Jake Di Vita

Way to go Greg.

This kind of crap is so commonplace nowadays it's amazing. The vast majority of the instances never make the news. I especially like the one about a elementary school girl that is being charged with a felony for bringing a butter knife into school to cut her food.

Have you tested that in live fire?

Index, natural point of aim, ya know. How good are you aligning up behind the target.

I agree with Jack...Ideally (with practice) the gun should be coming out of the holster as soon it touches your hand and at a very rapid pace. Also, how is your index?

Well there are only 3 possible reasons (excluding being physically unable....but I highly doubt that's you). 1. Your form is holding you back. 2. You haven't practiced enough. 3. It's all in your head. My guess is that it's a mix of all 3. Why don't you post some videos and I can give you some feedback.

Work on your draws and reloads. Those are some pretty cookin times once you mend that hole. Your draws and reloads should be averaging .9 - 1.1 on the el prez, and your draw should probably be around .7 for the bill drill.

Those times are for a Limited gun (you could and should use the same times for Production). If I were to make that list for Open, the changes would only be for the 15 yard segments where I would reduce the time by a tenth or 2. Open guns give the advantage at long range and with partial targets...other than that there really isn't much of a difference.

I wasn't aware there was a pissing match? I was just having a discussion. John...you and I have very different ways of looking at things....this isn't the first conversation like this we've had (think back to the after party from the OH Sectional a few years ago). I obviously am not going to change your mind, and you've not provided enough information for me to rethink my position. You keep doing things your way, I'll keep doing things my way, and let's shoot some Alphas.

It's mainly hamstring flexibility that limits this....and if you aren't flexible enough to be doing full squats without plates, you shouldn't be doing them at all until you are. I totally disagree. A perfectly formed squat is essentially the expression of the human skeletal system under a load (as the human skeletal system was designed to work). The body was built to function as a unit....so how would it be good to train it in isolation? The fact that you physically can't isolate the hamstring or quad without the use of a machine is the best example of this and the best argument against machines. If you have perfect form in the squat (which also means that you don't workout with a weight too heavy for you to keep perfect form with), you will never hurt yourself. If a few muscles are too weak, that will be readily apparent when you try and add weight. However if your form is perfect, that also automatically means your weakest muscles are strong enough to support that weight and exercise efficiently and safely with it. FWIW, several friends of mine were champion powerlifters and I also regularly talk to some of the best strongmen in the country.

Man when I first saw that picture I laughed for like 15 minutes at what may be the best picture I've ever seen.

That's the heat right there.

I agree with what has been said...their ability to call shots is what sets them apart. I've always said I can't wait until USPSA has full fledged athletes (in every sense of the word) that have Rob's shooting ability fighting at the top. It's bound to happen as the sport grows.

The only reason I support vegetarian and vegan diets is from the hormones and other crap that is in most foods today. But excluding those factors, a diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and lean meat is the best diet for the human organism. (This is actually quite a gigantic discussion and there's no way I could make a post that would even scratch the surface).

Dry Firing is an absolute requirement to developing any real skill with a pistol. It won't hurt the gun. Feel free to use snap caps if you want, but in my experience they have been unnecessary. I have without exaggeration dry fired guns well over a million times.

It's called prepping the trigger. Good method to use with any type of gun....as long as it is practiced quite a bit for obvious safety reasons.

I'll take a 5 inch gun that works every time please.

22 round stage at the Tennessee Section match a few years ago. Hopalong was ROing me...I think it was stage 8. Absolute best stage I've ever shot....I don't think anyone could have hung with me on that one.

The plate thing under your heels is good. The only reason I didn't suggest it is because it is a temporary fix and I don't want you to depend on them. Honestly, teaching the form for a squat is something very hard to articulate. It's 100 times easier to show it. If you'd like Tom, I can try and make a video for you and email it. That might help out a bit. I disagree with doing leg curls...if you are doing squats, deadlifts, and other things of that nature, they are not needed and can even potentially be harmful. Stay away from isolating muscles. Same thing for the core...these are good enough core exercises by themselves. Just make sure you don't try and start too fast with too much weight, or being insufficient in any of these areas is likely to end you up hurting (in a bad way). I've seen more than one trainer not know his a$$ from a hole in the ground when it comes to squats as well. I recommend purchasing the book "Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe as a good area to begin. Bottom line is - to learn the squat, and develop the strength needed to squat....squatting is the best thing you can do. The ancillary exercises can help, but you should focus 90% of your effort on developing perfect form and these issues will normally sort themselves out.

Those are what I would consider goals for each class.

Bill Drill: D - 3.00, C - 2.75, B - 2.50, A - 2.25, M - 1.85, GM - 1.5 7 Yard Draw 2 shots: D - 2.0, C - 1.8, B - 1.6, A - 1.3, M - 1.1, GM - .9 10 Yard Draw 2 shots: D - 2.2, C - 2.0, B - 1.8, A - 1.5, M - 1.3, GM - 1.0 15 Yard Draw 2 shots: D - 2.5, C - 2.3, B - 2.1, A - 1.8, M - 1.5, GM - 1.1 7 Yard Draw one shot reload one shot: D - 3.00, C - 2.8, B - 2.6, A - 2.4, M - 2.1, GM - 1.7 10 Yard Draw one shot reload one shot: D - 3.2, C - 3.0, B - 2.8, A - 2.5, M - 2.2, GM - 1.8 15 yard Draw one shot reload one shot: D - 3.8, C - 3.6, B - 3.2, A - 2.9, M - 2.5, GM - 2.0

Tom, that's called an exertion head ache. Talk to XRe about how he got rid of his. It is also very possible that it is your form during squats that's causing the problem. If you can post a video I'd be happy to critique it for you.

A legit bill drill is surrender start, 7 yards, 6 rounds, all A's to count.

Calling the shot is knowing where the bullet will impact the instant it leaves the barrel. This is usually accomplished by visual awareness of where the sights are in relation to the target at the instant the round leaves the barrel. Raudi, You're definitely right. I've literally lost matches by .1 match points before. To a GM, a full or half second can be a lifetime whereas that much time is usually negligible for a C or B class shooter. The division you are shooting in also has an impact on this. For example, a half second in Open is usually worth more than a half second in Production.

Consistency comes from calling the shot each and every time. In fact I would go as far to say that if you can't call every shot, you should focus on nothing else until you can. No matter how long that takes.