JeremiahD
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Posts posted by JeremiahD
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Placeholder for updates. Will be using this again for performance analysis. Much has changed since 8/18.
6 weeks to A5.
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Long delayed update. Am finding that with squeezing DF, PT, live fire, matches, reloading etc into every available moment and not short my family or my career too badly, I just dont have time to screw around on the internet. I should make updating this a minor priority, especially as I head into the last 12 weeks pre-nationals.
May- Buckeye was an unmitigated disaster for me. I was plagued with enough ammo issues it was causing multiple jams each stage, some taking 5-10 seconds to clear. I let the ammo affect the rest of my performance, moping through stages. debated leaving at lunch to buy walmart ammo. The cause was poor crimp (ie- none) which was caused by a number of factors (still my responsibility). Issue is resolved, but my placement (and my ego) suffered badly on what should have been a great match I was otherwise prepared for. Wont occur again.
June, I had an unexpected health issue that required minor surgery. was forbidden from running, heavy exercise, or heavy recoil for several weeks. Got back on DF as soon as I felt up to it, but missed several matches and put PT behind significantly.
July Backed out of Ryan Rocks, partly due to a conflict, partly due to being totally out of practice from the June issue.
Have returned to full time practice and PT schedule, and at least 3 matches per month. Without getting into detail, I have learned quite a bit from this months matches, particularly on my mental game (and where its lacking). Match consistency is an issue currently. I can crush some stages while tanking others. Mental game.
Time and scheduling have coalesced into the following (and its working!): every day, 90+ minutes, alternating between 1- full body freeweight workouts (deadlifts, squats, presses etc) and dedicated DF specific to the fundamentals (reloads, draw, sight alignment, transitions, etc) and 2- running full stages in DF in the backyard or range. Every day I'm running a mile and am working the wrist curls/reverse wrist curls/tricep/bicep to keep the elbow issues away. Am seeing improvement across the board and "consistency" has become my daily mantra. At least once a week I am at the range in addition to the above, and have been making it to matches most weekends since recovery.
I'm keeping my October goal in sight the entire time, and its highly motivating.
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Gentlemen, I greatly appreciate the feedback so far.
A few additional details-
I have managed to develop a match mode, but its not as consistent as it should be. I will focus on getting it fully fleshed out.
I have been looking hard at why my overall standings sit where they do. Sometimes its scoring (generally when I let my match mode fail), but primarily its time. I would be sitting %20-25 higher in almost every match if I were to trim out the excess time. Video has been beneficial in identifying problems, and the biggest one (of many) is movement. Right behind that is a mental uncertainty that comes from not properly drilling the fundamentals early on
14 hours ago, Jake Di Vita said:If this is something you struggle with I like Steve's practice method which is dry firing with only leaving acceptable shots and making up anything that isn't acceptable.
Excellent, I will incorporate that immediately. It certainly makes more sense than dry firing poorly and just thinking "well that sucked, lets do it again"
14 hours ago, Jake Di Vita said:Spend the next 4 months consistently challenging your skill at all the fundamentals of USPSA. Make the goal to do the common everyday stuff uncommonly well. Execute the skill well, then gradually increase the intensity (speed) until you fail. Then, correct the failure at the same speed that caused it. Rinse/repeat.
noted. I'll be coming up with a more organized, focused DF routine so I'm spending my time productively, I will be keeping that at the front of my mind as I do.
11 hours ago, Foxj66 said:Last year my movement was my lowest hanging fruit. It got the bulk of my dry fire practice devoted to it and about 50% of my live fire practice.
I figured this out by looking at what I was giving up the most match points on. I was shooting solid points but giving up too much time. The difference seen between May and October for me was a 38th at SS ants and 18th at Limited nats. I normally Dry fire around 4-5 hours a week and live fire 1-2 times a week.
Thanks, those are very helpful numbers, I'm at this point where I feel like I should be practicing all day long and have no idea what my expected result should be. Also helpful is that time/movement is a weakness of my own. thanks
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hitting Andersons first 12 drills daily, setting a 5 min timer for each. Confidence is improving, erasing the old bad mag change juju
PT is progressing, will alternate run and lift ways until june 1
been working andersons or stoegers movement drills once daily on weekdays for an hour in the evenings by doing DF at the range and "confirming" w live fire.. enter the box last night, getting a good feel for shooting when that first foot touches. I was doing it to establish live fire times and tweak df, but its really working for me as drills on their own.
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I debated hard before deciding to post this. This is going to be a very (intentionally) open ended request.
I will be shooting production nats in October (single stack). My sole shooting goal until then is to be the best I can when I step on the line at that first stage.
Not to be "not last", not to "be competitive", but to be the best I can be. This not not meant to be a soft goal for a participation trophy, I mean it literally.
I am what most would consider an "average" shooter, middle age, starting my second year in USPSA, shot a few majors, and at a point where I know there's much I don't know.
I do have a family and a full time job etc, but am able to dedicate a solid chunk of time daily to this one goal. I understand I only have 4 and a half months to prepare and am willing to do the work, I don't want to waste effort. I do have some experience training long term for large goals and the challenges that come with it.
I would very much like whatever advice any of you higher level, experienced competitors feel inclined to offer on the subject as I plan my training and set my subgoals before June when the real work starts.
I could use advice on anything from daily dryfire or livefire routines to physical training, to any advice on surviving the mental game at a national level. Any experienced, useful advice is welcome.
Those of you who offer coaching services can consider this a solicitation as well.
I'm happy to share any additional info you may find helpful, and I do appreciate your assistance.
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4 minutes ago, Sarge said:
Eventually splitting RO/shooting duties gets a little less challenging but you will NEVER perform to your max as a shooter if you dedicate yourself to RO.
I suspected and I'm totally ok with that. I figure if I have a lack of focus, I'd rather it be on my own shooting than on other peoples safety. I can live with a mike.
Certainly gives one a new appreciation for those that have been RO'ing the matches I've been shooting, thats for sure...
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I had to google it...
From a 45yo with corrective lenses, that looks really compelling. I may make one and try it for a few weeks.
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In major? No way.
Alpha/Charlie on a target is %90
If you're shooting %90 and doing everything else as fast as humanly possible, you're good.
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Dawg valley 5/12- good match, great stages, very concerned about some 180 traps. shot my match level, identified issues, targeted them for practice. cant ask for more. RO'd the squad, spent more time worrying about that than stage memorization but that's fine. If I cant currently separate shooting/RO'ing, I'd rather give %100 to RO duties. Either way, good match.
Monday shoot, Thursday practice, Buckeye 5/25-26.
DF/Live fire: Been working hard on side to side and front to back movement. finally "get" leaning and leaving on one foot as the shot breaks.
also have started a DF session at the range daily, assessing whatever the drill is with a string of live fire, then tweaking the DF. takes <25 or so rounds and has shown good success for me. Been on the range daily for the last 6 days. I'll likely end up taking all of this feedback home to work into df, but its been so successful this may become a regular thing.
PT: upped weights, changed my sets slightly so I'm pushing a standard weight 10 rep warmup set, a 10 rep "fast" set focusing on explosive movement, and a 3-5 rep set with the heaviest weights I can manage w/o a spotter. Its really working for me, was just what I needed. Cardio has been nonexistent, need to reboot. Noticing I need to watch my weight
I have been sitting on a Nationals slot code for a couple months. I had no intention of taking a slot from a worthy shooter if I wasn't sticking to training or getting results. I've met goals and I feel confident I can spend the next 4.5 months making consistent, significant gains so... I pulled the trigger, am signed up and squadded. So thats the goal: Nationals ready by mid October. milestones/plan forthcoming.
the original goal schedule I set up is to reassess all training on June 1 and plan for the next major goals anyway so... here goes.
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Pocket Pro II arrived yesterday from Stoeger. Amazing fast shipping.
so far, I like it. in addition to the features I wanted, I found the beep volume is adjustable, and the settings are super super easy to navigate and set. very happy so far.
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Oxford 5/6. Sunny, temps from 60-80, dry ground/no mud
99A, 2B, 33C, 5D, 1M/1NS 121.38 SEC, 57% (of pcc gm)
great squad, good tips from good shooters. squadding with the highest level shooters I can manage to find is paying off.
1 disappointing stage, automatically went for a makeup shot I didn't really need and required an additional mag change at the end costing time.
Speed continues to be the big issue with a solid 20 sec that could have been shaved (5 sec/stage average) . Wasn't feeling confident on accuracy early, but it shaped up.
Noticed that I'm hitting my mag changes but my lack of confidence from missing them before is causing uncertainty which manifests as a pause before seating, or a need to reseat on occasion despite the mag being seated fine (which sucks time). Did burkett reloads and multiple mag changes until my fingers cracked and bled last night. I will make it a strength and not worry about it.
Classifier squeaked me into B
speaking of, I have met my goals of making B by 7/1, and of having B class field skills by then. While there's much improvement to be made, I beat out most of the B field at Battle (would have been 6th in class/div), and half the B's overall at Oxford, so I feel I can be competitive within B now.
Monday night shoot 7th/26 overall. solid runs, decent hits, good speed (can be improved..).
PT- need muscle mass. upping weights, adding a last set of maximum weight, reps-to-exhaustion. Working at box jumps, one leg box jumps, shuttle runs. Have been neglecting running, but thats ok for now. Been throwing rides back in on off days to change it up (which arent many right now.)
DF continues, been working Andersons first 12 drills daily, movement during PT. Live fire practice weekly, considering adding another day to build on.
Shooting Dawg Valley Saturday 12th, monday matches 14th and 21st, Buckeye on 25th/26th. No MRPC match this month.
Looking for a major to shoot in June.
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good stuff guys thanks. Seems a split between the PP2 (can emulate a PP if desired and has longer delay, more options) and Pact club. controls are just a matter of practice. The recent bad reviews for the MKIV (and related customer service) makes me lean towards the PP2. Thanks for the feedback
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47 minutes ago, Sarge said:
Hey Jeremiah, just my 2cents. They all work pretty well so here is my take on the key players.
CED7000 PRO’s small.
CON’s easy to lose because it’s small. Needs charged with a cord. Very small font on screen. Pretty high pitched beep that some older shooters find harder to hear.
Pocket Pro II PRO’s Large font. Loud gnarly beep. Nice sized so it’s easy to find in range bag. Also easier to find big start button when clipped to your belt. Takes a 9volt so easy to replace in just a quick minute when it gets low.
Pact club timer. Same pros and cons as PPII except timer starts by RELEASING button instead of pushing it.
Awesome Sarge, thanks. are the pact and PPII pretty compatible as far as par time mode?
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PT taking a backseat, need to prioritize my days and be 'all in' when I'm there. Really need to up weights and really really need to put the time into running. letting too much slide. Been discussing with several others successful in their respective endeavors, maybe I can get a spark.
Been hitting the DF daily, working on par times on basics. shooting either in practice or matches 3x week. still suffering from wanting to "shoot fast" and not shoot well (and do everything else fast. Its an aggravating problem, especially since I feel like I should be past it. Shot "the heads" drill for an hour or so last thursday and found I'm good when I let myself be good. I'm bad when I don't.
side note, realized I've been trying to fit me into other peoples technique (be it grip or draw or whatever). Its good to get an idea what works, but I need to figure out what works for me.
goals for the next 4 weeks are major match prep. focus on field skills, esp movement.
ut in a few long days at least weekly (df-long run/ride-lift-df) to prep for being 'all in' during 12-15 stage days.
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right, thanks for the responses.
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yes, I read the (outdated) sticky and used the search function.
Whats the goto timer these days? I'm specifically looking to get through par time drills in DF and standard timing in live fire.
The pact MkIV seemed to be the shiz at one time, but based on recent reviews, I'm not that impressed (and I already own a good crono).
CE pocket pro? pro 2? pact's club III? CED 7/8000? sundial?
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Have my first major of the year under my belt, and overall I’m pleased.
Battle in the Bluegrass IX-
Weather- mostly sunny, temps from 30F-60F through the day, no precip
Good- arrived Thursday afternoon and went straight to the range. Spent hours walking the stages until I had good solid and appropriate for my skill level plans. Took notes. Modified as needed. Ran through them until I could see the targets with my eyes closed. Had them drilled in well enough I fell asleep still running them in my head that night. Ran an hour of df before bed.
Ate well, slept well, stayed hydrated. Showed up early and with the right match-mode mindset. Treated every stage with respect, walked away from each one only thinking of the next. Took video for training review, made sure not to watch them until the next day.
Zero mag change issues. New mag pouch placement was just the ticket.
Saw the sights and shot target-appropriate sight pictures. Called the vast majority of my shots. Made good makeup shots if needed/time appropriate.
Felt like I was moving well, focused of bursts of speed when moving without shifting from match mode back into speed/practice mode.
Cleaned a texas star with just one makeup shot. Go me. Don’t get to shoot them in practice.
Had several very solid stages. Fast times, no deltas, good movement, executed stage plan perfectly. One I don’t even remember, just *beep* (step in, ~~blurr~~) “if you are finished..”
Mistakes- Still getting used to moving fast, with purpose and it showed. Misplaced my feet in one stage and moved past my shooting position, had to modify on the fly. Recovered ok, but cost time and brainpower. Slipped off the foul line on a hard lean and tripped badly. Recovered, but did not take the final shot. (too much time). Sent a shot over a target on the move heading for another hard lean finish on the following stage and didn’t make it up.
- Continue work on moving into and out of shooting positions as fast as possible, yet coming into a reasonable shooting position, gun on target.
- Work on shooting on the move
Had a good, all-out ballsy stage plan on a particular stage. I let everyone else get in my head and decided to switch to something more conservative at the very last minute. Stage ended up being a disaster on several levels as one should expect from a last minute change. Don’t do that.
Had way too many non alpha’s for my taste. My take on the math with major scoring is its better to push the time hard and take a C, but I feel I had too many for my current level of speed. Also learned on really short stages, get the alphas. There’s not enough time to settle for anything else.
In all, this was a great match to gauge my actual ability. At least 14 GM’s and about 25-30 Master class shooters in divisions that directly relate to what I shoot. The low hanging fruit for me currently is speed. I should have trimmed at least 40 seconds (4 sec/stage) off this match, which is very doable, even at my skill level.
I Need to shoot more majors, as many as I can. These are great.
63.5%, 245.58 sec, 165A, 97C, 18D, 3M
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Bump to an old thread. The first two pages are pure gold.
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Rushed through he last 2 weeks of class, squeezed in 2 monday shoots, two thursday sessions, some one-on-one time with a qualified instructor, another local match, and got my PT in. DF was sporadic, but had pretty well put it off until I could get some good feedback. Spent some time sick, but took the time off to get over it.
Thanks to an observant training partner, I figured out my mag changes. Safariland carriers sit too close to my body to get an effective, consistent grip at each position. Have added 1cm nylon spacers at the contact points last night and IMMEDIATELY my mag changes improved. currently drilling the new positions in.
Had the opportunity to visit Robert Vogels home and spend the day with him as a student. While I'm disappointed he did not simply sprinkle Magic GM Dust and suddenly turn me into a competent shooter overnight, I did get an excellent amount of critique and feedback which should do the same thing provided I hold up my end and learn from it / drill it in. Draw times to hit an A from 5 yards are consistently under 1 sec (best, .90), and I need to translate that into a sub 1 sec in match mode. Also, I thought I was pushing during movement. I am not. I need to incorporate much more into range and backyard practice leaving a position, blasting to the next, and landing smooth, ready to shoot as the last foot touches. While the coursework and range drills were simple, its evident that exactly what I needed and I have a clear understanding of where to take my practice.
Shot the Dawg Valley match 4/14. poured rain the entire time. made the last minute decision to go and didnt bring a good game/attitude, just kind of shot my way through it. Took the draws slow in the wet. 3 mikes in the match. had minor trouble with moving steel, will work on it. Bad stage planning, partly due to attention span/attitude. Mag changes were an issue (now resolved!!). Landed another B classifier, which I suddenly realized is just a matter of paying attention and hitting, so now I'm thinking A or better. I need to get my field skills up to par first to meet my goals.
early practice session tomorrow, heavy on the reloads and movement, think visual patience.
Battle in the Bluegrass is friday, already checking out the stage diagrams and cleaning/prepping gear.
MPRC match sunday
PT progresses...
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Storage costs money. Its amazing how fast uploading pics to a forum will kill that owners capacity.
Anything important I keep locally on a NAS device
any quick screenshot I want to share I use Lightshot
Anything large (videos, big pics, etc), I'll use google drive and share a link or folder
Used to use photobucket, got away from it for various reasons
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MRPC 3/24-
First outdoor match, sunny and clear, 28 deg to start, 40 deg to finish, noticeable wind.
First time there, beautiful club, well run match, fun stages. Didnt get to pick squad (?), ended up on an excellent one anyway, good people to learn from.
The good-
First B classifier (Mini Mart, 8.0576 HF, about %69 I think). very happy about it.
Arm/grip work in PT paying off as is training sight tracking in live fire. Had good accuracy.
GREAT match mode. Finally hitting home that practice/DF/PT is where I need to worry, not the match. Showed up, called shots. Total autopilot. Left every stage thinking of the next one.
first stage (stage 2) was big, had lots of quirks, pulled off a solid plan and did well.
Gun itself did well. New trigger breaking in nicely.
After nearly falling 3x on walkthrough, switched to metal cleats for the big muddy stage. Made a huge difference and positively impacted my time.
Trouble spots-
Had several mag issues. First and foremost, I need to work hard at changes on the move. I missed a change that bumped a round up into the gun, then jammed the mag on top of that which cost me 5.5 seconds to clear. Second, I need to replace my current mags. feed lips are starting to prevent the first round from being stripped off. retired 3 mags today. Mags impacted 2 stages for 8 seconds.
Need to work hard at transitioning while moving. Felt ok, but watching the video, I'm moving at half speed between targets.
I see room to shave about 20 seconds off this match overall. Speed was the weak point (big time)
Thought past where I should have been thinking and left a target early to start a run. Did not put second round on target. Foolish mistake. focus on task.
119A, 2B, 25C, 3D, 1M
Goal for DF and PT- speed speed speed. reloads on the move. Transitions on the move.
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March rollup update:
Maintaining PT, need to get with someone to help me push hard on the workouts now that the schedule is opening up.
Have a good base, Not getting enough cardio at the moment since winter reappeared. Having to baby the knee a bit. Elbow good.
DF had stalled, not getting it in every day. Getting it in as often as possible, but needed direction (have it now...)
Live fire 2-3x/week working well. Grip is back to normal, eye tracking is much improved. Have lots to work on and find more every time I shoot.
Upcoming- MPRC today, indoor every monday, practice every thursday, Oxford, Vogel class, Dawg Valley, Battle in the Bluegrass.
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On 3/23/2018 at 6:45 AM, ltrain7281 said:
jeremiahD you may want to go back and read all my post from the beginning because you are completely missing my point on this topic. I don't send people to Limited or Production. I tell them the equipment rules when they ask me what division they need to shoot in and let them make up their own mind. As far as competing against the clock and themselves. This is a valid point but it is irrelevant in this discussion and few people will listen to this type of reasoning. The people that have asked me about this new division are not new shooters they have been shooting for several years and several of them are really good shooters. Several of them are law enforcement and they like using what they carry everyday. I am NOT suggesting we create a division for the new guy to come try out his new carry gear, your out in left field on this one...
Actually, your exact words were " At our match it is not uncommon for us to have several 32 round all steel stages. So I will typically tell the new shooter to load their mags full and shoot Limited minor."
It seems to me you started this conversation with your mind already made up and anyone disagreeing is either afraid of change or does not understand you.
Do as others suggested- run an outlaw match, get enough people who wish to shoot factory G19's or highpoints or whatever, and then petition the rulemakers. Good luck.
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6 hours ago, ltrain7281 said:
The Glock 19 is not a competitive Production pistol against a heavier Shadow or Tangfo.
YES, if you are shooting limited with a Glock 19 you are shooting against the custom 2011. Plain and simple. Don't believe that... Go to a match and shoot your compact gun in Limited. When the match is over go to Practiscore and look at the "Old Style Results" Your name will be in listed in Limited division. I actually get what you said about competing against yourself and the clock but in 6 years I have seen very few people that will actually look at it that way. For whatever reason I tell them the same thing and it goes in one ear and out the other.
As far as Bob Vogel, he could beat 99% of all shooters in a match with a bean flip and Crown Royal bag full of rocks...
People shoot what they want to shoot plain and simple. But the shooters that have asked me why they don't have a division for compacts have a valid question. I think about it this way, compact guns are made primarily for everyday carry and personnel protection. Your competition guns like Walther Q5 Match, Glock 34, Shadow 2, Tangfo Stock 2's etc. are made for competition. They have a mechanical/weight/sight radius advantage over the smaller lighter compact guns.
Give the compacts their own division and list of rules and mag restrictions (example 10+1 like production) and let them play.
I never claimed The Glock 19 IS a competitive Production pistol against a heavier Shadow or Tangfo, and I still hold that the shooter is far more important than the gun. Its also irrelevant to your reasoning (new shooters trying the sport with inadequate supporting equipment, capacity, mag carriers, etc). If the shooter is that new, handing him or her a Limcat isnt going to improve their shooting skill or increase the chances they will return to the sport.
If folks are shooting G19's in limited at your matches its because you are sending them there. If you insist on doing that, then take note of the next point in my last post: dont tell the poor guy in the honda he's drag racing against the top fuel racer. Tell him he's competing against HIMSELF and the CLOCK which is entirely correct.
USPSA is a go-fast sport. No one wants to create an accommodation category to fit the guy who wants to try it with his carry gun when he can just as easily fit into an existing Division and try it out with his current carry rig and move up from there when his skills allow.
and for the record, this is from a guy who showed up out of the blue with his carry gun to a match last year. I shot my first 6 months with a bone-stock commander length 1911, a handfull of stock 7 round mags, an old snap-on galco holster, 3 crappy leather mag pouches on a 5.11 belt. and I ran it against guys who shot 5" 1911's three times the price. I sucked. I didnt care because 1.) I was too concerned with my own improvement, and 2.) I fell in with a great club who made it a point to stress "keep it safe, learn, paste targets" rather than " you're competing against that guy who has a super nice rig". I got a good feel for the sport, moved up to a more competitive gun, bought proper mags and a rig and I still worry more about how well I do against myself than anyone else, try to learn, and paste targets.
You have a valid question, which you answered yourself when you said" ... compact guns are made primarily for everyday carry and personnel protection. Your competition guns like Walther Q5 Match, Glock 34, Shadow 2, Tangfo Stock 2's etc. are made for competition..." USPSA IS A COMPETITION
ND During Unload & Show Clear Command - DQ?
in Stage Comments or Questions
Posted
There's a reason the range command is "IF Finished, ULSC..." and not "You ARE finished, ULSC..."