JeremiahD

Thank you sir! one step at a time!

A quick update, Miamisburg scores are posted, took first in each stage and the division. Yes, its a local match with a shallow field, but its my first win so its worth noting here. For a deeper comparison, looking at the overall times and scores, if production and single stack were combined, I would have placed 5th of 20. (Now put it behind me, go outside and dryfire.)

double post :/

7/16 Miamisburg- Warm, sunny and dry. Got there later than I'd like for sign-in and missed the tagging along on the supersquad but made it on a good squad with lots of people to learn from. Excellent RO. Went in with a new attitude and the goal to simply call all shots. Focused hard on stage planning, walkthroughs, visualization, and maintaining focus until my turn came up. Shot all field stages clean, no mikes, no-shoots, or procedurals. One mike on the classifier, which was disappointing, but I called it when it happened. I'll be interested to see the scoresheet when its posted. Times were slow I suspect, but I'm happy with how the gun handling is coming. Movement was a bit uncertain, shooting on the move was a weakness. I feel I can start to begin progressing with movement etc again, as long as I keep working on elements during df. I started listening to Andersons podcast on the advice of another shooter a few weeks ago after Oxford. as a result, I had been taking notes, and this week did sort of a modified version of his 'stage ownership plan' using printouts of the stage plans posted. Good feedback for the next two weeks. this week: DF- maintain :30/day of elements, 5 minutes each for each drill. another :30-45 daily focus on position changes, landing low and smooth, gun on target, reloads on the move, and snapping that big ol' gun on transitions to where I'm looking. One skill per day for the duration. PT- pt/lifting continues, light warmup sets, set working on speed, working set to build. add sprints back in to runs 2x this week. Adding an extra ride in, its beautiful out and the snow flies too soon in ohio not to take advantage.

DF- progressed this week through elements drills, focused on transitions. Live fire- shot 250 rounds Thursday (obligations today..) 100 rds shooting dots and focusing on watching the front sight lift and calling it, 100 rds shoot 3x2, move on the reload, shoot 3x2, return and move, shoot 3x2 etc until out of mags. 50 rounds slow fire from 50'. Accuracy is improving again, still pull shots low left more than I like. PT- daily PT plus DF with a ride to cool down is doing me good. Need to get running back online again. Took some time off as the 'old' workout I returned to is heavy on the squats, deadlifts, and step-ups and wanted to rest the knees. stronger, but not moving as fast lol. Its all a trade off. equilibrium will come as the routine burns in some. Miamisburg match Sunday. will revisit next 2 weeks df afterwards. Already seeing a need to focus on position changes and landing smooth/on target, and reloads on the move

DF- DF basics most of the week, gun handling is progressing. New gun feels less alien. Wednesday set up 32-round 'memory stage' field course in the garage incorporating over and under and quads with at least 3 shooting positions. That was an eye opener, have even more mat'l to work on this weekend and next week. PT- solid PT this week, feel great. Feels good to get back to something I know. Mental breakthrough- I'm actually not 'better than this'. I'm a mid-C shooter with mid-C field skills and a mid-C mental game. But that's cool for now because I can be better if I keep pushing hard, listening, learning, and putting the time in to train. Now that I realize that I can relax and go focus on planning the stage and calling my shots at matches and instead sweat it in training.

Thanks Sarge. I guess the first step to working on that mental game is to learn the lesson and let it go as quick as possible. Went to bed last night and finally left it. Today I'm more embarrassed about complaining about it in my post than I am shooting it. I was just shocked i did it two matches in a row . I appreciate the encouragement and advice!

Your point is well taken. I don't do low reps at max weight or any crazy powerlifting, short twitch muscle fiber type stuff. (wrecks my joints and takes way too long to recover from for me). I'm generally focusing on higher rep, medium weight work with an eye to building long twitch muscle fiber. I do still need to recover.

7/2 Oxford match - ended on a bad note, so thats the overall impression thats hanging with me. trying to shrug it off as a learning experience, but tough to do since I did the exact same thing last match (strolled right by a port and left targets on the field) so I should have learned it THEN.. Not one to usually dwell, but this ones eating into me: Its a really awful rookie mistake, kept me from taking first in my division, balanced out several very good stages into an overall mediocre performance, dragged my overall score right back to dead center, and was frankly outright embarrassing. Also came dangerously close to AD'ing on what should have been a very straightforward classifier. "I'm not last" isnt an adequate goal anymore, I'm better than this, I need to put the work in and prove it. Good: First two stages, excellent scoring, moved adequately (not as fluid or fast as I'd like, but adequately), felt good. Gun ran flawlessly, new mags ran flawlessly. Up early and did some light lifting to get the blood flowing which worked well. Hydrated and ate well. Good squad, excellent shooters to watch and learn from, good advice and feedback. Bad: Mental Mental Mental and Mental issues. Changing 'make ready' routine due to different pants lost a mag and I had to fumble around and finally just used mag 6, make up shots and steel changing my mag plan on the fly and having a stage collapse around me (wind) while I'm in the process of making ready/gun out all rattled me enough to throw stage plans in the trash. I need to think of this like freestyle jazz: if you miss a note, keep playing and incorporate it in on the fly. Mental blackout running past the port, I have no idea. I have to find a way to approach the mental game, and I really need to work on my memory. Goals: 1 Go to bed, leave the match behind, get up and start again. 2 continue to work in technique on new gun 3 start hitting practice stages hard with an eye to memory 4 Address the Mental aspect in some way every day DF this week: Covering the basics all over again for an hour a day is paying off, so I'll stick with that. Particular focus on mag changes and transitions. Re-adding practice stages 3x/week for an hour, 2 live fire days to support DF basics. PT- I'm returning to a PT program I had used 5 years ago to make a dramatic change in my build. Basically its back to running 3-4x week, cycling on off days, freeweights and core every single day. i will need to sacrifice some of that time for DF, so progress will be slower, but I expect changes in the next 10 weeks, noticeable improvement by Oct 1.. I will not deviate until then. Between fighting a middle-age metabolism, and trying to do on again/off again rotating workouts ("leg day" etc), its just not working for me and its a drag. i need to feel like I'm getting somewhere, or be seriously enjoying myself for motivation and that worked. back on high-veggie, fish, heavy on the protein and yogurt foods to make it happen.

Thanks for the feedback. I am right handed and manipulate the slide lock with my left thumb. I will pull the safety and replace it with a standard length one I have in the bin before my next range session and see what happens. Just curiously, what is your technique for hitting the slide release at slide lock right handed? Are you flipping the release just as the support hand begins rebuilding the grip? Have you found it faster back on target than blipping the release as the grip is completed? Or are you running an extended release as well?

*I debated on what subforum to put this in, feel free to relocate.. I recently picked up a proper 5" 1911 to (finally) replace the commander I've been using. I have been identifying issues and working on all the basics all over again in dry and live fire and understand I wont be proficient again for months. I found I have the nagging issue of shooting low-left/7-8'oclock, particularly on the follow up shot. I assumed either I am jerking the trigger and the extra 3/4" of barrel is amplifying the issue, or my of-hand is squeezing reflexively and pulling the shot low. After a lot of trial and error and experimenting with my grip on both guns I have found my trigger pull is good as is my grip; however, I am just slightly applying pressure with the tip of my thumb on the end of the extended grip safety. This was not any kind of an issue before as I ran a standard safety, my thumbs are so large I've always flipped the safety with my knuckle, and let the back half "ride" the top, leaving rest of the thumb from knuckle forward not making contact with anything. I should note I have large hands and very large thumbs. I understand the prevailing wisdom of "software before hardware", but I'm wondering if I'm not better off simply going back to a standard length safety. What say you? Is there any real advantage to an extended safety in competition if the standard length one "does the job"? Is it really enough of an advantage that I should relearn my grip, or should I remove the "improvement" and return to a standard safety?

DF observation: I'm dipping low land left, indicating a bad trigger pull or reflexive grip when pulling (?). I know its not the trigger pull. Will try the trigger pull while holding a tennis ball drill a bit this week and see if I can isolate the grip more. Cant figure what's different about my grip on this gun, its identical (other than the aforementioned beavertail issue). DF this week (forgot to update this weekend) stays the same as last week. Am adding in 50-150 rounds of live fire every other day this week to build on DF and to check progress. Have returned to slow-fire bullseye type shooting for half of that to maintain good trigger discipline and sight alignment basics. PT- going badly. No progress, muscle loss, weight gain. Not sure whats going on, will take a hard look at what I'm doing and what results I should expect.

I'm using the handgunner backpack, threw the foam insert out and use the lower compartment for gun rugs and a fly fishing box I use as a parts/toolkit. I prefer the larger top compartment and like the mag storage in the side pockets (24 single stack mags). For the $50 saved over the tactical, I can buy my own gun rugs. I hated the little tags that say whats where, so I cut the stitching with an xacto knife and pulled them off. One inside zipper has already failed. Its not used much and isn't overstuffed so I'd say its a material flaw. Size is about right for its intended use, for me. I'd worry about stuffing too much crap into a bigger bag and making it unmanageably heavy My .02

DF observations: 100 target transitions is not many, particularly when dealing with an array of 9-10. Its only 10 reps from draw. Can be doubled at little cost in time. Given how much I need practice, I will do just that. Focusing on grip at the holster has shown me why initial point of aim with the new gun tends left: Beavertail makes less contact with left side of hand/thumb. commander grip safety is practically buried in my hand, no movement lots of support. Have established a much better, much higher grip on the new gun that does the same. Found a great 'line' to draw and present. Just drill it in.

Sadly true. This is the "ouch, coffee hot!" generation. And here I am sending my 1911 in to disable half the "safety" I'm enjoying your range log, its a refreshing change

6/18 - Miamisburg match. Having a hard time finding anything positive to say about this, and wanting to blame the new gun, but fact is the new gun ran flawlessly, shot well, and had no issues. Wish I could say the same for myself. The Good: Gun ran great. Got a chance to redeem my garbage performance on V for Victory at Buckeye and shot the same stage again today completely clean, smooth, and fluid for a HF 7.2323. Shot the indoor stage completely clean, timed mag changes perfectly, moved well and finished slightly faster than a local B shooter I'm watching and aiming to catch up with. The Bad; everything else. Am very disappointed in my performance today, but I'll own it. Penalties, procedurals, misses abounded. I actually zeroed a stage. several misses or m/ns from transitioning poorly or taking eyes off sights to transition.Fumbled reloads at the belt. Memory stages are an issue. Two Interesting problems I think I've developed issues in DF: 1- I reload while moving, always,Once I drop a mag, I want to move now. 2- I shoot Left to Right or vice versa all the time. I dont ever practice engaging targets over 120-130 degree spreads (corner shots), then reengaging targets dead ahead. on one stage, I FTSA one target, on another stage I missed FOUR WIDE OPEN TARGETS DEAD AHEAD. Had a great plan, once I transitioned to the right target array and went to reload, to rushed to the next position rather than doing the standing reload and engaging center array, THEN proceeding. It did not help the array fell outside the peripheral vision range of my glasses and was then not visible.My handling with this gun needs serious improvement (expected that). My distance shots need improvement. My mental game needs serious improvement. Forgot to eat. Side note, I need to start looking for a mentor/coach or at least take classes. Shooting & DF alone with no feedback other than match results only points out my bad habits after I've drilled them in Things I learned (and should have known.....): 1- Focus, focus, focus. 2- Look at the sights, stay on the target, and call your shots. 3- I desperately need to focus on the fundamentals with the new gun until its at Least as familiar as the commander, then return to the stoeger plan I was following, and ONLY then. 4- I need a mentor, group, or coach to help me identify where I need to apply myself. 5- I need to return to focusing %100 until I've shot. No chit chat, no screwing around with gear or taking a leak or whatever. DF and PT return full time this week, no residual issue with back pain today. DF Goals for this week: I WILL Draw from the holster to point of aim at 21 feet focusing on establishing a shooting grip AT the holster 100x (or until my form begins to deteriorate) 4 DAYS (M-Tr) I WILL Slow fire trigger control 100x 4 DAYS (M-Tr) I WILL Transition random target arrays focusing on managing the extra 1/2 pound of gun, extra barrel/slide length, and momentum 100 at least 200 targets (or until form deteriorates) MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY I WILL Reload 100 magazines working completely around the belt TUESDAY AND THURSDAY I WILL live fire a modified el prez 20x focusing on draw, trigger control, transition, and reload to build on this weeks DF on FRIDAY i WILL Reassess Friday evening, and plan the following 7 days. Next week will look very similar PT Goals: Return to original schedule, drop weight to %80 last week lifted.

another hour plus of DF, another 100r at the range for a total of 600. Getting more comfortable with the new gun, but it still feels completely alien to me. Replaced out of spec mag catch with a Colt part, otherwise gun is good functional. will see this weekend. Concerned about lack of practice with it, I wont be acceptably good with it for months Back is good to go, some minor twinges. Going for an overdue run in the am. Killed the last of the Wilson ETM mags, by the way, into the parts bin. Kind of a cool landmark in my DF

Fair enough. I guess it would be more accurate for me to think with practice my weak hand could be better than any other persons weak hand (or depending on the level of dedication and work, better than their strong hand.) but it will always be at a disadvantage over my own.

Given most shooters (and stage descriptions....) call it "offhand" , I think he's simply correcting a term and making a point: there is no reason one hand has to be any "weaker" or less dexterous than the other, you can build skills and strength both through practice.

Back is improving. Looking forward to getting back to actual exercise. Have added a total of 6 pounds around the waistline. I reestablished my DF constancy this week. As a matter of fact, I'ce had to hit it pretty hard in the last 24 hours as I (finally) picked up a 5" 1911. I'm sure I'll catch flack about it but my reasoning is this: I need to keep building basic skills. A full custom gun may well be a better investment in the long run but I'd be out the cash now and have a 5 month wait, use the same gun I vave until then, and by then the season is over. I could have gone with a standard STI or Wesson plus trigger job, but then its back to >2k for a gun that will eventually be relegated to backup status in the next 12 months. Instead I picked up a Kimber eclipse target II for a song, added my Dan Brown backstrap and magwell for now. Dawson front sight and ICE magwell being ordered this week, and a trigger job/pin safety is in the works. This gets me a full size 1911 of decent quality (not concerned about the MIM parts, most being replaced anyway..), target rear sights/FO front/magwell/full-on trigger job by a reputable smith etc for well under 1500. As it is now, I can now put a full mag on a head target at 75 feet no problem. That was an issue at Buckeye. As soon as I make mid-B, I'm dropping the $$ on a custom ground-up build. The good: decent sights (front could be thinner, replacement coming), 5" barrel, better sight radius The bad: very mediocre trigger. (I'll live with it until the smith can get it in.) Out of spec slide lock lever (filed for now, replacement on the way) some MIM parts (most will be lost during the trigger job, grip safety will get pinned.) I've been beating the hell out of this thing since I picked it up tuesday. Straight home for a detail strip, daily (sometimes twice..) range trips (going back again friday for final function check, then detail strip again.) Nightly DF trying to acclimate myself to the weight, heavier front end, extended safety, sights etc etc etc. To me Everything is Wrong about this gun... but I suspect its because I've shot nothing but my commander for ages. The gun is too heavy, swings too wide on transitions, grips wrong, trigger sucks, etc I hate it lol (not really:) The fact is, I'm just not used to it, from the way the frontstrap bites my fingers to being a slacker and rebuilding my grip on the way up (baaad habit I'm about to break..) to the weight and the momentum the longer front end gives to the sights, its all just change. I am having to start over and work hard at the basics to get acclimated to this gun and return to a level of proficiency I'm comfortable with. To that end, 2 weeks of DF Elements, minimum :30 daily to reboot. Focus on grip in particular. PT: slowly return to running. Will be cycling on mondays and fridays to work as time permits. Otherwise, weight training returns fulltime next week. Miamisburg match is Sunday. Will shoot the new gun, will focus on basics and run the match at half-speed.

Welcome Club matches are open to the public, once you get into major matches above that, you would be required to have a USPSA membership (which is worthwhile for a ton of reasons including tracking your progress, and its cheap to boot.) If you have a 1911, holster, mag carrier and at least 4 mags, give single stack a try as youre already set up for it. I had been using my carry gun (1911 commander) and leather for a few months before I realized I was having alot of fun and started picking up gear. I'm new myself. You will find a bunch of very talented, really helpful folks in SW Ohio. Miamisburg sportsmans Club has a match this sunday, Oxford IWLA has one the first sunday of the month, both of which should be reasonably close to you. If you're hesitant, stop in and check one out although I'd say bring your gear and give it a try You can shoot a club match at least every weekend within an hour of your location

Am totally 'off the reservation' on PT, and only doing %50 DF days since last tues, and it shows. Worn out from home improvements, etc. pulled a muscle in my back and not sleeping well due to it. Will do mon, tues, wed this week stretching, alternate cycling, and some light (very) lifting, cutting DF back to just 15min/day to make sure I do it daily. will rehab back Still evaluating gun options. Leaning towards an off the rack gun with a trigger job until I make mid-B at which time I'll go full custom and keep it as a backup.

Frankly, I don't think an anti-gunner would be able to differentiate between gunfire on target engagement vs AD on reload from drone footage. Its all BANGBANGBANGBANG to them. Heck, its occasionally difficult for a trained shooter on the ground/RO to call out some of the higher level shooters on AD's because they're operating at the edge of control and the hits come so fast.

PT note- Core work last night showed how much I need to put back. Good form demands good core but does not build it. Note for when I reevaluate.

Agree %100. I quit drinking anything with alcohol years ago and never looked back. I sleep better and ALL of my athletic performance moved up noticeably. Younger athletes bounce back faster and may not notice the performance hit, but it increases significantly as you age. I'd rather get 4 hours sleep before an event than put myself down with a shot, a Benadryl, or a sleep aid and risk oversleeping a start time, dehydration, or loss of performance. I never use caffeine when running or riding but have no issue with caffeinating during a match as long as I do it carefully to plan for a possible crash, don't over caffeinate, and make sure I keep food and fluids (water) coming in. I can never sleep before any big event. My first marathon was run on 3h sleep, but since I had prepped my body by tapering workouts, stretching, "banking" sleep, and eating food that digested well and used the "right" calories at the right time, I finished it strong. My only major match, I left a wedding, drove out, slept 4 hours in a hotel. Got up, hot shower, stretch, dryfire, go. Felt great, finished strong. In my running, cycling, and (admittedly limited) shooting experience, hydrating and eating is far more important than sleep in a single-day event. "Banking" sleep up the week before when you know you will be short is an excellent precaution IMO