Training Calendar

I'm currently scheduling classes for the 2009 season. Email me if you are interested in setting something up!

Currently scheduled classes:

April 18-19 - private lesson

May 9-10 - group class in Gosport, IN. Format is one day of instruction on the range, and one day of supervised match shooting. Contact Jane Ball for details.

June 13-14 - group class in San Antonio, TX. Contact Kevin Gentry for details.

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Testimonial: Al Capizzo

I'm titling this email "feedback" rather than
critique,
'cause I can't think of what to be critical about.

I definitely felt that we had your attention. You
weren't spending your time showing us how good you
are. Numerous times you asked, " What else do we need
to cover?", not because you didn't know what to do,
but because you were making sure you met our
needs/expectations. This is good.
I thought it was good making sure we were actually
sighted in and understood trigger control at the start
of the class. I took another class (much larger group)
that didn't do this, and it would have helped some
shooters with the rest of the day.
I thought you were organized in what you wanted to
present, there wasn't any head scratching and butt
scratching with that, "duh, I guess we'll shoot El
Prez a bunch of times, that always burns up ammo."

I like the approach of 1) here's how I think a skill
should be performed, and one or two optional ways to
do it, 2) now you do it, 3) do you need to do that
some more or can you take that home and work on it?
I never felt that I couldn't say, "Wait, I need to run
that another time or two." Of course that may have had
as much to do with having Ken as fellow student as
having you as instructor.
Time and funds allowing, I will probably be in contact
to do this some more in early winter.
I liked it, and know I can benefit from it.
Tomorrow I'm going to practice!

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Testimonial: Mitch Mora

Lanny Bassham says, "If you want to get better, find out what the top competitors are doing and how they train."

I came across Dave Re's posts on the Brian Enos forms at the end of last year. Luckily for me, Dave is a generous person and his blog has a lot of helpful information. I had reached a plateau in my shooting performance, I was throwing a lot of lead downrange in practice and not seeing any improvement. Dave's articles on "What do I need to practice?" and "Standards Drills for Practice" were paramount in my success. I contacted Dave and he was very helpful in helping me come up with goals, critiquing my match videos and things I should focus or work on. I started the work on my end and implement the drills into my practice routine Finally, I felt like I had found the road map that I had been looking for. There are many ways to get to the top, but Dave has a tested and proven way to do it. The drills have a little bit of everything and emphasize all the right things you need to focus on. One of the goals I had was to reach Master class by the end of 2008. Well, with Dave's help I was able to do it in half the time. I will continue to use Dave as a resource in my shooting performance and Dave has shown me the way to get that 'G' in front of the 'M'.
Thanks Dave!
Mitch Mora
TY58112

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Coaching/Training Testimonials

I've been lucky enough to work with some talented and motivated folks. Each of these individuals has shown a great amount of improvement in the time I've known them, and the were kind enough to share some thoughts on how working with me has helped them increase their performance. You can have these sorts of results, too!



Jane Ball doggedly walks the path towards domination. She asks all the right questions, and actually does the work to improve. I'm very confident you'll be hearing more about Jane in the near future, as she strives to become one of the top ladies in the sport. She says "My intention is to train to win in 2008. I believe Dave Re is part of the formula to get that done." Read her whole testimonial here.

Antoine Lane rose through the ranks like a man on fire, but stalled out when he hit Master, as many folks do. He was amazingly focused on wanting to reach Grand Master, but was challenged at trying to break through the mental barrier that was hampering his performances. I'm happy to say that I was able to help him find what he already knew, but just didn't accept - that he was already a GM. Antoine received his GM card in Limited in October 2007, and made an appearance on the cover of Front Sight in the same time frame. Good on you, buddy! Read Antoine's thoughts here...

Jamie Foote brings a lot of experience in the shooting sports to the table. When he needed some help with the techniques specific to the practical pistol sports, I was more than happy to help - and with only a little bit of guidance, Jamie suddenly found himself holding a Master card in Open division. Jamie's words tell the story better than I can.

Had a great experience working with me? Send me your comments and I'll add them here!

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Testimonial: Jamie Foote

I shoot a wide range of sports and I have spent thousands of dollars on lessons including getting a formal certification as a Sporting Clays instructor. I moved to the top classification of that game and the top class in Sportsman’s Team Challenge. I placed in the top 17 at the World Steel Challenge in 2007. I have spent 18 years searching for the “Next Level” in many games. A few years ago when I stopped shooting Sporting Clays I looked for a new game.


USPSA shooting. I thought would be an easy game to “Master”. I had speed and I had accuracy. I found “that” was not enough.

I knew to look for help and I did get help from several great sportsmen. This past year Dave Re, with promises of commitment on my part, agreed to coach me.

Dave Re has the good foundation of seeking help from some of the very best. He also has the Skill of Observation. He showed me the areas to focus my efforts on to take my shooting to the next level by adding more skills to complete my game, such as improving my setup when I move into position, and adjusting my stance to pick up fractions of a second. Progressing this past year from 82% to 88% is a hard climb for a 51 year old man. I know I have not yet reached my full potential and Dave will continue to be a part of my training.

Without his guidance I do not think I would have moved up to Master Class in 2007. Hard work will take you a long way Smart work with take you to your Goals. No one will progress on lessons without work on their own. Dave can help most anyone work smarter and in the right direction.

Dave will always be a part of my shooting, as part of his guidance in now part of my shooting foundation. Thanks Dave.

Jamie Foote
TY18956

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Testimonial: Antoine Lane

A beacon of light....

At the beginning of last year, I made a goal to make GM
by the end of the shooting season. I put together a plan and began to
execute it. For those few individuals in this sport willing to first admit
that GM is a goal, then commit to making GM, this "journey" can be
especially taxing...and seemingly painful. I was inspired by Dave Re, who
was at the time also a Master class shooter, just like me, except there was
one HUGE difference. When we talked about the "journey", he deemed the
'Warrior's Walk', I was always left with the perception that he was already
a GM. Before he made Grandmaster, during one of our conversations, he
talked to me about goals he planned on accomplishing after he made GM.
Right then it hit me, and he told me, "Dude, you're already a GM, now you
gotta walk like you are!". A month later he made GM...and a couple of
months after that, I made GM. In hindsight I can see that I was so consumed
with the goal, I didn't appreciate the journey. That simple mental
perspective unshackled me psychologically, and in just two classifier
matches, I was there! That's why I call Dave "Ray"...a beacon of light.

-Antoine Lane, USPSA Grandmaster

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Testimonial: Jane Ball

XRE….ReGun…Dave Re….He's a man of many identities but with one common purpose: to encourage, instruct, and inspire others to shoot better. He certainly has done so for me.



I met Dave on the Brian Enos forums. There are many different personalities and opinions to sort through on the forum but Dave stood out as someone who really knew what he was talking about. It was with this confidence that I sent him an email one day and asked him a question. I needed load data for my new open gun and I just knew in my heart that Dave would have the answer. He did. He had an awesome spread sheet with various loads that were spot on. This saved me a tremendous amount of time and frustration.

My journey continued as I decided to keep an on line range diary through the forum entitled Calamity Jane: Journey of a woman. Dave's feedback, encouragement and support really helped me stay on track in 2007. I found his advice to be sound, tested, and true.

This year my journey continues as I strive to find a higher mastery of shooting. This year my range diary is entitled Calamity Jane: Training to win. I realized I needed more formal mentoring than what my range diary could offer. Who did I call? Dave Re. I asked him if he would help me on a formal basis and he has done so. Having a mentor/coach has many benefits. One of those benefits is learning from someone who has experience. We all are climbing the same ladder. It helps when others who have gone before us can tell us how to climb. Dave has helped me by providing: ideas for practice, reading recommendations of shooting books, formulation of goals and is currently assisting me with performance analysis.

My intention is to train to win in 2008. I believe Dave Re is part of the formula to get that done.

Thanks Dave!

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Practice Deck 1.0 FAQ (beta edition)

This is the FAQ for the Beta version of Practice Deck 1.0



For start position, is it always facing downrange unless specified?

Downrange is what's intended. Its generally faster than facing somewhere else. Don't let that stop you from experimenting with other things - but the "prescribed" drill is facing downrange unless otherwise specified.


2, 3, 4, 9, 10, J, K of Clubs: Does "alternate start box" mean for every string or each rep?

In each case, there's only one string per rep - so, alternate where you start each rep.


2 of Clubs: Do you stop at the 2nd box, or keep running back and forth from box to box until you've shot 10 rounds?

You keep running back and forth. Its a total of 9 sprints per rep, and you shoot from each box 5 times on each rep. Same thing with the 3 of Clubs. It'll get your heart moving!


8 of Clubs: just want to make sure that T2 is engaged from box B, and T3 from box C; not T2 from C and T3 from B

It should be T2 from C, and T3 from B. Alternately, the back box should be labeled B, and the right box should be labeled C. Basically, shoot the target that's directly in front of the box.


5 of Spades: Alternate starting sides of barricade?

I would - but I didn't feel like I needed to specify it on that drill. Shoot it as you like. I might make that change, though...


10 of Spades: can you use strong/weak hand as support on barricade when shooting with opposite hand?

It kind of depends upon how sturdy your barricade is! But... I wouldn't recommend it. Its going to be slower, in the end. The engagement around each side is relatively easy, so... The drill doesn't care if you do it, though...


Scoring: When a drill is "score each", do you score each rep and then add the reps to get one final score, or do you keep each rep's score seperate?

I'll have to reword that on the key card. Add the times up at the end for the total drill time.

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The DR Performance Practice Deck 1.0

Coming in the first half of 2009!

The DR Performance Practice Deck represents a new way to practice for practical shooting sports. Consisting of 52 basic shooting drills superimposed on a normal deck of playing cards, the deck allows you to have a thorough, fun, and effective practice session while avoiding the inevitable question "Well, what do I do now?". Its small, light, and fits easily in your shooting bag. And, in a pinch (like a long delay between stages at a match), it can even serve as a normal deck of playing cards.

If you're reading this now - the deck is finishing development, and should be going into production in the first half of 2009.

• The Idea


• 1.0 Design Ethics


• Scaling


• FAQ for Beta version of 1.0 deck

The Idea

One of the common questions I get is "What should I practice?" The right answer, "Everything", is a hard thing for most folks to swallow. Its like a big elephant - trying to eat the whole thing at once is impossible, and its not always obvious where to take the first bite from. In late 2007, I wrote a blog article on the Re-Gun blog that describes how to determine exactly what to practice first. That gets you some specifics on what to focus on, but doesn't really give you a plan on how to work on them. It also doesn't add in general skills practice - you need to maintain that while focusing on the stuff that needs the most work.

Around that same time, I started investigating efficient ways to practice. A thread regarding Motor Learning came up on the Benoverse, and piqued my interest in how to structure practice to show the quickest gains in skill retention (that translates to quickest gains in match placement!). I dug into some research around kinesiology and motor learning, and discovered something interesting - the short of its, psuedo-random practice works better for long term skill retention than hundreds of repetitions of an individual skill (in kinesiology terms, this is referred to as "blocked" practice - ie, a "block" of one skill). This blocked out practice works for learning a new skill's movements and intricacies - once you know the moves, though, moving toward a more random pattern may result in slower gains on each skill in a particular practice session - but you'll retain more of those gains in the next practice session and match.

As I was doing that research, the folks at CrossFit Agoge released their cool Hopper Deck product. A lightbulb came on - a set of cards with shooting drills on them! Shuffle, draw, shoot, rinse, repeat. Pseudo-random practice of general skills. I contacted Alex Taylor at Hopper Deck to seek permission to blatantly steal their idea, and he graciously replied with a lot of great info on how to get started. The rest is... recent history...

1.0 Design Ethics

I rapidly came up with a large number of drills. I wrote down 75 or so, but had ideas for many more. Inventing drills isn't particularly hard (though inventing drills that are useful long term can be challenging). It became apparent that I needed to pare the drills down to 52 drills in some sensible fashion. So, here's what I did.

1.0 is a deck that focuses on basic practical shooting skills. The drills in this deck involve a minimal amount of equipment, relatively short distances, and relatively easy target presentations. This set of properties makes it a sort of "every man" practice tool - its usable in dry fire as well as live fire, the full set of drills can be used on almost any range, and basically every shooter can benefit from the drills as they are written on the cards. The drills can be scaled easily, too, to make them harder as required (more on scaling below). And, its usable for any of the practical shooting sports - USPSA, IPSC, IDPA, pistol for various multi-gun and 3-gun events, etc.

And, I pulled in several drills and target arrays I've found useful from other sources - folks like Max Michel, Jr., Brian Enos, and Eric Stanley.

Hit factor scoring is complex for this kind of thing. Max Michel described a "time plus" scoring system for a few of his drills to me, that I adapted slightly to the scoring system that appears in the deck for use by USPSA or IPSC competitors. It effectively makes each drill a fixed 5 hit factor stage, placing emphasis on shooting good points, but rewarding speed a bit more than IDPA's fixed 2 hit factor scoring. IDPA competitors should use IDPA scoring values to practice appropriately for their game. Other games can pick a system between those two. There is no distinction between Major and Minor power factor, either. What this allows you to do is to track your progress with a simple time number - and it makes it easy to compare your results to other folks who are shooting the same drills.

If 1.0 does well, I may consider developing a second deck with more advanced, involved drills - it could be shuffled straight into the 1.0 deck, giving you 104 drills in one spot. We'll see what happens...

Scaling the Drills

You may recall another blog post that I wrote regarding avoiding "easy" shots in your practice sessions and drills. Most of the drills in the 1.0 deck use wide open targets, and are set at close to moderate distance. For many folks, these are not difficult shots to execute. You can still get an awful lot out of practice on them, even as a upper level shooter. However, should you find yourself shooting 99-100% of points on the drills, at warp speed, you can definitely do some things to make the drills a more difficult challenge.

Distance: back up. This effectively makes the target smaller, and your shots become more difficult because of it. At some point, though, you reach a relatively uncommon target presentation at most of the matches we shoot - and you may run out of room on your range, as well. You can also scale the drills easier if you need to by getting closer - however, I'd encourage even the beginner to stick with the prescribed distances rather than making relatively easy shots easier. Your skill level will quickly improve to where you can make the shots in the deck without much difficulty.

Add no-shoots or hardcover: Another way to scale the difficulty up is to make the targets smaller by adding hardcover over part of one or more targets, or by overlaying one or more targets with no-shoots (non-threats in the IDPA vernacular). No-shoots are easier - you can just use another target and staples. Hardcover takes paint. If you use no-shoots, be sure to assess penalties appropriately!

If you choose to scale, be certain to keep track of that in your notes so that you can compare results the next time you shoot the drill in a meaningful way.

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Hanging a Shingle

I've wrestled a bit with exactly how to announce this. In the end that usually means I should just stop quibbling with myself and spout it out. So....

I'm now (officially) available for shooting training!

This is an exciting time for me. Teaching, for me, represents a multi-fold opportunity to give something back to the sport, and also another way to participate in the success of others. I've found that I really enjoy passing on the knowledge and experience that I've gained to other folks. That's part of the reason for this blog, of course.

If you're interested in discovering what I have to offer, please read on!


There are a few different ways to go about training, and they work with different degrees of success, depending on what your goals are, both as a trainer and a trainee. There are some broad categories - group training, and private - and some opportunities for more specialized programs. I can do them all - in this post, I'd like to lay out an idea for the third. If you'd like more information on the first two, please don't hesitate to contact me!

I've taken training in both group (small and large) and private formats, and gotten a lot out of both. As a trainee, group training requires that you really pay attention to all that is said to each participant in order to get the most out of it. Private training can be a lot like drinking from a firehose - more information than you can possibly retain in one sitting. Neither works without commitment from the trainee, of course, but that goes for any type of training.

What I'd like to offer is a slightly different spin - a more personalized, goal related training program designed to help you achieve the next steps in your shooting progress. For the sake of a snappy title, I call it the "Jump a Class Package". The package breaks down like this:

• 8 hours of range time in the central Texas area (I can travel to you, too - additional expenses apply)


• Basic skills assessment


• Introduction to and application of a goal setting program, including review of current goals, and methods to attaining them


• Phone and email consultation and coaching services


• Performance review and critique via video and, if possible, in local match settings, during the training period


• Drills and exercises to improve student skills will be detailed, and results reviewed during the training period.

Depending on the situation and the student's needs, the range time can be broken up into two 4 hour blocks, or combined with other students to make small group classes (max of 4). Aside from an initial skill assessment, the range sessions will focus on the skill improvements required to meet the student's goals. The training period would last from 3-4 months, and allows for followup and further reinforcement of the concepts and skills addressed in the goals and skill assessment. This "closing of the loop" is the strength of this package - with the other types of programs, you may not be able to easily spend more time with the trainer to insure that you learned the skills and are putting them fully into action.

Obviously, a trainee's success depends almost exclusively on their application of what they learn not just during training, but in the period following training, as well, as they put those newfound skills to work on their own. So, I can't guarantee your success, but I can definitely give you the best support possible on the way to your goals.

Questions? Thoughts? Hit me with 'em!!!

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