old506

I would like to see Ben shoot major just to see how he would do. Just kind of my guess but I think his level of accuracy in the last few years is what put him "over the top" in production.

I would have thought that the top guys would have done better. I would have thought they would be the one practicing WHO/SHO more often. Makes me think that a stage like that should be worth more points to give it more "weight".

Ouch....

It wouldn't be a "sham" if Grauffel isn't there because it's a National Championship. They will get a crack at him at the world shoot. I didn't mean to imply (and didn't think I did) that Nils' last championship was any less of a championship. I did say that this year's has to one of the most impressive (possibly ever) wins as the caliber and closeness of the competition impressed me. Maybe I misunderstand how Nationals works (or is supposed to)? I thought that a slot to Nationals was supposed to be earned, not signed up for? I think you identified one of the problems with having a combined Nationals. "shooters sign up for the division they want to shoot, conceivably the one they think they have the best shot at winning" Doing it that way, allowing the competitor to decide, may not give us the best competition, it may give the competitor the best chance to win but may not give us the best shooter. If the point of Nationals is to find the best practical shooter in the country, I think we need to focus and base every decision on getting the best shooters together and providing the best competition to let them go head to head. You have repeated this a few times, and to me it doesn't make sense. So Production isn't a valid championship unless the Limited guys shoot the match? Or is the Limited Championship this year not valid because Max didn't shoot it? Or how about this: Any division of any match where Eric Graufel doesn't compete is a sham because the best in the world wasn't there to legitimize it. No, the way it works is, shooters sign up for the division they want to shoot, conceivably the one they think they have the best shot at winning. The best Limited shooters will compete against the best Limited shooters, and so on and so forth. That's not watering down, that's allowing shooters to self-select where their strengths best match the shooting challenge. Now, if you wanted to argue that finishing 16th in this year's Limited match is more impressive than finishing 16th in years past, I would agree with that. But that doesn't mean that Nils's first championship is any less valid than his most recent one, nor will it be for whomever wins next year.

It may not limit the competitors but it will water down the competition. The best shooters in the country will be spread out in other divisions and won't be going head to head. If true competition is what you want then you want the best shooting against the best. We had our first peak at this during Revo Nats with TGO and Jerry going at it for the first time against each (that I know of) other. In the past there was no reason for TGO to pick up a wheel gun. To me anyway, Nils win this year has to be one of the best nats wins ever when you consider the depth of the competition and just how close the race was. If you just want 400 people coming out and rubbing shoulders together and catching up with how the family is doing, then lump them all together and have a BBQ at the end of the week.

Take a look at liveshots.net to see the stage. It was a SHO/WHO with real tight freestyle targets that had to be engaged first.

It is amazing to me how much this stage separated the top shooters. Only 60% of the top 20 shot it clean. Only 55% of the top 20 were GM's.

As far as the Lim match not being full this year.... The top 17 Competitors were within less then 10% of winning. To me that is amazing. This is the deepest field I have ever seen. The competition at this match was top notch. I wish we could have given Nils a 6 figure check though.

I think it comes down to what USPSA wants a National Championship to be. Do you want an end of the year get together where you can see old buddies that you only see once a year, have a short day of shooting where you slap each other on the back and catch a beer after a half day of shooting, then do it over again tomorrow? Or, do you want to see the best compete against the best. We don't need a glorified club match with watered down competition. I want to see TGO go up against Max. I want to see Ben shoot against TGO, and Nils, etc. If you have a combined National Championship and Ben wins production, Nils wins Limited, TGO wins Lim 10 and Max wins Open and neither faced each other, do you really have a National Championship at all?

I'm with you, but I hate seeing the competition go down by spreading everyone out. Maybe they just need to focus on the "Major" divisions or something. In the end, to me anyway, it's all about the competition. I want to see the best go up against the best.

Too bad. I think that it will water down the competition. I think the stand alone nationals this year proves it. Revo nats had much more and better competition this year. Limited nats had a deep field and great results. Combining just water's down the competition.

Kinda what I was thinking too. In retrospect, I think it was a great Idea to get the talent together in one match. The competition was excellent and that's what it is about, right? Limited is always kinda deep. Having it back to back, with the next match allowing iron sights (L-10) or Open...probably helped get the talent in one spot.

Time will help. You will slowly begin to figure out where to direct your focus and attention.

Was it because it was stand alone? Or is the sport old enough and maturing, where we have a quite a few good shooters? Or something else?

If you are pushing the gun down that would seem to be a pre ignition push of some kind, think grip related or being patient enough to let the bullet get out of the barrel before you "flinch" or push the gun down. Try double plugging. Try shooting off the bench with your grip (accurately) then try shooting off hand with the same grip trying to replicate your site pic and "feeling" of shooting an accurate shot. It would also help if you knew how to "call your shot". Search and read about it on here. If you knew how to call your shot, you would see what is happening and be able to fix it. Watch your front sight, it will be dipping just prior to BANG. Then it is your job to figure out where the pressure is coming from. It doesn't sound like a trigger, gun, injury problem. You would be pushing your shots Left (right handed shooter) if that were the case.