Derek's Range Diary

[Derek Wallace]

Next week will mark the completion of my first year shooting USPSA and after shooting my first big match at the Ohio Championship last week I can safely say that I am a lifer. With that in mind I think it is time to start a range diary. The plan is to make myself a bit more accountable for my training regime and to solicit some feedback and critiques on my match videos. I have learned enough about practical shooting to start to realize how much I don’t know and this community seems like an excellent place to solicit advice. Please feel free to post honest opinions, I am always open to constructive criticism.

Currently I am a B class single stack shooter. I spent last season shooting production but did not get enough matches in to classify (I will probably take care of this later this year). My training really started up at the beginning of the calendar year I bought Brian and Steve’s books and they have both been awesome. Mike Seeklander’s book will probably be next on the list. My main focus has been on the “how to train” mindset. There are only so many hours in the day and when I get the chance to put a gun in my hand I really need to make sure I maximize. Any other suggestions on books/DVDs is welcome.

Moving forward my goal is to get into and as far through A class this year as possible. I have a ton of weddings to attend this summer and it is definitely going to affect my schedule, so I am going to need solid performances whenever I am at a match.

I will put my video up from the Ohio Championship when I get a few more minutes tonight.

[Derek Wallace]

Squeezed in 15-20 minutes of dry fire after dinner tonight. Lately I have been considering making it a morning routine before work. I feel like it would be alot easier to be consistent at the beginning of the day before other things can get in the way. Tomorrow morning I will give it a shot.

I shot the Ohio Championship on Saturday and I was pretty happy with my performance. It was a relatively error free day although I did see a few deltas. What really made me happy was how calm I was at my first bigger match. When I stepped to the line I felt like all I had to do was shoot, no pressure, no expectations. There was a bit of a mental lapse in the afternoon, I may have been a bit too calm. Stages 1-3 I was a bit slow and I really feel like I was just slacking. My dad mentioned it to me before I shot stage 5 and I turned the speed back up a notch. Lesson learned, I need pay some attention towards maintaining an aggressive mindset through the match.

I tried embedding the video but it still ends up as a link. Anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/2mZPt2TdIWk

Next weekend I am going to the Western PA Section Championship. Its a new club for me and I will be traveling a bit further than I usually do so it should be exciting.

Edited May 30, 2012 by Derek Wallace

[MWeaver]

Cool video! The plaid causes a blurring effect that makes it look like your running twice as fast. :<)

[Derek Wallace]

I don't know who it was that made the comment on my pants, but since you can hear it on the video I thought it was too funny to ignore. Definitely going to continue to wear them!

As a side note the morning dry firing felt pretty good. I was a bit groggy to get started but its kind of a nice way to wake up in the morning. Currently I am practicing in a room that is only about 15' wide and using 1/3 size targets. It has been really hard to practice movement and I am brainstorming new ideas/location for practice in my condo.

Edited May 30, 2012 by Derek Wallace

[Derek Wallace]

Last night I tried an idea borrowed from old506 in this thread. Combining p90x's plyo workout with dry fire. Wow! It was about 10 times more difficult that I expected. The workout is obviously physically demanding but driving a gun onto a target while also trying to move your feet and legs that fast is a whole new exercise in coordination. Thanks for the great idea!

I cant wait to try some regular practice tonight, I am pretty sure everything is going to feel much more simple.

[Derek Wallace]

Got a little bit of practice in last night but nothing too intense, mostly some draws and reloads to make sure everything feels like its coming off my belt and into my hands right. There was a little bit of transition work but nothing serious. I was reading about how people are using Google SketchUp to design stages and had a pretty neat idea. Using a cheap projector I have from college and creating simple stages then positioning the "camera" in a way I can dry fire on the arrays by projecting them on my wall! It all depends on the projector still working but I will post pics or videos if this comes to fruition.

I also bought Mike Seeklander's book I am giving it the recommended read through before starting the program. The program seems well developed and I am really excited, the only problem I can see are limitations on my ability to live fire practice.

The rest of the night was spent packing and preparing for the Western PA Section Championship I am going to be hitting the road right after work today.

[Derek Wallace]

Shot the Western PA Sectional Championship on Saturday. I made some pretty big mental mistakes and ended up in 3rd, less than 2 points from second. Mistakes aside I think I shot some stages pretty well. This match deffinetly highlighted how important it is to perform consitently stage to stage and match to match. Watching the video I am catching myself hunching down to the gun, hopefully I can get this fixed with some practice this week. If anyone can tell me why I can't imbed youtube videos I will be very gratefull.

Sunday I got up and went to the hardware store to get some 2x1s to make dry fire target stands and a box for practice. It was time well spend and they turned out perfectly. My focus on the sights and targets is much cirsper with them moved off the wall. It also keeps tape mark off my walls which I (and more importantly my wife) enjoy. They are also really easy to move around the house so I can use some of my walls as props when dry fire gets a bit boring.

Last but not least it looks like I may be dabbling in limited a bit this year which has me really excited. Hopefully I can develope some different aspects of my game with the opportunity to shoot on multiple platforms.

[bhurte]

I may have to copy those dryfire target stands — I get bored with my same target array I've been working in dryfire.

Nice job in the video above also!

[Derek Wallace]

Thanks! I should add that the stands are only about $2 each worth of wood and screws. They are also extremely light.

[Derek Wallace]

Practice was short tonight but I have started to take some more recent baselines of my times on very specific fundamental skills. Thinks like draws, transitions, reloads, getting the gun on target entering a position, etc. Since I let my dad borrow Steve's book I have really gotten away form this and I think it was bad for my progress. My mind had shifted towards a "big picture" approach. Obviously I am not going to ignore the big picture but I think at this point there is a lot for me to gain by becoming fluid and efficient in all of the pieces before I try to put the puzzle together. Whittling time off of these small drills should provide some solid metrics to measure progress.

The second half of the night was spend reloading. I am working up some 200g loads (vs 230g) loads for my single stack gun. Not really sure how I am going to like the lighter faster load, but I am not going to be able to make any matches until Pickaway next month so I have some time to try new things. Should be able to get to the range on Sunday to take some chrony readings and shoot some groups. I will probably run some drills to see how they feel as well.

[Derek Wallace]

Happy hour tonight and a wedding tomorrow means a break from the dry fire grind. I think I am going to be able to get down to PCSI Sunday for some live fire. Still have some 230gr loads left so I am going to run some of Seeklander's drills with the 200gr and 230gr bullets. Hopefully I can get some results on which bullets are better for me. Dropping the bullet weight to 200 has me thinking that going from 15# down to 14# on the recoil spring might be a good idea too. Any thoughts?

[Derek Wallace]

Dry fire has been few and far between lately. I was in two weddings the last two weeks and took some time away from practice for the festivities. Last night I got down to PCSI to do some live fire drills from Mike Seeklander's book. The session felt really productive and structured. My static reloads are not nearly as fast as I thought they were and I feel like I might be torquing my body adding a bunch of extra movement. Closely documenting my drills has also helped me establish some "all A" pars, max speeds (where I start to throw Cs), and out of control (when I threw a D and realized I was moving way to fast). I was really amazed at how quickly these sessions can be run and I think I might try to make the trip weekly.

I have a trip to Michigan this weekend, but after that I am back to local matches on a weekly basis for the majority of the season! I am all squaded up for the Indiana match, and I will most likely be attending the Michigan and Indiana single stack matches.

[Derek Wallace]

Been picking the dry fire back up lately, it is fun to have Mike's book and some new things to try out. Switching it up definitely makes being consistent easier. I also got out to the range on Saturday for some live fire and it was HOT. Calling shots has been a real focus for me and although I feel like I am making progress I still haven't had that "click" moment so many people seem to have.

I am thinking I might try some limited out later this year, probably at Rayner's when I have the chance to shoot an entire match twice. Importing in single stack is still my primary focus. The exciting news is that I will be able to make all three of my local matches this month and because the month ended on a Saturday they are three weeks in a row!!

Four matches and a practice weekend before the Indiana match. It is time to get serious.

[Derek Wallace]

Its been quite awhile since my last post so I figure its time for an update. I finally got to shoot a match again last Saturday at PCSI and the rust was thick. Things just felt a bit sloppy and I felt like a spent a lot of time waiting on the sights/gun to be where it needed. Nothing like shooting a match that doesn't feel crisp to get you motivated for some practice. I also took my first crack at running a squad on Saturday and lets just say that I need some practice there as well!

Knowing that I am back into the rhythm of shooting weekly matches has really helped me on the daily practice front. Even on the days this week where the schedule has been a bit tight I have made the effort to pick the gun up for at least a few minutes. Hopefully I can keep this up. I figure that even if I only get 5 minutes in it is better than skipping it all together and getting out of the habit. Headed out to Rayner's on Sunday which is always a fun place to shoot(Who doesn't like steel!). The re-shoot is going to give me a chance to play with limited and I think my brother might make the trip with us which would be awesome!

[Derek Wallace]

So I forgot the camera again this weekend! Oh well, I knocked a lot of rust off last week during practice. Stage 4 is always tough at Rayner's and anyone who saw the windmill thing from last month or this past weekend should understand how easy it was to pick up a no-shoot there. CMCalc is giving my a high 70s for "Two Times" and it looks like I am continuing my march to A class. Also, my brother came out to shoot which had me really excited. Hopefully he can continue to make it to matches.

During the re-shoot, I shot limited for the first time. Wow, it is a ton of fun! I actually got so excited that I didn't need to reload that I skipped a target at one point. My focus is going to remain on single stack for most of this year. That being said the limited rig is going to get some practice use and possibly some time at local matches.

[Derek Wallace]

So.. Back on the horse after my very short performance at Miami Rifle and Pistol Club last Sunday. Gearing up for the Indiana Sectional on the 11th has got me excited. I am going to be out of town for the Circleville match so it looks like it will only be practice rounds between now and then. Being back into local matches and having my 3rd major looming is definitely making it easier to invest time into practice.

Last night my dad and I did a dry fires session with Steve Anderson and it was pretty awesome. Steve was full of tips, observations, and was quick to point out some things I should focus on. He also had some ideas to help improve my mental game which should prove helpful. I am really excited to put this into practice and highly recommend these session for anyone who is close enough to drive and see Steve.