DoubleL

Wow. A huge list of due process just hit doodie. It's compiled neatly and nicely. Even with a proper title. Video evidence of this volume is staggering when seen in list form.

When I do my part, I can throw together a decent run some times!

Sharp looking pistol, bet it shoots really nice!

I've thought about clipping the corners off my SP01 Shadow rear sight, it was honestly just easier to remove that janky BT DOH. Is the SP01 Tac rear sight identical except for clipped corners?

This is one of the many reasons why I ditched my DOH bracket and started using the BladeTech holster attached straight to the belt bracket. Maybe you can't live without it but the first time I swapped the holster I knew I'd never regret it. I sure don't miss the scratches.

Every time I go out to practice I set up my targets and just jump right in. No warm ups or whatever, no mulligans. I usually use a first drill that is easy to track like bill drill or variation of the transition drill. I sort of made it a point to make myself shoot great cold on the first time. It's hard! One or two times doing it well and I found that my confidence really got a boost. I agree with PE. Kelley above, now I relish the first stage jitters! I can't wait to feel the gun jump! You know what it's going to do, you know where your mags are, prep and walk the stage like always and just poke holes in A zones! Like many of the concepts behind shooting pistol well... I say it's all in your head.

First and only setup. BladeTech with the DOH removed, 5 Ghost pouches plus a magnet on first pouch for the +1 mag when needed, all on a CR belt. Not a single problem from the pistol, the belt, the holster or pouches. I was aiming for "buy once cry once" and I feel confident I hit my mark The only real mod I did was to stick Velcro to the inner side of the pouch mounts. I've got the older style quick release type ghost mounts and it really sturdied up the whole belt. That and ditching the DOH, that thing and I just did not play nice.

You have a very good squad..... Really? It's not like this at your local matches? I could see at a level 2 or maybe a special match of some kind it being more of a every man for himself type deal but dang man a local regular ole weekend match and nobody in your squad would help the new guy??? That just isn't right. See something like a sneaky 180 trap area and just let the FNG run in and ace a DQ?!?! Dick move if you ask me... Bummer for you if that's the way you've seen clubs operate. The better and more experienced shooters in both clubs I frequent are always willing to help.

Sounds like you are off to a good start. Just be safe and have fun, in that order. Another one to look out for is retreating a few steps and then to your right, say around a corner to the last array. Super super easy to sweep your left arm if you let the pistol sag down at all. Just like the reload you described, it's just as easy to commit other offenses too, just keep your head straight and always remember that when in doubt ask a more seasoned shooter! It's helped me once or twice for sure, it goes hand in hand with letting your squad know you are a new guy. The whole squad will look out for stuff, at least that's the way the clubs I shoot at operate. Nobody wants to see a shooter get a DQ.

Reason #4 I think 20 rounds of 9mm is fun as hell, no matter what anyone wants to call it. Minor. Major. Bah whatever. Do what you're supposed to do and don't make mistakes.... Doesn't really matter what you shoot then!

At least you are aware of what you need to work on that's a leg up on the competition already. I forgot to add what helped along with the dry fire drills for me at least, very very focused and short live fire sessions. I'm fairly sure my live fire routine is what curtailed the pause in my draw stroke at that final stage of prepping the trigger. I'm talking maybe 75 rounds max, two draw drills, very focused. It's worth noting that I've found more results through strengthening my mental visualization and overall mental preparation than anything else. Again though, each person is different and what may work for some is bad for others. My buddies laugh when I say that I visualize a perfect slo-mo draw probably 200 times a day! Before sleep I see perfect sights. Sounds goofy I know but when I don't have time for dry or live fire well you just have to make do! Experiment and find what makes you learn the best fastest easiest way.

A strong grip does help! Emjei- The drill I mentioned is from Steve's book. All of his draw drills are to a sight picture only, no trigger break. It didn't make sense to me at first, but after trying it I've realized that the actual shot is the quickest part of the whole draw. It's all the other stuff I am trying to get my times down on it's sort of a mind trick too I think, makes you focus on SEEING rather than squeezing. Doing drills like that to a sight picture only helped immensely with my draw. I can't fully explain why, but it works for me. YMMV!

For myself, doing Steve Anderson's draw drills really helped. Mark your times and stick to it. Draw to a perfectly aligned sight picture with a fully prepped trigger, do not break the trigger though. Everyone is different though, maybe just pulling straight through would work better for you. Messing around one day with a friends Vaquero really opened my eyes to what it takes to hit stuff with a full pull The whole not breaking the shot part really was hard to get in my allotted base par times. It was a real eye opener, and I learned how long it REALLY takes me to go from holstered to ready to break a shot. But sure as can be, with practice my base times started to fall. I'm still well within the beginners times but improvement is nice, especially on match day. Try some drills, mark your times and don't cheat to beat the buzzer. Let the time be what it is and train to shorten the times simple right?

Nice shootin'! I think it would be cool if more people added their own 50 yard groups of 6 to this thread. Oh, 'Regular Shadow' only of course. I'm going for a quick practice session tomorrow AM. I'll see if I can set up a 50. I'm not sure if I can get a group as nice looking as that, but I'll try

Quite frankly, the classifier stages simply aren't as fun to shoot as other stages. (Copied from above) This is sort of where I thought this would head to. I had a short convo with a very good open shooter at one of the two local clubs available in my area, several other shooters in line to register that morning all agreed on the topic of classifiers. The classifiers available don't really translate to the sport as it is actually played. A shooter can rip on a 6 stage classifier day and get his butt handed to him by C level shooters the next weekend. I find it amazing how different the classifiers are from the actual stages we shoot.