bird

The mind controls the body. If you look at a stage and "hate it" then you are not going to shoot it well because you have just programmed in negative thoughts into your mind. Think about it, most everything we do in this life are things we don't want to do, don't like to do, or or hate to do. Why are there twice as many posts on this forum on "things I hate" as opposed to "things I like?" People dwell on negative things because it is easy. Negative thoughts are always there to poke you in the eye, punch you in the nose, kick you in the groin etc. It is very hard to rise above it. When I hear shooters WAY better than me bitch and moan about a stage I know that I have an advantage on them because I look at it as a challenge and usually do quite well. (even though when the buzzer sounds I have no idea how I am going to shoot it and just do it..LOL). I am just a newBE in this sport (and may be full of bovine feces) but since I started shooting IPSC it has taught me alot about life in general. Thanks Brian for this forum and for making me think. The mind controls the body

I love the taste of water and always have a bottle of it with me. I find that placing ice at the base of my skull during the HOT--HUMID Great Plains Summer REALLY helps. (boxing taught me that) From Arizona--Wyoming--Ohio--etc. What tips do you use to stay cool during the summer months externally? The dry heat, the humid heat, the heat heat, is all freaking HOT. My frozen bottles of water change from ice, cold water, hot water then freaking steam...LOL I don't mean to digress but I need to balance the internal/external H2O thing.. GU works

To me this is IPSC.com. I have learned so much from everyone here, esp. BE and FLEX. I was one of the original people to sign up. I started actual IPSC shooting 9 months after becoming a member on this board.. The only problem with this board is that the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know. The experts that post here really make me "think". I love exercising my mind and I learn as much about myself and how it relates to my everyday life, as I do about this IPSC/USPSA thingy. Thanks Brian for this http://www... It is like my daily personal lesson... dkdkd

ipscman there is alot of GREAT advice on this board. It got me thinking... I have never seen my sights lift in recoil and return. I see my front sight, an orange blast, then my front sight back where it started, then another orange blast of light. Target Transition is the key here me thinks.. I look for 2 complete "orange blasts" then move my eyes to the next target, then move my gun and look for the 2 orange blasts again. I know this really sounds silly but the FASTER I can control the 2 "orange blasts" on each target, then move them to the next target the better I do.. Am I thinking too much?? Is what I do "calling my shots?" I don't have young flexible eyes...

Just get-up and shoot and don't think about how your body etc. feels. Once the adrenaline is pumping through your body it don't matter, you won't feel a thing...hehe (natures pain-killer). Shoot club matches like big matches and big matches like club matches, it's all the same. You are only going to shoot as well as you prepared beforehand and being hungover, flu, whatever don't matter. Unscrew the top of your head, take your brain out and just shoot, don't think about it. If you shoot great then GREAT but if you place dead-last, who cares, did you have fun? Did you learn anything? You only get 1 day at a time on Earth so live each moment to the fullest. Don't take life so serious, after all it is only temporary. Pain is God's way of letting you know that you are ALIVE..

Flex$, BE,Travis, et. al. have nailed it. It is easy to talk about but hard to do... This may sound really crazy but I find I shoot better weak-hand if I use a soft, relaxed grip.(only using enough "grip" so I don't drop the damn gun)...hehe This is totally opposite of how I feel I should shoot with 1 hand as I tend to death-grip the gun because the other hand is not there. Brian talks about this in his book and he is SO right. Next time you practice, try shooting weak-hand with less grip instead of more. Moving only the trigger finger and not the whole hand is the key. Practice (with no gun) gripping a make-believe gun in your hand and moving only your index finger without moving your hand,fingers etc. A day without sunshine is like night......

Right on Brian, the stronger your hands, wrists & forearms are, the better you can really grip the pistol hard with no muscle tension...(that is what I BElieve anyway, the whole 360 degree "bird" grip). Another great site: http://www.healthforlife.com/ The power forearms and the rotator cuff books could really help in the sport of IPSC. PS. (sorry to digress) My Grandfather could bend nails and crush walnuts with his bare hands, (he also had the touch and feel to shoot any firearm at any time because he had to feed his family of 12 and keep everyones' belly full)...lol.. My Grandfather also had Polio and was in a wheelchair in his twilight years.. He lived in the moment and didn't complicate his life with over-analyzing everything... (he died at 90 years old). I guess he taught me what "zen" was really about... The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know... Thanks Brian. Dako Ever try to "pinch grip" a rafter in your garage???

Build your grip so you can hold the pistol as hard as you can with no tension. Check out this website: http://www.ironmind.com/ There are some serious gripmeisters there...

(Edited by bird at 8:22 pm on Feb. 13, 2003)

I see alot of production 9mm shooters using 15-20-30 round mags (loaded to capacity) in USPSA matches. I thought that you were only supposed to load 10 +1. (IPSC and USPSA rules). No flames intended but when I shoot production I only have 10 round mags and I have to do 3 reloads compared to someone with a 30 round long stick who does no reloads (on a 30 round cof). 3 reloads really cut into ones overall time compared to someone who doesn't have to reload.. Would someone please clarify this for me. Thanks... (Edited by bird at 8:59 pm on May 22, 2002)

Brian is right (big suprise huh..LOL.). When I live-fire practice my goal is to put every bullet into the same hole every time and I take as much time as I need to do this. When I shoot IPSC I try to do the same thing but I do it as fast as I can...(sometimes even faster than I am capable of {can you say Mike?}), but my goal is still the same. Both sides of the same coin. Heads I win Tails you lose

When I practice I shoot for accuracy striving for small, tight groups.. When I shoot IPSC I go as fast as I can (while still being safe) and me thinks that my accuracy will catch up someday...... I only slow down in IPSC when I start getting alot of misses. This is probably the wrong approach, but I dont care. I am paying to play this game so I play it the way that gives me the most "bang for my buck". Sometimes this bird flies and sometimes I crash. But it is all about having FUN.... IPCS is as much fun as I can have with my clothes on...

Wow Bob H. That is a Great idea, shooting an IPSC course weak-hand only. Talk about putting your EGO away... Shooting an IPSC match "wrong handed." ---LOL--- Reminds me of John Waynes line in his last move "The Shootist". Travis, Great advice as always. Food for though from one who is hungery... Don't take life so seriously after all, it is only temporary.

Living in Sturgis South Dakota, I grew up shooting game birds. If you miss you don't eat... * look at the bird, not your front sight * give the bird enough lead * trigger control/follow through * point that left index finger * Muscle tension is your worst enemy * keep your scatter-gun clean Hunger is a great motivation not to miss... Think about that...... bird

I don't like all the little dots under my name. It reminds me of the fact that I sometimes spend too much time on the computer and that my posts don't mean anything......LOL. Runs with Scissors.. (Edited by bird at 8:33 pm on May 15, 2002)

Don't think about fast and playing "beat the clock" because "fast is not fast-smooth is fast." (sounds Korny but it is so true...LOL). Dry-fire practice your draw in ultra S-L-O-W motion perfectly. (unloaded gun, no ammo in the room, etc........) Then dry-fire practice as smooth as you can (don't think FAST or TIME because you will tense up all your muscles). Do this everyday for a few minutes and it will soon become just like any other thing that you do everyday: ie eat, drive, walk, .... Have you ever seen a baby pointing its finger at something it wants? Shoot like that.........

Followthrough. That is what the DA trigger makes you do, along with watching that the sights don'tmove during that l o n g pull. There was an article in the latest FS magazine that addresses this with some great tips from Angus. SA or DA I have always had a "reaching for the trigger" attitude that a DA revolver gives you. I have seen really good wheelgun shooters roll that DA trigger and shoot pretty damn fast.. Wow!!! Live in the moment

The Pierre SoDak Pistol championships' are coming soon. (Any Great Plains shooters out there?). Maybe a Laughlin Nevada biker shootout would interest the Sturgis boys...;-( sorry,bad joke. Beware the modern IPSC shooters in the old west. "Dances with Wolves" is where I was born and raised. My Indian name was runs with scissors...hehe Don't let your imagination take you by suprise...

Hi Daves Mom. I live 2000 miles from my Mom and she don't want a computer. Happy Mothers Day. ps. J.A. is OK. (Edited by bird at 7:59 pm on May 12, 2002)

Ron, I choose Bud Light myself but being from Lead/DeadWood what do I know--- I have some Kin from Casper. The Paulsons. et al.. I smell OIL... Don't you just love IPSC, Shoot Now on demand.. (keep them joints warm though). God Bless.

I need more dry-fire drills, anything Please, don't make me beg. Ok I'll beg...hehe I do all the usual stuff and some odd stuff too. Watching TGO on the American Shooter series where he says to keep the triangle the same when shooting around a barricade led me to stand in front of my clock and keep my "triangle" by aiming my front sight at 9,10, 11,12, 1, 2 and 3 o'clock, (really works the legs). I have a piece of cardboard with about 10 small IPSC targets and practice target transitions, skipping every other target 1,3,5-- 2,4,6 etc along with 1-10 working on focus from target to front sight and transitions looking only at the front sight (target blurry) and targets (sights blurry). My garage is full of my kids art work on the walls along with a bunch of IPSC targets and I transition between a drawing to an IPSC target.. Dry-firing with my eyes closed helps my body sort out its index (thanks Brian). I also move my front sight along the boards of the shelves in my Garage up and down and side to side then do them as fast as I can. This may be a bad exercise but I sometimes hold the pistol out in my freestyle position and flip the front sight back with my wrist as fast as I can and try to keep a neutral grip while tracking the sight (kindof like watching a fly buzzing around the garage never taking my eyes off it--a great eye workout). I also have a paperplate with a 1" dot on it that I (try) to keep my front sight on it while walking forwards, backwards, sideways, all ways. I put my front sight on a target and hold it as long as I can and do this from various squat depths from standing to full squat. I really like dry-firing and look forward to doing it, it seems to relax me. I also listen to talk radio because listening to music makes me dry fire to the rhythm of the song which is probably not a good thing.. Any other ideas guys and gals? Brian, I want you to teach me to shoot like a GM, I don't care if it takes all day....

Mine hurts too. I don't have a specific exercise routine but I do reverse curls, tricep extensions, overhead presses and a wrist curl sequence that I do with dumbbells. 1. reverse wrist curls- arms on knees palms down x10 2. hammer wrist curls- arms on knees with the thumbs pointing up (like holding a fishing pole and casting)x10 3. wrist curls-arms on knees palms up x10 4. wrist twists-arms on knees or arms hanging moving thumbs toward outer legs to inner legs x10 5. finger extensions-arms on knees palms up and roll the dumbbell to finger tips then back to grip(no wrist involved)x10 50 reps in one set I hope that made sense!!! I make sure I move my wrists through the full range of motion without jerking. These 5 exercises work all the areas of your wrist/elbow. I also use Iron Mind #1 gripper 2x's per week. I laid off the forearm/hand routine for about 3 months and now my elbows and wrists are painfully sore. I never had this problem when I did this everyday,so guess what I am doing again everyday...LOL I also Box and do misc dumbbell squats, stiff-leg deadlifts, rows, bench press etc etc. but I don't have any specific IPSC lifting routine(does anyone out there have a IPSC weight lifting routine?) When I dry-fire I put joint ritus(stuff works great) on my wrists and elbows and use tennis elbow straps and wrist straps. Advil also seems to help as does Ice when I am done and sometimes a heating pad to get things warmed up in the morning. Me also thinks that I over grip when I dry-fire because when I live-fire I don't seem to use as much grip pressure..(Awareness baby...LOL). I hope this helps some and I would like to hear what the top dogs do, they must have went through this pain at some point during their journey to the top.. Brian, I want you to teach me to shoot like a GM I don't care if it takes all day

That is Art Bell Alien Fast... Does it kindof look like this? http://www.isishootists.com/steelchallenge/2002/smokehop.htm Without the other 2 barn doors?. The Glock is one 21st century practical pistole. The new 1911 perhaps? Dale Rhea seems to shoot one well.... It is the Indian, not the Bow

Thankyou all for the help. The guy who let me use his pro-grip gave me an internet link but I forgot what it was. I wish Brian would sell it. Bonedaddy, I too find that keeping my thumbs/heels of my hands pressed together really helps with keeping that 2nd shot in the A zone. I also find that digging my rh fingers into my left hand gives me that 360 degree neutral grip in both hands. I have been using pine tar along the areas where my thumbs/heels of my hands meet to give me a "sticky" reference point. Thanks again for all the help and I find that by using "chalk" it helps me to shoot with the relaxed aggression that seems to work for me. When shooting use maximum muscle strength while being totally relaxed..

I tried Pro-grip once and it seemed to give me a better grip on my pistol with less muscle tension. I do not know where to buy pro-grip so I have tried weight lifters chalk (messy) and even pine tar (which was too sticky). Is pro-grip a "trick of the day" or does it help? Any other similiar products out there that you have had good luck with? Thanks