dravz

Thanks, guys

Is it legal to paint or mark the inside of a gun's magwell in any way? This would be to quicken the ability of the eyes to find the magwell on reloads. I have half a mind that it's illegal in Production, but not sure. Thanks.

Exactamundo.

Yup, absolutely. Thanks very much for your honesty, Ben, both about the book(s) and about the upper tier of our sport in general. You are fast becoming a personal hero of mine for your all-around integrity, honesty, work ethic, and success. Keep on keeping on, Ben.

I would also add using some sort of par timer to your routine to push yourself to get faster. Perfect execution is probably more important at this point, but at some point your eyes and hands are going to have to practice moving faster. Steve Anderson's dry-fire book is outstanding for this.

Yes, thank you, but what do they do for you? I'm not asking for specifics, but are the kinds of things they provide to you for all your work? Branded apparel? Match fees? Travel expenses? Free equipment? Ammunition? All this and money on top? Or is it "just" getting their particular stuff for free? That's what I'm trying to get at -- how "complete" is sponsorship in the shooting sports? Thanks for your insight.

CHA-LEE, if you don't mind, could you expand on the sponsorship aspect? I'm not in any position to be sponsored, that isn't why I'm asking, but I'm very curious about what you do for them, what they do for you, if there is compensation involved, etc. Because of my intense interest in other professional sports it is always fascinating to me to hear about the business side at the top of the shooting world. Maybe I've been looking in the wrong places but I never see much discussion about it. Thanks for anything you can share. And good luck in 2012!

You know what, put me on the list. I've been doing this for a year -- a Production shooter at ~54% right now and only shoot 1 classifier per month. So even though I may be on this list for the next 2-10 years, I would like to see my progress. A71261 Tony D

Thanks for the post, Pat. "If you don't have accuracy, you have nothing to trade for speed." I like that, it's a good soundbite I can easily commit to memory.

I would agree. I don't get a whole lot out of watching in first person.

Self-image? He expects to tank?

I layer Under Armour Tech t-shirts and I stay dry all day in pretty much any conditions. I've hesitated to add this for a few days because it seemed like an obvious suggestion and maybe you didn't like them for some reason or something. In winter conditions I'm usually wearing 3-4 (one or two long-sleeved), and in summer just 1. They are only $20 each so I don't see why you wouldn't at least start with them to see what you like. http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/pid1000382-410

PowerBalance has admitted their bracelets were a scam and have filed for bankruptcy as of 3 months ago. http://gizmodo.com/5861816/powerbalance-scam-forces-company-into-bankrupcy

I think each individual action needs to be programmed into the subconscious -- reacting to the buzzer, the draw, the trigger prep, the trigger pull, watching the front sight return, the transition (eyes first!), the reload, the launch to any direction towards the next array, the arrival at your next position/setup, and make-up shots -- and yes I probably forgot a couple things, probably critical things, but you get the point. Brian Enos talks about witnessing your stage performance as it happens, though I'm not anywhere near that level of zen. But I find that when you have those skills programmed, driving a stage is just assembling those programmed skills into a course of fire, almost like reading the stage brief -- "I will start at this spot in this orientation, I will draw and engage the targets in this order, and movement and/or reloads will occur here, here, and here." When you are visualizing that stage, you are punching it into your shooting GPS, so when the buzzer goes off you are just driving down your roadmap. Notice I'm not telling my trigger finger to pull straight back while keeping the sights aligned. I'm not telling which foot to move first. I'm not telling my thumb to hit the mag release. All that stuff is too much to think about at once, especially on the clock. You have to program those into larger actions, into stage pieces, just to be able to even process what you're doing. Furthermore, something else I got from Lanny was that your mind can only be truly thinking about a single thing at a time. Not only do we want to think about what we want to happen ("just shoot alphas"), doing so also prevents us from thinking negatively ("don't choke," "don't shoot the no-shoot," etc.) which is a godsend for someone like me who tends to overthink everything. I load and make ready, exhale, and I'm saying in my mind justshootalphasjustshootalphasjustshootalphasjustshootalphas, BEEP and I'm off. Helps a lot to keep me focused and in the game. And finally, during practices and matches, I force myself to do as Lanny says: Find yourself doing something right. It is very frustrating to be continually shortening your par time in practice to make yourself speed up AND FAIL. I make sure to continually remind myself that I'm getting pissed at a 2.5 second par time, when a couple months ago I was bitching about breaking the 3.0 second mark. If I make a mistake in a match I refuse to give up, because hey the other guys are making mistakes too. Lanny's story about screwing up his first Olympic stage so badly he thought he had no chance of winning, only to shoot relaxed the rest of the way and earn the silver medal, is a great story. Everyone else bombed out something too, you have to stay positive at all times! These are some of the ways I've absorbed With Winning in Mind into myself and what I'm doing. I hope I have helped.

The benefit of a timer is it forces you outside your comfort zone. In forcing myself to go .2 seconds faster on a drill than I am able, I will see what is holding me back, what it is that breaks down at that faster speed. At the faster speed I'm not landing a proper grip before I yank out into the draw; or I'm not bringing the gun in all the way during a reload causing me to miss; or I'm not snapping my vision fast enough; and so on. Knowing what is in the way of the faster times is invaluable. I'd also like to add you don't always have to chase the next faster time. You can focus on certain aspects while keeping the par time the same, typically by making a drill more challenging but not increasing the par time to complete it. For example (note I use Steve Anderson's books exclusively): I will set ALL my 6 reload 6 drills to the same par time, but each drill adds another layer of complexity -- first is freestyle from hands at sides, now start from surrender, now add in a turn, now use strong hand only, and so on. Increasingly difficult drills, same par time.

I got to attend SHOT Show and it was a ton of fun. I wasn't too concerned with the new equipment there, but I was excited to meet the superstars of the sport. Hands I got to shake: Rob Leatham Phil Strader Bill Rogers Bob Vogel Tori Nanaka Julie Golob Jerry Miculek Saul Kirsch Blake Miguez Kyle Lamb Willie Blair Also got pictures with some of them but they aren't developed yet. Good times.

I would have to agree. Try running with the MK14 to increase your trigger speed!

If you are looking to improve your speed of movement then I would look to work muscles that help you do so. Explosive leg exercises like squats and sprints will help with all aspects of accelerating and decelerating, but also use something like side plank leg raises to get the outside leg muscles (for side-to-side accel/decel). I would definitely bench press and chest fly for your pecs for holding the gun (assuming isosceles stance of some kind), and grip work for recoil control. I would also do core rotational exercises to speed up and strengthen the turret-like use of your body for transitions and shooting stages. General footwork and agility drills are also very helpful to increase your foot-speed and balance.

I never knew that was A Thing, but I have it too!

I didn't hammer mine to fix the dropping free, I used pliers to squeeze them front to back at the top of the magazine. I couldn't visibly see a difference but they dropped free after I did it. It doesn't take a lot.

I use the Surefire app for dry-fire par times. I have no experience with it live-fire.

Voted 10. If Production changed to 15, I would just move over to SS. Not sure if that is a pro or con though.

That's why I'm leaving Open for last. If we all get there eventually due to bad eyes I'll do all the others first while I can!

The problem is the SERPA is an unnecessary risk, and is completely avoidable. There are millions of holsters out there which do not require your trigger finger to move towards the trigger during the draw that also provide strong (and/or active) retention. Every single ND from a SERPA holster could have been prevented by a different holster.

Noted!!!