Had a baby, now I suck....

[Wild Gene]

Congratulations on the little one. Trust me, they grow up way too fast. It sounds like you are a great guy from the gentle ribbing you are getting so no scolding from me.

I teamed roped for years. I was very good at it, but had very little time to practice. I regularly beat beople that practiced all day long sometimes. I learned to make my practice sessions short and effective. You will learn that practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. Do the books, do the drills, cherish the times with the little one, because one day, too soon he will be moving on.

My best to you and your family.

Sincerely,

WG

[kschwan]

Congratulations!

Two days before the AR section match my so John was born.. Two months early. He spent 5 weeks in NICU and is doing great. Now 9 months old. I had planned on the AR sections match to be my last one for a while but you know how plans go when the buzzer goes off.

I shot one 3 gun club match back in September and was planning on shooting the AR 3 gun in oct but stunk so bad I got frustrated. So I took a little more time off. I just really shot for the 2nd time 2 weeks ago and while I have a way to go before I get back to where I was I realize that the time off only intensified the skills I need to work on.

You can always shoot another match but can't always have that missed time with your son back. Some people use to say " he won't know when your gone". To which I reply " I know but I will"

I look forward to taking him the the range for the first time down the road

For now it is dryfire, dryfire and other indoor practice that I will work in when the little fella is asleep. If I was not so sleep deprived the first couple of months I might have done it then.

[pjb45]

A New Baby is always Great News!

What you need is a plan! A real plan. Take a look at Mike Seeklander's book. It is a rigous, structured plan that encompasses all that you need to know to succeed. I tend to like the cerbral approach to the sport. Mike takes care to carefully explain what needs to be done and why you need to do it.

No, I do not get a cut from his sales. But I will tell you, it helped me immensely. I followed his approach prior to the WSSSC and I improved my placement significantly. Additionally, I think I was 14th on the Standards, for a true B class shoot this was an achievement. I had a mental collapse on the second to the last stage (I think that is the right stage) otherwise I would have placed even higher in the overall.

I did not get to spend much time at the range to train for it. I used a lot of his dry firing philosophy to help me out.

A solid plan will help you compensate for conflicting time schedules.

[eric nielsen]

Went back for 4 [will be 6] more years of school, now I suck.

When I do get some time, I try to dry-fire at least a little every day, and go to the practice range once during the week. Live-fire I mostly watch what the sights do in recoil and if i'm really paying attention, what they do during the trigger press. Not so much caring what the hits are or doing fancy drills, I've done all that in years past, more important is seeing how the gun behaves. When you practice like 1000 rounds in a year, a paper target is mainly for sighting in [which you want to do, for sure].

Shooting mostly with no target a couple days before a match is something I picked up from interviews with Arnt Meyre and Phil Strader - 2 guys who shoot extremely well with very little practice time.

Knowing when your gun is ready to shoot again, and knowing where your bullets hit within a fraction of an inch - that will put you way ahead of many many people who practice a lot but don't practice very well.