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"Always have competition"

When you goto your local matches if you are fortunate to have someone to shoot against, that is good! If you are a C class limited shooter, and you have a bunch of C class shooters, you are fortunate! Having competition will push you to beat them. yeah its that easy! Some people are not fortunate to have someone in the same class to shoot against. When your skills get better you will find that the top shooters, really don't have anyone to shoot against besides themselves. Don't let that stop you from competiting. Where I shoot there is hardly any Master class limited shooters. So what I do is pick a person in open and try to beat them. We are fortunate to have a couple of Competitive Master class open shooters. My goal as of right now is to stay within 5% of them. But my ultimate goal is to beat them at every match that I attend.

You must find competition, to keep you on your toes. You need to feel the pressure, you need to feel that what you are practicing at home is working. And you need someone to compare your progression. The person that you pick out doesn't need to know that you are competiting against them, or if you want to make it fun, let them know. Its up to you. Pick at least 2 to 3 people that are better than you or in a diffent class or division, if you are not fortunate to have people in your same class. Picking 2-3 people will ensure you that in the case that one doesn't show up for that match, that you have at least 1-2 to judge yourself off of. Look at previous results to see what the margin of victory was against you. and judge from there. So if the open shooter is consistantly beating you by 10% you need to shrink that margin, for an internal victory.

When you goto a match and you know your going to win, what do you actually gain from it? When you goto a major event, there will be competetion, so mine as well prepare at the local level. you need to know what it feels like to go into the last stage with the match on the line. you need to find pressure where it doesn't exist and excel your way through it. This will only make you a better competitor. you need to be "Mr clutch" So keep this in mind when you are shooting those local match. there is always something to gain when you are shooting, whether it be at the local level or if you are just practicing. you always need to be looking and finding things to add to your toolbox of knowledge.

Edited by Sean Gaines
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"Keep your significant other happy"

I cannot stress this enough. I have seen good shooters pulled away from the sport, because they did not do this. You know what your wife likes, do it. If it is stuff around the house, do it! But make it count! If she has been bugging you to do a job around the house, and you haven't done it, because you have been attending local matches, you better start evaluating whether you want to shoot local matches or not in the future.

Personally what I do, if my wife gets on to me about a job around the house. I will do it, but I will do it right before or after I get back from a major event. If I do it before than she can enjoy the project while I am shooting the match. Another thing, tell her you misssed her when you were gone. I won't make this post too fluffy, but you know what I mean. You must keep your wife happy or she will make your life a living hell when you tell her you are going to xyz match. When you come back from a major take the whole family out for dinner, movie. Take them all shopping(they love this). timing is the key! it must be done as close to the major event as possible. As far as projects I would do that before the match. Doing things as a family the day after you get back from a major event. Be creative, and maybe do something she likes, that you don't do that often, make it your idea and that you want to do it. But at the same time, don't make it look like you are kissing her a$$ too much. If you do that, then she will think that something is up/wrong. The last thing you want her to think is that you have been gone for 3-4 days, and you feel guilty about something. Men you know what I am talking about! If you don't know what I am talking about, ask someone :devil: I know this post can sound bad, and I don't mean it to. I am just trying to help you guys, with something most of us lack.

I will end this discussion, before I get in trouble. lol But the idea/thought has been brought up, it will be up to you to make things right, so that you can keep doing what you like to do. Just be creative and go the extra mile, and from this hopefully you will be able to shoot till your hearts content.

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"Power Factor and Chronographs"

This can make you or break you at a match. You must be prepared for different types of mfg chronographs. Most of the time the chronograph of choice is the CED chronograph, but you must be prepared for any chronograph they throw at you. If you are trying to reach major do not load your rounds at 166pf. I would reccomend loading to at least 172-174 range minimum for major, and around 135pf+ for minor just to be safe. That is all you need is to be worrying at the chronograph, with your match in jeopardy of going minor. You can figure close to a 20% loss in points going minor, or being sent home, because you wen sub minor. So dont even take the chance. Load hot and get used to it! I have seen chronos vary anywhere from 10-80fps!!

I have shot loads at 168pf- up to 180+pf in matches and my current load is right at 174pf, and I can tell you that there is a little difference in the two, yes the 174pf load pops a little more, but for me cycles alot faster,and tracks better, which I like. The 168pf load was softer, but a little sluggish. Some open guns operate better with higher power factors, and higher pressure. I think matt Burkett at one point was shooting somewhere around 180+pf at one point, because his gun would run flatter. He was shooting an open gun, and he was able to utilize his compensator more effectivley.

My point is, We try to game the chrono, when in all actuality your gun may run better for you with hotter rounds, also the fact that you don't have to worry about the chrono stage, is worth the extra power. Also, the steel at major events are calibrated for light minor rounds. I don't really care for, having a steel calibrated after a ding on it. Again "Murphy was an optimist" and if the RM comes to shoot the steel that you dinged, it will fall, and bite you!!! Another thing with steel is shoot hollow points. Why you ask? Supposedly hp will flatten out and deliver more energy into the plate, and actually stay on the plate a split second longer before flying off, as oppossed to a fmj. this is theory, but I can see where it makes sense. but don't run out and buy hollow points, just because you heard this. If you buys some,make sure they will run 100% in your gun before you decide to settle on them.

like alot of things in this sport, we can pick something and get used to it. It is not the bow, its the indian. So load your rounds a little hotter and get used to it. Great shooters will be great, and if you give them a gun with 200pf, they will shoot just as good if they were shooting a gun with 145pf. So don't get in the mind set of trying to game the chrono, it will only get you in trouble.

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"Being Professional on and off the Field, for potential sponsorship"

This is something we all should do. Be nice to your fellow shooters and help when all possible. When you call a Vendor for product try to make an impression, also thank them for sponsoring xyz match. who knows they may say, "This is guy is someone special and we may want to sponsor him" When you go to matches and shoot, and when you are done with the match, if all possible, go back to your hotel room and take a shower and come back to the match with fresh clothes. Market yourself, talk to alot of people while your at the match. If there is a vendor at the match, go over and spend some time with them, shake their hand and thank them for their support. This brings up the time I was at the 2007 Nationals awards ceremony. I went home and put on some nice clothes for the ceremony. I was sitting next to a guy who had just shot that day, and well he was foul! I looked around, and I saw a couple of people who had hit the sauce early, and were making fools of themselves. Don't get me wrong, I am all for fun, but if I see it. Potential sponsors wil see it! I look over to my right and I see Emanuel Bragg and Ted Puente, dressed up in a suit and tie. To me I thought that was the coolest thing ever, at the time. They were giving the sport the respect it deserves. I thought it was highly professional of them to do this.

Being a match sponsor myself, we give up alot of goodies for the prize table, minimum of $600 and the sky can be the limit,to make the prize table enjoyable and to make the match much more fun than it already is. Without vendor support, all the matches would be trophy matches, or the match would have to raise money and buy the products for the prize table. But a vendor who is providing product to a match is invaluable. And should be treated with respect they deserve. They are donating money and or product to a match, and their time. Believe me they don't have to. When I first started the business, giving up $600 in product was a little tough to justify, when I could just spend $150 for the match and not sponsor it, and just shoot it. But I have been blessed with good fortune, from my fellow shooters to support certain matches and give back to the shooting community.

When the match is over, take 20-30 minutes of your time to personaly write a letter to each of the sponsors of the match, and thank them for their support. This makes a big impression on potential sponsors, and they will always remember you. Also watch what you say at the match and in front of people, don't bad mouth anyone. This can be hard for some. But you never know who is listening, it maybe a representative for a major gun company or bullet company,and the negative words that came out of your mouth, basically sealed the deal, to not take you in. Being a sponsored shooter can open the doors, to lower the cost of your shooting needs, and can be essential to your progression in this sport. So take this seriously, or don't it up to you to decide wheter you are out ther just to shoot for fun, or if you want your shooting to goto a different level.

I Remember when we were looking hard at potential sponsors for the Rudy Project Shooting Teams/Squads. I had a long conversation with who I thought was the marketing director. We spoke for about an hour or so, and at the end of the conversation, he said, "Sean, what is your email address I want you to call me in 6 months" So I gave him my email, and we continued to talk for another 30 or so minutes, he liked our program and what we were doing for the sport. when we were done talking, I looked at my email and it said his name, and underneath it said President and CEO. I thought i was just talking to the marketing director, I was talking to the actual President and CEO of multi million dollar company. So the same can be appied to a match, you may not know the person next to you, so you better be on your best behavior, he may be the marketing director for a major company, or he may just may be the President of a multi million dollar company, but you never know!

When you shoot a match, go out and paste targets. Always be approachable, you want to make as many friends as possible. Be sure to get a business card, and if you are bad with names, write something down on the back of the card, of something that you talked about, or something that will let you put the name to the face, so you can remember who the card came from. So when you see them at the next match you can go up to him and say Hello______________, That can be one of the most embarrasing things is to call somebody by their wrong name. So get this right, or you will leave a not so good impression.

Going the extra mile, can help you in the future. Because when a company decides to sponsor a team or an individual, its like an interview. make a resume, and keep it up to date, so if you win a certain match, just add it to the resume and save it. Have it ready to go, just in case someone asks for it. Most sponsors are not neccesarily looking for High valued shooters, personally I look for people who are under the radar, and up and comming shooters. I also look at their personalities, and see if they would represent my company correctly and professionaly. So shooting is not everything, its just part of it.

In a nutshell, always be marketing yourself! Someone will take notice.

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"Make your local gunsmith your Best Friend"

All of us love guns, and most of us have a nice collection of them. well as all mechanical things, they will break down at some point and you will need the services of a gunsmith. Make your gunsmith your best friend.... Buy him lunch, buy him gifts for his birthday, send him a christmas cards. If he likes to drink beer, take a 12 pack over there when he is fixing to close shop and hang out with him. Not only will he fix your guns, but he can teach you the inner workings of your gun. If he needs a hand, be johnny on the spot with it, do anything you can to lighten his work load. Also he can teach you a thing or two, about a thing or two, when it comes to guns in general. This small investment is worth its weight in gold.

I hate to say this, but kiss his a$$

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"Make your range time count"

Alot of times I hear people tell me that they shoot a local match once a week, and they also shoot probabaly 400-600 rounds on top of that. You can burn thorough alot of ammo doing this, especially if you are just working on things that you like to do, instead of the things you need to do. When you goto the range have a plan! Like I have stated in earlier post write down all the fundamental skills, that you can think of, that is required in shooting your particular sport. Grade them on a scale from 1-10, 1 being the weakest skill set and 10 being profeceint in that skill. Take all of your lowest grades and work on them. Even better is turn it into a stage. Like for example. Lets say your draw, reloads, having your gun up when comming into a position is weak. Setup a stage where you have to draw on a target, do a reload and have your gun up ready to shoot the next target in a window with your gun up before you get to the window. Do many repitions of this drill and get your times down. do it right to left and left to right. It may only be a 5 round stage, which is ok. So try to combine your weakest aspects of your shooting into a small stage and run it. This will make the practice alot more interesting. think of shooting positions as a drill. I think this is what makes Rob Leatham great. If you goto his website, he is constantly comming up with new drills, scenarios, that everyone can participate in. But what he is doing is pushing the envelope and expanding your knowledge base.

If you look at some of the drills he does, alot of the time, its to break rhythms that are mind likes to do things in. For example, we read left to right, we like shooting left to right. Why not shoot right to left. when we shoot on the move its with the same foot speed, well their are certain areas in the stage where you will have to slow down and speed up, and shift gears. but our minds like to do things in an orderly fashion, that just how our minds our built. You must break this mind set, and be conscience of this. If you want to get better. You must break those mental hurdles.

This is a perfect example of something that you see quite often, you see alot of shooter shoot an array of 3 targets like pop pop.. pop pop.. pop pop. It sounds neat, and it very rhythmatic. Instead you should be shooting the 3 target array like pop pop pop pop pop pop, or 1,2,3,4,5,6. then you should push that speed where you get to the verge of getting out of control, then shoot it at normal your normal speed and watch your times go off the chart, you will then start to see everything much more clearer and it will feel as if you have more time then is needed to accomplish the drill, thats were you want to be! Repeat this with all your lowest grades, and see your shooting take massive leaps.

In conclusiong, You must push the envelope, in every type of skill set that you work on. grade yourself, pull those 3's to 8's, make a stage that combines your weakpoints, to make it a fun practice. Break the rhythms that you would normally shoot in. Also work on your eye speed, this is something that gets overlooked, and something that you can work on off the range. We have heard that you can only shoot as fast as you can see. don't "yeah, yeah it", its true. So work on eye excersises, but don't go crosseyed doing it!!! :surprise:

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Thank you for taking the time to write/post all of this valuable info. Great stuff! :cheers:

your welcome! It really doesn't take long because I am always thinking of the game, so when something comes to mind, I just jot it down. Kinda like a range diary for everyone to learn. or something to think about that maybe you never really thought of. When I was a new shooter, I had no one really give me tips and advice. I had to find it out the hard way, so this is my way of giving back. I like competition, so I would like everyone to excell in this sport..

Edited by Sean Gaines
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"Stage breakdown and kinda rules of thumb"

This is just a laundry list of things that I typically use when I am analizing or shooting a stage, they will not neccessrily work for every scenario, but something to think about it.

-If you have a choice to draw on an up close target or far target, take the close target take adavantage of your draw speed. Also many of times the novice shooters will draw on a far target like they are shooting at a 100yard target, and really take their time instead of ripping the draw. Something to think about.

-Come in on an easy target and leave on an easy target, if all possible.

-If your heels are on x's and you have long range targets in front of you, and you have targets to the left or right behind a wall, use your draw time to move into that position, and take the targets behind the wall first as opposed to shooting the long range targets in front of you. In other words, use your 1 second draw time to move, you can move pretty far in one second.

-Get your reload done as fast as possible, it will allow you to start hauling ass faster.

-If you can't shoot the array the way you want to 9 times out of 10, do it the way you can do it 9 times out of 10, good example of this is if you are not good at shooting on the move and getting good hits, if you can't do it successfully 9 times out of 10, then shoot it static and move quickly.

-If you are not going 1 for 1 on steel, than you are not aiming correctly.

-Realize the importance of hitting steel 1 for 1, especially long range steel, think of how much time you lose, having to do a make up shot, its alot of time. Don't yeah, yeah the importance of this!!!

-Look for speed traps, to me a speed trap is something that makes you go slower or into a rhythm mode and you wind up moving in the same speed. You need to be able to change gears and move faster, when all possible.

-What is the key to this stage? know it! and then execute it! figure it out before you shoot there is always one!

-If you hear someone say "slow down and get your hits" ignore them! speed up your eyes and see what you need to see to shoot more accurately. You have to have speed, accuracy and power, dvc!

-When you first look at a stage, just look at the stage, just because you can see 1 target from another position, doesn't make it a better way to shoot it.

-Think of your body like a train, hard to get moving and hard to stop it, when you get into a position, position your body so that its easy for you to get out of that position. If you have an easy target to leave on, do a lean or get your body moving into the direction you need to go while shooting that easy target. if you are comming into a position since your feet are still moving and gun up, pick on the easy targets or some close steel if you can(since you are not going to be as accurate as being stationary and planted)

-Count steps, sometimes you will have a zig zag stage, count the number of steps, if you can cut 4 or 5 steps off a stage thats huge, but at the same time if you have to do some hard leans where getting out of that position and getting the train started is much more difficult, and time consuming than you are going to have to annalyze it as see if its worth saving a couple of steps.

-Stay away from walls and ports. If your gun is in the window, you must take it out of the window to move. Also your gun can hit the top of the window and cause a gun malfunction. Stay away from walls, especially the corners. You are much faster when you have a straight shot at the next position, then if you have to go to the right and then forward(going around a wall), avoid this like the plague.

-If you are reloading move toward the next position when all possible, Never do a standing reload, unless you have to.

-Think of a stage like a race, you have the starting position, and then you have the finishing line. when you are shooting the stage try to find ways to get to the finsihing line quicker while shooting. whether it be baby steps in that direction, cutting the angle, getting into a posision that will get that train moving quicker.

-Stay Low, with bent knees. What is the first thing people do when they run from a position? They get down, lower themselves and then run. Be low to begin with, so you take the lowering your body out of the time factor. If you are already low, then all you have to do is spring out. Instead of compressing the spring and then springing out. think how much time you save over 3-4 positions. The only time you can shoot standing straight up is at the finsih line, because when you are at the finish line, you have nowhere else to go.

-Study jousting! What? yeah, its one of the quickest sports out there, where there is an importance on foot speed, look at how they move there feet. They do alot of quick shifting their feet. Alot of times we have to only move 4ft, figure out what the fastest way to get there would be. give a name to all of your movements, ie Bunny hop, rolling position, crossover, so when you do your stage breakdown you can define what you are doing during your mental programing of the stage.

Ok thats enough, I could sit here all day jottting things down, Maybe I will come up with a part II to this one later on. there are a few things to think about.

Edited by Sean Gaines
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Thanks for the info; this should be good for a lot of people. But for me 3 years ago I was a decent A class open shooter then missed the last 3 years but now I am trying to get back into the groove again and just cant seem to find it. This is refreshing some of the things I was forgetting about. Thanks so much.

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Thank you for this thread, Sean. It's a goldmine of good information.

Thanks for the info; this should be good for a lot of people. But for me 3 years ago I was a decent A class open shooter then missed the last 3 years but now I am trying to get back into the groove again and just cant seem to find it. This is refreshing some of the things I was forgetting about. Thanks so much.

Thanks Sean! :cheers:

Thanks guys, I will continue to do add to this thread as long as people want me to.

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Thank you for this thread, Sean. It's a goldmine of good information.

Thanks for the info; this should be good for a lot of people. But for me 3 years ago I was a decent A class open shooter then missed the last 3 years but now I am trying to get back into the groove again and just cant seem to find it. This is refreshing some of the things I was forgetting about. Thanks so much.

Thanks Sean! :cheers:

Thanks guys, I will continue to do add to this thread as long as people want me to.

Great thread! Keep them coming!

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Would you entertain topic ideas Sean?

sure, as long its not a "gotch ya" type, or a contreversial topic. Why not!

Not at all Sean. I would never set you up...I work for the Government...I am here to help! :rolleyes:

You have been at this game for some time. You shoot at the higher level and have probably forgotten more than I will know. Plus, you have your own shooting store. That being said, a quick thought for a topic - I would be curious to see what items/parts you see as essential for each division. In other words, what parts do you see an Open shooter needing at the range? At a local match? At a major?

Part of my curiosity stems from my own learning curve. I started off needing a suitcase for all of my crap for a match and now I am learning I need less and less. We recently shot with TJ and he a simple small bag the size of a lunch box.

Just a thought. :cheers:

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Would you entertain topic ideas Sean?

sure, as long its not a "gotch ya" type, or a contreversial topic. Why not!

Not at all Sean. I would never set you up...I work for the Government...I am here to help! :rolleyes:

You have been at this game for some time. You shoot at the higher level and have probably forgotten more than I will know. Plus, you have your own shooting store. That being said, a quick thought for a topic - I would be curious to see what items/parts you see as essential for each division. In other words, what parts do you see an Open shooter needing at the range? At a local match? At a major?

Part of my curiosity stems from my own learning curve. I started off needing a suitcase for all of my crap for a match and now I am learning I need less and less. We recently shot with TJ and he a simple small bag the size of a lunch box.

Just a thought. :cheers:

short answer, is carry what you need to be competitive all day. Whether is be cold water, bullets, wrenches, etc. We have all heard this saying "Its better to have it, and not need it, than to need it and not have it"

Now there are some instances where you will be restricted in taking all that is neccessary. Example; If you take a plane flight, you may not be able to take your tool box, of files, knives, sandpaper, solvents etc. So personally in this case, I would at least have a back up gun.

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"Getting into and out of positions"

Learning how to do this correctly, can cut seconds off your time. If you are an underclassmen, you should work on drills to make you more effecient in both of these areas, at every practice session!

Comming into Position:

Some of the biggest issues that I see with new shooters are not being ready to shoot when they come into a position. Alot of times their gun is not up pointing in the direction of where the targets are going to be comming in, and wait for themselves to get in their proper stance and get settled in before they start shooting. Or, when they get to a position, then they will raise their gun up and start shooting, when you do this you are essentially doing half a draw. So if your draw time is 1.5 seconds, you are wasting .75 of a second to bring your gun up from essentially a low ready position to shoot your target, now add that up over 3 or 4 positions. Then you start talking about some serious time loss. In fact alot of times your gun does not need to be lowered. How many times have you seen a GM shooter shoot a stage, and it looked real easy? almost all the time. Most people think that shooting faster splits will increase their stage times, stop that thinking that way right now!!! What you do outside of shooting during the stage is what is going to save you the most time. I know c and d class shooters that can shoot faster than I can, when it comes to split times.

When you come into a position, your gun should be up pointing at the wall where your first target will appear, you should have your finger on the trigger and when that target appears from that wall, that is when you start shooting at it. The GM's really don't really don't neccesarily shoot faster splits, they just shoot sooner than most! I will reapeat that because its very important. GM's don't really shoot faster, they shoot sooner than most. When your target appears then start shooting. If you come in on your right foot and the target is visible, start shooting. You must have an excellent sight picture when you break the shot, and you must know where your round hit, on the target, when your sight lifts off the target, which is called "shot calling". You do not have to have your other foot planted in order to shoot an "A" hit on the target. You are basically shooting on the move, comming into a position. What you want to do is get in and do your business, and get out as quickly and efficiently as possible. Like I stated earlier in this thread you must think of yourself like a "Train". Hard to get the train moving and hard to stop the train. It doesn't matter if you are fast on your feet, the "train concept" should always apply, when evaluating a stage. When you come into position your body should be low, with knees bent. this will allow you to spring out, to get the train moving for the next position. think Chess not checkers, think 1 or 2 moves ahead, that will allow you to enter correctly and set yourself up to leave correctly, and program that into your stage prep. You may have your lead foot pointed in the direction of the next array. If you can't do this during setup, use transition time between targets to gently move the lead foot into position. If you do not do so, and your lead foot is pointing at the targets you are currently shooting, you must twist or rotate that foot in the direction you are going and then run. Or you may get your legs tangled up and not get the drive necessary to spring to the next position. Ex: Look at a 40yrd dash, they get down, with knees bent and when the shot is fired they spring forward, their feet are not facing the runner next to them, so this shouldn't be any different. the "train" is hard to push, so find ways with your body to leverage the "train". Another thing, when comming into a window, do you want to be on the left side of the window or the right side of the window. If your next shooting array is to the right, get closer to the right side of the window. Remember you have starting position, and you have the finsih line (your last array of targets), If you can get a step closer to the finish line, do it! Another common thing I see, is if their are 1 or 2 paper targets in a port/window, I see alot of shooters plant and shoot those two targets, then move. Now don't get me wrong, if they are 25yrd shots, you definately want to plant your feet and get good hits, but if the targets are up close, there is no need to stop moving your feet, again keep the train rolling. I call this a "Rolling Position". Everytime you start and stop, it cost you time! Its faster to start, roll through the array, and go.

Leaving Positions:

This skill very important, and when you are comming into your position, you should plan how you are going to exit that postion also. We have already mentioned the lead foot pointing in the direction of next position, if you can. When you are shooting targets, I like to come in on an easy target and leave on an easy target, but sometimes stage designers will stop you from doing this, and will not give you this luxury. When you leave on an easy target, there are alot of things that you can be doing while shooting those targets. You can start shifting your body weight in the direction of the next array, again getting the train started while shooting targets, instead of shooting targets and then get the train started. Which one is faster? think about it! There are a couple of schools of thought when leaving a position, one is to take your lead foot, and take a half step back and use that foot to push or spring you to the next position. Another school of thought is when you are shooting an array and you are in your shooting position,your lead foot is pointing in the direction of the next array and you simply take your opposite foot and do what is called a crossover step. I think you can use both, and sometimes the stage will dictate which exit you will want to use. This is something you are going to want to take to the range and get the timer out and try both ways, and see which is faster for you. Don't just do the drill once, do it at least 10 times, and write down your times, doing it both ways and see which is faster for you. You can also do this with a .22 pistol, you should use a .22 for practice, it will save you money on experimentation and its is a great tool for finding out which way is faster. So lets say you shot a stage, and your target person, shot the stage differently than you did, and maybe you had the same time, or maybe he beat you by a half a second. Goto the range, design that particlar part of the stage and use your .22 to see which way was faster, your way or your target person's way. chances are you will see that same scenario, so why not find out which way is faster. So if that situation happens again, you have the information in your toolbox.

When you use a .22 in practice, try to use a .22 with the same grip angle, so your sights line up the same, or close to the same. When using a .22 for practice, use it for accuracy drills, strong hand, weak hand. Timing certain scenarios to see what is faster, and do the .22 drills early on in your practice session. The rest of your practice session should be done using your competition gun. so you can get back on to the timing of your competition gun, you want to always finish with your regular gun.

See you at the range!

Sean

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"USPSA is as hard as you make it to be"

When you first start shooting this sport. You see alot of veterans shooting stages with blazing speed, and it can be intimidating to alot of new shooters. With time you will find that alot of the scenarios that you see, will be repeat scenarios, maybe changed up a little bit. What we tend to do at first is make

"Mole Hills into Mountains". We look at the entire stage and go man there is alot of movers, no shoots, reloads, and clutter our mind with negative thoughts. The way you should look at a stage, as a series of drills. Each shooting position is a 8-10rd drill, then you move to the next drill. We tend to make a stage more complicated than it actually is and let our nerves beat us before we even fired the first shot. Don't let this happen...

I remember a major event that I shot last year, and I was shooting an excellent match. I had one more stage to shoot, and I started getting a little nervous. Which kinda took me out of my game a little. I was telling myself I will win my class with this stage, knowing that I shot all the rest of the stages good. So it came down to one stage, and I started getting butterflies the pressure started adding up and getting the best of me. I was making a "Mole hill into a Mountain". My mind was setting me up for defeat, when in all actuality, the stage wasn't difficult by any means. But your mind can play tricks with you. And you must learn to play tricks back.

I was to the point of not talking to anyone, and focusing on the stage. looking back, it must have been funny, because I was in this serious mode, while this anxiety was creaping over me. Then I thought to myself, all I have to do is shoot good points on this stage and I will win! Telling myself that sent the butterflies flying out of my stomach and it felt like a ton of bricks came off my shoulders, I instantly became more relaxed, and a smile appeared on my face. I could actually breathe correctly. Just by telling myself "All I have to do is shoot good points"! The stage wasn't difficult, it was 24 shots, port to port type stage. Actually a nice stage to end with, short and simple.

So, The buzzer goes off, I shot the stage with good points but had a death jam in the middle of the stage,that cost me about 6 seconds and the result 2nd master.... LOL, but I shot the stage with no nerves!

Morale of the story is to not make something bigger than it actually is, in life and in shooting. Don't be defeated before you even fire your first round.

So true...

I can relate to this by comparing it with my experience playing tournament golf. Whether it's making the cut, being on the verge of setting a course record, or winning a tournament, the moment you start thinking beyond "One shot at a time" the wheels start coming off of the wagon.

Great thread...

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