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Nimitz's Journey To Shooting Greatness


Nimitz

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You never know, someone may drop at the last minute ...

Haven't had anything to write about lately since I haven't gotten to the range in over a week. The back of my strong hand became very sore and I tried doing nothing for a day or two but each time it still hurt so I figurd I'd better lay off for a good week pl us to let it heal. I don't want this to develop into a chronic problem and I don't want to not be able to take Ben's class on 4-5 Oct. unfortunately my gun handling skills are sufering as well since I can't dry fire either but I'll just deal with it during the class. I'm pretty sure it's a result of pushing my grip strength training too much ...gotta keep reminding myself I'm not 25 any more ...

However, I have been keeping busy as the guys on the CZ owners sub forum can attest ....i've decided to move to a CZ SP01 Shadow. Ordered the gun from CZ Custom last week and it should be ready in Nov. so I've been looking at what mags I want and grips which is really hard when you can't touch them. I settled on the VZ diamondback since they are supposed to be aggressively checkered and they are not metal. I may order the factory rubber grips as well since the combo of ProGrip plus the rubber may give me what I need.

I'm still a little nervous about the DA trigger first pull but I talked with a couple of guys who switched from striker fired guns to the CZ and all said it was easy to learn. It will also give me great motivation to spend a lot of dry fire time. I also need to hit Ben's website again and review his tips when changing guns ... I'll also pick his brain at class next week.

I'm pretty excited about the CZ. I toyed with getting it about a year ago but I was still so new I didn't think switching at that time would benefit me ...

I also need to stop making ammo as the likelihood my G34 load will work in my CZ is almost zero and I've got over 4,000 rds made.

BTW, if anyone is looking at a G34 setup PM me. I plan to sell the gun, all mags, spare parts, etc once my CZ arrives and I get a week or so of shooting it und my belt

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Yeah, I'm not really worried about my late entry into shooting or my advanced age :) keeping me from my goals ... In a lot of ways it has many advantages over if I had started when I was young ... Money is not an issue so I can get the setup I want and have as much ammo as I can shoot. I'm also able to train 3 x/week which is the real reason I know I'll make my goals. As long as I can stay motivated I'll be in good shape ... Progress is slow but steady, I just have to ignore all those stories of guys who say ".... I started as a B shooter then made Master by the end of he year and then GM the next year. That's just not me, for me it will be a slow, steady climb to the top ...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Its been a very busy week since taking Ben's class last weekend but since I'm off today I'm getting a chance to get caught up. I managed to get exactly what I had planned out of his class, namely the identification of the top issues that are keeping me from advancing and just as important, how to fix them. In addition, since he was shooting the IPSC Nationals this weekend in Frostproof he wanted to shoot one more day before the event so I hooked him up with a beach hotel next to where I live and then we went to my home range on Tues and shot for 2 hrs. That was almost more valuable to me then the 2 day class as I got to put into practice what we had talked about and saw instant results. Too bad I hadn't taken his class last year as I wouldn't have a couple of key things to fix ... better late than never.

On the bad side my left wrist issue is not getting any better even though I've laid off shooting since Tues so I've got an appointment to see a specialist tomorrow. I need to get on top of this before it develops into a chronic problem. I suspect I may end up with my wrist immobilized for a while and have to withdraw from the FL Sectional at the end of the month but that will be a small price to pay to fix this problem.

On the bright side our once-a-year community garage sale this past weekend netted me enough to pay for my CZ and associated equipment ...

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Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. Now that I KNOW exactly what is holding me back and how to fix it I'm really looking forward to training again. For the last month or so I was starting to get a little frustrated since I didn't really know what was holding me back ( I had my suspicions) or how to fix it. As an example, just changing one small thing related to my trigger control enabled me to do a plate rack in 5.2 secs; and that was with a ridiculous 2 sec draw (I'm changing that as well and only learned what I needed to fix there the day before). Previously, from the low ready, the best I've ever managed on a plate rack was 5.86 secs.

I suspect I'll be continuing to take at least 1 class a year. For those who've never done it, you don't know what you don't know. It's also pretty simple, you can't fix problems you don't know about and you need an outside observer to see what you are doing ...

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So, day 3 of just doing SHO dry fire sessions and my draw to an acceptable sight picture at 10 yds is already at a comfortable 1 sec. I pushed it to .8 tonight and managed about 50% success but had no trouble at 1.0 and .9 secs. Now to be fair I had been around 1.2 or so prior to this but its amazing how quickly you can progress when you just focus on one thing. Also, I'm only using a target focus since its only 10 yds which helps as well. can't wait to see where I am after 2 weeks of only SHO practice ...

I'm also able to rework to first index on my new draw stroke without engaging my weak hand too much so I can get a head start on that as well. ben told me that instead of indexing my weak hand to the middle of my belly that I should be indexing it all the way over to the right side so that as my gun exits the holster I can start building my grip instantly. the way I was doing it I was having to wait on my weak hand to catch up since it had a long way to go to get to the gun. I can already tell I'm probably going to be shaving a tenth off my draw with just that alone.

Saw my PC physician today and hopefully tomorrow I'll have an appointment with the hand/wrist specialist in a day or so so I can get on the road to recovery. I expect there is little chance I'll behooting the FL Sectional on the 26th but you never know ...

Edited by Nimitz
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Its been a very busy week since taking Ben's class last weekend but since I'm off today I'm getting a chance to get caught up. I managed to get exactly what I had planned out of his class, namely the identification of the top issues that are keeping me from advancing and just as important, how to fix them. In addition, since he was shooting the IPSC Nationals this weekend in Frostproof he wanted to shoot one more day before the event so I hooked him up with a beach hotel next to where I live and then we went to my home range on Tues and shot for 2 hrs. That was almost more valuable to me then the 2 day class as I got to put into practice what we had talked about and saw instant results. Too bad I hadn't taken his class last year as I wouldn't have a couple of key things to fix ... better late than never.

I really appreciate all you did for me man. Thanks!

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you're very welcome. It was a very profitable couple of days for me! I look forward to hopefully taking a class from you next year (at my home range) so you can see where I am after putting into practice everything you taught me.

I know you went to Frostproof to win but congrats on the 2nd place finish. Finishing 2nd at the IPSC Nationals is still nothing to sneeze at ...

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Wel it's now day 14 without being able to shoot and only doing SHO dry fire ... I'm now starting my dry fire SHO with a par time of 1.0 secs and moving down from there. Today I pushed to .7 and managed a few clean draws. At the end I always go back and finish with 10 reps at 1.0 secs. It's amazing how easy a 1 sec draw has become when you're working .8 and .7 sec times. I'm easily beating the 1 sec par times during my last set of 10 reps..

A couple of things that seem to be important to making these sub 1 sec times ....

1) I'm using a target focus exclusively since I'm at 10 yds. In the past I always used a front sight focus which slowed me down and there is no reason to use a FSF on an open 10 yd target. This is close to being a subconscious skill but I do catch myself once in a while using a FSF

2) I no longer take a small half step fwd as I draw. I found it nearly impossible to get past .9 with the step. Once I stopped moving I got to .8 pretty quickly. The half step was not gaining me anything related to balance or stance and just adding extra movement I didn't need so I eliminated it

3) I'm learning to relax more when I draw. Keeping my entire body still except for my hands and arms and not tensing my shoulders as I build my grip. This was one of the big takeaways from Ben ... He said I was way too tense and mechanical during my draw and while shooting so I'm really hyper focused on this during dry fire. I've been standing in front of a window in my outside dry fire area and with the room dark behind it I get a nice reflection and can watch myself, focusing on my shoulders being relaxed. I have a ways to go on this as I fear I've been shooting this way since the beginning and will take time to overwrite these bad techniques, however,I get a little better every day

It will be interesting to see where I am in live fire once I'm able to start shooting again. I can't get in to see the hand/wrist specialist until next Thurs so there will continue to be a lot of SHO dry fire in my future ... Can you say .5 sec SHO draw ...:)

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Hey man. Can you describe the pain in your left hand? I'm no orthopedist, but I did spend an hour or so in an MRI about a year and a half ago for a shooting related injury in my left wrist, so maybe I can help inform your conversation with the wrist specialist if your symptoms are the same as mine.

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sure, there are actually 2 things going on which I believe may not necessarily be related. First is some pain on the back of my hand which occurs when I squeeze my fingers together, it is not there when I relax my fingers. My GP doc thought that was classic tendonitis. I have a little bit of that same kind on pain in the same place on my right hand but it is very minor. The pain in my left wrist is more troubling, it is localized right around the little bone that protrudes out where the back of your hand and wrist intersect. If you take your left hand and rotate it so that you are looking at the palm, then take your right hand thumb & index finger and put the index finder on that little bone your thumb naturally goes to a spot on your wrist & this area hurts as well when I press on it.

There is a dull sense of pain when at rest but the only motion that really hurts is if I hold out my left arm and then try to rotate my left wrist toward my body. Other movements of the wrist do not cause any pain. Also, this pain feels like 'injury' pain' and not muscle soreness pain ...

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sure, there are actually 2 things going on which I believe may not necessarily be related. First is some pain on the back of my hand which occurs when I squeeze my fingers together, it is not there when I relax my fingers. My GP doc thought that was classic tendonitis. I have a little bit of that same kind on pain in the same place on my right hand but it is very minor. The pain in my left wrist is more troubling, it is localized right around the little bone that protrudes out where the back of your hand and wrist intersect. If you take your left hand and rotate it so that you are looking at the palm, then take your right hand thumb & index finger and put the index finder on that little bone your thumb naturally goes to a spot on your wrist & this area hurts as well when I press on it.

There is a dull sense of pain when at rest but the only motion that really hurts is if I hold out my left arm and then try to rotate my left wrist toward my body. Other movements of the wrist do not cause any pain. Also, this pain feels like 'injury' pain' and not muscle soreness pain ...

I'm having a tough time visualizing the location of the pain based on your description. By "little bone" do you mean on the pinky side of your wrist?

The sense of pain you describe, the "injury" pain, is it acute when you try to grip the gun with your left hand?

If so, that's pretty much what I had. The MRI indicated that I tore the extensor retinaculum (pic below) in my left hand. As I understand it, it's a band of tissue that goes around the outside of the tendons on your wrist.

image004.jpg

I had a shot of cortisone, which really drove out the inflammation, but it left the tendons really shriveled and weak. The shot gave me relief for maybe a day or two, and then the pain came back. What really helped was a diligent regimen of alternating ice packs and a heating pad for 20 minutes at a time, more or less all day long for a few weeks, combined with lots of ibuprofen. The specialist recommended surgery to repair the tear, but I put it off and put it off, and at this point with the exception of some occasional soreness my wrist is fine. For a while I wore one of these, and it helped support the tendons as everything healed up.

Good luck with the injury. I was out for about 3 months if I remember correctly. Hopefully your injury isn't as severe.

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yes, on the pinky side. The pain is not really acute like I torn something so we'll see. The pain has developed of a short period of time, not all of a sudden in response to some act that I did. That's what leaves me to believe it may be a strain or pull and not something torn but who knows ..? Could be little micro tears ... Unfortunately I suspect I won't really know on Thurs either until he does an MRI ...

That WristWidgit looks like it might be useful. Was that something the doc recommended or did you self medicate/

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Edited for clarity:

If I could do it again, I would be conservative with treatment if I could do it again. I would skip the cortisone shot and immediately do the ice / heat regimen.

The wristwidget device was something I stumbled upon months after the injury. The doctor had me in an immobilization brace for weeks, but I found the wrist widget on my own, which frankly I found to be more helpful.

Edited by beltjones
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Cool. I doubt I'll do a cortisone shot either. I had developed impingement syndrome in my right shoulder when in my 20s and playing for the AF volleyball team. They recommended the shot at first and it was useless. Ended up getting surgery to fix the problem ... I also assume I'll be in some sort of brace as well so I'll probably show him the Widgit and see what he thinks ... Thx

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finally got to the range this morning with a buddy of mine so he could test the changes I made to my ammo to see if I've fixed my ammo accuracy issues.

Although he shoots a Sig and has never shot my G34 he managed a 3 1/2" group at 20 yds and 1.5" group at 15 yds so it looks like I may be GTG without any major flailing ...

Talked to CZC on Mon and they said my new Shadow should ship NLT 30 Nov! I'm also going to try and see if Xtreme can send me some .356 124 plated bullets to try. I'll compare them to the .355 I have now so if there is an appreciable accuracy difference I can have them make me the .356s for my yearly bullet buy in Jan/Feb.

I finally see the hand/wrist specialist on Thurs so hopefully I'll get on a solid recovery path instead of this wandering around I'm doing now. Seems I remember a Halloween in 1984 where I was in a hospital having shoulder surgery .... maybe this ain't my best holiday ...

On a brighter note my SHO dry fire draw is now at a comfortable .9 secs ....never thought I'd be saying something like that .... :). I've been starting my dryfire sessions at .9 secs and pushing to .7 secs. Still a ways to go to get 10 good .7 sec draws in a row but it's amazing how easy .9 is where you've been working at .7 secs. Even tried a few at .6 ... never made it and that one might be bridge to far ...

Also this morning at the range my buddy asked if I wanted to try and shoot his Sig since I'd never shot one. I didn't dare try freestyle and risk messing up my left wrist even more so I said, "sure, I'll try a couple of SHO shots at the plate rack." I went to the 10 yd line and easily hit the plate with no effort so I decided to get cocky and move back. I just walked off until I was about 15-17 yds away and with no effort pointed the gun at the rack and hit another plate. Got quite a surprised look from my buddy too ...

The ability to hit an 8" plate on the first try at 15-17 yds SHO with it being the first live round I've fired in 20 days is 100% due to Ben fixing my trigger control issue

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Saw the hand/wrist specialist today, he thinks I may have a torn tendon or even a micro fracture ... MRI is scheduled for tomorrow so by next week I should know how ugly the next month or so will be. Hoping for the best but I'll be happy to just find out what the actual issue is so I can address it directly. This just 'doing nothing' is hard on me. This is the first time since I've taken up shooting 20 months ago that I've gone 25 days in a row without any shooting ... And I'm afraid there are at least going to be a few more in my future.

At least I'm putting the down time to good use ... Addressing my ammo issues, getting ready for my new CZ, getting a training plan organized for when I can start shooting again and let's not forget my new .8 sec SHO draw ....

Edited by Nimitz
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Got the results from the MRI and I've developed a cyst on the Triquetral bone of my left wrist. This has been caused by the Ulnar bone of my left arm rubbing against that bone when I cant my wrist down at a 45 to form my grip. It appears my ulnar bone is slightly longer than 'normal' which is enough to cause the problem. The Dr said there is a procedure to shorten the Ulnar bone slightly to create enough space but the surgery is a little involved and at the moment he recommended not to do that. He said wearing a brace would be a good idea so I ordered the Wigdit that Beltjones suggested. unfortunately, since this is a bone-on-bone issue I don't really see how it's going to go away on its own unless the brace restricts just enough wrist movement to keep them apart. Therefore, I've kept my original appointment for 4 Dec with the top wrist/hand surgeon in Central Fl. A second opinion of what's going on won't hurt and if surgery is indeed needed I'll want him doing it anyway ...

Hopefully I'll get over this nagging cold which I've had since last Wed so as soon as the brace arrives I'll be able to start shooting again and we'll see what happens. While i love my new .8 sec SHO draw it's really time to be ble to start using my other hand again ...

Less than 15 days before my Shadow arrives .... Hopefully I'll get enough time with it so that I'll feel comfortable enough to shoot itfor the Seeklander classes I have scheduled for 11-13 Dec ... I'll need to be really comfortable with the manual decocking procedure since the match is the next day ...

Edited by Nimitz
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Got the results from the MRI and I've developed a cyst on the Triquetral bone of my left wrist. This has been caused by the Ulnar bone of my left arm rubbing against that bone when I cant my wrist down at a 45 to form my grip.

That must be a relief to find the cause. I suppose you have considered whether it's possible to adjust your grip slightly (perhaps with a different gun) to alleviate the issue?

Good luck in fixing it, whichever path you choose.

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That's an interesting point since in less than 2 weeks I'll be switching to a Shadow. I assume my grip will be different so that just may solve the problem if I don't need to cant my wrist down as much. And I don't we're talking much either, I would suspect a change of an 1/8" or so might do it. Definitely something to talk with the Dr about on the 4th as well ...

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I have a similar issue (ganglion cyst) in my left wrist, but more middle/thumb side. It is on again off again pain and restricts the full motion my wrist is normally capable of. I just started wearing a brace, and it has helped. What is this widget y'all speak of?

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