How many rounds a week...

[pangris]

I'm new to the sport and am planning on shooting 200-300 rounds a week in practice on plates and cardboard. I'll probably shoot 100-150 rounds at a time, 2X a week.

Just wondering how many rounds a week those people that have gone from "U" (thats me on a map) to "A" shot, and how long the journey took.

Thanks!

[Jake Di Vita]

Don't forget that it is QUALITY not quantity.

Dry fire will get you there quicker than anything else. (Although live fire is definetely a must).

[uscbigdawg]

I'm up to around 600-800 rounds a week. But I'm following Sam Conway's 6 week plan and it's yielding some pretty cool results. Just hope my 3-gunnin' doesn't affect the pistol shooting...again.

I have a goal of Master class by June (without getting knee deep in brass shooting classifiers until I 'get 'em right').

Rich

[pangris]

Don't forget that it is QUALITY not quantity.

Dry fire will get you there quicker than anything else. (Although live fire is definetely a must).

Amen. I'm planning on getting Steve's book and putting in 1/2 hour every morning.

[ch-po]

But I'm following Sam Conway's 6 week plan...

I tried to search the board for this, and did not find anything. Where might I see this plan. I am a new shooter looking for ways to improve.

[uscbigdawg]

ch-po,

Go to Max Michel's Website and go to his online store and order Sam Conway's, "Shooter's Guide to Practice". In conjunction, order Steve Anderson's dry fire book.

The plan is in Sam's book along with practice stages and drills.

Rich

[j1b]

Pangris -

I only shoot about 300 rounds a week - all in one practice session. I dry fire 6 days a week. I shoot about 2 matches a month - maybe 3.

I have no idea how long the journey from U to A took - but I'd emphasis that (IMO) the classification system is subject to relativity. Put in laymans terms - perform at matches and the classification will come. Perform on classifiers at matches and your progress in "match managment" will suffer. At some point in time performance on match Sunday is going to take priority over the letter by your name.

That is just my opinion though.

JB

[Duane Thomas]

Words of wisdom.

[Ron Ankeny]

Jack knows what he is talking about. I got my shorts in a knot and shot a ton of classifiers in a mad rush into M class. I had a lot of mediocre at best field course performances, but I did well on the stand and shoot classifiers. In a nutshell, I won the stages with the fewest points, the classifier.

In Open, I barely broke over that 85% mark with classifiers filled with hopers that found their way into the A zone. Now I am absolutely busting my a$$ with dry fire, live fire, and local matches in order to get good enough to perform up to the freaking letter on my card.

Don't ever sandbag. OTOH, the old mountain men advised, "Fools rush in."

[tightloop]

There is wisdom in what both j1b and MX5 say.

At some point in time, regardless of your classification, you must learn to diagnois the stages other than the classifiers to shoot up to your designation.

However, when you look at the classifier stages, they are mostly stand and shoot stages which encourage you to practice them to do well, while I have shot other stages at matches that obviously were designed the night B4 the match and after much whiskey, pot, or paint thinner were consumed. There is no way you can anticipate those type of stages, nor would you want to. So you take your shot and do the best you can..

I have a friend who, like me is coming out of shooting retirement while going gently into real retirement, and we have spent many evenings talking about this very subject. As we started back, and everything was "rusted in place" as I have said previously, we decided that the best plan of action was to go back to the roots and practice the basics, and the rest would come. By basics I mean, smooth consistent draw, (not worrying about the time yet), trigger control at all distances, being able to snap your reloads, various types of front sight focus, movement and transitions, SHO and WHO. Practice these things at ranges from 3 to 50 yds and when you have them down you will have the foundation to crank up the speed so you can be a factor in matches.

As you progress thru the basics and gain the speed, you will out of necessity diagnois and analyze lots of stages to determine the best method of shooting them. Lots can be gleened from watching the higher classed shooters shoot a stage. Better is taping the run and reviewing it at home to really pick it apart and learn something.

Both Fred, my buddy and I are now in the last stage of trying to return and that is trying to work thru the mental process you go thru during each stage in every match. The mechanics are there, the movement and transitions will always need some work, but are ok for shooting local matches, but the mental side is a bit slow in coming around. No telling when all that will pull into place, if ever. I liken it to having a Senior moment during a match, you get finished shooting, look at what you just did and go DUH!!!

That is the process we are/have been going thru. I started back in mid January and have shot by actual count about 3K rounds per month to this point.

Much credit needs to go to Steve Anderson for his determination and dedication for advocating dry fire. In January, I made a comment about the El Prez that I did not think I had a 5.02 in me. I was shooting the drill in the very low 6 sec range at the time with acceptable points down, like two or three. Well since then I have dry fired 30 minutes twice a day on average 5 days a week. I can now run the drill in the mid to low 5 sec range every time, with a personal best of 4.84 down 5 points.

Sorry for the long post, now will say that I think if you have been shooting all along, your number of monthly rounds in practice will not be nearly what mine has been. But the best method is to immediately crank up the dry fire and shoot maybe lower round counts per practice session and more sessions per week. If you can shoot one hour 3 or 4 times a week with an expenditure of 125 to 175 rounds per session and work on the fundamentals, it will really do wonders for your ability, physically. I can attest to that.

Now if anyone has a method for avoiding the brain fade situations during matches, please PM me immediately!!!

[Shooter Grrl]

Now if anyone has a method for avoiding the brain fade situations during matches, please PM me immediately!!!

VISUALIZATION works wonders in this area!

[Jim Norman]

Shoot matches, not stages.

You'll have more fun.

Remember, no one makes a living shooting USPSA. Some speople that shoot USPSA make a living teaching people how to shoot USPSA/IPSC, but if you only take what is available in prizes, you will be a very thin shooter and you won't be worrying about rounds in practice, you'll barely afford the rounds for a match.

That having been said;

Dry fire, Practice draws, Live fire, do drills, if you are shooting more than 5-6 rounds at a time you are playing. An exception being running a particular classifier, but even then, do the skill set. El Prez, Turn, Draw, 2 on each reload and two more on the first. If you do that you;ll have practiced the following: Turn, Draw, Two transitions and a reload with a reaquisition. the last four shots are play. Its the first two of each string that are the real practice.

There are a lot of "Grandbaggers" out there, people that have run up their classifiers to a level or two above their regular match performance. THey hurt no one but themselves. Never sandbag, it is being untruthful to yourself and that is not a good thing.

Jim Norman

[Mistral404]

I went from D Limited to high C (59.058%)limited in about 4 months.

Here was my plan.

Reliable Gun from Kodiak- Don Golembieski

A couple of days with Matt Burkett

8 Stages of Steel on Tuesday (160 rounds)

Once a month training session with a GM. His advice was GMs can shoot while moving. So shooting while moving with NO SHOOTS- 500 rounds.

Every Friday 300 rounds of .22 and 100 rounds of .40 or .45.

Local weekend match twice a month.--120 rounds.

Dry fire for draws and reloads. I am becoming a convert to massive dry fire practices. By massive I means each day a couple times a day.

[pangris]

Good point about the .22. I have a .22 Advantage Arms conversion kit for my G17, but the weight is a lot different than the regular G17. For the time being, I don't think that will matter that much, not as much as practicing with lots of volume.

I will need to find a TJ/Burkett type class sooner than later.

Paul

[Loves2Shoot]

Frank Garcia puts a good class on also.

[Mistral404]

I was setting up three steel and three paper targets. I was going laterally from left to right, later right to left.

The .22 helped me focus on leg movement, foot placement, stance, and stable sight picture. No recoil help a lot. But I was able to burn hundreds of rounds while I was learning the dance steps. A cheap and easy way for an old spaz like me to get the coordinated movements down then progress to the real gun.

The barricade drill has been added to my practice routine. 50 ten round magazines worth shooting around a barricade while trying to maintain the triangle. Half on the right and half on the left.

[sfinney]

I started USPSA IPSC style shooting in 1995. I went from U straight to B (had some previous competition experience of other types.

I didn't make A until 2003. (this includes a shooting layoff of 3 years from 1999-2001)

I usually shoot 2 matches a month, plus maybe 2 or 3 300rd practice sessions -call it 800 - 1000 rds per month or so, more if I go to a major match as well. I should shoot more, but Dry Fire ALOT to make up for some of it.

Like Jack said, I wouldn't get to keyed up in which class you are, just try to shoot your best every match - some matches as a B I could whip M's - some matches I struggled to beat B's (or C's!).

From 2002 until 2003 I came back hard with the intention of getting good, not just average.

The hardest thing for me to "unlearn" and improve on was shooting A's, not "hopers". I was so focused on speed, my accuracy suffered in the past. Now I shoot for every A out there - each one is an opportunity. (I still miss more than I'd like, thus I'm A not M !)

Things that I focused on the last year to advance IMHO (besides just shooting more matches!):

1) Dry Fire is key.

2) Brian Enos' book opened me up to new ideas, and a new level of performance. I started calling shots with better consistency due to Brian's book. You NEED this book! Plus, this website is AWESOME.... great people, great advice.

3) Matt Burketts videos are very helpful, if nothing else for visualization purposes, see how it SHOULD be done....great tips.

4) I have to say that in the last couple years its the first time in my IPSC career that I've had a reliable gun as well..... critical. Spend the dough to get one that works, and stick with it. Don't keep tinkering with it, just shoot it. Get RELIABLE magazines.

5) Shoot BIG matches.... it'll wake you up to a whole new side of the game. They are worth the entry fee every time.

If there is one thing I'd have done differently in the begining..... I'd have taken a class from a Pro - Matt Burkett, Todd Jarrett, whoever; I'm definitely going to take a good class this year. My goal is to make M by the begining of next year. But its just a goal - I really would like to start placing top 10% of matches or so, regardless of class. The class will follow if I can just start winning matches.

[schmitz]

I just want to add to the previous post:

6) Jerry "The Burner" Barnharts tapes

which were very helpfull for me!

Henny.

[TriggerT]

About 200-300 rounds per week of practice, and then whatever I might need for the matches on the weekends. That is usually around 150-300.

Biggest thing that helped me move up is dry firing. I can't get to the range, set up, and practice when I have 15-30 minutes of free time, but I can go down to my basement and dry fire during that time.