Jake Di Vita

To me it's all part of the game. Stage breakdown is 1 of the 4 things I believe you need to know to be a success IPSC shooter.....Sometimes very complex stages really seperate the wheat from the chass in matches. It's a skill that can be improved just like anything else.

Thanks guys....that was taken probably close to 6 months ago.... I remember that the reload on that run was actually slightly faster than the draw.

Would love to show it if someone can host.

I have a vid of me doing a 3.5 VP....no hits on camera though.

Hey thanks guys! Me and 3 of my friends managed to obliterate 3 fifths last night.....so to answer Carina's question....the hangover is bad. John, I will definetely take you up on that.

Also for the record... "I hate to break the news, but it isn't likely to happen again. Jerry arrived with an inner ear infection, and for the first two days every target was a moving target. When he moved, they moved. His trigger finger knuckle was still sore from an injury at the Nationals, and as a result he was off his pace on a bunch of stages." I would be pissed too.

#2 is Aliens said by Apone.

I agree with that too. To go a step further I try to engrain whenever I'm shooting that no shot I make is good or bad. It is simply what it is. If I got down on myself for all the "bad" shots I've made I likely would have a hard time concentrating on the most important shot...which of course is the one I am currently taking.

Go to a state park or other rugged terrain near where you live and run the trails. Be careful of rolling ankles and such, but the longer you do it for the better and more fluid you will get at it. Running cross country back in high school really helped me a ton.

That's a good point. I think all of the top competitors compete against themselves....it just so happens their skills are so developed that if their goal is solely performance based....chances are they will win if they meet their goal.

That last line in Vincent's post is the absolute truth. A lot of people I talk to or instruct ask me what I did to get where I am. When I tell them I often get responses like "I would never do that." You can't become competitive on the national (even state) level without an excessive (bordering obsessive) work ethic.

For me trigger control is a non issue because even if I wickedly pull the shot during the trigger pull...I'll still see where the sights were when the shot fired. If you can see the sights you can call the shot.

The main thing it is useful for is determing how your going to shoot a stage. For example: Where it is best to shoot certain targets, if it is worth shooting at disappearing targets, etc.

*Paging admin...paging admin - Lock thread immediately!*

From what I've noticed on the board there seems to be a lot of confusion behind what actually calling the shot means. I'd like to get everyone's definition of what they believe it to mean and hopefully this will clear up some of the confusion. To me, calling the shot means knowing where the sight was when the bullet left the barrel. It has nothing to do with grip, stance, trigger control, whether the shot was an A, C, D, Miss, NS whatever. Only where the sights were when the bullet left the barrel.

Way too personal? Dogma? You take a response saying speed is an illusion as a personal attack? You should know by now if you ask a question on a public forum with thousands of members you will get a multitude of responses. If that wasn't what you were looking for...sorry....it's the nature of the beast, but implying that anyone on this thread is doing anything but trying to help you is down right insulting.

In my case....it doesn't matter if I have a chance to win. The day I stop striving to be the best is the day I die.

I'm gonna have to disagree. At the top level points are what wins. Here is a fantastic example from Georgia State this past year. This is 03-06....A Barrel of Fun. 1 Max Michel Jr. 78 GM Open 79 0 5.56 14.2086 80 100.00% 2 Jake Di Vita 244 GM Open 74 0 5.56 13.3094 74.9372 93.67% 3 Brad Balsley 232 M Open 73 0 5.53 13.2007 74.3251 92.91% 4 Chris Patty 253 M Open 75 0 6.36 11.7925 66.3964 83.00% 5 Derek Janowicz 241 M Open 69 0 5.94 11.6162 65.4038 81.75% I had the exact same time as Max....he won a 14 hit factor stage on points. I think that is pretty amazing and it really shows how important points are...even on a stage where 3 people ran it with more than 13 points per second.

Bingo.... Always shoot as quickly as you can while keeping them in the center of the target.

The DVD is sweet. Saul did a fantastic job on it.

You don't see how others can feel they aren't shooting for second? A true champion will NEVER shoot for 2nd, no matter how badly the odds are stacked against them. No one is unbeatable. Personally I can't wait to see this.

I'm sure that when USPSA sponsorships draw as many spectators as freestyle fighting (no matter how politically incorrect it is) we will have all kinds of sponsors. They follow money, nothing else.

I would represent those sponsors very well....

It's ok, I'm 20 and don't recognize any.

Perform at a level beyond your ability??? You can't perform at a level beyond your ability....that's why it is called your ability. You will never miraculously get faster the day of a match. It just won't happen. Pushing during the match to beat someone who's s skill is more developed than you is really not a good idea. Put it this way.....how many M's or GM's do you see beating TGO? I guarantee a lot of people think the same way and push during matches. If that was the way to do it, why aren't their more upsets. You cannot go above and beyond your ability....if you think you can you are fooling yourself into "look cool mode". (and if someone can do it 5 or 6 times it isn't luck.....it is his ability.) I notice you saying you have a huge problem with visual patience, then I see sentences saying "beyond your ability" and "I push myself at matches." You ever think that happens because you might be going into matches with the wrong goal in the first place?