Bits and pieces

[TerryYu]

This was from yesterday. Stage 5 of 5 in our local USPSA match. Out of all of the stages that I have film of I think this one is probably the most indicative of my current ability (aside from long range shots).

I've got two weeks until another match. What sort of specific drills would you guys recommend I work on in dry fire? I am thinking that I should set up a course of fire in my house and practice moving and shooting, I am not very good at shooting on the go yet.

[juan]

It sounded to me all your split times were the same,

no mater if tgts were close, far, big and easy or crowded with no shoots.

either not enough attention on the hard tgts or to much on the close easy ones.

[juan]

I like mikes drill

acceleration decelaration

basicly tgts near and far.

[blairmckenzie1]

try to keep your gun up and ready. it looks like you pull the gun back everytime you move your feet. other than that looks pretty good.

[TerryYu]

It sounded to me all your split times were the same,

no mater if tgts were close, far, big and easy or crowded with no shoots.

either not enough attention on the hard tgts or to much on the close easy ones.

It's more likely too much focus on the easy ones. When scoring that stage my groups on the close targets where within an inch of each other, I was probably applying too sharp of a focus on the close targets, not good at determining what is "good enough" so I just go with the long range focus on all targets.

I will try the accel/decell drill.

[TerryYu]

try to keep your gun up and ready. it looks like you pull the gun back everytime you move your feet. other than that looks pretty good.

Yes, I've noticed that more and more that I drop the gun between targets. If you watch my range diary it's pretty obvious. That's one of the top things I'm going to work on in the next two weeks.

[blairmckenzie1]

try to keep your gun up and ready. it looks like you pull the gun back everytime you move your feet. other than that looks pretty good.

Yes, I've noticed that more and more that I drop the gun between targets. If you watch my range diary it's pretty obvious. That's one of the top things I'm going to work on in the next two weeks.

Do you think its a habit or do you not have the stage programmed well enough? The reason I ask is when I'm scoring or doing other stuff before I shoot and don't really take the time to program the stage I tend to drop the gun and look for the next target.

[TerryYu]

I think it's a habit that I need to break. I ran through that course mentally many times before I ran it and I knew where all the targets were. Something to work on when I make my house stage.

[mudman]

Looking good!

IMHO, I'd say transitions are your "low-hanging fruit" right now. I think cutting down the time from target to target will give you more of a benefit than working on shooting on the move right now. On close targets, it's possible to get your transition times about the same as your splits. Again - see what you need to see to make the shot. You can get away with a lot less refinement on close targets.

Good luck and keep at it!

[lumpygravy]

What was your point total for this stage? I agree with other replies that suggest you can tighten up your transitions and splits on closer targets, but not at the expense of dropping points.

I counted 30 shots so doing the math, that's 150 points available. If you're shooting 90-95% of that, then start working your splits, then your transitions. See the sights on the A for both shots, but remember that at that distance/range, the A zone is pretty big - anywhere will do and you don't have to put both shots in the same hole. With more match/practice experience, you will be able to determine what sight focus is required for a given set of distances/conditions and still get your A hits.

Other:

• Reloads: You're still dropping your gun some on your reload. See if you can keep the magwell even with your chin.
  
• Doors/props: This was a good stage for a lefty (moving right to left) until the door which was a left swing. I say that because a left swing door for you opens into your strong hand - the one holding the gun - so a little extra care is required to avoid bashing the gun or sweeping yourself. You were safe and that's what counts.
  
• Stage breakdown: Was it not possible to shoot the first array from one position? I can't tell without being there, the camera angle may be decieving me and I can't see the targets in the port. Could you have setup for the first array from where you shot T4? It looks like you could have engaged all including the port from that one position, instead of T3, T1-2 (port) then T4. At a minimum and depending on the difficulty of the port targets, you may have been able to tighten up this array into two shooting positions instead of three.
  

You can dry fire two of those three. Stage breakdown will come with experience.

[tackdr1ver]

Terry,

I shot this match too, you came out pretty good in the results. I saw you shoot stage 4 and you cleaned up on that texas star - good job there!

As some of the others mentioned: You're dropping your hands a bit low on your reloads. Try and keep the gun up high through the whole stage.

You seem to be a good accurate shot. I would suggest trying to find a stance where you're not dropping your head to the gun. Rather, bring the gun up to your eyes. This will help a lot, it will give you more range of motion and it will increase your peripheral vision.

On that first array, it was shootable from two positions, you did what you could there. As far as the second and third array, if you kept your feet moving you could have shaved a few seconds off even if they were baby steps. Glad to see you're one of the many trying to elevate your game keep it going!

-Greg