Which is Harder - Overcoming Gobbling or Making GM?

[digby7]

My reloads are really slow (~1.7 sec in live fire), and I'm not making obvious wasted motions, so I think that getting an ineffective grip on my fresh mag is part of the problem. Obviously I need to do a ton more reps too...

if it makes you feel any better - my reloads are probably in the 1.7 range shot to shot for an a-zone hit at 10 yards.

[Esther]

Thanks for the feedback!

Jon - I think I'm going to stick with the DAA race master pouches. I didn't say no wasted motions, but no obvious wasted motions.

Alex - I can't do 1.7 sec shot-to-shot reloads at 10 yards yet!

Tonight's shooting-related items:

2) getting classified in USPSA! I'm a C in Production (~53%?). Lots of phenomenal shooters have started out in C class. I would have been thrilled with an initial B and disappointed with a D, so C is just fine.

Things I need to work on: reducing my draw and reload times in dry-fire, Bill-type drills in live fire, wide transitions on partially covered targets, and learning when to take a miss instead of changing a mag on the last shot.

5) David being a great shooting buddy!

[lumpygravy]

... I didn't say no wasted motions, but no obvious wasted motions.

Time to post some video in the tips sub-fo.

2) getting classified in USPSA! I'm a C in Production (~53%?). Lots of phenomenal shooters have started out in C class. I would have been thrilled with an initial B and disappointed with a D, so C is just fine.

Congrats!

[GuildSF4]

2) getting classified in USPSA! I'm a C in Production (~53%?). Lots of phenomenal shooters have started out in C class. I would have been thrilled with an initial B and disappointed with a D, so C is just fine.

Good job!

[Esther]

Thanks, Jon and Steve! I'm not too concerned about it - it's just a starting point from which to improve.

<personal>

Yesterday was an uber mega gobble.

It's *so* dark, sometimes I wake up and think, why should I continue? But there are other people who watch my struggles and don't laugh at them, and some who have shared with me about their struggles, and of course Max who loves me and is in it with me. And giving up would be letting all of them down.

But sometimes I just want to say, "God I can't do it."

I've been thinking a lot about repentance - it means "turning around." I remember one of the Fathers saying that all of this life is given for repentance.

Sometimes I feel like this struggle with gobbling is the only thing in the universe that is outside of the reach of God's love. But I know that can't be true. If I went to one of the saints (and who knows, maybe persevering is how you become one) and said, "I don't think that I can be freed from my sins.* I think I alone in all the world am impervious to God, and freedom, and life," they would laugh and tell me not to be so full of myself.

Many saints (some who are known to us and many who were not) spent an entire lifetime in fasting, poverty, generosity, kindness, patience, love. They gave up everything for many years to attain what they truly wanted.

I haven't even come close to that degree of dedication and sacrifice. So giving up now is definitely premature.

* or illness, or habit, or whatever (or whatever mixture) it is.

Things that I am thankful for today:

1) Blade Tech sending me a replacement hardware kit (one of the screws in my holster fell out on Sunday, and I suspect it is somewhere on the ground at the Oakdale range)

2) that even though overcoming gobbling is REALLY REALLY REALLY hard for me, other things (like learning math and making friends) come easily.

3) the emoticons on Benos:

</personal>

Edited April 23, 2013 by Esther

[Esther]

Tonight's thankful items:

3) having a good practice with Rogers! Maybe I will feel differently when I start winning matches, but I prefer practice, especially when it is with a friend who is a good and serious shooter and we can set up whatever we want!

Takeaways from today: 1) at "Make ready," close my eyes and imagine how I will shoot the stage - where every target is, where I will do a reload, 2) sprint to the next position, decelerate as I come into position, and break the shot right as I come into position, 3) don't overstep my next position while looking at my gun during a reload, 4) make sure to load at "Load and make ready!"

4) having a .22 pistol so I can practice even when I am SUPER low on 9mm's!

5) that shooting is so much fun! :-D :-)

Edited April 27, 2013 by Esther

[Sleepswithdogs]

Esther, where do you'all find to practice? I'm having trouble finding anywhere to shoot live ammo in a practice session. Most all public ranges I've been to, what we do is exactly what they don't want anyone doing.

Tar

[Not-So-Mad Matt]

Speaking of gobbling:

Binge eating is one of the core symptoms of most eating disorders, including bulimia nervosa and the binge/purge subtype of anorexia nervosa, and females are four to 10 times more likely than males to have an eating disorder.

"Most theories of why eating disorders are so much more prevalent in females than males focus on the increased cultural and psychological pressure that girls and women face," said Kelly Klump, lead author and professor of psychology. "But this study suggests that biological factors likely contribute as well, since female rats do not experience the psychosocial pressures that humans do, such as pressures to be thin."

Klump and colleagues ran a feeding experiment with 30 female and 30 male rats over a two-week period, replacing the rodents' food pellets periodically with vanilla frosting. They found that the rate of binge eating "proneness" (i.e., the tendency to consume the highest amount of frosting across all feeding tests) was up to six times higher in female as compared to male rats.

The tendency to binge eat may be related to the brain's natural reward system, or the extent to which someone likes and seeks reward, Klump said. The MSU researchers currently are testing the rats to see if female brains are more sensitive and/or responsive to rewarding stimuli (e.g., high-fat, high-sugar food) and the chemicals that trigger reward behavior.

[Esther]

Tar - I know! It's really hard for me too. I drive >2 hours to practice with David at Oakdale, where we can set up targets, or try to shoot with my friend Rogers, who is an RO at Richmond and can practice there on weekdays. My dream is that one day Max will be a law professor somewhere we can buy a piece of land and have a private range.*

Not-So-Mad-Matt - Thanks! I've seen that study too. I think there are likely biological differences that contribute to the prevalence of eating disorders among women.


* Unfortunately, the top law schools are in gun-unfriendly places, like New York City, Boston, and Chicago.


Tonight's shooting-related thankful items:

2) practicing with David. Takeaways: 1) I am too slow getting the gun out of the holster in the draw. 2) When shooting around a barricade, stand as far back as possible. 3) Metronome practice transitions.

3) shooting a Texas star for the first time!

Edited May 4, 2013 by Esther

[Sleepswithdogs]

Esther, I imagine you have probably read many such articles as I have a glimpse of just how tenacious you can be when you have something you desire. Of course, reading is not an answer, but rather a seed that may be planted. I would think the > in female ratio is do to the bodies desire to have sufficient fat on hand in anticipation of pregnancy. As I recall, extremely thin women do not menstruate, i.e., distance runners. Aircraft accidents are seldom caused by one factor, but rather, are most often caused by the piling on of several factors at one time.

As far as draw, I went and looked at a lot of video's of people drawing and decided that Bob Vogel had the draw i wanted to emulate. So I watched his vid on his draw a lot, and practiced what he said and did. I used a timer to get a feel for what my baseline draw was, then practiced extensively in slow motion until I had some muscle memory in place. From there out, I used the timer to increase my speed. Not sure if this will help you, but it was the path that I chose.

Another positive tool is to video your draw and see if you can spot any areas that are slowing you down. I think the draw is not the big factor in speed, but rather the time to first shot, and the following splits, along with movement to different elements in the stage. I think it possible to have a fast draw, but a slow first shot. If you get a chance, take a look at Vogel at the Carolina cup. The part where he is shooting the stage gun 1911 with the Mozambique drill is very interesting (it's about in the middle of the vid). I'm going to practice drawing against him in that video today. Ben Stoeger also has a lot of videos on youtube and also has a fast draw and fast first shot.

Best to'ya,

Tar

Edited May 4, 2013 by Sleepswithdogs

[Esther]

Tar - Thanks for sharing how you learn and practice your draw! What about Bob Vogel's draw made you decide his was the one you wanted to emulate?


I went for a walk with my friend Bojan today and had a good conversation. Bojan (pronounced BO-yan) is from Croatia and lived through the war. He emigrated to the U.S., studied at Stanford, and got a PhD in theoretical physics. Even though he is super smart, he's never had a "real" career (not for lack of trying). His wife is a tenured professor, and Bojan lives where she does and works on various projects from home (at one point, he was an Amazon Top 10 reviewer). But he doesn't have a "real" job.

I said, "I don't know how you do it. The other day, I didn't have a client until 1 in the afternoon, and I just lay in bed thinking of a reason to get up."

"I feel like I know all these people on tracks to prestigious things -- I'm smart, I'm educated, I want to be the kind of person that Stanford produces (the kind of person that Max is, for example), and I'm not."*

I sniffled and added, "I believe that Jesus came to give us life more full and abundant, and that the fruit of God's Spirit is love, joy, peace, etc., but I don't experience that. Emptiness and meaninglessness are things that I fight almost every single day of my life."

Bojan gave me a hug and said he understands, and that lots of people are not where they want to be. A lot of people bear daily crosses in all sorts of ways.

Maybe it's normal to feel desultory and sad at this point in the story. A lot of successful artists and entrepreneurs talk about fighting a daily battle against procrastination and hopelessness for years, even decades.** And for every one who succeeds, there are many who do not. (But it takes just as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded.)

* Clearly the conventional track doesn't work for me - I worked at Google and hated it, turned down med school, and dropped out of business school. But I find it so hard to build a meaningful life without the structure."

** Paul Graham writes: "The problem with feeling you're doomed is not just that it makes you unhappy, but that it makes you stop working."

Tonight's shooting-related thankful item:

1) getting good advice on the scoop draw

Edited May 9, 2013 by Esther

[Sleepswithdogs]

I think many use the same sort of style Vogel does, but he put it into words and video very well. He seems to be able to turn on any speed that is needed and it always looks effortless. So when I watch him I see fast and effortless. That looked good to me so I went for it. Also, he and I are of similar build.

Thinking can sometimes be it's own enemy. Many philosophies train to turn off the "thinking" part of the brain. When at work and something does not go well, this whole "thinking" conversation starts in my head. I am working on shutting it down. Many times I can, sometimes it is more difficult than other times.

In acting there is a saying, "Don't do anything until something make you do it." Applying that to bed, I get up when something makes me get up, the dogs, hunger, the phone, the alarm, etc. When nothing makes me get up, I don't. Achem's Razor...

Tar

Edited May 9, 2013 by Sleepswithdogs

[TJ1911]

Long ago, I tried something of a circular "scooping" motion on my draw, and wasted an incredible amount of time. When I saw it on video, I noticed that my gun hand went way below the grip of the gun, then grabbed the gun on the "up stroke", if you will. Very inefficient.

What ultimately worked best for me was the technique Rob Leatham demonstrated on his first video, where you reach straight down and just snatch the gun out of the holster. Over the years I have transitioned from the really low cut leather "race holsters" where you only had to move the gun up about an inch before you could start bringing it out toward the target, to a more practical type of straight drop or muzzle forward holster with more leather around the gun so you had to pull the gun up a bit higher to clear the holster. Either way this method has never failed to give me a smooth, quick draw when I execute it properly. Just a thought.

Now, let's talk about structure....

Bottom line is, I think at this point in your life and career, you may need some. I know a lot of people who work one kind of freelance job or other who deal with this issue. Procrastination is their biggest enemy, and the hardest thing to overcome.

Relative to purpose and happiness, having more structure in your life won't bring that to you, but it may help you find it in the long run, because I think it will help calm your mind and focus you. That can open the doors to some ways of thinking which might help you see opportunities and ideas that you might not have noticed otherwise.

I know I need that in my life to help keep me centered. (Have you read my blog post "Saturdays and a Place For Me"?)

Here are some thoughts-

Try and get up around the same time every day. Nothing messes you up more than an irregular sleep schedule. You can have some quiet time in the morning for writing, prayer, meditation, or some other activity to help start the day.

Instead of going to the gym on your own, try some kind of group exercise class, yoga, or martial arts-something that gets you out of the house at a set time at least 2-3 days a week. Incorporating this into your routine helps to organize the rest of your day.

Take care-you're just getting started in a lot of areas in life and you have great potential in them. Please don't beat yourself up about not being where you want to be right now. Tar has a good point about thinking/over-thinking things, too. Sometimes you really need to quiet the mind and just go with things.

[Esther]

Tar - Thanks. I know I overthink things sometimes. And, fast and effortless are good!

Tim - Thanks so much for that! It helps to hear that other freelance workers battle hard against procrastination too, and that I'm not uniquely lazy. I think you're right that while structure in itself won't guarantee meaning and happiness, but it may help me to find it in the long run. What you said reminded me of something I read once - that having a skeleton (structure) is what allows us to have freedom to move and dance and shoot.

Tonight's shooting-related thankful items:

1) swimming! I've had a series of leg and foot injuries (knees, shins, and now ankle) that have kept me from running. I realize that not moving makes me feel depressed, and that aerobic activity is good for my brain and mood and probably body as well.

4) shooting with Rogers at Richmond. Takeaways: 1) I need to do a LOT more live fire!! I've been doing so little live fire (mostly because of the ammo shortage), and I can tell my grip pressure, recoil control, and sight tracking are all off. 2) close my eyes and visualize each stage, including simple classifier stages! (We set up a practice classifier-type stage with a mandatory reload, and I didn't visualize and forgot the mandatory reload!) 3) exit a position on an easy, wide-open target so that I can shoot it on the move, 4) minimize distance traveled and end in a crouch position if I can (instead of crouching and then getting back up), 5) I need to work on accuracy, not pulling my second shot downward, and learn to shoot from reset (?).

[Esther]

I've been taking a two-and-a-half hour mindfulness meditation class on Tuesday nights with my mother-in-law. She likes it a lot, but so far I haven't found it that helpful. I did enjoy (the second half of) tonight's session, though. We got into pairs, and I met a guy who is in my GSB cohort! (He asked what I meant by "was in [his] cohort," and I said that I had just submitted my formal withdrawal from the program. He seemed fascinated by that and said that he often wondered what, other than social skills and a valuable alumni network, he was getting out of the business school experience. We agreed that the coursework was neither very interesting nor challenging.)

I've been thinking about accepting where I am, even though it is not where I would like to be. I hate feeling lost, and I try so hard to find work that feels challenging and meaningful. But what if I accepted the dissatisfaction, the emptiness, the restlessness?

In the Bible, David spent a lot of time between getting anointed king and becoming king hiding out in caves and running from enemies. Abraham waited a long time between being told that his descendants would be "as numerous as the stars in the sky" and receiving Isaac through his barren wife. And the Israelites wandered the desert forty years.

So there's a kind of waiting, longing, and dissatisfaction that is part of the (or some people's) story.*

Today's shooting-related thankful items:

1) getting my ankle checked out (there's been a sharp, shooting pain whenever I step on it, and I was worried that it might be a stress fracture). But the doctor said it was just a torn or sprained ligament, and that it should heal soon.

5) instead of mindlessly munching in the car to stay awake while driving between clients, working on my support hand grip strength. (I still can't close the COC Trainer all the way, but I have to start somewhere. :-)) If I keep this up, I'll have to buy the bands that exercise the extensor muscles too.

* I was reminded the other day that there are other people who have some kind of chronic internal dissatisfaction. A friend's sister has always wanted marriage and children more than anything else. But she's awkward around men, 60 pounds overweight, and 40 and has never had a serious boyfriend. She wonders (realistically) if she'll ever have a chance to share the love that she has inside.

Edited May 15, 2013 by Esther

[GuildSF4]

Today's shooting-related thankful items:

1) getting my ankle checked out (there's been a sharp, shooting pain whenever I step on it, and I was worried that it might be a stress fracture). But the doctor said it was just a torn or sprained ligament, and that it should heal soon.

5) instead of mindlessly munching in the car to stay awake while driving between clients, working on my support hand grip strength. (I still can't close the COC Trainer all the way, but I have to start somewhere. :-)) If I keep this up, I'll have to buy the bands that exercise the extensor muscles too.

Hope you ankle heals soon, good thing to check with a Doc, my oldest daughter ran around on hers for about 2 months before she found out that one of the bones had been broken.

Do you have the COC guide (60lb) and sport (80lb)?

[TJ1911]

Two and a half hours is a long time to meditate-what all do you do in the class? We have a Qi Gong class on Saturdays at my school, but it's only 1/2 hour and we typically don't meditate the whole time. Qi Gong is standing meditation so you have to work up to it. I'd think if you could get 10 minutes of quality meditation time where you're just feeling connected and aware of how your body feels overall you'd be doing really well.

[Esther]

GuildSF4 - Yikes, I'm glad your daughter discovered the broken bone eventually! And thanks - I have the COC Sport and can close it.

Tim - I agree! Two-and-a-half hours is an eternity to meditate! We actually had an all-day mindfulness meditation retreat yesterday (where we did yoga for part of it and I hurt my ankle more, so I can't shoot the match today ). I haven't found the breathing and body awareness techniques to be that helpful, but I did enjoy the last meditation we did for the day, which was metta, or "loving-kindness," meditation. I think I spend a lot of time judging myself for what I perceive to be an unforgivable character flaw, instead of having compassion and accepting myself as I currently am.

A while back, Rob Leatham told me to quit trying to focus on the front sight only and to see everything having to do with the shot and see most clearly the element that pertains to the quality of the shot I am trying to shoot. I read the post (SA even told me to read it twice, and I did!), but didn't understand it.

I think I am beginning to now.

When I started, I waited for a perfect, stopped sight picture on every shot and took my time pressing the trigger. This resulted in lots of A's and called shots. Recently I've been shooting much faster but getting C's and D's and misses and not calling my shots! For example, on Friday, David and I practiced a classifier, and I kept getting solid B times with crappy un-called hits. Telling myself to "slow down and get my hits" didn't seem to help.*

I'd been feeling really frustrated and worried that not only was I not improving, but that my accuracy (formerly a strong point) might be deteriorating as well. But I think what is happening is that my speed has (for now) outpaced my accuracy. ** I'm figuring out that I don't need to see a perfect, stopped sight picture with a front sight focus on every shot, but I haven't yet figured out what I do need to see on different targets at different distances, so instead of seeing what I used to see, I'm often seeing nothing.

I'm also realizing the limitations of dry-fire. I'm not yet good at breaking the shot while the sights are still moving (in recoil and from my steering them) and reading misaligned sights at different distances.

* I know, I'm not supposed to shoot "more slowly" to get A's; I need to let my sights dictate the speed of my shooting. But I'm not there yet.

** Donovan has a good post about the damping progression that many shooters go through as they oscillate between seeing too much (going "too slow") and seeing not enough (going "too fast").

Friday's shooting-related thankful items:

3) having a good practice with David.

4) feeling my trigger reset while shooting at the Texas star and plate rack. Getting my hits on steel from a distance also restored my confidence that I can still shoot accurately and call my shots when I have all the time in the world.

Yesterday's:

4) being able to tell Max knows how much shooting means to me and that he supports me :-| :-)

[Sleepswithdogs]

" which was metta, or "loving-kindness," meditation. I think I spend a lot of time judging myself for what I perceive to be an unforgivable character flaw, instead of having compassion and accepting myself as I currently am. "

This sounds like a "root" thing to me. Could be some meditation applied here like jelly on a peanutbutter sandwich, might be quite a productive thing.

Tar

Edited May 20, 2013 by Sleepswithdogs

[DonovanM]

I'd been feeling really frustrated and worried that not only was I not improving, but that my accuracy (formerly a strong point) might be deteriorating as well.

I would not worry too much about this.

I posted this on my Facebook, but I like the quote and will post it here too.

"Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor." - Alexis Carrel

There is no progress without some amount of pain and frustration. Your ability to manage that pain and frustration will serve you well.

In this case, you are concerned your skills are regressing. I do not believe this is the case. You are changing the way you are approaching shooting. You have not become "less accurate", you may simply be shooting less accurately. The skills are still there, you're just varying the amount of visual patience you're applying, for better or for worse.

Stick with it. Teach yourself, and let yourself learn what you need to see to make good hits on targets of varying apparent available area. That's all there is to it.

[Esther]

Tar - Could be.

Donovan - Thanks! It helps to hear that. And I think you're right - I haven't become "less accurate;" I'm just varying the visual focus and patience I'm applying to my shots (see below).

I shot 100 productive rounds at Reed's yesterday. I had originally planned to work on recoil control, neutral grip, and sight tracking, but a few rounds in I decided to put a PPC target at 10 yds and try shooting with a target focus. It took a lot of discipline to look at the target and let my sights be blurry. To my surprise, almost all of the shots landed in the 10 ring, with only a few border 9's and one mid-9 that would have been a close C hit. Even cooler, I could call my shots without focusing on my sights! It was so cool to see the sights in my periphery and know, "That shot's too high," "That shot's low," "That shot's dead center." In fact, not trying to focus on the sights may have made it easier to register their relationship to the target.

With my last 30 rounds, I moved the target to 15 yds and shot three 10-round groups. In the past, when practicing accuracy I would take 5 seconds to look each shot off and lower my gun between shots. Yesterday I kept my gun up and shot 10 rounds in a row without pausing or slowing down. For my last group, I told myself to see what I needed to see to make every hit, and I did! 6 X's and all 10's without going super slow!

I also noticed that my finger tends to move to the joint when I am shooting faster. It seems the opposite of what many good shooters report. What do you guys think?

[BritinUSA]

I would say that if you are getting the hits you want at the speed that you want then it does not matter where your finger is on the trigger. Try what works for everyone else, but stick with what works for you.

[GuildSF4]

I shot 100 productive rounds at Reed's yesterday. I had originally planned to work on recoil control, neutral grip, and sight tracking, but a few rounds in I decided to put a PPC target at 10 yds and try shooting with a target focus. It took a lot of discipline to look at the target and let my sights be blurry. To my surprise, almost all of the shots landed in the 10 ring, with only a few border 9's and one mid-9 that would have been a close C hit. Even cooler, I could call my shots without focusing on my sights! It was so cool to see the sights in my periphery and know, "That shot's too high," "That shot's low," "That shot's dead center." In fact, not trying to focus on the sights may have made it easier to register their relationship to the target.

With my last 30 rounds, I moved the target to 15 yds and shot three 10-round groups. In the past, when practicing accuracy I would take 5 seconds to look each shot off and lower my gun between shots. Yesterday I kept my gun up and shot 10 rounds in a row without pausing or slowing down. For my last group, I told myself to see what I needed to see to make every hit, and I did! 6 X's and all 10's without going super slow!

Cool good practice and good hits. (See you can put 10 in the 'A' zone using a slide index...)

I also noticed that my finger tends to move to the joint when I am shooting faster. It seems the opposite of what many good shooters report. What do you guys think?

Not sure, my finger seems to stay in the same spot, (center left on the pad), unless I am shooting my revolver (which has a 9# double action pull, although it feels like about 4#).

[TJ1911]

E-

Were you shooting faster with the target focus, or more slowly? I've been wanting to experiment with that myself for close-in targets. One thing I've noticed over the last 2-3 years is that both eyes tend to stay open when I'm shooting at 7 yards or less. This seems to be happening subconsciously-I start out with one eye closed, but the other eye opens sort of on its own before I pull the trigger. At that distance it's more like I'm looking through the sights, not at them.

I wouldn't worry about the position of your finger, as long as you are not tensing up or pushing shots to 9 o'clock. It sounds like you're developing a natural shift there and as long as it doesn't affect your shooting I wouldn't spend time and effort trying to change it. It could go away completely when you pick up a different gun.

[Esther]

Paul - Thanks! I figured it probably has something to do with my hand size and finger length and the particular gun and trigger I'm shooting.

Steve - Thanks! I'll try that next time.

Tim - Not sure. Today I live-fired at IPSC targets and was getting better hits and calling my shots more than I have in the last month or so (since I started pushing for "speed,"), but also shot more slowly. My guess is that all things being equal, shooting with a target focus on close targets allows me to get A hits more quickly.

I always shoot with both eyes open.

Tonight's shooting-related thankful items:

5) practicing at Richmond with Rogers. I shot at eggshell targets at 5 yds, 10 yds, 15 yds, and 20 yds to work on transitioning from different distances. (For me, going near to far feels easier - at least for now - than going far to near.)

6) learning a new name for IPSC "turtle targets" - "eggshell targets!" I like that much better since I hate the idea of shooting at turtles!! :-o

Edited May 25, 2013 by Esther