Sporky

Well.......missed B class by a couple of percentage points. Wow was I disappointed in that. This is going to motivate me or just piss me off.......not sure which one yet, I just found out. I have been putting in some work, but it looks like not enough. It is strange....when all goes well, I have put up some real nice scores on stages. I have beat A and M level people on a stage from time to time. But classifiers seem to just kick me in the nuts. I don't really ever get nervous, so that isn't it. Maybe I am just putting too much pressure on myself or something. I really think that i need some actual help.......like real instruction.

Very nice! I didn't make B yet......super pissed at myself. Now it's time for you to switch classes! GM the next one as well.

I have had a few more matches under my belt since the last post, so here we go again.... Two weeks ago.......long drive, crappy match stages, and re-shoots due to range failures. Needless to say my emotions got the better of me and I didn't shoot as well as I could have. Lesson learned: Calm my emotions down and just shoot to my ability. Last weekend....Shorter drive, Excellent match stages, no re-shoots, good folks to shoot with. I was in a squad with some of the go-fast-kids, and I think I was pushing myself too hard. Stupid mistakes that I could have avoided. But I did a good job of burning the stage plans into my head so that is a plus. I need to add one more live fire practice a week, as well as more dry fire to work on my index and draw stroke. I also learned that some people actually count the number of steps taken when they plan out the stages. That lil tip saved me some time for sure. I noticed that I was loosing time on my splits on the close and medium targets. The guys didn't move faster than me, but they defiantly shot faster. Haven't figured out how to speed that up without loosing accuracy. I was on a real upswing, but those last two matches really did me in. The classifier match went so well that I was hoping I was just going to go up from there. I did get a few stage wins here and there.....so I proved to myself that I can do it when I get my act together. I think I need someone to train me or at least watch me and tell me what to change. It is taking me forever to figure it out on my own. My normal live fire practice is at least 400 rounds, and usually more like 500. I am getting reps but most likely not quality reps... HELP!

Good match yesterday! 5th in my division and I improved my hit factor on several stages. By the end of the day I was tired and quit shooting well, so I was experimenting with going fast on a few stages. The best part was I had several people say that it looked like I was practicing all winter long! That was a huge confidence boost! And I actually had fun and wasn't stressed about doing well, so that was a bonus! My issues with not having the correct index while going quickly, seemed to not even appear yesterday! I am still not as good as I can be with that, so I am not going to change my training on that at all. My times were good on the stages, but the leaders were still quicker by more than I would like. So if I beat this index issue i think that I will have better transitions and in turn better times. I spent more time at the match burning my stage plan in than I have before. That really paid off pretty big. I didn't make any mistakes on the stage plans at all! So all I had to care about was the shooting and not the running around. I'm pumped to see what happens next match after I get some more practice in!!!

I really hate you.......... I am thinking that my kid really doesn't need to go to college.......let that lil turd get a job, Daddy needs one of these!

No match this weekend so I live fire practiced twice instead. I did the dot torture drill a bunch and I think that is really going to help me out. I still can't shoot it clean but I get closer all the time. I burned through about 800 rounds this weekend, but I still have a long ways to go. The index is really turning out to be a bear, but when I do get it correct, holy crap do things work out well! I noticed how bad my trigger press really is on that dot drill as well. The trigger is pretty damn sweet so I can't blame that. ALL ME.... I can kill the trigger press when I am going slow....but when I need/ want to break a shot, it goes all to hell in a handbasket pretty quickly. The stippled grip is really nice so I don't have to worry about that any more, just being consistent on the grip with every draw and reload. I will dryfire the draws this week and live fire before the match on Sunday and see if I can make any more progress there.

Thanks for all the advise.....and keep it coming! The super slow-mo is helping a lil bit. And the consistent grip comment was pretty spot on as well. I stippled my grip this week and I think that my index on the gun is much better now. I wasn't searching for the sights as much for sure last night at the group practice we had. Oh and the pointing the support hand thumb suggestion made a big improvement as well so thanks for that comment as well as all the others as well. I really appreciate it! I have to burn in all of these new things and it is taking longer than I expected. I didn't have nearly this much trouble with my plastic gun, but this 2011 is being a b1tch! It really is a great gun and I am going to do very well with it.......but...it is going to take a bit more work than i originally thought. My foolish assumption was that I was just going to directly build on my progress from the plastic gun and just keep moving forward. But the truth is that I am basically starting from scratch. My goal was to make A class by the end of the season......at this rate, I am going to have to triple my current practice level to even get close. I really don't even care about the classification letter as much as I would like to be able to just get to the ability level of some of the guys that I shoot with. I don't care if I beat them, I just want to be in the neighborhood so I am not the scrub at the bottom of the list. I just wanna play with the cool kids!

Dots was a bitch!!! but now I have something to work on at the range next time. The cheese grater grip worked fantastic! That was the only thing that went well, but at least that is something!. I got a lot of good advise from everyone and I just need to throw more lead down range and hit the dry fire more often. I know I can shoot because when we did the "paster" group shooting, I was doing pretty well. When things were speeding up on the accelerator drill....i screwed the pooch for sure. On the farthest target I had some really good hits, but the close target was an abortion. I have some clear goals this season, and I believe that I can achieve them. But I am going to have to commit to much more practice time. How does this sound to everyone..... Two live fire sessions a week and dry fire at least 3 days a week? Or should I shoot for dry fire every evening for as long a period of time as I can get and one less live fire session? Feel free to chime in anyone

Yeah I am hoping the weather holds up as well........I am dying to throw some lead downrange! Wait until you see the grip stipple I did.....Cheese Grater!

Didn't shoot last weekend do to the weather, and not much going on this weekend so i'm itching to shoot pretty badly. I did manage to stipple my grip and get a little dry fire in. Working on the draw and first shot still. Not happy with how the sights are lining up still, but I think I made a little bit of progress. This is going so much slower than I expected.....

I hate you so much right now......

I was shooting an M&P out of a Bladetech holster. Now it is an Edge out of a DAA Racemaster. And I know for a fact that the sight alignment is slower.......

I just switched to a 2011 and I am having trouble getting the sights to line up off when I present the gun. Seems like I am moving the gun around and wasting a ton of time. I am really getting pissed about this. I dry fired for 20 mins last night and I couldn't get a consistent sight picture on a regular basis at all! I am using a DAA Rasemaster holster if that makes any difference! Help!

Well.....another match is in the books for me. Not too bad at all and I am finding all the little things that I need to do with the new gun to get more accurate and faster. Before the match, I went out to the range and set up 4 targets about 5-6 feet apart from each other. I put a barrel at both ends, and just practiced shooting, getting my finger off the trigger, and moving as fast as I could to the farthest position and shooting again. to mix it up, I stopped and popped a target or two in the middle just so I didn't get bored. That really helped my confidence at the match on Sunday. I know that I was safe and I was free to move around with out any concerns about my trigger finger. I think that drill is going to be a must do at each practice session. I also worked on my grip and my accuracy with those drills as well. And I ran my a$$ off until I was totally out of breath each time so I could mimic as much stress as possible. I squadded up with a "slower" group at the match so I wouldn't be tempted to go so fast. I concentrated on getting good hits and sticking to the plan. I had 2 Mikes for the day (totally deserved them) but the rest of my accuracy was a huge improvement. I know the gun will do it and now I just need to make sure I am doing my part. i am still dealing with the recoil though.........I think that the Mikes came from taking the 2nd shot with out a great sight picture. And I noticed from my practice session that during recoil, my sights were not always returning exactly where they started. If I adjusted my grip, I could get a quick 2 shots in the A zone, but if my grip wasn't perfect, then it was a Alpha Charlie or delta. I played with my grip over and over but I never could get happy with it returning where I wanted it.........back to the drawing board with that i suppose. From a suggestion from a shooter at the match, I decided to try a paster on my shooting glasses over the non-dominant eye. It was a little weird getting used to, but the sight picture was a bit more clear for me. He also said that Scotch tape might be better than a paster. I think I will try it again during practice but I don't think I will do it again in a match until I get the grip deal figured out. I am thinking about stippling the grip.......I have read all the instructions I could find out there, but I just haven't committed to doing it yet. I am wondering if more grip will help or not... One last thing, I took the button off of the mag release for the whole match. And no issues with dropping a mag!!! I really think that was the issue I had at the match before. The button screwed out just a bit and I hit it on accident. My reloads were not an issue at all, so I think I am just going to stick with it being off for the foreseeable future. My point for the match were better than I normally get, and my times were respectable. I don't think I will have an issue getting to B class this year, but I don't know if A is going to happen. I didn't think that I would have to relearn so much, but boy was I wrong. I will try to slowly turn the speed up as I figure out the grip situation. I just need to be confident that when I bring the gun up, the sights will be where I want them and I won't have to search around for them. Once I get that figured out..........look out limited class!!! Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well.......first match of the year in the books. And I got DQ'ed on the 3rd stage. I filled the mag up and jaked, and after 2 rounds fired, the mag dropped out. I picked it up and when I put it back in I must have had my finger in the wrong place......AD. So now I am going to have to practice keeping my finger off the trigger when moving between positions, and reloading. Nothing else really matters much if I am not safe. Thank God nobody was injured.......but i feel like a total ass. I can't even tell you how much I was looking forward to this match. And to be a shit head like that, really upsets me quite a bit. I had such high hopes....FML

Now that makes sense! I will dry fire that tonight and try to make it to the range before the match Sunday. I was wondering if I should adjust the holster angle so my grip is exactly where I need it to be. What I mean is that if the heel of my strong hand is directly behind the mainspring housing, my recoil control is 100% better. But I am also concerned about the gun pointing at my leg while in the holster......I don't want any sort of AD going into my leg, but I don't think my holster is in the best place for me to achieve the perfect grip every time..... To be perfectly honest.....in my opinion, the issue I am struggling with the most is recoil control. going from 9 minor to 40 major is a real jump for me. I'm confident I can get the draw and presentation worked out with practice, but I am not so confident about the recoil control.... I can't thank you all enough for the replies! I will get to work on everything you have pointed out right away!!!

Still think you should just give it to me.....it is way too nice for you. Just say'n

Not too many comments on the videos so far..... WJM....thanks for responding. I do have a timer but I was just getting used to the gun still and working on the draw from the new holster as well. I was more focused on getting things "right" as opposed to going fast that day. I was playing with different levels of bent elbows.....so yeah some of the time it was locked out just to give it a try. Any more suggestions? Watching these videos really shows me how bad my form really is.

Hit the range today! 300 rounds of getting used to the gun and the new holster. My YouTube Channel Thanks in advance for any guidance and suggestions!

I am wondering that as well. I am not a person that has trouble with pressure. I don't get nervous at matches. But I would like to know why more people don't talk about how they got better. Besides, " I just practiced more ". The mental part of learning the skills is pretty huge, and I think the people that have been in it for a while forget what it is like to "start over" and become a beginner again. You have to be humble and willing to change consistently. And as always, be willing to admit shortcomings. This is only my 2nd season coming up, and I only competed about half of the year last year. So I am basically brand new for all intents and purposes, and I have to examine every aspect of the game. I am thinking that I will have to get more formal training to reach my goal for this year ( Making A class from C class ) Most of that I think will be breaking down my technique so that don't develop bad habits. I enjoy the training so that won't be an issue for me, but i am afraid that I will do all this practicing and burn in the wrong things! Cheers and good luck to you.

Actually did some dry fire last night! About 20 mins in total working on draws and reloads. The reloads seemed to go pretty well, but I am still needing to work on the draw. There is still some leftover energy when I reach the end of the draw and my sights seem to bounce a bit more than I would like. I will have to do some research on that to see how to fix it. I'm slowly getting better with the trigger pull as well, but again, not where I would like it to be. There is still some movement of the sights that I need to get rid of. I think that will be a combo of live and dry fire to get the sorted out. I really need to spend some time getting more training so I can shorten this learning curve as much as I can. I also cleaned up 300 rounds of brass. I need to order some more so i don't have to do so many batches. my tumbler will do 500 or more pieces of brass at one time so that isn't a problem. Might need to get some more powder as well. With the case feeder I am cranking out ammo like there is no tomorrow and I don't want to run out of powder the day before a match! Cheers!

Just for the record, I ended up with a STI short trigger fit by a smith. I fit a blank as well, but I like the feel of the texture on the stock short trigger better. I might continue to mess with the blank when I get some more time, but for now, the new short trigger is amazing and the trigger job is 1000% better than it was before. And it wasn't even that bad to begin with! No more excuses for me.......the gun will do its part now I just need to do my part.