RMJack

Great feedback from everyone, thank you! fyi: I'm already scheduled for Gabe's class here (PDX) in October. Oddly enough it doesn't appear to be on his webpage... I'm looking forward to the class, but in the interim was hoping for a few 1 on 1 or small group sessions, even if informal as "we're in bay 8 on Thursday nights from 6-8:30, come on down". I also understand that not everyone who's good at something is good at teaching it or wants to teach/coach. I'm sure a motivated and enthusiastic 'A' coach is better than a 'GM' who is bored to tears talking grip/sigh picture/trigger press for the millionth time to noobs. Which is probably why I've read Stoeger says don't sign up for his class until you're at least a 'B'. Makes perfect sense to me. A new guitar player wouldn't seek out Joe Satriani for lessons, while a Kirk Hammond would - you need a certain amount of skill and common language to make the lessons / coaching useful. I do know I've been hanging around by myself too much in the basement dry firing, and neglecting live fire. I got to the range for the first time in 2 months, and was sure I was going to smoke the basics I've been working (draws, WHO, SHO, transitions and arrays) - complete cluster. Missed everything at first, my Acceptable Sight Picture in dry fire was insufficient for live fire. It got better after I tightened up the ASP, but felt glacial. so much for my belief in a .8 draw... And my great dryfire groups for SHO/WHO weren't great at all in live fire... I'm planning to go get out at least 2x a month live, I've been lying to myself...

Besides the book, always look at youtube for help. Tim Herron has a really good series of videos for newer comp shooters. Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-RmTUYDL0c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfTL8hYAA28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZLVP-93pow

Take this for what it's worth, but your turn draw seems slow and complicated. In Steve Andersons book - Get to Work, he has a really good chapter on turning draws. I don't feel comfortable giving that away, but I'll say the book is WELL worth the 20 bucks and will do so much more for you than a turning draw. as far as times, I'm not quick (at all), but my turn and draw is about 1.1...

Thanks all, I'll ask the MD and RO's at my next match.

Hi, Fairly new competitive shooter, and have a few local matches under my belt. I've been doing a ton of reading (this site, Stoegers and Anderson's books). It can really feel like drinking from the firehose, and as mentioned in this thread, some common advice is to find a coach / better shooter who can assess your skills, and give you guidance and a development plan. What a great idea, and as an older shooter I want to focus my efforts most effectively. To that end, is there any list of coaches by area? For example, I'm in Portland (OR), and would happily work with a more experienced shooter / coach once a month for an hour or two at the local range, and pay for their time/expertise. This is different than a class, which I'm not opposed to, but my feeling is classes and coaches have different purposes... Maybe I should ask around at the local matches, but it feels like I might be missing something...

Just found this thread, would love a copy if possible. I'll be happy to host it so others can use if that's your wish.

Love they simplicity and prescriptive program of Anderson's first book. Refinement and Repetition for a concrete action plan Dry Fire Reloaded for additional context and a different explanation of techniques and purpose. Brian's book for deep dive background and historical context / evolution.

Pretty new shooter, and just wanted to share that doing LOTs of dry fire w/o progrip, and then shooting live with progrip isn't optimal. I've decided to use progrip when dryfiring as well as live fire - something Stoeger said in one of his books but which I thought wasn't necessary... I no longer think that.

I have to say, I was curious as to where you live, then saw your profile info - Metro Detroit. I'm surprised to see so many outdoorsy stores in an urban area.

really helpful thread! some good ideas. thanks!

Very cool. I've been looking for new mag pouches and will go with the DAA Racers...

Late to the party, but being 56 myself, I feel qualified to opine. First off, congrats on your 'A' rank, that's awesome! I've just started and only have a few matches under my belt. But as far as fitness, a few thoughts 1) I don't think you need to be fit to be a good shooter, you see many GM's who are overweight and don't move like greased monkeys. 2) Having said that, it can only help, so I do think it's a worthy goal. 3) More important than shooting however, is focusing on how improving your fitness/weight/agility will improve the quality of your life 24/7, as well as your shooting 4) If you're 56, and into shooting, I'm going to assume you have some disposable income - if you do want to improve your agility/fitness get a coach. They'll help you come up with a safe and effective routine that's tailored specifically for you - well worth the money. I don't recommend jumping in with suicides or any exercise without some professional coaching. There are 56 year olds who can do it easily, and others will get injured. 5) Personally, I've found focusing in my fitness tends to motivate me to work on my shooting too. Good luck! Shooting is fun, but investing in your health will improve your overall life - and your shooting. win/win

SLC, wanted to thank you for taking the time to share your training log. I just read it from beginning to end and see solid progress and commitment, and a template to follow for my own improvement. I see a lot of myself in your journey, my WH is a challenge and I wish I had your reloads - I need 10,000 more solid reps I guess... Keep up the work!

I've found the idea of match mode (see Steve Anderson's books /podcast) is really helpful when I'm shooting a stage - "I will see my sights on every shot" In fact, practicing match mode nightly till the classifiers will be helpful to get the most accurate score (your current level of skill).

In my 50's, I found the following helpful 1) rest whenever you can, make sure you have a seat when not taping / preparing for shooting 2) hydration and electrolytes are huge. 3) some caffeine is good, too much isn't. you need to learn your body to figure how much out. 4) stay warm/cool as necessary. 5) for me, I've moved to a ketogenic diet, and find now that I'm fat adapted my focus is much much better. Burning fat > carbs

I'm in area 1 and considering going to CO for a while. Just need to decide on platform/sight.

I'm on chrome on a mac. per the post above, clearing your DNS cache should address your issue.

As I got older, I got presbyopia and couldn't shoot without custom glasses. Even those didn't work as well as I liked. However, my optometrist suggested multi focal contacts. I tried these out and found them much superior to shooting specific glasses, and allow me to play other sports (biking mostly) as well. You might check them out, I have a great sight picture now and enjoy shooting...

I realize this is an old thread, but one thing I've found really helped my competitive shooting is lots of dry fire / sight pictures. I've got older eyes (and older body!) and when I first started competing would 'lose' my sight picture during a stage, I suspect due to eye fatigue. Dry firing at home every day transitioning from target to target really strengthened my ability to retain the front sight... If you see everything perfectly this isn't an issue, but for me it made a huge difference.

I've been wanting to get into reloading, mostly pistol (9mm & 45) and have decided on the 650 from Krakenpop. As soon as I get my reloading room (aka spare bedroom) setup I'll be ordering it. From what others have said, if you can swing the 650 it's a great press to start on, and may be all you ever need for pistol/rifle shooting.

Thank you GrumpyOne! I've been wanting to get started in reloading, and was bummed I didn't do it while Brian was available as a SME. Krapenpop has a variety of Dillon packages

Another long time cross dominant - lots of dry fire and I don't even realize I've mounted the gun on my left eye (I'm right handed) unless I look at myself in the mirror. Dry fire a few months and you won't even realize your cross dominant. I'm only talking handgun - for long guns and bows I shoot off my left side (to match the dominant eye).

Rig looks great! The one thing I've learned to take is a portable chair. Standing around for 6 hours at the local match gets hard on the lower back (at least for my 55 year old back)

Not to hijack the thread, but now that Brian isn't selling Dillon, is there a preferred place to order from?

This is a great discussion. I've been a long time shooting enthusiast, but only got into competition in the last year. I understand the lust for new guns, believe me I do. But i think the OP said it really well - "I'd rather be a great shooter with an OK gun than an OK shooter with a great gun". Put that on the fridge and look at it 5x a day... :-) I decided in the spring to focus on shooting, and dry fire my G34 (stock except for sights and grip tape) 5x a week (mostly). I can only get in 1 trip to the range a month, but I've been following Anderson's R&R and am seeing improvement. Now to prove them at the local matches. Around March, I got a call from CZ Custom that my S2 had come in (I forgot I put a down payment on one in the fall), and against my better judgement, I paid for it and it showed up at my LGS. It's beautiful, flawless, and put together like a bank vault. And I've never shot it yet, and don't plan to until I feel there's a benefit to switching. Stupid I know, but I don't want to be tempted to switch platforms when I'm just starting to actually develop some shooting skills. Someone said shooting isn't about the gun, and I try to remember that when my alarm goes off at 5:30 and I go down to the basement to strap on my rig and holster my well worn G34. But is it wrong if I fondle the Shadow 2 almost daily?