coolluke01
Member
For me it's the amount of time between "stand by" and "beep". It all goes right out the window.
How long does it take for skills to degrade?
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BigBoyToyz
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Just another sign of recognizing your age my friend.
The doc recommends a healthy diet, and regular exercise.
Perhaps jogging or biking will keep one in shape.
This also increases life expectancy!
The doc recommends a healthy diet, and regular exercise.
Perhaps jogging or biking will keep one in shape.
This also increases life expectancy!
Georgia Gunner
Member
With the ammo shortage not allowing me to shoot as often as I was use to I have noticed my handgun skills have diminished. I guess I would say If I don't shoot my handguns at least every couple of weeks then my skill with them declines. I have yet to take a long enough break to notice any negative affects on my rifle skills though.
tobenheim
Member
Before an elbow injury I used to play a lot of golf. I could take breaks for weeks at a time between playing and not lose much as far as skill goes. I was told that it was because golf is all about fundamentals of the game--set-up, stance, grip--and large muscle memory.
I suppose the same could be said of shooting with a few differences. For me the first is that I have actually trained enough at some point in my shooting career to have truly developed muscle memory. The other is that I know and practice the fundamentals--sight picture, trigger control, breathing, etc.
My last point would be that for me so much of coming back to proficiency faster is my familiarity with the weapon. I used to jump around a lot between guns and that only served to confuse me. Now I stick with one gun that i have put thousands of rounds through. I know that gun forward and backward. That helps me after a long layoff.
I suppose the same could be said of shooting with a few differences. For me the first is that I have actually trained enough at some point in my shooting career to have truly developed muscle memory. The other is that I know and practice the fundamentals--sight picture, trigger control, breathing, etc.
My last point would be that for me so much of coming back to proficiency faster is my familiarity with the weapon. I used to jump around a lot between guns and that only served to confuse me. Now I stick with one gun that i have put thousands of rounds through. I know that gun forward and backward. That helps me after a long layoff.
BullfrogKen
Moderator Emeritus
Yes, muscle memory plays a big role in how long a hiatus we can take between range time and not see a measureable degredation of skills.
But the real answer is - Almost right away.
Skills that you might practice often - both on the range and at home - don't degrade nearly as quickly as those not practiced often. I don't have my notes with me, but my recollection is that it takes about 2,000 repetitions of a skill before that skill moves from something we perform consciously to something we can perform unconsciously.
So, if you want to perform a smooth, fast unconscious drawstroke, do 50 drawstrokes every night at home for about a month and a half and you'll imprint that skill onto your unconscious brain. And we'd much rather have our unconscious brain perform actions than our conscious brain.
For things we've learned to do unconsciously those skills degrade much, much slower than things we have to perform consciously.
For me personally, there are skills I've performed often enough I could do them half-awake. Yet there are some skills I have to make an effort to perform well that degrade very quickly.
So the answer is, as in most things, it depends. If you've trained a skill often enough it's become a part of your unconscious brain, it will degrade at a much slower rate than a skill you still have to perform with your conscious brain.
But the real answer is - Almost right away.
Skills that you might practice often - both on the range and at home - don't degrade nearly as quickly as those not practiced often. I don't have my notes with me, but my recollection is that it takes about 2,000 repetitions of a skill before that skill moves from something we perform consciously to something we can perform unconsciously.
So, if you want to perform a smooth, fast unconscious drawstroke, do 50 drawstrokes every night at home for about a month and a half and you'll imprint that skill onto your unconscious brain. And we'd much rather have our unconscious brain perform actions than our conscious brain.
For things we've learned to do unconsciously those skills degrade much, much slower than things we have to perform consciously.
For me personally, there are skills I've performed often enough I could do them half-awake. Yet there are some skills I have to make an effort to perform well that degrade very quickly.
So the answer is, as in most things, it depends. If you've trained a skill often enough it's become a part of your unconscious brain, it will degrade at a much slower rate than a skill you still have to perform with your conscious brain.
My archery skills degrade MUCH faster than my marksmanship skills. I have only gotten to shoot about 1/4 as much this year as last year due to ammo prices soaring, however, if I take a month off from shooting my guns, and a month off of shooting my bow; my archery skills have suffered much more. Moral of the story, the more muscles involved in whatever it is that you are doing, the more muscle memory you are needing, the more you need to practice and the faster you will lose ability.
Feanaro
Member
Yes. I went almost three years without firing a shot. I'm only a few months back into the swing of things. I've almost had to teach myself to shoot again. I've picked it up at a fair pace though, because I have the advantage of knowing what I'm doing wrong and how to fix it.
I probably lost it faster than some because I'd only been shooting for about two, three years when I laid off. Someone with more experience might not accumulate quite as much "rust".
I probably lost it faster than some because I'd only been shooting for about two, three years when I laid off. Someone with more experience might not accumulate quite as much "rust".
breakingcontact
Member
Excellent point. You know what to do, now you just have to practice what to do.
Interesting. My eyesight has given me fits. I seem to be fairly gifted with shooting breaks. I do get in about 4 to 8 rounds of skeet every week and usually a couple of 2 hour sessions a month on Pistol and some rifle.
When I do not go pistol shooting for 2 months there is not much drop off but there is some. Longer than that and I start getting sloppy on the trigger.
I think the skeet shooting is helping me stay tuned.
When I do not go pistol shooting for 2 months there is not much drop off but there is some. Longer than that and I start getting sloppy on the trigger.
I think the skeet shooting is helping me stay tuned.
A lot has to do with aging and general fitness also. I will never be able to shoot or do many other things as well as I did 20-40 yrs ago. that's just a given with age. But if you stay in good shape, you should not degrade as quicklly at any one thing.
At 65 I do 1 hr, per day, 6 days per week of exersise, which includes 30-40 minutes on the elliptical trainer, and 20-30 minutes of weight training.
This has to help in everything else I do, as it builds endurance and strength. So my shooting skills, "although isolated more to certain muscles" still become used in the course of my daily exercise. My ability to be able to run without breathing hard, for extended periods of time, and upper and lower body strength, Biceps triceps, forearms shoulders, all play a part in the usage of a weapon, so my belief is that if you are athletic, you will recover much faster than if shooting is the only thing you do. The timing is probablly the thing that you probablly lose from not shooting. That and hand manipulation,which you can strengthen with daily exercise.Your eyesight is the first thing to noticeblly go, and we have spoken to various ways to approach that.
But I think that your skills errode less if you lead an active lifestyle with daily exercise. It should be easier to snap back, "like other sports", if you work out on a daily regimen. Many professional atheletes don't play "their sport" in the off season, but still stay in shape. Just like some professional Boxers fight once in a year or 18 months, they still do daily workouts in the gym.
That's like ring rust, they need to get their timing back first few rounds.
At 65 I do 1 hr, per day, 6 days per week of exersise, which includes 30-40 minutes on the elliptical trainer, and 20-30 minutes of weight training.
This has to help in everything else I do, as it builds endurance and strength. So my shooting skills, "although isolated more to certain muscles" still become used in the course of my daily exercise. My ability to be able to run without breathing hard, for extended periods of time, and upper and lower body strength, Biceps triceps, forearms shoulders, all play a part in the usage of a weapon, so my belief is that if you are athletic, you will recover much faster than if shooting is the only thing you do. The timing is probablly the thing that you probablly lose from not shooting. That and hand manipulation,which you can strengthen with daily exercise.Your eyesight is the first thing to noticeblly go, and we have spoken to various ways to approach that.
But I think that your skills errode less if you lead an active lifestyle with daily exercise. It should be easier to snap back, "like other sports", if you work out on a daily regimen. Many professional atheletes don't play "their sport" in the off season, but still stay in shape. Just like some professional Boxers fight once in a year or 18 months, they still do daily workouts in the gym.
That's like ring rust, they need to get their timing back first few rounds.
breakingcontact
Member
Gym, your username is very appropriate and I commend you for staying in shape. I exercise vigorously two to four times per week. Mine my hinder my shooting some as it's a lot of boxing.
jmorris
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Like everything, it depends.
For example you could shoot benchrest matches once every 3 months and have better rifle skills than shooting action pistol 3 times a week.
Same is true if you reverse the two.
Different skill set between the two and just shooting "something" doesn't automatically make you better at anything.
For example you could shoot benchrest matches once every 3 months and have better rifle skills than shooting action pistol 3 times a week.
Same is true if you reverse the two.
Different skill set between the two and just shooting "something" doesn't automatically make you better at anything.
That's very true Jm, also , it depends on how skilled you were in the first place. That has more to do with this than anything else.
If you weren't all that good to start out with, then you probablly won't notice any effect that time has on you. Unless you had a way of comparing, "like running a combat course", it could be very hard to tell by just shooting at paper. After all it's more timing and coordination along with physical strength in your hands, arms, and legs that enter into all of these shooting skills. If you are sedimentery and just sit around, other than shoot, then you will degrade much faster.
If shooting is just one of the many things that you do to occupy yourself, then it shouldn't matter as much.
If you weren't all that good to start out with, then you probablly won't notice any effect that time has on you. Unless you had a way of comparing, "like running a combat course", it could be very hard to tell by just shooting at paper. After all it's more timing and coordination along with physical strength in your hands, arms, and legs that enter into all of these shooting skills. If you are sedimentery and just sit around, other than shoot, then you will degrade much faster.
If shooting is just one of the many things that you do to occupy yourself, then it shouldn't matter as much.
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