Holshot

Make up your own minds with the information that is out there. FYI, H1N1 is not that much different from the Influenza we normally encounter in the winter months. The patients I've seen with it simply had the flu - fever, chills, body aches, runny nose, cough and they got better in a few days. Weigh your risks against those of the vaccination. I don't worry about it any more or less than "the flu." Wash your hands.

Something to consider is alertness. If your mental sharpness lets you down for a couple tenths then that can be a miss. Proper nutrition is key for me to keep the sustrate up and I add a supplement that pumps up the energy and alertness so that my mind dosesn't let me down. Caffeine can help. None of it works if you're dehydrated. My rules: No alcohol the night before if I care about the match the next day. NO fast food the morning of. NO food the night before that may get my guts all messed up. I try to drink enough water to make me pee a couple times per match. I'm a physician and athlete and the above came from a year or so of trying different products, routines, and constant consultation with my partner who is also a physician and a power lifter. We also enlisted a buddy of ours who is an athlete and owner of a nutrition store. There is more of a difference I've found the older I get. Still learning so if you have some advise I'm all ears. Good Luck

That's exactly what I do plus I also put them in a small bowl/jar and pour a little cold blue on them. Roll them around and then they look quite different than hot rounds.

Awesome stuff! I've been seeing something lately that is a little different, at least for me. Previously, I broke transitions down to 2 types. First, riding the sight and found that there are times to do that. Second, snapping the eyes to the next target and indexing the body/gun to your eyes and there are times to do that. Now I've added a third type and forgive my inability to correctly describe what I'm seeing. When I'm in the act of shooting, I'm pushing for that crystal clear FS picture, a lift and a return. For a year or two, that's all I've been after. Recently, I've started to train myself to see the next target. I mean really see it compared to what I was doing before which was seeing nothing but the FS and the target I was engaging. Now that I can see both I keep my index, explode my body/gun/eyes to the next target, prep on the way and often the shot breaks so soon for an A it rattles me. I can tell if I pull it off because I'll cut 2 tenths off of my swings each time which equals big time overall. Now, you know you can't focus your eyes on 2 points at the same time but try to focus your eyes on your FS and part of your mind on the next target that you pick up in your periphery. I've been working on this for the last 3 months and I've seen a huge improvement in classifier percentage (last 3 in the 90's) and had a small string of wins/high places. And it feels like it happened all at once. I am truly seeing more than ever - amazing. And I apologize again for not being able to better verbalize what I am doing. If you try it, it takes a while for your mind to get around what you're trying to do, don't give up. You'll have an AHA moment soon enough. You guys that are already there, if I said something blatantly wrong please correct me as I'm still working on the details.

Birchwood Casey Super Black touch up pen. Works well, fits in one of the loops in your bag, clean and easy, and you put it where you want it just like a felt tip. Nothing lasts forever though. I also re-blue mine with Oxpho blue during cleaning if I notice it needs it. That works well too.

Pro Grip Cream mainly. I keep some hand wipes or baby wipes in my bag to clean my hands occasionally which seems to help also.

I have had 2 over the last 2 years. One quit, was found to have a bad part and a new one was recieved in less than a week. The second had a bad start button but was lost before I could get it sent in. I plan on buying another soon as I like them more than the others I've tried. I shoot around 50,000 rounds per year but only pistol, not 3-gun. Good Luck

What? Slow is speed? If you want speed, you'll get speed? What is this, Faith? If the subconscious mind delivered what I consciously asked for, wow, just wow. Wouldn't everyone be a GM? There is more than this, and everyone knows it. This is what I'm getting at when it when I'm talking about regurgitated mantra. There is more to it than memorizing a book. I understand the theological portion of this. I've read (and comprehended) BE's book twice and 'With Winning in Mind'. What I'm getting at is there is more; that actual physical aspect of learning/training your body to accelerate it's capability. I've called it "going faster" "being more efficient" "smoother", pick one but the meaning is still the same behind the mantra as long as the concept is mentally rooted in a healthy manner. The more this concept is explained in different manners, the easier it will be for people to grasp. Everyone learns differently, there is no set path to learning. Unfortunately, most of what I get is the above. Many have addressed the mental state to progress through this concept. Very few have addressed the physical aspects to assist progression through this concept. Both are extremely helpful, but there is more to this than regurgitating memorized words. That's what I'm digging for here. I've found much of it. I simply told you what I have learned. I didn't regurgitate anything. But I'll put it in simpler terms: Learn to shoot. Take a lesson from someone who knows. When you learn then you'll understand what we're telling you and then, hopefully, when someone asks for your assistance, you can put it in better terms than I.

I've never found one to be noticeably better* in 45. You'll lose them before you have problems with them if you're keeping the pressure down where it should be. The only problem I remember is the primer pockets are tight the first time around with Sellier and Bellot. *I assumed you were talking about reliablity, life of the brass, etc. For accuracy, your gun/load may like a certain kind. Good Luck

Speed is bad. Fast is speed. Slow is speed. Never think speed. Do things right. Drive the gun, call the shots, stay neutral, prep the trigger, etc, etc, etc. If you can't do all the things right that you need to do and you push for speed, you'll crash and burn. The conscious mind cannot think about 2 things at once. The subconscious mind delivers what the conscious asks for. If you want speed, you'll get speed. If you want to be a real shooter, you'll get real shooting. There's a term tossed around "Faster and more accurate". Until you understand that you need to practice more. Every match I win has one thing in common - my conscous mind was telling me to Hammer A's. In practice, figure out what you're doing wrong. Push yourself hard, really hard, but not at the expense of doing it right. Yeah you'll drop 1 or 2 shots out of a 300 round session but don't accept it. Let it tick you off and do it faster and more accurate the next time. Good Luck

Has anyone been able to get the parts needed to keep their XD running? I saw a competitor's XD crap out at a match today and he said that he knew the extractor was acting up but SA wouldn't sell him a replacement. If he had sent it back to them he couldn't have shot the match anyway. Bad publicity for SA as we all saw and heard the story.

Sunscreen is nothing to bargain shop for. We have $125 magazines by the handful but gripe about the cost of our healthcare. I think it's human nature. I tell my patients that the best bottle of sunscreen costs less than one copay for a chemotherapy treatment - I'm sure they think it's mean too but I get my point across. Get a good sunscreen. Neutrogena Helioplex is a good product. The best for the money probably. From one of my independent (no advertising) journals: "Neutrogena's Helioplex combines the UVA filter avobenzone with the UVA/UVB filter oxybenzone. Avobenzone is more stable when combined with oxybenzone...and the combo provides broader coverage." Keep in mind that the FDA allows manufacturers to claim UVA protection even if the coverage is poor at best - it has to do with wavelengths of the light. And also remember that most UVA filters start to break down immediately in the sun - go figure. UVA penetrates the skin much deeper and can lead to cancer, wrinkles, and photosensitivity. Drug related photosensitivity is from UVA. Don't use bug spray/sunscreen combos either. Sunscreens need to be applied more often and may increase the absorption of the DEET - a bad thing. I use the Neutrogena. Before I leave for the match, I apply 1/2 teaspoon to face and neck, 1/2 teaspoon to each arm, and 1 teaspoon to each leg if appropriate. I reapply every 2 - 3 hours if necessary. I keep Bullfrog Quik Gel in the bag if I forget and can't wash my hands after I apply the Neutrogena but baby wipes work well for that. Anyway, more than you wanted to know but don't get cheap on your health or that of your children. Be Safe

If you want to take the class, take the class. There is no way you can go wrong. Take good notes, you'll call on them for years because they'll tell you things that you won't understand for years. I took a class from a National Champ once and I still use what I learned. However when I took the class I had already had multiple one on one lessons from a top 16 shooter. I think I got more from the larger class because I had a very solid base to build on. Something you may want to consider. Greatest thing about this sport is that the better you get the more you realize how little you know. Welcome

There are many parts to my PSR but the ones I feel are most important are 1. visualize until the stage runs smoothly in my head, including foot position, hip position, and all the little things 2. once above is smooth, then relax, deep breaths, calm down 3. tell myself "Strong grip" while on the line 4. the most important to me is once ready on the line, repeat "perfect sight pictue on center of A zone" (or steel) on the first shot. This sets the pace for the rest of the stage.

Pre fitted extractor. I carry the rest of the stuff but have only ever needed the extractor. Good Luck

The grip angle on the M&P is very similar to a 1911. Other mechanics are different but I carry a M&P because I train so much with a 2011.

Back when we had to take deer to the local shop to register our kill: A gentleman we supposed was Middle Eastern came to our shop on opening day and excitedly walked in asking us, in broken English, to come outside and see his very nice kill. We of course did, genuinely interested in everyone's good fortune. He dropped the tailgate and revealed a very nice, tan, well horned Billy goat. We were all falling into each other, crying, peeing ourselves when he drove off. That was more than 20 years ago and I still laugh.

Is Jones Soda a local company or is that something to be found everywhere?

Clays with 230's is good but I like it with the 185's even more. Titegroup is loud, dirty and harsh. I've used various others and always come back to Clays.

Ditto on the A's as fast as you can. But something to remember. There are NO easy shots. If they're wide open and 3 feet away you should have lightning fast splits and transitions, all called, all A's. And that's not easy. It's always the "easy" shot we miss in a big match. I don't want to remember how many points I've dropped on a gimme while smoking the "hard" shots. Good Luck

Welcome You'll get better at it but hopefully you'll never get to the point when it doesn't bother you. I've been delivering bad news for quite a while and it still stings. If I could offer you 2 pieces of unsolicited advice. First, tell the truth to patients in as straightforward a manner as you tactfully can. I've never been thanked by a patient for beating arouond the bush. Second, as mentioned earlier, protect yourself. It's OK to feel bad, to grieve, to hug the patient and family, and even to cry with them. However you need to fall back pretty quickly to your world, your family, and your life and the comfort that comes from knowing you did the best you could. It's a skill that you will get better at with age. Good luck!

Bill Novelli, CEO of AARP, supports the governments healthcare reform described quite well in this article. Forget gun rights, you can't shoot when you're dead. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...id=aLzfDxfbwhzs

Most of the guys that complain about the sports (key word) not being tactically sound are usually losing and looking to bring down those around them instead of bringing themselves up. You see that everywhere of course and blanket statements like that are bad as they are not always correct. So I do apologize to anyone who wins and complains about it. Fact of the matter is this. It takes a very long time with tens or hundreds of thousands of rounds down range to become competitive at this sport, ie a good shooter. Once you can shoot, learning tactics can be done in very little comparative time. I have the unbelievable fortune of having a world class shooter as a coach. The above statment is his. He learned this from teaching military "teams", citizens, etc. Shooting is the hard part. I personally train both to answer your original question. Remarkably, during low light house clearing drills I never tried to speed reload anyone to death. During force on force drills my hits are good, my movement is good, and my mind is open wide for all the self defense learning I can get. In the big scheme of things we are all shooters and I will never bash other shooters as they have me, and some of you, because the more people we have pulling the trigger, the better the world will be. It is difficult, however, to stay positive when the sport I love is getting torn apart by someone who knows no better. So shoot IPSC, IDPA, bullseye, clays, trap, high power, or whatever else you can come up with but take some self defense classes too. Then train them all. Stay safe

Scotch for me is an experience usually. I enjoy a heavy lead crystal glass, the right ice (if in the mood) and even the right amount of water (if in the mood). Following a day of fly fishing, sitting on the porch of the cabin, listening to the water and watching the fireflies. It's a religious experience. Try the Macallans 25 if you get a chance. At $400 - 500 a fifth the price is ludicrous but when the casino is comping your meal, the taste is even better. I drink the 12 yr most often and though the "experience" often is not available it still is nice. Merry Christmas!

Yankee Doodle with George Washington, Betsy Ross, etc.