An interview with David Sevigny is at the end.

 

There are among us a number of shooters who are currently GM’s, Masters or A shooters (soon to be Masters).  These people started out like most of us.  That is, as D shooters.  Like many of you I have watched them progress past me thru the ranks and on to greater glory and superior skill.  It occurred to me that we may all be able to learn from them.   I thought by asking them what they did to improve there skills we all could learn a thing or two.

 

To this end I formulated eight questions and have asked or will be asking each of the shooters these questions.  The questions are:

 

  1. How long have you been shooting Practical Pistol?
  2. What was your first classification?
  3. What is your current highest class?
  4. What division do you shoot most often?
  5. How did you improve yourself?
  6. What is your current practice regimen?
  7. How often do you practice?
  8. What other advice or comments do you have?

 

The first shooter I had an opportunity to talk with was Scott Springer. 

 

How long have you been shooting Practical Pistol?

            Seven years.

 

What was your first classification?

            Limited D Class.

 

What is your current highest class?

            Limited GM.

 

What division do you shoot most often?

            Limited and Production (currently unclassified).  I am concentrating mostly on Production right now.

 

How did you improve yourself?

            At first I did everything wrong (and I made it to A class doing very little right).  Then I began taking classes.  Frank Garcia, Estaurdo Gomez, Taran Butler, and Travis Tomasie were the most influential.  There were others each of whom I learned something from.

 

What is your current practice regimen?

            I dry fire ½ hour each day.  I only shoot a maximum of 200 rounds per session.  A match is only so many rounds and I think shooting more than that in a session can be counter productive.

 

How often do you practice?

I live fire practice 3 times a week, when I'm getting ready for a match, not much in the off season, dry fire is the only thing I do year round, and only in the last and year or so realized the importance. Practicing doing things "right" is very important, fast comes with repetition. It takes 50,000-100,000 reps to get something down into the subconscious according to people who are supposed to know such things. Everytime you do something wrong it doesn't help, so really focus on the form.

 

What other advice or comments do you have?

Most new shooters don't realize that a good shooter can see every shot.  A new shooter thinks fast is important, but accuracy is more important.  Speed without accuracy is no good.  Speed without control is useless.  You need points more than speed generally, and control most of all. It doesn't matter how fast you can shoot "at" a target, it matters most how fast you can hit the target. 

Many new shooters confuse speed with chaos. The sensation of speed does come from chaos, but in order to become fast you need to eliminate all the chaos and be aware of everything that is happening. By eliminating the chaos (by becoming aware) then you can start to become fast and use less effort and motion to do what needs to be done.

            Some tools you can use Brian Enos Book “Practical Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals” is good even though some of the material is dated.  Sal Kirsch’s book “Perfect Practice” is excellent.  Video tape yourself, it will show you how you really shoot.  Smooth is best. The Barnhart series of videos is excellent.  Take a class from someone who is technically correct, Keith Tyler is one such person, or give me a call if you are in Bend.

 

 

I caught up with Keith Tyler at the Albany Match last month and here are his responses.  By the way, Keith teaches a class on a regular basis.  Contact him if you are interested.

  1. How long have you been shooting Practical Pistol?

I have been shooting IPSC since 93.

  1. What was your first classification?

I first classified as C in limited with a Sig 226 and quickly switched to a single stack 45 and made B.

  1. What is your current highest class?

I am a master in Open and L-10

  1. What division do you shoot most often?

I shot a single stack for most of the first 12 years of IPSC in either limited or limited-10.  I needed a change and went to the dark side of open for the 2005 season.  As for 2006, I am thinking about shooting a high-cap in limited.  

  1. How did you improve yourself?

I started squading with good shooters.  I watched and asked lots of question.  I tried to train with them as much as possible.  The Burner Tape series was a great help.  Jerry is a very technical shooter and his tapes are outstanding!  I watched video of the super squad, read books on the sport and shot as many matches as I could. 

When I started working on perfecting the fundamentals involved in IPSC shooting through dry fire and then re-enforcing them in live fire, that’s when I started to really improve.  When I am training, I try to do about 2 hours of dry fire for every 30 minutes of live fire. 

  1. What is your current practice regimen?

Dry fire-100 draws, 100 reloads, 100 transitions target to target 4-6 times a week

Live fire sessions -Accuracy drills about 100 rounds, transition drills 150-200 rounds, movement drills 100 rounds, and then finish with accuracy drills.       

  1. How often do you practice?

I try to live fire 2 times a month.  With a new baby and gas prices, I have to get it done in dry fire practice.

  1. What other advice or comments do you have?

Learn and apply the fundamentals.  Speed will come as a by-product of applying the basics smoothly in an easily repeatable manner.  

Squad and practice with better shooters.  Check out some of the videos that are available.  The burner series is still one of the best.  If you have the means to take a class or two do it.  There are a lot of people teaching IPSC classes out there.  Do your research and go take one.  Frank Garcia is an excellent choice.  Travis Tomasie is another.  If you don’t have the funds to take one from these guys, look up Scott Springer or myself for a group or private class. 

            Most important, have fun and try to remember it a game. 

 

It seemed appropriate that upon the occasion of Norm Bright becoming an Open Master he would be the next interview for this series. 

 

1.       How long have you been shooting Practical Pistol?


I started shooting Practical Pistol in the summer of 2002. I was interested in it after a friend mentioned there was a sport where folks race handguns against the clock. Needless to say I was fascinated and took the safety class from "Iron Fred" that summer and never have looked back.


2. What was your first classification?

C Class in Limited.


3. What is your current highest class?

Master Class in Open.


4. What division do you shoot most often?

Open almost exclusively except for special events like the Single Stack Championship, and Glock Championship. Jerry Burnett and Sandy Smith got me hooked on Open; I was shooting my Glock when Sandy asked if I'd like to try her Open STI. 10 rounds later I knew I had to have one, and now I have a family of Open guns.


5. How did you improve yourself?

Through lots of reading and practice. Brian Enos's book has been instrumental along with Saul Kirch's books. I have the Barnhart series on DVD as well as the Burkett DVD's and they all have played a role. I can't count the times I have dry fired with Jerry the Burner on the TV… Also taking a class from Keith Tyler has helped and I want to continue to go down the personal instruction route for example taking a class from Max/Travis or Dave.


6. What is your current practice regimen?

Dry fire a few times a week, live fire at *least* once a week when it's warm. I have a set of mini IPSC targets that I bought from Chris Patty that I set up courses of fire in my basement. I also have the drills from Keith's class that I use which drive good discipline in every type of shot you need to take in IPSC. The other practice method I have is shooting speed steel; it teaches you quickness on the draw, transitions, and visual patience with the sights.

7. How often do you practice?

See above.


8. What other advice or comments do you have?

Ask questions about everything. I have never found a GM who would not willingly offer their advice to new shooter.

Be open and willing to listen to constructive criticism.
Focus on the positive; never dwell on a stage you trash. Remember what went right in that stage
Learn how to call your shots, you must know where each shot went based on where the sights where when the gun fires.
Shoot every stage just as fast as you can see the sights in the A zone. Trying to burn a stage down usually results in bad scores.
Speed isn't everything; never forget the 'accuracy' part of this sport.
Read Enos's book at least twice. IPSC is more about the mental game than the physical.

 

If you have a suggestion of who I should interview please email me (oshea@canby.com).

 

Mark

 

From The Shooting Wire of February 12, 2007

 

FEATURE

 

A Few Minutes With: Dave Sevigny

If you keep up with competitive shooting, you know his name. Dave Sevigny, despite being unfailingly polite, quiet and accommodating, is among the elite practical pistol shooters in the world. He's one of the pure competitive shooters; never worked in law enforcement or the shooting industry. He can be sneaky fast, and attributes his high-speed transitional shooting abilities to his other passion: hockey. If you watch him compete, you realize those moves across stages are reminiscent of skating. Sevigny's name is almost inseparably linked to GLOCK - and Sevigny says that's not an unnatural alliance for him - he shot GLOCK before becoming captain of their competition team. Last week, Shooting Wire editor Jim Shepherd spent a few minutes with Dave Sevigny.

Shepherd: Dave, how do you do what you do. I mean, how do you correct mistakes?

Sevigny: I work on trouble spots. It's too-easy to practice things you're good at, and that's far more fun. Forcing yourself to deal with the things you're not good at or areas where you're hanging up make it easier to roll the next time you're out there. I have a very well-rounded regimen, I work on all aspects. Being a cross-discipline shooter (IDPA, Steel, USPSA), you are forced to be a good shooter to compete at the top level. Longer ranges, partial targets, all that make you a better shooter.

Shepherd: Are you telling me as an average shooter I should shoot everything?

Sevigny: No, no. I'm talking about the top levels. I've been doing this a number of years.

I worked with one gun for a number of years. But I've learned different platforms to compete in the different events.

Shepherd: But surely it can't hurt to try all sorts of competitions...

Sevigny: Not right away. I think it's better to learn the simple things first. Gripping the gun's a big one, I see so many different grips for the new shooters, you know, they're just not holding the gun the way I think they should to get the best results and a steady site picture. Even me, I was holding my support hand, my grip, too low. Eventually, the higher I came up with it and more I managed recoil, I just found my hands in the right position one day. I looked and it was something everybody else was already doing. So when I see someone starting to grip their gun right, I know they're making steps in the right direction.

Shepherd: So there's no substitute for trigger time, right?

Sevigny: That's right. I took out some of the photos from my earlier years, and it was 'look how low I was set up there'- it took time to get out of those bad habits. I'm always looking for ways to get better. As a perfectionist, I'm very critical of my performance.

Shepherd: Now, I know you spend a lot of time practicing. If I said 'Dave, you have one hour to practice' what would you do?

Sevigny: That's kinda vague. There are so many sports I'm into. If I were working for Steel Challenge, I'd work particularly on trigger control. You know stopping on the targets and getting good trigger pressure is critical in that sport. If it were practical, I'd work on harder setups, getting the gun out in front of you, find the most efficient means to get the sights settled on the target and let go an A-zone hit. I'd practice setup drills at intermediate ranges, on partial targets to force accuracy. If you can't keep them in the A-zone in practice you're going to start giving up points in the matches.

Shepherd: Transitions are one of your stongest points, right?

Sevigny: Well, it's a solid part. I'm also good at calling my shots. I've learned never to hesitate - it came from hockey- everything's happening at such a fast pace. When a shot falls, I go to the next target, the next position, all working within itself to go as quickly as possible.

Shepherd: Are there any common problems you see with shooters?

Sevigny: There are a lot of different areas for shooters. Scooping the gun, scooping the holster, whatever, there are a lot of mistakes, but I think the number one thing is gripping the gun right, being patient with the sights and learning how to call your shots. There are a lot of things, it's hard to pick one thing. Balance is one thing - how you apply your weight in all the awkward positions we shoot from in practical, that's all stuff that my ice skating has helped.

Shepherd: So hockey has helped?

Sevigny: It's been a really big thing for me.

Shepherd: What do we do to get more people involved in shooting?

Sevigny: It's in a grassroots effort. Everyone needs to bring their wives, children, brothers, sisters. We have seen some progress, the cable shooting shows, the shooting wires, you know, people are aware there is shooting out there. It's intimidating to some people, they think they're not good enough. But there are lots of people and we need to be there for our friends and the people we want to get involved, I think. If every one of us just got one more person involved this year, then again next year....

Shepherd: ...we'd double the sport each year.

Sevigny: I've asked a lot of people to join me before. I say, it's a lot of fun, it's something that might save your life one day. But they're afraid or whatever. There are dozens of ways to get involved, I'd just like to see everyone get involved.

Shepherd: Thanks, Dave.