What is a better stage plan for this?

[AlphaCharis]

What is a better way to have shot this stage?  Especially what to do with the mags.  I shoot Production and the WSB was:  Unloaded gun starts on LEFT barrel, ALL mags on RIGHT barrel.  Shooter can start anywhere in the shooting area.  Can stuff mags or use them off the barrel.  Should be cued at 01:01 in my match video.  Execution turned out kinda crappy.  I didn't walk this stage nearly enough, mainly because I was undecided for the longest time on my stage plan.  Finally just picked something even though it didn't feel the most efficient.   

 

For reference for available targets:  in the right position where I shot the plate rack, the only other targets you could see were the left three plates on the left hand plate rack.  Back at the barrel where the mags started, you can see the right three plates on the left plate rack looking through the front middle port - I actually did not notice this during the walkthrough.... I probably could have avoided stuffing so many mags :/ ).  In addition to the 4 paper targets I shot through the left port, you could see the entire left hand plate rack, so you could also shoot it from there instead and avoid going to the far left of the stage.  The targets I shot through the middle and right ports were only visible through those ports. 

 

Ended up on this stage 10th overall, 76.12% of Open M stage winner, 3rd Production, 78.15%

stage winner did it in 24.82 seconds, my time was 31.76 

 

 

 

[MemphisMechanic]

Let's try this:

 

Stuff one mag into belt then feed the gun a second on the move.

 

Staart in the center position, and shoot everything in the left port and whichever target on the right or in the center which is visible with the least movement.

 

Staying in center position, Change mags at slide lock and finish the remaining targets.

 

Grab another mag on your way past, load at slide lock, and shoot right right plate rack.

 

Grab final mag and load on the move to the left plate rack.

 

(The only advantage this stage plan has over yours is less time spent standing still filling up your belt.)

 

Edited May 5, 2017 by MemphisMechanic

[Hi-Power Jack]

76% of the Winner   

 

If I ever get that high, I'll send you some ideas ....   

 

Memphis seems to have some pretty good ideas, up above ^^^^^^.

[Out of Ammo]

I agree, Memphis has some good ideas on this stage.

[AlphaCharis]

4 hours ago, MemphisMechanic said:

Let's try this:

 

Stuff one mag into belt then feed the gun a second on the move.

 

Staart in the center position, and shoot everything in the left port and whichever target on the right or in the center which is visible with the least movement.

 

Staying in center position, Change mags at slide lock and finish the remaining targets.

 

Grab another mag on your way past, load at slide lock, and shoot right right plate rack.

 

Grab final mag and load on the move to the left plate rack.

 

(The only advantage this stage plan has over yours is less time spent standing still filling up your belt.)

 

Ah!  Even with the extra movement, it would probably save more time than being static for an eternity while I load my belt.  I went over several combinations of grabbing/stashing my mags, but hadn't thought of this, and no one on my squad shot it this way.  Thanks!  Gives me something to think about the next time I come across a similar scenario.  I think I got tunnel vision in the walk-through because I let the mags on the barrel intimidate me, and then was paralyzed by all the choices haha

[AlphaCharis]

4 hours ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

76% of the Winner   

 

If I ever get that high, I'll send you some ideas ....   

 

Memphis seems to have some pretty good ideas, up above ^^^^^^.

 

Haha, thanks!  I don't think you have to be an M or GM to have a good stage plan, though   I would say there are a lot of shooters that have enough experience seeing a variety of stages and ways to shoot stages that they have valid input.   Speaking of not having a good idea, though, reminds me of the ones people had when planning their stage, and then you're watching them shoot, scratchin' your head, thinking, "What is he doing?!"  But then he executes the monstrous plan really well, and finishes competitively with a "good" stage plan lol  So, even if an idea isn't any good.... it can be workable, I guess. hehe

[MemphisMechanic]

It all comes down to execution.

 

A poor plan executed perfectly will always beat the prefect plan executed poorly.

 

Never forget that all you need to do is shoot As rather quickly. All those plan options only add up to perhaps 10% of your score... the other 90% is shooting and moving quickly and cleanly.

 

Pick a plan early and memorize it so there's no hesitation between buzzer and final shot. Don't be "that guy/gal" who changes their mind when they are on deck!

 

Edited May 6, 2017 by MemphisMechanic

[CHA-LEE]

What tools did you leverage to assist you in figuring out which plan would be best? For example, did you use a stop watch to time each plan as you dry fired it? If you don't time this stuff to prove that one strategy is in fact faster than another then there is no way you can make an accurate strategy decision that you will also be confident in deploying.

 

Poaching others stage strategy will only limit your performance to their potential performance as well. For example, just because the whole squad is doing something retarded doesn't make it the optimal solution for the stage.

[waktasz]

On those stages I try really hard to not have to spend time stuffing mags into my pouches. If you can't avoid it, I'd have grabbed one to put in the gun, then grabbed two at once to stuff into the pouches as I move to the first position. On the way to the middle position I would have grabbed another one, and held it IDPA flashlight style while I shot the next position...not my picture but something like this

It's not super ideal but it saves a lot of time over stuffing mags into your pouches which takes a few seconds EACH

 

Edited May 24, 2017 by waktasz

[AlphaCharis]

On 5/24/2017 at 9:01 AM, CHA-LEE said:

What tools did you leverage to assist you in figuring out which plan would be best? For example, did you use a stop watch to time each plan as you dry fired it? If you don't time this stuff to prove that one strategy is in fact faster than another then there is no way you can make an accurate strategy decision that you will also be confident in deploying.

 

Poaching others stage strategy will only limit your performance to their potential performance as well. For example, just because the whole squad is doing something retarded doesn't make it the optimal solution for the stage.

Haha that's so true.  There was this stage I shot last year and everyone was shooting it the exact same way.  I ended up shooting it different and cut across in a straight line outside the shooting area in front of a series of barrels instead of following the curved path behind them all, ended up being way faster and much less awkward.   

 

Sometimes people see a stage a different way, so I like to see and consider all the different ways of shooting it.  Plus it will help me to view stages in different ways in the future.  I usually pick a plan that is the most efficient but also the easiest for me to execute i.e. it feels better or will be easier to remember.  The soft cover stage (Clutch) at Oregon State I was going back and forth on how to shoot it lol, finally just picked one, and did it.  I felt like it wasn't the quickest way, but the easiest for me to do it.  Ended up getting 8th in Production on it (which is good for me lol).  

 

The stage in the original post was shot in a lot of different ways by the squad.  And it was one of those stages that I could not decide on how to shoot it the best.  

[AlphaCharis]

On 5/24/2017 at 10:55 AM, waktasz said:

On those stages I try really hard to not have to spend time stuffing mags into my pouches. If you can't avoid it, I'd have grabbed one to put in the gun, then grabbed two at once to stuff into the pouches as I move to the first position. On the way to the middle position I would have grabbed another one, and held it IDPA flashlight style while I shot the next position...not my picture but something like this

It's not super ideal but it saves a lot of time over stuffing mags into your pouches which takes a few seconds EACH

 

I thought about doing that - holding my mag like that.  But I don't like trying things I haven't really dry fired.  I've tried it a few times before stages, but haven't actually practiced it while actually shooting.  Last time I held a flashlight at Production nationals it went horrible lol  I should dry fry with holding a mag for situations where I'm just shooting some close targets and need a mag change nearby the barrel.  save time on stuffing those stupid mag pouches