No, Ed, I said what I meant. He IS right. This isn't opinion or idle speculation, it is observed and experienced fact.
Technically, in English, it is called
opinion. It happens to be your opinion, and you happen to think that your opinions are
special, but it is still firmly opinion.
Quote:
I didn't miss his point, I disagree with him.
Based on what? What observed and experienced fact do you have that disagrees with him?
As I said, "going fast" is not a distinct skill. It is a result.
Quote:
You assume that anyone who disagrees with you is either confused (missing a point) or dishonest (saying I was trying to imply another poster was bypassing stepps)
But....you did exactly that....
No, I expressed an idea you seem to disagree with, and as a result you are mischaracterizing my statement. Either that or my point of view is so different from yours that your biases don't allow you to understand the plain meaning of my words.
Quote:
but that is not to your credit and it is decidedly NOT high road of you.
What's not high road is for you to add elements not mentioned then attack those elements to discredit the other person while trying to make your "point."
David, I am not trying to discredit anyone. I disagreed with what someone said, and explained why. That is what we do when we discuss. It is you who ascribed motives that were both negative and imaginary.
Quote:
There is a lot of research backing up my assertion
Oh? Cite some. And what do you mean it's your "assertion??" You mean you don't personally know?
Citation: Ericsson, K. Anders. "The influence of experience and deliberate practice on the development of superior expert performance." The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance (2006): 683-703.
In the English language, "Assertion" means:
a confident and forceful statement of fact or belief.
My assertion: practice should be done carefully and attentively, at a slower than maximum pace, to be effective.
Quote:
that practicing at high speed, even if you think you are "practicing going fast" (and I disagree that "going fast" is a distinct skill one can practice), is neither efficient nor desirable.
Ed, I hate to ask, but can you cite your personal experience that qualifies you to speak with any authority on this topic? You disagree based on what personal experience, exactly?
The most relevant personal experience is that for years I did what you are advocating. I practiced fast because I wanted to be fast. And I was pretty fast, but I also regularly found myself up against walls where I could never seem to go faster, so I started reading up on the subject.
But if you want something more mundane: My typing speed is over 2x the average typing speed for male typists. Closer to 3x.
You're either confused about what's being discussed here or misunderstanding that research you refer to, if it even applies here.
Or you have a cognitive bias that leaves you unable to accept a different point of view.
The speed which Ankeny refers to is known and practiced by ALL the top guns in USPSA and IDPA. Again, this is not idle speculation, but observed and/or experienced FACT.
I can't speak for Ankeny, but when people start throwing around "by ALL," whatever they are claiming is usually more hyperbole than fact.
I couldn't possibly know what is known and practiced by all of any group (and neither could you), but I have read quite a bit about how to shoot faster, and most of it agrees with what I have been saying. Concentrate on quality skill development because speed is a result of mastery, not a form of mastery.
That has been my experience, too. My great "aha!" moment when learning to play the guitar, for example, was when I stopped trying to blaze through fingering exercises as fast as my nerves could twitch, and started paying attention to the details and nuances of what I was doing. Not so ironically, my speed improved too.
I can't really give a similar example for shooting because I didn't go through a push-for-speed phase with guns.
Ankeny reached the level of Grandmaster in USPSA and you cannot reach that level by NOT learning how to GO FAST and practicing to GO FAST.
Again, I will let Ankeny argue his own points if he disagrees with me.
How about me what? Can I join a virtual "whose is longer" contest?
I've taught 100's of people to accurately shoot faster than they ever thought they could before lunch time. Faster still after lunch.
And that amazes me. Not that people can shoot faster...most shooters are very very slow...but...well, to be blunt, based on your persona here I wouldn't choose you as an instructor. It goes to show how online impressions are probably very different than real life.
How about you? What personal experiences do you have regarding shooting accurately at speed?
You do realize that such personal experiences are utterly irrelevant to the subject, right? It is like asking an organic chemist to prove her credentials by telling you about cakes she has baked. But I'll play along.
I am a computer guy. My very first job, the first thing I ever did for pay, was to help with the development of a computer game which used a "light gun" as an input. Light guns worked in conjunction with raster scan CRT monitors (that's your old school television from before flat panels took over) to detect where on the screen the gun was pointed when a button (positioned where the trigger on a pistol is generally located) is depressed. So you point the "gun", push the button, and the timing of the electron beam in the CRT when it swept through wherever the " gun" was pointing tell the computer where the "hit" occurred. Over the months I worked on it, I of course had to use the game (can't really call it playing) frequently. Accuracy mattered because we were using smallish monitors and had to hit exactly the right spot for a hit to register. Speed mattered both because the targets moved and because in order to test something at the end of a level you pretty much had to play through the whole level. Being able to do that in a minute instead of the 20 minutes a player might spend was an important productivity skill.
Two things happened. First, probably due to bloating code from new features being added, the game got incredibly easy. I had to adjust the difficulty up several times. Second, I discovered that the manufacturer of the light guns was just doing a really shoddy job and the bleeping things broke after only a couple months.
Actually, three things happened. At the end of my development efforts the game went to a test group who reported the game as defective and unfinishable. None of the testers could even get through the first level. Upon hearing that I went to the test area, gathered up the testers, and with them watching I worked my way through the game in about 20 minutes. After some frank discussion, and an adjustment of the difficulty level back down, the testers had a few weeks to practice they could play through it in 90 minutes and it took me about 10.
I don't shoot IDPA or USPA, but I am fairly certain I was (and probably remain) the world grand champion ultra uber meister of that particular shooting game.
Interesting side note: And I never once practiced. I played the game thousands of times, sometimes several times an hour, working 12 hours a day, for blurred together months, but always to test the software. I made no effort to get better.
How about you? Do you have reasonable claim to being the best in the world at any shooting games?
As far as the loud smokey type of of gun, I am better than I was 10 years ago. Everyone thinks they are better than average though.