Estimating the High Hit Factor.

[Loves2Shoot]

In my thinking, estimating the hit factor allows you to decide what to do in case of a contingency. If everything goes right on a stage, I shoot as fast as I can shoot mostly As with only a few C hits, and no Ds. The difficulty of the shots dictates how fast I can go.

Knowing the hit factor comes into play if I call a D or a miss, or if I flub a reload and need one more shot on the last target, or something like that. Almost always it's worth it to me to make up a miss, usually worth it to make up a D, and probably not worth it to make up a C unless it's a pretty low hit factor course and I realize I got a C and decide to make it up immediately.

I shot what I thought was a hoser course but turned out not to be. It had several steel plates at about 10 yards, and required about 5 reloads for my low-cap production gun. I had to take an extra shot on a steel target, and it put me at slide lock with one shot to go on the head of a paper target at about 5 yards. I reloaded, and then didn't shoot because I thought it wouldn't be worth it. My hit factor wound up being about 4.5. Had I made it up with an A in less than 3 1/3 seconds, or with a B in less than 2.88 seconds, I would have come out ahead. Had I estimated that prior to running the course, I would have taken that shot, as the reload had gone smoothly.

DD

Isn't it easier just to remember you better it all the targets with the 1st shot?

I've found it is better to plan to do it right the 1st time, if I make contingency plans, I generally need them. Better to keep it simple and do what you know that you can do it the way you want to.

You have to instantly make up misses and D's pretty much all the time anyways.

D Peters,

Not really.

You need to see your sights enough to call the shot on every target, you don't make up time by spending less time on your sights. You make up time by calling each and every shot so you can get to the next target the instant you fired the shot. if you don't spend enough time on the sights you will be slow and unsure. Points are always important, the time it takes you to finish the course depends on how much skill you have at shooting the targets and how fast you move through the course of fire. If you sacrifice accuracy for time you can and will miss, you can't shoot fast enough to make up for misses.

Try thinking of it this way, the people who are the best aren't really probably much faster, they are just a lot more efficient. If you focus on being effiecient, you will be faster. If you focus on being fast you will be slow and inefficient.

[tightloop]

L2S

Don't know about your comment about them usually being faster or not. The guys who have whooped me bad in matches have usually been both faster and more efficient...

[Loves2Shoot]

My point is they are faster because the are more effiecient

The speed comes from the lack of wasted motion more than quick movements. Thats why the really fast ones are so smooth. Smooth = Efficient

They are more efficient in using time and use less of it to shoot the target and then shoot the next target, that is why they seem fast

You can move fast and be very inefficient, just look at most B class shooters, most are very fast, and not very efficient.