the albino did.
I'm just not much of a three-finger picker. Nope, not even my nose.

Anyway, it's too late now.
My hands just won't do that anymore.


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## tony pasley (May 6, 2006)

Yankees hear banjo music around here all the time then they start running, I wonder why.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Hey, Tony...
Remember that you're in *North* Carolina!

Why, you're almost a Yankee yourself!


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## tony pasley (May 6, 2006)

I moved from West Texas to North Carolina my passport ain't good in Yankee land.


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