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lugnut

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    Dave Solimini

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Looks for Target

Looks for Target (4/11)

  1. Holy crap. It's been a long time. Haven't been doing much this year at all. Little practice and few matches. See what the new year brings!
  2. Wow… you are pretty disciplined! I'm planning on something a little lighter.
  3. Update. I think I've shot 2 matches in June with one practice session before the MA IPDA state. I didn't take a lot of notes from the IDPA MA State- I think I came in 5th overall… which wasn't too bad considering. I managed to do pretty well on some really fast clam shells on a couple stages- all and all it was a pretty straight forward match. I shot it reasonably clean but I managed to pop to non threats which I'm usually pretty good about. One was shooting a target on the move- managed to pop a NT on the top of the shoulder- no idea how I didn't see that thru my sights. The other was a 35yard standard stage. They had NTs below the down zero. I recall that my sights just wouldn't settle… so I basically just shot them as they were. That stage hurt which sucks as my long range accuracy is usually better… but when the sights are not staying still… nothing you call do. Other than those penalties- I can't complain. Yesterday I shot the MASS Classic in Monson- it's a 10 stage Level 1 match that is basically a level 2 quality match IMO. It was a great match with great weather. My last time shooting was 2 weeks prior at the MA IPDA State and my first stage was a classifier (More Disaster Factor). It was a typical situation when I haven't shot much prior. When the gun when bang, it was jumping all over the place. Almost funny in retrospect. I know my sights weren't lined up on the array of body shots but I can recall gripping the gun better and things sorted out a bit. In the end I clipped a NS but at least got the A. Very next stage required a lot of reloads that were almost static but the targets were in positions such that you had lots of leaning, with 2 steel plates thru a couple of tubes/pipes. I thought my run was ok, albeit a tad slow… but somehow I managed to pull off an open target at probably 12 yards…. match wasn't going so well at that point but I tried to make the best of it. The next two stages went much better. First was just a few array of targets with a cooper tunnel. Not very much going on there and I ended up with my best stage of the day. The next stage was 11 targets all head shots. The stage started well… until my 4th and 5th target array- which were only about 5 yards or less away. I was there just watching holes appear in the heads. It was as if it was in slow motion. I kept seeing the holes appear realizing that I wasn't watching my sights…. so I was puzzled. I think when the shooting was done I stared at them for some reason maybe figuring out what I just did. I usually always use front sight focus so it was an odd thing. Finished the stage with sight focus. Got all the heads and came in 4th on that stage. Next stage included a bunch of ports that you had to open with a rope. I decided to shoot the target with SHO instead of holding the rope while shooting free style. I thing shooting the close targets SHO was my best choice. I ended up with a couple deltas by just being sloppy. My 6th stage was sitting on a "horse" while shooting. Fast time but a fast swinger with 2 Deltas hurt. 7th stage require all shooting from a large plank that was set up as a seesaw. There were some good leans but nothing terrible. I was doing ok but I managed to pull off a target while the plank moved (or I did). I thought about making up it but continued to the end at which time I decided to go back to "fix" that target. Ended up with 3 As. Damn I hate that. Why can't I make up the ones I REALLY need???? 8th stage was my worse unfortunately. It was a great stage which I like a lot. A few "simple" arrays with one in the middle which incorporated a activator (popper), another popper and a double swinger and a static. On the 2nd of the simple arrays, which had two plates- I had some issues with one of the plates. I shot it, I saw it wiggled, came off it, realized it didn't drop, came back and shot it again, saw it wiggled and came off it again only to realize that again it didn't drop. Third time was a charm. I know my first shot nicked the side of the plate… not sure about the 2nd. That killed my time. On the middle array I thought my timing went perfect. I shot popper, activator popper, right swing, left swinger and static. 2 As on the first swinger, Alpha Mike on the left swinger. There was time for sure… I just didn't execute. My 2nd to the last stage started with a sitting position and some arrays, and one port with 2 clam shells at the end. Went fine… and again the timing should have been great. First clamshell- 2A, 2nd clamshell AM. Damn it! I rushed it and I know there was time. Last stage- nothing really tricky except a low port and a door which activated a clam shell, followed by couple static paper and 2 steel plates. I opened the door and popper the clam shell with AC and proceeded to get the 2 steel plates one for one! Ahh… I needed that. Time was a little slow but a good ending for sure! Great match overall… fun time. My performance is what it is without any decent practice but that's what it is. Finished 5th.
  4. Damn. Awesome stuff here Esther. You are very lucky to get this feedback. I've been shooting for a while and that's awesome stuff from TGO.
  5. You aren't the only one to encounter this phenomena! Still happens to me and many other I can assure you. Hey, the reality is most shots are very manageable in USPSA matches given "enough" time. Once you introduce time in the equation… things can get ugly…. but that's the intrigue of the sport- finding the elusive perfect balance between accuracy and time. It takes incredible discipline to really let the sights dictate your shooting. But when you figure that out good things will happen. Ask Mr Supermoto about this. I always say this, and maybe I'd be a better coach that I am a shooter but- push for speed/times in practice NOT in the match. At the match speed will just happen but let the sights dictate the actual shooting. Speed focus at matches never turns out very well for most shooters...
  6. I'm more proud of that U then the GM I can recall you shooting a revo at one time… so don't be so dismissive.
  7. Sweet!!! Want to borrow a wheel gun to get the U removed? Awesome job on making GM… very nice.
  8. I think a big part of making a big step up in this sport comes down to a strong mental preparation before stages. We all have lapses.. but IMO you could jump a bunch of slots in matches just by preparing better. I have not been at my best but here are some things that I do BEFORE the shooting starts. - After each run or before the match begins, check all your equipment and make sure ALL ammo carriers are FULL to div capacity. WE HAVE ALL MADE this mistake at least once. It never ends well. - KNOW what you are going to do when the buzzer goes off. KNOW when you are going to reload, where you are going to step, WHEN you are going to engage the targets, etc. On the walk thru, get in all the positions you plan on shooting in. If you have steel around a wall- get into the position you will shoot in. FEEL it. Visualize your run in your mind as much as you can. Don't overlook or take anything for granted. If you have a table start with an empty gun, don't forget to visualize the loading part. Most of this sport is NOT the shooting so think of the efficient use of all that time as almost free points. - if you make a mistake, which we all do, don't panic and start doing anything that wasn't in your plan. Improvising is NOT something this is easy to do once the buzzer goes off. If you take 3 extra shots on a popper- continue your plan, even if it means reloading after you only engaged one target off a fresh mag. How many times have you seen shooters take extra shots on a steel and then have every single reload after that happen at slide lock? - Don't expect peak performance after watching someone burn down a good run when you haven't been putting in the hard work. I know this all too well. Importantly, after a bad run, laugh it off. Sometimes I will seriously laugh out loud. NOTHING can be done to fix a bad run, it's in the past, let it go. Try not to let it get you down, figure out what happened on the ride home… but focus on nailing the next stage. Most important- have fun. Even when tired or frustrated try to realize winning and/or failing IS part of life. The failures are what make winning so special. Here is a quote that makes me smilie from time to time: "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." Churchill Now I have to go heed my own advice.
  9. It's everywhere Randy. The sport is growing- IDPA, USPSA both. The good and bad I guess.
  10. I enjoy shooting production. I like iron sights and the challenges it presents. I've shot Revolver and Limited a bit- maybe I'll dabble with Limited in the future. I guess it's hard enough competing at the level I want… but to have a tough match and spend most of it waiting around is a struggle. I'm sure I'll get over it as people like BostonBullit make it enjoyable. Although I'll admit to ASKING to run the timer on occasion just to keep me from getting bored….
  11. It's good to know I'm not the only one thinking this way. Not a lot we can do about it...
  12. It's been a disappointing month or so of shooting. I think some of the smaller indoor matches I shot this winter lulled me into thinking my skills hadn't fallen off much… but I think they really have. Plus the local competition is getting much better this year for sure- which is great. A few recent matches have not gone so well including a recent couple of club matches in the last couple weeks. Maybe my desire has shifted to other things? I honestly can't figure it out. I love shooting and working on stuff at practice but standing around for long days with big crowds is becoming more of a frustration- not that that has much to do with my performance- that's another issue. I did get to the range yesterday for some practice and it was eye opening for several reasons. My accuracy at speed at even 12 yards is suffering and my movement out of positions is weak. To add more suffering- I somehow found out my sights were off by about 3 inches at 15 yards. I was shocked to see this. My head shots slow fire were barely on the left edge of the paper. I have no idea how this could happen. The rear sight is Dawson adjustable and the base is secure to the frame so I'm not sure how it went "out". I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't sighted it in for quite a while. I used to throw a few rounds a practice session to verify POI. It has been a long time. I suspect a "friend" might have misadjusted the sights while I wasn't looking! LOL. This might have had "some" impact on my shooting but not all of it. The last match had several mini poppers that required several make ups- I'm sure that having the gun sighted in would have helped a bit. Last drill of the day yesterday was engaging a mini popper from about 35 yards from a doorway with hands on door jam (after sights were adjusted!). It was good and bad. Started getting the popper regularly at just under 2s. After more practice I was pushing it down to 1.5s with a best of 1.16s when I was pushing it. WAY too much variation though. I found that getting on the trigger earlier helped with this drill… Then to make things a little more interesting we added a 7 yard paper target to the right of the door way. What do you think happened? I started to miss the popper on the first shot 3 times in a row. I suspect I need to work on the task at hand (hitting the popper) by keeping my head clear of what is next. I think this is a classic challenge for me… my mind moving on to the next thing before completing the very important target I'm engaging currently. It's all about respecting each and every target, one shot at a time. Simple….
  13. Just thought I'd share some of the post match "analysis" I do. First- you got to be able to visually recall how you shot the stages pretty good. After doing lots of metal planning and walk thru, by the time I shoot the stages, I usually have this down pretty good. Now if you have videos that's much better as you can't often recall everything- especially your speed through the stages. After the match I review the PEs, total points and total time for the match. I review the big picture stuff first. Then I'll compare all those stats to the shooters that beat me. Sometimes unfortunately there are many shooters that beat me so I just take a sampling. This gives me an idea of whether or not for a given match my point percentages hurt me… or maybe my points were good but my times were too slow. Maybe I'd win if I didn't manage to get the one Mike/NS because otherwise my times/hits were good… things like that. Once I get a perspective of all that- I review videos (if I have them) and/or mentally play thru them in my head. I'll make note of where and why I had PEs. If you have a miss- why? Was it an awkward shooting position? Shooting on the move? Not respecting targets? Or just a damn tough shot- like a 25 yard partial. I'll work on the issues that yield the best return first. If I'm giving away points on close targets but missing some on 30 yards- which is the quickest to fix? Mental and technical challenges are different for all of us… but I'm pretty sure it takes more work to hit 30 yard partials- it will take much more to get that figured out. Then I look at times. If I'm slow in the match overall why was that? Was there one stage where I just had a major gun problem that ate up 6 seconds??? Or was it a bunch of little things that just added up over the match? Was my shooting on the move slow? Did it take me too long to set up for shots? Do my reloads hurt me? Do I hesitate when leaving a shooting position? I look at the total times and then per stage. Was my overall time slow or close to the top shooters? Then I look at total points- which is a combination of % of points w/o penalties and % of points with penalties. Were my points acceptable compared to top shooters? I personally don't look at a fixed percentage for a target as I believe it will be match dependent. But in Production I'd generally like to be near 90-92%. Where was I good, where was I not so good? Do I drop too many points on easy targets? Or do I lose most of my points on tougher shots? One is mental discipline and the other is likely marksmanship issues. Am I getting too many deltas? Where were they? Or too many Cs? Where were they? What caused them? In Production- Ds are like no penalty Mikes and very bad- indicative of just sloppy shooting IMO. Too many Cs? Did I get too many Cs because my times were fast and didn't have enough visual focus? Was it generally a very high HF stage? Points are probably the trickiest to analyze as ultimately it's a result from pushing speed and/or technical challenges or both. Most shots are very manageable off the clock. lol Depending on my results- I'll adjust my training accordingly. But I try not to focus TOO much on specific things and still get a good balance…. but I try to work on things will will yield my the best bang for the buck. Efficiency is important in matches just as it is in your training plan!
  14. After quickly reviewing the final results- I can see what hurt me in this match. What I percieved was reality- and I know exactly what I struggled with and why I didn't fare well- aside from the Mikes. I was able to see a couple videos of me and I was slow in some areas for sure…. plus I was able to identify where I was having lots of issues. I seem to be ok shooting on the move forward and backward or static… but shooting laterally or sideways was troublesome and slow. Always more to do and if I'm not willing to acknowledge what I'm weak at I won't improve.
  15. Thanks Randy. I will contact you when I can. Appreciate it !
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