dravz

That's awesome!!! Great pic.

Focus on the front sight was drilled into me very early, and for a long time I thought I did exactly that. But I've noticed when I'm shooting at speed: I'm focusing at a point that's like 5 feet past the front sight! I don't know when this happened.

Old rule of thumb I live by: Practice what you hate. More than likely you hate it because you aren't good at it. If I ever catch myself saying, "Oh man I hate doing [this drill]," I automatically double the reps. Keeps your attitude positive too after long enough. (And this pre-dates gun stuff, it applies to any sport/practice.)

Do clubs try to send their "best" shooters to Nationals? Like an all-star team from their area?

I'm a noob but I think the same way. I also shoot Production because I figure if I can shoot my stock XD9 well I can shoot anything well.

Nationals is invite-only? Wow, I didn't know that.

What do the top shooters make per year anyway? Ballpark guess. Let's total up sponsorship deals, match winnings, actual salary, etc. for a truly legendary shooter in our sport to get an idea. What does Rob Leatham take home? This is not from a I'm-in-this-for-the-money point of view, rather it stems from a I-like-football-and-other-pro-sports and am curious how it compares. Obviously Dave Sevigny makes less than Tom Brady, right? Are these kinds of contract details in the public domain or reported on?

I've also heard it phrased as: Minimize the time your gun isn't firing.

It does make sense in the context of our sport, especially when you think about it being the right hand that actually aligns the sights and breaks the shot, while it is the left hand that does everything else -- most of the controlling, grabbing the mags and all the reloading, operating stage obstacles, and so on.

Guess that means I'm wearing an Auburn shirt to this match!

I would like to attend, and this will be my first major match. Looking forward to it!

Oh yeah, something else too, regarding Self Talk. It's okay to talk to yourself negatively, IF and ONLY IF the negative talk is temporary and specific, and followed by positive talk after. It is never okay to say, "Wow, another interception, fantastic. Great job, dumbass." But it is okay and honest to say, "Wow, really underthrew the ball on that play. Next time just put the ball where it needs to be." Temporary, and specific. This is great for matches. I can admit to myself my reloads were slower than they needed to be, and make a note to practice them more, but then also acknowledge all the great things I did on the stage and move on. Rather than throwing my hands up and thinking I bombed the stage completely. I'm sure everyone has their own examples. I think self-talk has to include that honest self-critique, but you can't dwell on mistakes or beat yourself up because that can cause even more negative performance and a quick downward spiral into a blown match.

I really like that pacing analogy, wonder if it'll apply to shooting a match. The one thing I don't see on your list (and I agree maybe it isn't a Big 4) was attention control. I know BE talks about it a lot, it is the ability to focus on the one thing that needs it at that moment. To shift your attention to your hand and only your hand as it makes the grip, to the sight picture, to the trigger as it comes back, and so on. That laser focus on the only thing that matters at each moment, and to ignore all the distractions at the same time. I think BE may call it being in the now or in the present, something like that.

It isn't counterintuitive at all. After only competing for a year, even I can tell which stage at a match is the classifier just by stage descriptions alone. Everyone knows they are different skillsets, right? But you just sold me on your second book. If PoP helps me as much as R&R I should build a statue in your honor, probably in my front yard, out of snap caps. There's no shame in that. Brian's book was a little too "airy" for me. While I may read it once a year to stay on the zen path, it's your book(s) I'm opening three times a week for practice. Probably depends on what kind of learner you are though.

Is this what Principles of Performance focuses on? As opposed to those classifier-esque drills in R&R? Or is that the sort of thing only learned in the wild (hard to drill stage strategy, eh). Thanks again for your input, Steve. Your R&R book has done more for me than any other! (Don't tell BE though!)

I still shoot a lot of paper plates just because they're so darn convenient.

I have it and have read it. Great book and highly recommended (it's also a quick read). Believe it or not, it's even helped me when playing Call of Duty! And honestly that kinda prompted my earlier question about measurable goals. Notably, I want to be a GM -- so, the Lanny Bassham question which immediately follows is: what can a GM do that I cannot? So now we start down the list of: GM can do 6 reload 6 in x seconds, GM can do a 5A/1C El Pres run in x seconds, GM can do a draw to first A shot in x seconds, and so on. I am/was looking for those GM-level metrics to strive toward. Now obviously that makes me a little hesitant when you mentioned actually competing as a GM on a national stage. I don't know how to measure that, except to maybe talk about having generic placement goals like Top 10 at nationals, etc. But that type of goal isn't as objective as simple skillset goals. All I can do is meet and exceed my skillset goals so I know, and my self-image/confidence knows, I am capable of shooting like a GM, and then I will attend matches as regularly as I do now to ensure I can perform as a GM. If I am off-base on anything, by all means shoot me down. I would rather hear about it sooner than later!

Roger that. Part of any improvement path is setting measurable goals, and you've given me somewhere to start and good ballparks on time invested. Not to mention all the great drills!

HAHAHA, nice one, Steve. Well played. I've been busy chasing your par times in the book for about 6 months now, though usually only doing drills once a week. I've recently started doing your drills more often, but that made me wonder how often you do them. To get GM in 9 months, was that daily dry-fire? I'm obviously not anywhere near that level yet but I'm curious. And for goal-setting purposes, is using your par times listed in R&R for the drills what is considered GM-level? I'm looking for actionable, measurable goals to set, and your par times are right in front of me so that's what I've been using.

Absolutely I agree with that. If you want to read more on the science behind fat loss and being efficient at it, check this article at T-nation to see the hierarchy of activities and their impacts on fat -- #1 is metabolic resistance training, specifically, compound lifts using the legs, chest, and back. Our goal is to work every muscle group hard, frequently, and with an intensity that creates a massive "metabolic disturbance" or "afterburn" that leaves the metabolism elevated for several hours post-workout. A study for this showed the group doing metabolic resistance training had elevated metabolism levels for up to 38 hours after a workout! That's how you burn!

Interesting. I will look into that as I have an especially hard time keeping my hands warm (my core and legs always seem to be fine).

I was going to suggest drill #1 from Steve Anderson's book, Sight Picture Confirmation if I remember right, but you got the man himself to reply so nevermind!

Stage results are here = http://www.uspsa.org/uspsa-display-match-results-detail.php?action=summary&indx=3256&compid=7 edit: durr, stage names = first video is Walk the Planks (obviously), second one is Down the Tee

Again, I feel like I'm shooting when my front sight says to, but I will quadruple-check that I'm doing so. I took the far target early because it made an even 10 rounds, but you're right I should've taken it with the next set (and a lot of other shooters did just that). I plain didn't think of it. Noted. I will work on being lower and staying balanced, and doing a better job of entering and exiting positions. Thanks, guys.

I use the Safariland 5188. Nothing fancy, not expensive, works great.