johnlshoots

Reds - I absolutely take that as positive criticism, thanks for taking the time to write them down. It reinforces some of the things that I think I'm observing. And your comments very encouraging, I appreciate it! Reloads I know I'm having problems with. I think this stems from earlier in my career where I was "hair on fire go go go" every time the beeper went off. I got into this bad habit of not seeing the magwell at all during reloads and just fumbling to get the mag in. I'm trying to break that habit and probably overcompensating a bit which is slowing it down. I do see what you mean about the :47 - :50 snip of the July match, everything slowed down during the reload. The port bury its still some of and old bad habit. I can make those shots without getting into the port and threading through like on stage 2, but I do still find myself getting into ports like that. On the movement front, I believe its a bit of the same. The last two to three matches in particular I've put a lot of effort into seeing things and not trying to go faster than my eyes can see things. It's been nearly a breakthrough for me - don't slow down, just SEE what the gun is telling me. Tons of podcasts and videos say this, but when it actually clicks for me its like night and day. That concentration on seeing everything probably translated into not moving quite as fast as I can see things - so step two is to press the gas down a bit while still seeing everything. I'll keep working on these things and see how much I can translate into more improvements over the next couple matches.

Didn't post a summary from last match so this one is a twofer. Collin County June 27 wasn't as hot as XMG the week before, but I still feel like things are working out better over all for me. The goal again was to keep myself in check after the buzzer goes off and not to get ahead of my dot. I accomplished this task for the most part, but there were a few scored errors that need work. The classifier wasn't as smooth as it could have been, but I do believe I benefit from not hanging on steel as much as I usually do. I missed the right steel on the first round, but didn't wait to confirm and instead came back by to pick it up after tapping the left steel twice (first shot on the left steel felt like a grazing hit). I scored 61.68%, so about as low as I'd like to. This is my floor now - I know I can do this consistently or better. My movement on stage two is also more of what I want to see from myself. Stage 3 started off with a weird brain fart. I drilled 3 alphas on a low target right in front of my face. I think that I was watching my dot too much for this instead of going off of natural index. Issue noted. Stage 4 I had a questionable shot. I thought I felt it drift low, but didn't make it up. Ended up that I grazed the port and skipped for a mike. Trust my gut. Stage 5 is what I hang my hat on this week - not because of the run overall, there was a bobble/hesitation as I got to the left side of the stage with the reload - but because of that Texas star. That dang thing used to be my nemesis, and I just shot it. Didn't think, didn't hesitate, just top to bottom - five dings. That felt good. https://practiscore.com/results/new/3ae42ba2-a704-4b4b-8d7f-85a133e88094?q_individual=mmShooter_3604964 XMG July 10 Another great day it felt like. Purpose of the day was to again not get ahead of my dot, keep my mind cool and calm. I feel like I accomplished the goal. One stage left a little to be desired (stage 5) but overall I felt in control and put almost every round where it needed to be. Stage 1 had a bit of hesitation on the steel, and a bit of a 'could be better' stage plan decision with a long shot over an extra step and closer shot. a C/D target probably could have been an A/C with an extra half second step on the last position. Stage 2 went pretty much exactly how I planned and felt good the whole way through Stage 3 had a NS but an immediate makeup. I called the shot in my head as a mike, low right, but instead it was center low on the no shoot. Make up was good, but I need to pay attention to correct my called shots. Stage 4 feels like an adjustment of Collin County 6/27 with the short target with 3 alphas. Two close targets on this one were not rushed and didn't have extra holes. Stage 5 has got a bobble. The steel at the start threw me off and my groove just got out of whack. Stopped instead of paused on two targets and that cost my about 2 seconds or more. The classifier for the day was fantastic. My first A run on anything at 76.29%. First reload was a bit slow, the mag didn't drop quite right and that probably cost a half a second or so. https://practiscore.com/results/new/ce150a17-d52c-4312-8089-0082897fa34f?q_individual=mmShooter_3678327

Yesterday at XMG was one of, if not the, best match I've run so far. My entire focus yesterday was to forget about the feeling of time after the beeper went off. Keeping my mind right throughout the day and using a focus phrase, I accomplished this goal. I used my dot as fast as I could see it, no faster, and made it out with one mike. The mike was on a long shot on the move. Secondary goal was to ensure that I run through each stage as many times as possible in my head before I got (goal of 20x on each stage plan). I only had one bobble with my stage plan on stage 1 - you can see that I engaged targets to the left before one that was to the right from the center window. This cost me some time, but I remembered it and adjusted on the fly without a hitch. I think I made great progress in each of these goals yesterday. I had one of my smoothest classifiers I've ever shot yesterday scoring me a 67% - solidly into B territory. I may have had a higher raw score in the past, but this one just felt right. I tried something a bit cheesy, but it seems to have worked - so bring on the cheese. I put together a little card that was on my belt all day yesterday that was a miniature cheat sheet - on one side it had instructions for each stage (analyze, strategize, memorize, visualize), one comment (tie breaks go to confidence), and on the other side had a focus phrase. I didn't look at it much throughout the day but it was there and I could see it folded up on my belt when I looked down for make ready - whether it was a placebo or otherwise, it kept my mental game in good shape throughout the day. I've worked on my reloads, a lot over the last couple of weeks during the rain and canceled matches. I think this paid off as well, all reloads felt drastically smoother. On the OK - needs improvement side of the scale, I learned that I can trust my footwork. I seem to be looking down at my feet when coming into positions quite a bit, and it's not really necessary most of the time. I double check my footing and 95% of the time it's where I think I should be already. This costs time throughout the day. One other thing that I need to work on is excessive make up shots. Every so often the dot bounces around more that I think it should, so I am theorizing that I can trace some of my excessive make up shots to needing to cinch down my grip a bit more. One target yesterday had four shots on it (stage 5) and turned out to be 1 alpha and 3 charlies. https://practiscore.com/results/new/fd415f39-6be9-4b34-8f02-60b685bce9be?q_division=0&q_result=0&q_individual=mmShooter_3619996

The Mikes reared their ugly head again last weekend at Collin County. The day started off with a rush. I'm not sure why, but it cost me two mikes on the first stage (Stage 2). I fell into my own trap of shooting faster than I could see. So I made an adjustment, and cleaned up stages 3-5. It's amazing what just watching the dot will do. And it feels so slow, but I know it's not. I have to get over that mental block, and I know I can. So today I learned exactly what watching the dot can do for me. On stage 6, I flung two shots low into hard cover - again I got myself into a hurry because **Classifier!** and didn't wait for my dot to get to where it needed to be. Racing against your eyes is usually a bad idea in this sport. Something else that I will take away is that I made up a shot on a swinger that was needed (last shot on Stage 4). Without the makeup, it would have been a mike, and I knew that as soon as my pulled the trigger on the 2nd shot on the last swinger. When the swinger came back, I put a makeup shot down that was a charlie. I learned today was to trust myself when I know I missed a shot. I won't necessarily say I was fully into shot calling mode, but it felt closer. I'm moving in the right direction on this one I think. Used to be that I would drop a 3rd round way too often, but it's starting to feel better when it does happen now, and like it's actually necessary. The last thing I learned was how to fall down for a low port (Stage 1). That was fun... https://practiscore.com/results/new/a6a0af49-7c83-4fd6-a6b8-23708689ef36?q_division=0&q_class=0&q_individual=mmShooter_3524713

Double Tap Championship this last weekend was windy and dusty! I found many things that I can improve upon and learned a few things as well. I'm much happier with my unloaded start and my reloads in general. Work on that last week shows here; I didn't miss my magwell this time like I did on my last classifier. I also learned that I should not overthink things - this is a mortal sin to commit in practical shooting. I just keep insisting on learning it the hard way. At least twice in this match I let my conscious mind get in the way of a plan and had to glance down to check my position in the shooting area, or outright overrun a position (resulting in a procedural). I'm taking this as a learning opportunity - trust my plan! Don't second guess things, especially after the buzzer goes off. Another aspect where I can improve upon is my memorization. This is another thing that I seem to want to learn the hard way. There were several instances that you can see in the video where I bobble or second guess the order in which I have planned to execute the stage plan. Once I actually popped off a round at a upper A-zone target before realizing that I didn't want to engage that target yet. Another positive that I am taking away is that my shooting while moving is improving. In stage 6, I had 15 alphas and 5 charlies. No mikes, no deltas, while engaging 4 targets on the move. On this stage I was second in B class CO. I'm taking that as a small win. I'm not sure I've ever been that high on the board, even if it was only one stage in my division/class. I'm in my own way from doing this more often. https://practiscore.com/results/new/134704?q_division=1&q_class=2&q_individual=mmShooter_3388099&q_result=0

North Texas Open 2021 - October 1 thru 3 https://practiscore.com/north-texas-open-2021/register Match starts: October 01, 2021 @ 7:00 AM · Match ends: October 03, 2021 @ 5:00 PM Location: Mission 160 6040 TX-160 Whitewright, TX, Texas 75491 Collin County USPSA will hold its 2021 North Texas Open Sectional Championship on Oct 1st-3rd at the Mission 160 Range, located at 6040 Highway 160 Whitewright, TX 75491. The range is one hour North of Dallas Fort Worth - https://mission160.com/ This will be a challenging match and will be a test of both USPSA and IPSC skills – and a great match to prepare for the Infinity Firearms Limited & Open Nationals. This is a cash pay-out match based on participation in class/division. The top 3 competitors in each qualifying class will receive a payout and we expect that the top 2 will receive back their match fee...or more. Payouts will only be available to D Class and above. Lunch will be provided each day (included in match fee) to all participants. Coolers of bottled water will also be provided. Additional lunches for spectators will be available for purchase. Level 2 USPSA Match (Sectional Championship) • 10 stages (plus a chronograph) • 12 competitors per squad Schedule: (8AM Start each day) • All Day Friday (RO and requested spots) • All Day Saturday • All Day Sunday Registration: • Opens 5/5 at 6:00 PM CST and closes 9/30. • Refunds (less $20 swipe fee) will only be given until 8/15. From 8/16-9/15 - partial refund of $100. No refunds after 9/15. • Jersey/T-Shirt refunds (less $5 swipe fee) will be available until 9/1. • Squad selection will be available after payment is received via Practiscore. Divisions: Limited, Open, Revolver, Production, Single Stack, Carry Optics, PCC Volunteers: • Range Officers and those requesting to compete on Friday - must contact match director to reserve their spot! NorthTexasOpen@gmail.com Match Costs: • Match fee - $165 • Custom Jersey - $45 (Optional and Advanced Purchase Only) • T-Shirt - $20 (Optional and Advanced Purchase Only) Contact: • NorthTexasOpen@gmail.com NOTES: 1. Details of pay out schedule will be pending final sign up. 2. This is a level II USPSA match, you must be a USPSA member to compete. 3. Jerseys are purchased from the Collin County USPSA store on Practiscore - link included in the registration email.

Match at Collin County this weekend was a lot of fun. Switched back to Carry Optics. Started out the day on classifiers which was good, even if my scores weren't quite where I'd like. The day started out pretty well, but I missed the reload on the el presidente but my turn and draw was ~1.4-1.5 seconds on the first shot. On 08-03 Six I smacked the full size popper twice and had to come back to the mini, but I still liked the look of my turn and draw. Other than those hiccups, the day went pretty well until the last two stages. My mind fell out of the game and I had a few mikes on the last two stages. One thing that I'm pretty excited about is that my best stage of the day started with a plate rack. Plates were my nemesis a year or so ago and I had very few issues with them today. A few make up shots, but a vast improvement over where I was a year ago. Two of the mikes on the last stage were on hard cover which I tried to do as I was moving forward to the target. I think the remedy here is to be more patient with those shots. Taking them from a few paces back vs a bit closer with less movement doesn't really help a lot when they hit outside of the target. Again, once I had my stage plans, I didn't modify them much. Even if it wasn't the most efficient stage plan, I stuck with what I had come up with as to not confuse myself. I had one solid bobble on stage 3 where I tried to engage the wrong target when getting to the box, but corrected it quickly. A few too many make up shots as well - some of them were unnecessary C -> C makeups, whereas a couple were D -> A makeups. Double tap is up next...

Match at XMG today went relatively well. I came out happy with an improvement over last week, but still seeing a lot of things that need improvement. I still am enjoying production - I may switch to that for Double Tap. For some reason it's just meshing with my hands better than CO right now. We'll see how next week's classifiers go; Next week's classifiers will go better than today. On my goals for this weekend, I think I executed two of them well. One I didn't stick to and it showed. - I did a full visualization of the entire stage before the beep on all stages today. I think that went a long way in keeping my head in the right place right before the beep. I only had one true bobble that I recall on stage 2. First array I tried to move back to the first target after hitting it. - I stayed calm on all stages, however I neglected my focus phrase on stages 5 & 6. That really showed on stage 6 and it bled into 1 & 2 a bit - my phrase is trying to focus myself on visual patience. On stage 6, I shot way faster than I have any business shooting where I'm at now. - I also did not deviate from my stage plans. I watched what some others were doing to see how it compared to my plans, but I didn't change anything once I had it set in my mind. Some things I noticed today that need my attention were - my grip needs a bit of work; reloads need a bit more attention; I definitely need to continue to work on my visual patience; still need to work on getting lower and using my knees to turn. My biggest take away - My performance on stages 3 & 4 shows me that I have the ability to do well. Not all stages have to be like 1 & 2 with deltas and mikes in more places that I'd like. This is what I'm going to focus on this week, and try to clean it up. https://practiscore.com/results/new/f99f0c12-eafa-4230-8fcc-d23a18734e3b?q_result=0&q_individual=mmShooter_3404462

So I've spent a couple days thinking this over. I think I have come to the realization of a few things 1) I did well on the first stage of the day, when I was first on the shooting order. I had no time to allow my mind to wonder away from my stage plan, and no time to second guess my plan. (Stage 3) 2) I had my worst run (forgot two targets) when I was the last to go. I watched everyone else go and second guessed the heck out of my plan. (Do I take the two targets staggered behind the barrels on the move, or try to lean at my last position to get them? This quandary cost me two completely different targets...) (Stage 4) 3) On stage 5 and stage 1 I had a pretty good idea of what I was doing when we got to the stage after walking the stages before sign in. I listened to other people's plans, but I did not deviate from mine much. 4) I didn't close my eyes and mentally walk through anything at the make ready. I didn't use focus phrases either. 5) I felt frazzled on several stages. Not sure where the nerves were coming from, but I don't need them. This was probably also partly due to my second guessing a few aspects of stage plans. This weekend's goals are: - Visualize the full stage at make ready. Walk the whole thing mentally with my eyes closed. - Stay calm on all stages. Use a focus phrase on all stages. - Don't second guess and deviate from my stage plans. During a match isn't a great time to rethink my overall strategies. Step back, run what I've come up with, and observe myself and others afterword to see what things I missed and where I can improve. I'm also flipping back to Production this weekend. I want to get classified in it anyways, and if I feel good with it again I may keep shooting that division for a while.

This one hurts. I had two goose eggs today, one on the classifier ( Stage 6 - 2 mikes and a no shoot), and one on stage 4 (2 FTSA (!) and 5 mikes (!)). On the flip side, I had two stages that I felt went pretty well (Stage 1 & 3). There are two things I noticed today - The stages I did well in I didn't have too much pressure on myself. I felt much calmer, but I'm not really sure what I did differently between the goose eggs and the better stages (this is part of the problem). I intended to stick to focus phrases this weekend and just didn't - I don't have a good excuse and it's quite frustrating in retrospect. The other thing I noticed is last week when I shot production, I was in a totally different mind set - Just trying something new and having a good time. The bad: My main take away this week is purely a major need to calm myself down. When the timer goes off I need to keep my train of thought from spinning off into oblivion. When I lose the visualization/stage plan, everything goes down hill - quickly. The good: I do feel like my stage planning (when it's remembered) is still moving in the right direction. I kept my hands planted on the gun much more than previously. I still feel my stance is getting better. https://practiscore.com/results/new/1e1f246a-60fe-4b3e-8aca-2e71fa629b5b?q_individual=mmShooter_3390581

I’m debating it still, right now I’m signed up in CO. I don’t want to get too far out of the groove from CO for Double Tap in May. I was honestly surprised at how much fun it was. I thought it might be a bit of a beating only having 10 rounds, but I really enjoyed the challenge.

After taking it easy generally between Thanksgiving and snowpocolypse, I'm getting back into regularly shooting matches again. I have to admit I've been pretty lax on dry fire in that time as well. This is the first match I've shot in Production. I got a bit of a wild hair to see how I would do switching back to irons and a cap limit. Two mikes and one no-shoot on the day - the no shoot got a make up shot. https://practiscore.com/results/new/4d27aa51-7931-4489-8796-df6140db4407?q_individual=mmShooter_3342003 Objectives going into this match - Pretty loose honestly, I mainly just wanted to have a good time and try something a bit different. Don't forget to reload - Good, I'm used to carry optics or limited, so running stages with 10 rounds in the mag was a challenge I wanted to see if I could overcome. I did go to slide lock once, but it was at a spot I expected was possible. (Stage 4 at the last array/position) Pause, don't stop - Needs Improvement, I feel like I came to a complete stop a few to many times throughout the match. There are a few times when it was needed at windows and such, but I don't feel it was required to stop everywhere I did when looking back. Turning using knees & staying low - Needs improvement, I pretty much blame this squarely on lack of dry fire and general practice right now. When I do practice the using my knees to move in dry fire instead of spinning at my waist like a tank, it works well. I need to work on bringing that into live fire and matches. With the weather warming up, I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things and have a regular schedule for dry fire and structuring my training. I do see several things that could use work right now - one of the most annoying thing I see is waiting for steel to fall before moving to the next target. For my next match, I want to really work on using my knees for turning and getting lower when firing stationary or while on the move.

I like the idea of the water bottle or cup. I’ll work on these other points over there next few weeks as well - particularly on the knees and tank turn.

I'm open to any constructive criticism really. I guess the best one for feedback is my first goal - some feedback on the movement, does it look decent or am I fooling myself? I know there are areas for improvement, but I feel like this is one of my strongest aspects right now. The second two goals I'm fully aware of. I did have a thought after my initial post - my stage prep/plans are in the OK range. I had one or two blips where I had a brief hiccup during a run (Stage 3 in particular, I started to go for a reload one target early but caught myself). I think on the stage plan aspect I've gotten to where I'm not forgetting targets and such like I was a year or so ago. One thing I struggle with is that I feeling like I'm drinking through a fire hose. I know there are a lot of things that I need to improve upon, and it's difficult to prioritize them. Apologies if I'm turning the firehose on the forum - I appreciate any feedback at all!

I'm going to take a cue from TheChewycookie and start writing down some thoughts on matches and training up here, partly to get some feedback and partly to hold myself accountable for putting effort into thoughts on my performance. I've been shooting USPSA for probably a year and a half now, started out in limited minor and progressed to C class and at present am short of B class by a couple percentage points. I switched to CO within the last few months to change things up and to see if watching a dot would shed some light on some areas of challenge. I do believe it has helped me a bit, but there's still work to do. So - here goes... This weekend I shot a local match and had a good time even with it being freezing and rainy. My goals for this match were a few fold - Balance the aggressiveness of movement and work to pause instead of stop during the course of fire - Good Work on visual patience - Needs Improvement Reduce make up shots to only necessary - Needs Improvement I'd say that I did alright with the first goal but my other two goals still need some improvement. I feel like my movement through stages and attempts at shots while pausing instead of posting up have come a long way in the last year. Not to say there is not room for improvement, but I feel much better during stages as well as when I watch video of myself than I did this time last year. A skill that I've really been working on in tandem with the movement is putting effort into walking stages and really memorizing and visualizing the stage plan to get it as close to auto pilot as I can. This time last year, I would be skipping targets because I would get confused after the beep went off - while the brain farts can definitely still happen I feel like they are far more under control now. My visual patience is really in need of work though - I still get into the headspace of feeling like I'm running at a snails pace and trying to rush stages more often than I'd like. There's even been a few occasions where I hear the time called out at the range clear and I'm shocked. I'm still throwing far too many deltas which is really hurting my scores. Another habit that I'm seeing take root in my runs is unnecessary make up shots. I think this can probably be solved with a combination of learning proper shot calling and work on visual patience. On more than one occasion make up shots have cost me a mike on the very last shot of a stage - I guess part of that can be attributed to not counting properly as well. https://practiscore.com/results/new/d14c99fa-b5c1-4daf-ad17-bf73d3798438?q_individual=mmShooter_3174626