outrunning myself

[joeorr]

Well I shot my second uspsa match on Saturday and I learned a lesson that i've read about and tried to avoid. In short I went way to fast for my comfort zone and on a 28rnd course of fire had 4Mikes and not a lot of alphas. And I still did not end up being fast compared to the 2 A/M limited shooters in my squad. If I would have just kept my pace and did my part I may have been 3sec slower but I would have moved from 13th in limited on the stage to 8th on the stage, as a new shooter I'm happy with 7th to 9th out of 14 limited shooters. Lesson short keep my pace and game plan speed will come, and for the love God don't forget to reload when I move!

[Poppa Bear]

To be honest the A/M shooters got to that level because they learned to index the gun from target to target very quickly. Snap head to target, gun snaps to target, fire the required number of rounds. Snap head to next target, gun snaps, shoot and repeat... We are talking literally thousands of repetitions to reach that level of speed and accuracy. A common mistake for many shooters is to index on the target and as they are shooting at it move their vision to the next target before the second shot has broken. This drags the gun towards the next target causing a marginal hit on the first one, if not a complete miss.

At this stage practice seeing the front sight in recoil. Shot breaks, gun recoils, sights go up, sights come down. Hopefully the sights come back down in perfect alignment with the first shot. Break the second shot and snap your vision to the next target. As the gun comes down out of recoil you will hopefully start to see the front sight tracking into your vision as your arms bring the gun into alignment with where you are looking.

It is hard to explain but you need to focus on both the targets and the front sight in an ever evolving operation. If all you see is the targets, you will miss because the sights are not always on target. If all you see is the front sight you will be slow because you will be constantly trying to find the targets over and through the sights. By shifting your focus between the two you can more quickly bring the two into alignment. An example would be focusing on the front sight and seeing the next target in your peripheral vision. After the shot breaks you focus on the next target while the front sight is visible peripherally. As the gun aligns with the target you shift your focus to the front sight again until the shot or shots break.

[Steve Anderson]

It is always a mistake to consciously control your speed in a match.

Go faster, go slower... always bad.

Instead of slow down, think "see more."

Instead of go faster, think "be aggressive."

The OP spends a lot of time thinking about speed, and you'll always be insonsistent with that mindset.

The trap is, like double tapping, a speed focus can serve you very well in some instances and/or for a period of time.

The problem is that when it quits working (just like double tapping) you won't know why. It's very damaging to the self image and wastes a lot of time and emotional energy.

Focus on speed in practice until those gains become your normal way of doing things.

At the match, focus your attention on callng every shot. This will happen at your current peak of level of speed without your having to think about it all.

You are then "in the zone."

You will spend a lot of time "trying" to get back in the zone, because you will forget how you got there in the first place.

You will then give up trying and go back to calling every shot.

You are then "in the zone."

[tlawson1911]

Well I shot my second uspsa match on Saturday and I learned a lesson that i've read about and tried to avoid. In short I went way to fast for my comfort zone and on a 28rnd course of fire had 4Mikes and not a lot of alphas. And I still did not end up being fast compared to the 2 A/M limited shooters in my squad. If I would have just kept my pace and did my part I may have been 3sec slower but I would have moved from 13th in limited on the stage to 8th on the stage, as a new shooter I'm happy with 7th to 9th out of 14 limited shooters. Lesson short keep my pace and game plan speed will come, and for the love God don't forget to reload when I move!

[tlawson1911]

slow is smooth smooth is fast

[Brian Payne]

Smooth can be fast, but slow is just ....... Slow.

[Lebayer]

A method I use is to think in sounds, rather than about target acquisition, aim, squeeze, follow-through, and so forth. When I see an array of targets that are fairly close together, I'm always tempted to double-tap them. Sounds so cool and makes me feel fast. However, since double-tapping is actually slower for me than keeping the gun moving steadily through the targets, I think of the sounds I want to make with the gun, before I start. I try to avoid thinking in dotted or spiked rhythms. Instead, I just think in straight notes, at what ever speed your finger and eyes can deliver. I might be at sixteenth notes or - on a really good day - at thirty-second notes. That forces me to move between targets at the same speed I take between shots. Most of the good shooters I watch achieve the sort of sound I want. It just helps me to think of the sound BEFORE I start shooting.

[TommyD]

It is hard to explain but you need to focus on both the targets and the front sight in an ever evolving operation. If all you see is the targets, you will miss because the sights are not always on target. If all you see is the front sight you will be slow because you will be constantly trying to find the targets over and through the sights. By shifting your focus between the two you can more quickly bring the two into alignment.

This is a great description for beginners of the proper process. Alot of talk on this forum is about seeing the front sight only... assuming you know to use snap targeting and using your peripherals while in the zone