j1b

[j1b]

"A" shooters are better than I was as a GM 10 years ago.

I found this comment fascinating. I have often wondered how the skill level of today's As and Ms and Gs compared to the Masters of years past - say the Seventies Masters. How would an A or Master of today fare, if the only criterion was skill level (we'll just factor "grace under pressure" out of the equation, for the purposes of discussion ) if they could hop back into a time machine to, say, 1979 or 1980? 1985?

About a year ago I attended a course where, as part of the classroom work - and basically to keep people entertained during lunchtime - the instructor played the Robbie Leatham video Shooter Ready? He commented, "I can't imagine that today's competitors have a skill level much better than this," and, as the class token competition shooter, asked me what I thought. I had to tell him, "Well, at the time this video was shot, what you're seeing was absolute world class performance. But you have to remember this thing was shot in 1985. Robbie is much better today." Hell, today **I** can hit the reload speeds that Robbie was categorizing as "You'll never lose a match with those."

Such a hard question to answer. I don't know.

I know skill's are better today than in years past. Of that there can be no doubt. Look at your basic El Presidente - if someone shot that in 5 seconds no points down 15 years ago you'd probably win the stage - by a lot. Today, you'd probably place in the top 20 on the stage but I doubt you'd win the stage.

I marveled at watching the steel challenge the other day on TV. A fast miss was better than a tick slower hit. I was amazed, that is NOTHING like what I remember from years past. Then there is the scary component, when speeds stay the same and the hits come with it . . . amazing.

But I also have to acknowledge that Rob and Brian revolutionized the sport back then, and they would again today. Pioneers pioneer. That's what they do.

I truly believe that the winners of yesteryear won because they were mentally better, not necessarily better in skill. And if that's the case then the skill level of this sport over the course of time will change as all things change. But the mindset of winners never will.

Thanks for the post Duane!

Jack

[Duane Thomas]

Of that there can be no doubt. Look at your basic El Presidente - if someone shot that in 5 seconds no points down 15 years ago you'd probably win the stage - by a lot. Today, you'd probably place in the top 20 on the stage but I doubt you'd win the stage.

At the 2002 Factory Gun Nationals, I watched Travis Tomasie win the El Presidente stage with a score of 4.91 seconds, 55 points. Actually at the match there were only two scores under 5 seconds. Admittedly this was with Limited/Limited-10/Production guns. With Open guns I'd expect many more sub-5 runs. But with "real guns" (to use a Robbie quote), I'm not convinced that anything sub-5 with most of the points there is still not going to be very competitive.

Such a hard question to answer. I don't know.

Well, it looks like until that time machine shows up, I'm still not going to know if I could have spanked the top shooters back in 1961.

Sorry to drift this so much in your Training Diary.

[38supPat]

I`m going to continue the thread hijack for a second. I don`t think that overall the times are that much better than they were say 10 years ago. I can still go to a match and place in the top 20 on stages (area 2) despite, like Jack, being out of the game for awhile. What I do notice it there is much greater consistancy and many more shooters shooting at that speedélevel. Where it seemed only a couple of shooters could put a good match together, or be near the top of each stage, now there is more shooters staying solid throughout the match. In other words, a lot of the same guys are all putting good stage after good stage together. The talent pool is much deeper than it was. A small error doesn`t drop you to second place, it takes you right out of your class in a match.

[j1b]

Just some (totally) random thoughts . . .

First, I had to reload tonight. Which I think is a good thing. I decided earlier today that if I win the lottery I'll still load my own ammo. I think it's good for a guy to be grounded.

Why did I load? Pistol match tomorrow night. An indoor, so nothing major, but it'll be good to get the heater out. I'm actually a bit challenged because night two of the season '24' is tomorrow night. But if I die on Tuesday I'd rather say I shot the pistol match.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. THere's a solid A shooter that'll be shooting limited against me in production. SHould be a good competition and I'm looking forward to that. I think if he shoots good he's got me. I think if I shoot good he can't win. So if we both shoot good . . . well I hope we both do and we'll find out.

The XD is ready to go and I'm almost there. One new years resolution is to lose 20lbs this year. Let me advise all of you, shooting production and being overweight does not compliment each other. SS either. I've grown complacent over the years and need to fix that. Rest assured I'm a goal oriented person so the 20 lbs is going to happen.

I got the Arkansas newsletter today and it talked through the state match and SS match coming up. April and May. I hope I'm able to shoot both, I think they'd be killer. There are reasons why neither may happen for me . . . but that's for later.

The actual new years resolution is to get in better shape. I could care less about weight. I do care that if I need to hike 20 miles or swim a couple miles that I'm able to. That's important. Survival is both about being prepared both in what you have and what you are physically able to do.

I'm thinking about getting IFR rated this year with the plane. Money is a little tight so we'll see. But it's a consideration.

I read The Shack last week and am excited about continueing to build awesome relationships with my family and God. Love the part about walking across the pond. And of course I dig the idea that God made man and man made religion.

I believe I'm about to embark in a terrifying adventure. I'm not at liberty to say what yet, but big change. I am both extremly excited and totally terrified. Kind of fun huh??? Will advise soon.

Finally, I've mentioned already I'm shooting tomorrow night. First match of the year in January???? Hasn't happened since Tucson 12 years ago. I'm off on the right foot. Gonna be a good shooting year. My goal is to win a couple state championships. We'll see how that goes. I've always been a SS specialist, so we'll see if I can get it done with the Springer and the XD this season.

I hope ALL have a blessed and adventurous 09'

Jack

[Duane Thomas]

I'm actually a bit challenged because night two of the season '24' is tomorrow night. But if I die on Tuesday I'd rather say I shot the pistol match.

You can always record the TV show and watch it later, but you can't record the pistol match and shoot it later.

[j1b]

Ughh!

Fun. But ugh.

Tonight I'd describe myself as the typical IPSC shooter. Fast and fun, but accuracy left much to be desired. If I were a teacher watching me as the student, I'd say plenty of skill but really needs to work on the finesse - top shooters don't drop as many points. Needs maturity.

First stage was rough. Fast by nearly all standards, that was my best component. But I had a miss, the first miss I've had in some time, and at least one D. I dropped 12 points on top of that miss. So 22 points down the first stage. That's rough.

Dropped 14 points on the next stage as well. Too many C's. Many were a quarter inch out or so - just couldn't sneak them in. Like a bad night at the pool table, just a click off. I called two missed shots on this stage too. I made them up but still . . . I knew I was running things rough.

Last stage and dropped 10 points.

Relatively good times across the board.

Where I realize my challenge was is in smooth transitions. I was getting to the targets and I suspect there'd be NO time difference. THe difference was how smooth the transition was, smoother enables better hits. Rougher means worse hits. I got through the stages ok but there was something a little lacking in how I was transitioning the gun. And no draw was good tonight. Never once did the gun come up and was just "there" - I felt like I fought things a bit tonight - nothing just clicked.

I also know that I was shooting for A's, not a spot in the A zone. That inevitably means C's.

And the miss is no doubt dissappointing.

A bad shooting match that was still fun - can't beat it.

And you're right Duane I got back for the last 15 minutes of show one and the final hour of show two. Caught up pretty quick. I'm glad I went and shot. That was the right choice and definitly means I didn't throw the night away.

Hope everyone can have a crummy night like I did tonight - crummy nights that still turn out pretty fun are hard to beat! And I was able to pull out a W over my close friend shooting Limited in B class. Sucker!!!!!

Jack

Edited January 14, 2009 by j1b

[Duane Thomas]

Laughing and smiling.

[j1b]

I'm beginning to explore two concepts from last nights sessions.

First, discipline versus patience. Patience is a tougher term for me because it implies waiting. I recognize it doesn't mean waiting, but I associate waiting with it. Mine was more about discipline. Dropping all those points last night was about 1 1/100 of a second per shot. I'd have been less than a second slower the whole night, and yet had a lot better points (a worthwhile trade!!!!). But I wasn't disciplined. I realize that I was calling shots. Accurately. I knew where shots were going. I didn't call the miss, I get that, but it wasn't a calling issue as much as it was a discipline issue.

I once alluded to this idea of shutting the F*** up and just doing it. Last night, I didn't get that done. So I dropped speedy points and had my first miss in a long time. That'll be a lesson well learned.

Second is smooth transitions to a spot in the A zone. I was shooting at the A box - which gives me a wide bearth. I wasn't aiming for the center of the A box and I wasn't moving smoothly into it. That left a TON of wobble room and really caused this points dropped issue. Mistakes one can ill afford in production class and something I'm going to need to be more dedicated to.

On the plus side, we had some observers last night. A gentleman was there with his younger children. After the match we let the dad shoot a few rounds. My close friend through his custom .40 and myself through my XD 9mm. The guy was impressed and was quite a shot. But here's where it got interesting. I asked him if his son shot and he said he did. So my buddy David offers up his .40 and the kid handles the gun nicely. Knows where the damn thing is pointed if you know what I'm saying! So I give him my XD and because he's doing so well I ask him to shoot some head shots at about 7 yards. The young man is probably 10 maybe 11 years old. I put a piece of no-shoot tape as a point to aim in the head and work with him a bit. He places 8 out of 10 bb's on target. What a talent!!!

That was awesome to see and to experience. I told the guy his son was talented - I know several folks that have been shooting for years that couldn't do what that young man did last night!

In light of that I've voluntereed to do an intro to USPSA class at the club. Not sure when but it'll be a chance to give a little back. Should be fun and made the challenges of last night get put in a bucket of tolerability.

I'm open to insights into my two concepts, and thank the gentleman (I didn't get his name), his son, and David Hyden (my good buddy) for making a rough night of shooting a lot better.

Jack

[j1b]

Laughing and smiling.

Oh yeah - +++++1

J

[j1b]

I was sitting here thinking about - well - I was thinking about a lot of things.

One thing I do miss and have to learn to deal with better is the in-frequency of matches around here. In AZ I was shooting 6-8 matches a month - and skipping some. Here, I'm lucky to shoot two matches a month. One is an indoor match that is close to me but it's indoors and is hard to really guage progress and success.

The other is a bit of a hike. And other ones are even further hikes! I know you gotta pay to play. I was just spoiled there for a few years.

What brings that about is I want to shoot more this season. It'll just take some effort. I've found recently that I've got a bit of a new lease on life. I'm not going to say the flowers are blooming but I would go so far as to say that the plant is alive. And frankly I've needed to appreciate that more.

So I was thinking about how to approach this season.

The diary name is rebuilding and I've been contemplating what does that mean? And there are a couple of things that have got to be worked out.

First is this idea around comfort. I've contended for years and years that shooting at any real form of speed is uncomfortable. And I still hold that to be true, it isn't natural to shoot at the speeds we do. That's cool. But in another thread I was exploring this idea around whether or not our eyes are even open when we shoot. It would, I think, be a very natural reaction to close our eyes when an action as load and violent as firing a gun happens. I know I'm very comfortable with shooting a gun, I will contend I've seen many folks that aren't, but regardless I do think it's important to transcend that comfort with firing the gun into seeing as much as possible. Leverage the comfort of the aciton to maximize results. I know I'm going to be shooting faster than I'm comfortable with so I might as well be comfortable with firing the weapon.

That's just a random thought but what got me there was thinking that I wanted to describe how one sees to shoot as relaxed and that isn't it for me. When I fly I am comfortable with what I'm doing and the actions I'm taking. But I'm not relaxed, I can't afford to be. So anyhow - I don't know if it's important or not but it was a thought.

On to rebuilding though, I'm fortunate in that I probably don't have to rebuild the whole platform that I shoot from. But I'm also not going to practice a ton this season. So I'm going to try and do some honest in depth discovery on where I'm lacking the most, and focus on fixing that specific issue first. When done, I'll tackle number 2. Then number 3 - so on and so forth. Instead of trying to get better in general, I'm going to get better in specific areas. And live with the faults that may exist in other areas of my portfolio until those other areas either fix themselves (by remembering) or make it to the top of the list through attrition.

I'm still going to do some routine things that have worked over the years. It's the generallity of the sport that has probably helped me most over the years. I wasn't great at any of it but was good and most of it. But if I were to go back and re-read this diary I can nearly guarantee that weakhand shooting was a major opportunity. So fix it! If I can pick up 30 points a match just by shooting weak hand a hell of a lot better that feels like a pretty good trade. Whereas if I fixed my draw, I'd probably pick up 4 points a match. It's all about the priorities.

And discipline. I like shooting production, it's the one division that really allows no compromise. I know this is all debatable but I'm also fortunate that I've shot most divisions in the game. It's just my opinion, but production is the one division I've shot that when you slack on any single component in penalizes you exponentially. So discipline is crucial and will be the primary focus of the matches this year. I guess we could cross reference discipline with execution - for those that know me you know I've contended that simply executing what you know how to do is the trick of the game. So apparently not a lot has changed in my shooting philosophy over the years.

The family is starting to wake up so I'll clock out for now - just wanted to document and get some feedback on some of these thoughts.

Jack

[Duane Thomas]

I think the attitude displayed in that post is a textbook example of what makes great shooters great - what made you great in the past, and will again. Great shooters analyze their weaknesses, then funnel their energies in practice toward eradicating those weaknesses. Mediocre shooters do what they enjoy doing - which is invariably what they already do well. BIG difference in performance, come match day.

[j1b]

I think the attitude displayed in that post is a textbook example of what makes great shooters great - what made you great in the past, and will again. Great shooters analyze their weaknesses, then funnel their energies in practice toward eradicating those weaknesses. Mediocre shooters do what they enjoy doing - which is invariably what they already do well. BIG difference in performance, come match day.

Definitly agree that a key trick is to focus on the areas of opportunity. To prioritize.

My trick will be discipline. Gotta commit to getting out and yanking the trigger.

I used to love make weaknesses strong points - it made me feel like that much stronger a shooter. But I had the discpline (and lack of distractions) of a solid training routine.

So it isn't just about practice priority. It's about life priority too!

Thanks for making me realize that and spell it out!

Jack

[Duane Thomas]

Yer welcome.

[j1b]

Today was interesting.

Today was not what I was looking for in my first PA match. Don't get me wrong. The stages were good, the people were great - I had fun. But I shot like crap!!!!

There were 5 stages. Stage one was a good stage, 26 shots or so. Lot's of movement, good targets, a good challenge. Lots of barrels to shoot around and about. It was actually a very fun stage. I screwed it up pretty good, but it was fun none the less. Stage started out the way I wanted, first 16 shots were about as planned, then I boofed my load. Overstepped my third spot, had to come back a tick. And logically tagged a barrel for a mike. Just pisses me off. I watched another shooter in production crank through this stage, he was a little different than me but I learned that my "stage analysis" was a little lax today. Wouldn't have helped the screwed up load but there was a better way to get through the stage that I realized after the fact. I should have caught it. Anyhow, I was factually two seconds slow on the stage, and lost the additional points from the mike. Strange how on one stage you can lose 40-50 points to your competition. But in one I did. I didn't start on this stage, it was actually our third or fourth stage.

Stage 2 was a classifier. Pretty simple - very close targets. Draw, punch a target with 5 shots. I shot the points, all A's I believe. Times were pretty slow. I think 4.11 seconds per string for a draw shoot 5 reload shoot 5 drill. If I would have guess it should have been in the 3.6 second range. So I was half a second off or so I'd guess.

Stage 3 was probably my favorite stage. I shot it best, but I also enjoyed the stage. A good swinger, some good decision making. Ultimately I learned I didn't shoot the stage the best way but I did shoot it about as well as I could given the way I decided to shoot it. And I don't know that I'd change how I shot it, maybe once I'm more polished I can look at the "better" way.

Stage 4 was an all steel stage that I just couldn't get right. You all know how much I hate steel. Well, today it hated me back. I suck at reloading too. At some point I'll have to learn that if I don't practice reloading I'll continue to suck at it. It's a fact of my shooting life. This stage was a prime example of how you can get through a stage, but that every misstep costs points. Every miss costs points. Every missed load cost points. I didn't lose a ton of points in one specific spot. But I bet when the results come out I'll findd out I lost 30 points on that stage without working too hard at it. And it wasn't like I couldn't have been just a tick more crisp and saved 30 points.

Stage 5 was the first stage we shot this morning. A basic stage. Open targets. The drill was shoot 1 per target (8 targets), reload, do it again, reload, do it again. I dropped more points on this stage than I can conceive. It was terrible! And I missed a load (surprise!!!) and had a quick failure to go into battery.

Had fun today, but was really, really rough. Watching some of these PA shooters, I've got a long ways to go or I'll be eating crow the next few months.

Did get to meet some forum members today. That's always fun!

Jack

[Catfish]

I always love getting into new parts of the country and shooting with new folks - it's nice seeing how differently stages are set and people attack them depending on where you are.

Glad you're getting out to the range in the new digs!

[j1b]

I always love getting into new parts of the country and shooting with new folks - it's nice seeing how differently stages are set and people attack them depending on where you are.

Glad you're getting out to the range in the new digs!

Totally agree. I'm excited about it as well. Here's my concern.

They say there's a wind tunnel that basically runs North to south. It really starts west of the Great Lakes and goes down to Texas. It is said to be a key in harvesting wind energy. My big concern is that I sucked so bad today that my suckiness may have pulled the wind, causing a new wind tunnel and shifting the original wind tunnel East a hundred miles or so. The effect on the global economy and enery in general could be substantial!

Had a ton of fun today and don't regret getting out there at all. I've learned that I simply can't rely on the golden days like they'll just come when I pick up a gun. I gotta dry fire a bit. I won't fool myself and say live fire - really just not in the cards any time soon. But an hour of dry fire a week would drastically improve my game, would allow me to lean a little on days past more effectively, and would greatly improve performance. And I can find an hour a week.

Days like today are fun cause you get to meet new people. Frustrating though when you realize you didn't live up to potential.

Jack

[j1b]

Did the math on the classifier. It was a dissappointing 75%.

I guess if I assessed my shooting there I could easily see how safe I shot the stage. And my reloads, as mentioned in the other post, were terrible all day. I'm the only one to blame there. I didn't think the draw was terrible either time, not a lot of wasted time getting to the shooting. But I didn't pop the gun out either. I doubt either was less than a second and these targets were easily .80 targets (match time). Maybe they were a second, either way - there was easily a tenth or two on both draws that was there for the taking. No speedy splits, I was ok with that. Punched out A's pretty easy and mindlessly. Neither reload was that great. Not much to say, just not that great.

Still, the task on this stage seemed tough to me. In order to get 99% the drill (called Can You Count) would need 3 second strings. By no means impossible but definitly not easy either. I remember back when doing 1 reload 1 drills on 7 yard targets trying to beat two seconds. We did it, but it was tough. That basically leaves 8 shots left for the remaining second. Is my math right there??? I don't know - seems a stretch for production.

It doesn't alleviate the challenge with my reloading. I was loading up for a stage yesterday and my first mag pouch was a little stiff. It's been that way - well since I got it. Not faulty product, I just haven't fixed it. And it made me laugh. At the range, at the safe area, by myself, I actually giggled outloud.

How long would I let that thing be sticky? How long would I notice it and not thing it mattered? What else is "on the table" that I've just figured didn't really matter - yet when I finish a stage I say "should have done that better" consistently. My reloads have needed work for a steady time frame.

I need a big match to get ready for. That's all there is to it. A sectional or something. I can not get motivated to shoot club matches. I can if a club match is preparation for something bigger. But training for a club match isn't motivating enough for me. It's time I figured that out.

I have committed to smoothing over some of these edges. The reloads, the weak hand shooting etc. etc. Right after Mexico that work will begin.

But I've also got to lose some weight, and I've got to find a bigger match to focus on. Something major. Something I know I can get to.

That'll help.

Strange how my brain works. I just need a goal. Goals motivate me. Always have.

I like it when you find these little trinkets in life that provide a window to yourself. Very interesting!

Jack

[j1b]

Irony kills me.

I got my you know what kicked at the match. No great surprise there when you read how I shot.

The funny thing is the only decent stage I had there was a data entry issue. So instead of inputting 10.27 seconds, 16.27 seconds was put in. Talk about adding insult to inury!!! I lost the match by 50 points. That keying error was a 25 point swing. Wouldn't have changed the results one bit, but damn did it hurt the ego a little.

I enjoyed that match, but it was terrible, terrible shooting. The miss, the screwed up loads, the dropped points, the now scoring error. Finding 50 points in that match, hell finding 75 points in that match isn't what I'd call hard.

Amazing, this game isn't as difficult as I make it out to be.

Jack

[38supPat]

I love reading your posts Jack, they are so close to what I am going through it's scary.

You know it's funny how results work. Two weeks ago I shot a pretty good match, level II, dropped one or two points on most stages with good times, the only exception was the field course where I failed to lock a mag in and had to do a standing reload and rack to a 3 yard target, lost my focus and dropped some points....but I was in the top three on every stage. I lost 34 points on that stage and lost the match by 32, I ended up second at 90.99%. This past weekend I shot another Level II and shot terrible, dropped points on every stage. From tagging 2 A's with 2 N/s on a target to a miss and a N/s on another, two stages with misses on disappearing targets....the only stage I did well on was a weak hand stage that I won only because I was a lot quicker on, but had 5A's and a D. Overall I shot like crap......and ended up second at 89.99%....lol

I like the term discipline, when I keep my inner hoser in check and focus on calling the shots and looking to the center of the A zone no matter how long it seems to take (it really doesn't take that long) I feel unbeatable but when I get nervous or feel overwhelmed by the competition, I fall back into shooting without seeing and go all out. I've proven to myslef over and over that I can be at the top if I just keep control and shoot precisely, but on match day, especially after someone has a good run, it's tough. I watched an old tape of me shooting a Level III from some years back...'99 I think. I remember the match well. I won exactly half of the stages overall, 7 stages out of 14, more than double the number of stage wins of anyone else. I ended up second. When I didn't win a stage, I trashed it. I watched the tape and my shooting speed on all the stages was waaaay faster than anyone else. I don't know why I didn't see that before. When I reviewed the tape before, it didn't seem like that big of a deal, but now I see I was just ripping the stages and letting the shots fall where they may.

Too many times you hear "slow down" but it's not about slowing down, it's having the discipline to do what you must to get as many points as possible without wasiting time.

[j1b]

I love reading your posts Jack, they are so close to what I am going through it's scary.

You know it's funny how results work. Two weeks ago I shot a pretty good match, level II, dropped one or two points on most stages with good times, the only exception was the field course where I failed to lock a mag in and had to do a standing reload and rack to a 3 yard target, lost my focus and dropped some points....but I was in the top three on every stage. I lost 34 points on that stage and lost the match by 32, I ended up second at 90.99%. This past weekend I shot another Level II and shot terrible, dropped points on every stage. From tagging 2 A's with 2 N/s on a target to a miss and a N/s on another, two stages with misses on disappearing targets....the only stage I did well on was a weak hand stage that I won only because I was a lot quicker on, but had 5A's and a D. Overall I shot like crap......and ended up second at 89.99%....lol

I like the term discipline, when I keep my inner hoser in check and focus on calling the shots and looking to the center of the A zone no matter how long it seems to take (it really doesn't take that long) I feel unbeatable but when I get nervous or feel overwhelmed by the competition, I fall back into shooting without seeing and go all out. I've proven to myslef over and over that I can be at the top if I just keep control and shoot precisely, but on match day, especially after someone has a good run, it's tough. I watched an old tape of me shooting a Level III from some years back...'99 I think. I remember the match well. I won exactly half of the stages overall, 7 stages out of 14, more than double the number of stage wins of anyone else. I ended up second. When I didn't win a stage, I trashed it. I watched the tape and my shooting speed on all the stages was waaaay faster than anyone else. I don't know why I didn't see that before. When I reviewed the tape before, it didn't seem like that big of a deal, but now I see I was just ripping the stages and letting the shots fall where they may.

Too many times you hear "slow down" but it's not about slowing down, it's having the discipline to do what you must to get as many points as possible without wasiting time.

I hate missing a post like this. Haven't visited the diary in a while - so I clearly missed Pat's post.

One of the things that you highlight for me here is just shooting clean. One match you felt good about. One you felt like crap about. Similar results right? But one match was building and one match was . . . tough . . .

I jumped on the diary because I'm excited about tomorrow. I have a strong desire to shoot better than last match. I do believe I'm capable of that, just gotta execute.

You know I mentioned that one of my mag pouches has been sticking lately. I fixed that. I actually have dry fired 4 days this week. Which is huge for me. I am not in the jinx mood - we all know any of ys can shoot strong or soft just depending on how the cookie crumbles. I felt like I learned things this week though that have me feeling better about the odds of shooting a better match.

Simple stuff - like you gotta look a load in. That's it. Period. If you do it and are discplined about it you miss fewer loads. You hit a ton more. You can't look a load in 80% of the way though. Nope - that's a major issue. Gotta look it in all the way. THrough and through. For the 2 one hundredths of a second you lose when you could have smoked a load you pick up second upon second in more consistent loads. Simple. Though even in dry fire I find those couple of times I don't look it in. I'm glad I know it and hope to execute it tomorrow. Like all other things - production penalizes mistakes more. Not looking loads in will show if I'm not doing it.

Thanks for the post Pat. I welcome them, look forward to them, and hope all others feel free to teach as well. This rusty dog has a ton to learn.

Jack

[38supPat]

Good luck, my day sort of got trashed, shot my first stage today great, good time, all A's, and most were difficult shots...then on the next stage I had ammo problems, case ruptured and I decided to pull out of the match because of unsafe ammo. Gotta take the good with the bad.

[j1b]

Holla friends,

Well, here's a quick recap of the match today. I shot it twice. Started out knowing I wanted to shoot it twice. Just to knock the rust off and get more trigger time. So when it gets around to stage 6, that'll actually be stage 1 repeated.

Stage 1 I shot ok today. Had a rough load. It was a classifier called times two. I dropped maybe a point or two. Was slow - no doubt. When I shot it the second time I dropped more points (had a miss too) but took a second off the time. For scale - it was a 7 second stage (for me) so one full second was a lot. I lost my stick out of the f/o sight on this one - which I clearly saw and that made me happy. I noticed it immediately. Was no big deal - but definitly showed my eyes were watching the right things. An ok start to the day - I would have said I definitly didn't win the match with that stage but it wasn't bad enough to cry in the beer over.

Stage 2 I cried in the beer. Ugly. Very ugly. Reloads were terrible, and I had an FTE with two misses. Time was terrible too. I had this issue most of the morning where when I did a reload it knocked my XD out of battery. So I was always pulling up, click, rack the slide and then move on. Happened two times on this stage (to compliment the crappy loads) and really frustrated me. The FTE was just insult to injury. I thought I had the target accounted for - and didn't. I shot the stage precisely the way I planned - just didn't account right for that one target. So frustrating but it is what it is.

Stage 3 I enjoyed. Had the battery issue (again!) reloads were adequate. This stage had the hardest target in the match and honestly it was just a great target. Probably 17-20 yards with hardcover left and right of the a zone. Not really difficult shots but really a great target. Dropped few points on the stage - had a makeup on the hard target but needed it. I shot it much better the second go round . . .

Stage 4 I had crummy reloads again. One mag stuck in the well which just screws everything up. Shot one point down though and overall was reasonably pleased with the stage.

Stage 5 had the battery issue again, and crappy loads. A stand and shoot. Reloading needs tons of work.

Ok - so phase one was crap. Despite the work on reloads this week they still represent the biggest opportunity. The battery issue just drove me crazy - but it got better as things warmed up. Maybe the lubricant didn't react well to the cooler weather. Regardless I'll need to solve it. Sticking mags proved to be an issue too - so I made a mental note to try and solve that the best I could for phase two.

Stage 6 (repeat of 1) I shot about a second better. Dropped a couple more points and had a miss that I did not call. Overall I was pleased with the stage with the exception of the miss. Not calling it bothers me but the reload was much better and I just shot cleaner.

Stage 7 (repeat of 2) was ten times smoother. Got the target I forgot the first time. Took about 4 seconds off the time (14 seconds versus 18). I did drop a couple more points but it was hard to argue with how much better the stage went. No malfunctions and just smoother. I could see getting another 1.2 or seconds out of it (for me) but not much more. Overall I felt decent there.

Stage 8 (repeat of 3) had a decent stage. Common theme - dropped more points - but reloads were way better. Shaved several seconds off the time and again just had fun. was much more crisp though and the points dropped were hairlines close to the A zone. Stuff I wish were A's but when calling at speed you can't make those up. They were a quarter inch out here and a quarter inch out there.

Stage 9 (repeat of 4) I shot similar to last time. Smoother loads (again). Time was a tick better. Having dropped only one point the first go round I dropped more the second. Probably dropped too many points here - but it was similar to stage 8. Just outside. Had I focused more it would have been a non-issue.

Stage 10 (repeat of 5) I had that damn battery issue again. Points were a little better - but I wasn't fond of the stage regardless. I should never lose the points on a stage like that like I did. Those type stages should maintain your position in a match and give others the chance to slip. I slipped up on this one - gave away points. That'll need to be fixed next time.

Lot's of shooting. Good stages - had fun. Met some great shooters today - Matt Trout being one of them. Nice getting educated on how to shoot a stage.

Ton's of improvement to be made. Have to get the gun issue fixed - I've made the appropriate calls and will post the issue elsewhere here too to see if others have had this issue. I've got a couple sticky mags that I need to identify. That was a big part of the issue this morning. Reloads this afternoon where a marked improvement (though still plenty of opportunity - the work ain't done). The one miss that wasn't called bugs the crap out of me. Outside of that the total points were pretty decent I thought. Yeah I got a little loose in the end but I don't know that I shot a single D today. Maybe 1. Not more than 1. So we're getting there. One match all of this will come together. My speed was ok today on targets, transitions etc. etc.

It'll be interesting to see the point difference between the two matches. I bet it's close to 80 points. Amazing how much a few things will kick your butt if allowed.

Gotta run into the office for a bit - but hopefully results will be in tonight and I can update. I didn't win the match today either time - which makes me feel good. So nice to have some stiff competition. I figure I'm a solid A shooter right now - there's plenty of competition to shoot against in that arena and a couple of M/GM folks that give me goals to shoot for. Ought to be fun!

Final note - these Western PA shooters are great. Good people, willing to help, ton of fun.

Jack

[j1b]

Ah I chuckle . . .

Classifier came in at 82% on the first run (had a miss on the second). I guess that's better than I would have guessed. No biggie either way.

The re-shoot was significantly better. Obviously. There were two stages I didn't meaningfully increase the scores - the classifier and stage 4. Only having one C on that stage made it tough to beat. I shot it faster the first time - had one sticky load but I guess the movement helped hide that a bit.

So I just wanted to share the difference between the two scores. Because it is amazing.

My second match I got 412 points. And was fortunate to have the top score - it's a reshoot so I can't exactly count it as a win. Still - at least I have hope now!!!

Anyhow. My first match . . . I was 81% of the second score. Amazing isn't it - that huge a discrepancy. That speaks to the challenge of inconsistency and is clearly something that I will need to fix. The bigger challenge is that it isn't like match two was perfect. The miss, the other issues - there was a lot of improvement to be had there.

The point differential was 77 points! They had to throw a stage out - so that means there were 4 scored stages. I lost nearly 20 points per stage to my second match. Sheesh!

I'm glad I shot again. One cause I shot better but two because it shows that consistency is also a challenge and needs to be resolved.

Fun stuff! Always something to work on!

Jack

[38supPat]

Well at least you improved, a lot of shooters would have scored worse TRYING to better their score on the second run....you see this a lot on reshoots too.

Good job though!

Kinda curious about the reload knocking the gun out of battery though, can you descibe it better? PM me if you want.

[j1b]

Well at least you improved, a lot of shooters would have scored worse TRYING to better their score on the second run....you see this a lot on reshoots too.

Good job though!

Kinda curious about the reload knocking the gun out of battery though, can you descibe it better? PM me if you want.

Hey Pat,

Yes, definitely. It was all a little puzzling. A month ago I shot my first IPSC match in PA and on the first stage I had this issue that after the reload the gun wasn't in battery. So when I brought it back on target I clicked, racked, and then ran the gun. I thought it was quirky - but didn't give much notice to it.

Then last match it obviously happened a lot more. Only after reloads. I knew I was shooting the match twice so after two stages I called Rob to see if he'd experienced this. Unfortunately he was traveling, so I fought the issue most of the day - as you can tell by reading in the diary. As it got warmer things got better, but at the end of the day it was an issue.

Robbie called me that night and was able to describe the issue 100%. There's a combination of things that are taking place. I believe I've taken the steps to remedy but won't be for sure until this weekend. I simply don't have time to get out and live fire. Clairton will be an interesting match . . .

I'm glad to discuss some of the issues via PM. Both Glocks and XD's have the issue, it's something I'm not outwardly familiar with because I've shot 1911's all my life. That said, I don't want to share some of the things that I did in case someone takes it upon themselves to mess their own gun up. I had a good source, and have a fair amount of experience tinkering with blasters. If you want to know more PM me -

I'm going to have a pretty good weekend. Not relaxing. Not one where I'll feel rested, but good none-the-less.

Saturday morning I'm getting up to experience Pennsylvania's trout opener. I won't be fishing it, but I have to admit - coming from Western states - I am interested to see what this is all about. It's both business and professional so it'll be interesting.

Saturday mid-day I intend to hit some houses and continue shopping for a good deal. We get closer and closer - and I'm tired of living apart from my family. So that'll be a priority. Saturday afternoon I'm breaking out the new shotgun. Sporting clays, 5 stand, skeet or trap (in order of preference) - whatever I find available, I'm shooting a few rounds. I've got the shells, the gun, the vest, the eyes and the ears. All ready to go. Anxious to put some shot down range with the new Citori!

Finally I'll shoot an IPSC match on Sunday. I haven't dry fired a bit this week, which is dissappointing. I guess it just fell off the radar and getting ready for this shotgun was pretty exciting. No excuses though. Tomorrow night I should hit a quick dry fire session and then Saturday night I'll probably drill it pretty good.

In production I've got one GM classifier, a couple M's and a couple of F's. So I can tell that there is some progress being made.

And Pat to your point I am getting better. I don't want to be as inconsistent as what the last match demonstrated. But improving is important. It wasn't exactly the "re-shoot" mentality - though I know your point. Heck, I had a miss on the first stage of the "second" match - and I had that damn hiccup again too on a stage. But overall the goal was to shoot twice to knock some rust off and as usual I learned, integrated, and got better. Which is the goal.

I'll be psyched over the next 3 days and will probably post in the journal quite a bit!

Jack