HazB_Shootin Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I have a question I'm embarrassed to ask but could really use some insight from more experienced shooters. I compete locally 3-4 times a month and have been shooting USPSA for about a year now. The problem I have is routinely not engaging a target, sometimes two, during at least one stage during a match - usually one of the higher round.count ones (28-31). Its not that I did not see it during the walkthrough but when the timer goes off I start blazing away, shooting only what I immediately see in each section and moving on to the next section. Its obvious to me I need to plan each stage better - like round or target counting. I was wondering how others might be preparing for a stage ( maybe something like a section approach 3 targets,4 targets,3 targets, 5 to finish, etc). So far I have not been doing that at all but thought I could get some ideas and maybe one of them would 'stick' Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sroe3 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Your comments in parenthesis are a good way to approach long stages. Review and walk though enough to visualize your plan. Rather than run and shoot I take shooting positions and count targets or shots per position during my planning. Run and reload between positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Anderson Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 If you can't close your eyes and visualize every single target in a stage, you are not ready to shoot. It takes practice, but it's essential to good performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h4444 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Your comments in parenthesis are a good way to approach long stages. Review and walk though enough to visualize your plan. Rather than run and shoot I take shooting positions and count targets or shots per position during my planning. Run and reload between positions. Exactly, break the stage apart into sections, look at shooting positions and plan reloads based around position,,,,,don't count shots while you're shooting now. Plan "where" you'll make reloads and break apart the stage, keeping in mind 8 round neutrality, you should be able to at least break a stage down in 8 round sections since you are not "forced" to fire more than 8 from one position by USPSA rules. There will be times that you "can" do this and it may benefit you. But, since you mentioned this is a struggle, take advantage of those rules and initially look for those 8 round sections to keep things simple. Once you have that down, then you can become more aggressive with your stage planning in looking for more ways to game the stages. (This is said, assuming you're shooting a division that allows you to load more than 8 in a mag ) I had these issues when I first started and was focused on counting my shots between reloads and such......it didn't work well. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunguru Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 May sound silly and counterproductive, but slowing down a bit may help you, it will give you few seconds to get an overview and make sure you shoot everything. 2 or 3 seconds on a long stage are not a so big deal, and will cost you less than a FTE + 2 mike (and a potential 2 A... it mean 40 pts!!!!). Rough in long stage you can expect 3 pts / second, so as long you take less than 10 second you will earn points! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppa Bear Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 If you can't close your eyes and visualize every single target in a stage, you are not ready to shoot. It takes practice, but it's essential to good performance. This is the best advice so far. It is harder if you are the first or second shooter, but while others are running the course shut your eyes and shoot it in your mind. Do this in stages like others have posted. An example would be as follows: I shoot Limited with 20 round magazines so I might visualize 2,4,6,..8,10,12,14,..16,18..RELOAD 2,4,5,6,7,8,...10,12. First array, second array, third array, fourth array with 3 poppers, stationary target with Swinger/Drop turner/Drop out target. You might even swing back and forth as you engage various arrays. If you are shooting early then do a quick walk through to visualize the targets and as others are walking through stand in back and walk through the entire stage in your mind. If you are not 100% sure of a target then walk down and check it quick, but you need to see ALL of the targets in your mind if you hope to see ALL of them when you shoot the stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Haz, experience helps. Spending more time looking at the stage, before you shoot, helps. As you tape and set steel keep looking for where to shoot what. Watch the other shooters. I was getting pretty good at figuring it all out - took nine months off - lost some of it Took a few months to "get it back". Try some larger matches - they'll make the local matches seem a little easier = usually. More experience. You just have to keep concentrating on this vital aspect of our game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunguru Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Easy.... don't do like me!!!! A L3 Quebec Provincial this week end, i got "0" on a particular stage due to ... 4 FTE!!!! On a long stage (32 rnds), we got like 6 shooting "bay", I make a pretty good plan in my head, as we started in the middle, I planned to shoot #3 (4 rnds), then go to #1 (4 rnds), reload and go to #2 (8 rnds), then do the remaining.. nice plan but on the 1st shooting bay (#3 - 4 rnds), don't ask me why, I dropped the mag... and said to myself "heeeeyy stoooopid, what are you dooing!", and that's it, the focus was away, I went to #1, reload and go to # 4 and continue... What's wrong? I forgot the #2 shooting bay, 2 target and 2 poppers.... result... 4 FTE : -40 6 Mike: -60 + due to bad concentration: 1 more miss... Penalty + lost points = 145 pts.... so I got 0 on the final... The worst, the RO tried to tell me I forgot all those, but in my frustration I didn't understand his " ifffff Finnnnniiished, UASC....", I got A look of the target in front of me, but forgot about the ones behind me.... Too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz2011 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Walk thru and make mental notes of the targets and where to reload.Study the stage description.When the buzzer goes of slow down a little and work your plan. With time & exp you will get faster.Relax this is for fun. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vluc Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 What everyone else, especially Steve, said. What division do you shoot? If you are a production shooter shooting with Limited and Open shooters, you can get lost in their detail. Talk to whoever else you shoot with who may shoot the same division as you for advice and commentary. Walk through the stages with them or follow them, trying to learn more about positions, reload points, and the like. I had the good fortune to shoot some larger Ohio matches with Steve back in the day when he was shooting production and learned a great deal just by watching his approach to stages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 What Steve said ... I asked my shooting coach how much the Super Squad guys visualize before a stage ... His answer ... Continuously until it's their turn to shoot. I took this to heart from the first match I ever shot ( jan 2012) and would just have to stand in a corner and go over my stage plan again and again until it was my turn to shoot ... Not very social but when I stepped up to the line I had the stage down cold. It is hard at first but does get easier with practice. Ifvyou're shooting 3-4 matches a month you'll get it down in no time ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazB_Shootin Posted September 9, 2012 Author Share Posted September 9, 2012 Thanks for all the replies and ideas - I really appreciate that. I found a big help with visualization, I shot the Illinois Sectional last weekend and only had one FTE. That was a definite improvement for me considering most of the stages where large. The FTE came at the very end, was doing more talking that visualizing and forgot about a semi- hidden target. Lesson learned... One thing I also found that really helped was that one I had the stage broken down to run it at close to full speed, if therr is a target you might want to run by it will usually show up then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now