Slow is Fast
15 March 2023 07:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dime_novel_hero“Slow is smooth and smooth is fast” is a combat training aphorism that purportedly comes from the U.S.Navy SEALs (I’ve also seen it credited to Wyat Earp, Doc Holiday, Mitsuyo Maeda, and Alvin York). And, like so many other claims of deep wisdom, such as “The Art of War” and “The Book of Five Rings”, it gets applied to pretty much anything else that some pundit thinks it could be applied to when they want to seem wise.
First, slow and fast are literal opposites. You can’t make it transitive no matter what you put in between. But, sure, we aren’t talking literally here, we’re presenting a process where you start slow and become faster just because you are being attentive. Supposedly building muscle memory. But is slow smooth and does that smoothness translate into fast or is that just a quick and simple saying to reinforce your training style in spite of there being no evidence of statistical significance? I am skeptical.
Apparently, in a recent posting from Yellow Peril Tactical (https://yellowperiltactical.com/), they are skeptical as well (and I am going to share their entire thread so you can see their full take on the subject).
This, of course, didn’t keep people from defending the tradition without having tested, or even read, the proposal.
I don’t have the numbers, either, but in my Cowboy Action Shooting experience, the technique has merit and cannot be dismissed out of hand.
I started shooting 40-plus years ago and was brought up as a target shooter. I never saw my father practice anything quickly and never saw him draw from a holster. Even so, he was a sure shot hunting and would occasionally be involved in “running deer” competitions, where he did well. He never taught to the “slow is smooth and smooth is fast” aphorism, he taught slow is accurate and left the rest to experience.
And, in the meantime, graduating from hunting prep consisting of putting 5 round through the gun on a bench, to self defense carry with, again, no practice drawing or at speed. I did a few competition-style events, but never any serious at-speed training until I got involved in Cowboy Action Shooting. And, honestly, even then I have not done much training at all. Mostly it’s what I have done at the monthly matches themselves. That little bit of action at speed, with no target shooting preparation, seems to support the utility of practicing at speed.
I was not moving dangerously. I knew I would never be competitive compared to the established shooters and so didn’t push myself to go overly fast, where mistakes can happen, but I did go as fast as I felt I could effectively go. The naysayer’s “you’ll shoot your eye out” warnings never materialized.
As to getting better. . . I really don’t know. Because each stage is different, there is no real way to compare. I feel that I was doing better but cannot quantify it. Practice. That would be the way to actually do it. Practice the draw and dry fire in my back yard. Go to the range and set up a “standard” stage to put a clock to so I can get those splits and times. I would have to do a lot more work than I have done. Than I have ever done.
Because I choose to shoot Duelist (one handed), have not slicked my guns, have not installed a short stroke on my lever rifle (my model won’t take one), and choose to use either the coach gun or the 1897, I will never be competitive, but I can get better than my former self, which should be the goal of any practice or training.
Now, the hard part. . . actually doing the thing.
First, slow and fast are literal opposites. You can’t make it transitive no matter what you put in between. But, sure, we aren’t talking literally here, we’re presenting a process where you start slow and become faster just because you are being attentive. Supposedly building muscle memory. But is slow smooth and does that smoothness translate into fast or is that just a quick and simple saying to reinforce your training style in spite of there being no evidence of statistical significance? I am skeptical.
Apparently, in a recent posting from Yellow Peril Tactical (https://yellowperiltactical.com/), they are skeptical as well (and I am going to share their entire thread so you can see their full take on the subject).
“Nooooo you can’t just tell people to push speed! Slow is smooth and smooth is fast!” No. Stop. Slow is slow. Fast is fast. If you want to go fast you have to practice fast. Practicing slow will impede you learning to shoot fast.So, as you can see, not only do they dispute the aphorism, they provide a training regimen for the counter proposal of practicing at speed rather than reduced speed, and offer a mechanism (groups and split times) to definitively test whether one technique is better than the other.
Parts of shooting fast
1. Recoil management. After a shot, being able to quickly return the gun to its original position to be able to fire again.
2. Sight confirmation. Rather than waiting for your irons/red dot to line up perfectly still, you can shoot faster by confirming sight picture just enough to know you’ll hit. Example: pulling the trigger as soon as you just see the red blur of the dot over the target.
3. Being able to press the trigger quickly and using your grip to control any movement you’re manipulating the trigger is causing.
These aren’t really skills you can start slow and gradually increase speed to practice. The grip you need to manage these aspects in slow fire will be unlike the grip you need to manage those elements at speed.
Same with confirmation. You won’t be able to train to merely confirm sight picture vs slow fire bullseye aiming unless you see what your sights look like and how they behave at speed.
We’re not telling you to just go out there and mag dump unsafely (yes, this is a criticism we have received lol). 3 excellent drills you can do to practice shooting fast and improve:
1. Doubles. Shoot two shots in rapid succession. Use a timer to measure the splits (time between the shots), ie, the speed. Examine hits. Shoot at various distances. Use this experience to experiment and practice with sight confirmation and your grip for recoil management
2. Trigger control at speed. Start at sight picture, finger touching trigger. 3” target, 5 yards, smash trigger as soon as you hear the timer beep. That’s the speed part. Adjust grip so that smashing the trigger is not causing your shot to miss.
3. Doubles on demand - similar to TCAS, but shoot a fast double on the beep.
You can and should start pushing speed as soon as you can hit the A-zones at practical distances (out to 20-ish yards or so) during slow fire.
This, of course, didn’t keep people from defending the tradition without having tested, or even read, the proposal.
Ryan C: “Say hello to accidental discharges and self injury. Start slow and work your way up to fast as you get more muscle memory and skills”And, yes, the rest of thread has a whole lot of traditionalists being dismissive and YPT responding for them to actually read the entire thread and then post groups and splits. To my reading, not a single person posted numbers.
YPT: “Post groups n splits”
Chico Schultzmeier: “Honestly, this is hilariously stupid. This is the mentality of a child desperate to own the Fudds. Slow is smooth and smooth gets faster without hurting anyone you didn’t intend to. It also gives opportunities to examine your technique and understand what’s happening”
YPT: “Read the whole thread. Also post groups n splits”
I don’t have the numbers, either, but in my Cowboy Action Shooting experience, the technique has merit and cannot be dismissed out of hand.
I started shooting 40-plus years ago and was brought up as a target shooter. I never saw my father practice anything quickly and never saw him draw from a holster. Even so, he was a sure shot hunting and would occasionally be involved in “running deer” competitions, where he did well. He never taught to the “slow is smooth and smooth is fast” aphorism, he taught slow is accurate and left the rest to experience.
And, in the meantime, graduating from hunting prep consisting of putting 5 round through the gun on a bench, to self defense carry with, again, no practice drawing or at speed. I did a few competition-style events, but never any serious at-speed training until I got involved in Cowboy Action Shooting. And, honestly, even then I have not done much training at all. Mostly it’s what I have done at the monthly matches themselves. That little bit of action at speed, with no target shooting preparation, seems to support the utility of practicing at speed.
I was not moving dangerously. I knew I would never be competitive compared to the established shooters and so didn’t push myself to go overly fast, where mistakes can happen, but I did go as fast as I felt I could effectively go. The naysayer’s “you’ll shoot your eye out” warnings never materialized.
As to getting better. . . I really don’t know. Because each stage is different, there is no real way to compare. I feel that I was doing better but cannot quantify it. Practice. That would be the way to actually do it. Practice the draw and dry fire in my back yard. Go to the range and set up a “standard” stage to put a clock to so I can get those splits and times. I would have to do a lot more work than I have done. Than I have ever done.
Because I choose to shoot Duelist (one handed), have not slicked my guns, have not installed a short stroke on my lever rifle (my model won’t take one), and choose to use either the coach gun or the 1897, I will never be competitive, but I can get better than my former self, which should be the goal of any practice or training.
Now, the hard part. . . actually doing the thing.
