Which is Harder - Overcoming Gobbling or Making GM?

[DonovanM]

Here is how my grip looks after today's experimenting. How does that look to you guys?

That looks OK. Can you shift your left hand a little further up to just below (or even behind) the slide release? You want to get as high up on the gun as is comfortable without interfering with the controls... that is just leverage. It looks like you're giving up a bit of it with the grip pictured, but it looks good otherwise.

[DonovanM]

For what it's worth, here's my kung fu Glock grip. Of course my hands are much bigger, but still, the fundamentals of a good grip should remain the same, and I don't think there's any reason you can't grip your gun like a man.

From the side. Notice how high I am. The gun is freaking buried in my hands... This is good juju.

From the top - this is how I get so high and avoid the slide release. My left hand is pretty far back on the gun, and I actually press in hard with the pad of my thumb to sort of "lift" the base of my thumb away from the slide release. Hard to describe that part but I could show you the difference in about 5 seconds face to face. Works awesome, when I get my grip right the slide locks back 100%.

Here I took my right hand off the gun just to show how much of my left hand is actually hanging off the back and where it ends up.

Hopefully this helps. I am not saying you should do it exactly like I do, that would be dumb, just trying to communicate the general idea behind how I do it.

Good luck!

[Esther]

Tim and Donovan - Thanks for the pictures and advice! Here is my new grip. I'll try it out in live fire later this week.

I read somewhere that the middle-class custom of asking what someone does for work presumes that they had the opportunity to do something that reflects their personality and values. For those who don't have that luxury, work is just a way to make ends meet; it is their life outside of work - family, hobbies, relationships - that defines who they are.

I am lucky to have that luxury.

Last week, Stanford contacted me to ask if I am still on track to resume business school in the fall. Even though I had decided a long time ago that I didn't want to go back, I panicked (and gobbled). "I'm not healed yet, I don't have evidence yet that I don't suck. If I'm going to be sick and suck anyway, I might as well make buckets of money to pay for ammo." *

Tonight, I am thankful for:

1) that I'm married to someone who loves me for who I am and doesn't want me to be any more useful, high-power (like Sheryl Sandberg encourages women to be and many of my contemporaries are), domestic, or any of the other very good qualities that I am not. :)

2) that the features of the universe that enable life are given without my knowing what to ask for

3) that diabetes and gobbling are serious, but totally fixable, conditions.

* I realize that sucking is not so black-and-white. Part of the difficulty of being an artist/writer is that it is very hard to tell if you suck or not. If you don't have an audience, it could be because you are new or because people have bad taste or because you suck. Even if you become popular, it's hard to know if your success is because you are good or because you happen to suck in a way that appeals to many people (e.g., reality TV and Twilight).

Edited March 19, 2013 by Esther

[DonovanM]

2) that the features of the universe that enable life are given without my knowing what to ask for

Woah.

I am gonna have to mull that one over for a bit.

[GuildSF4]

Ester, remember always 'Work to live, not live to work', took me way too long to realize that. Working is important, but it is not the most important thing, family is.

[Esther]

GuildSF4 - Thanks for the reminder!

Yesterday's shooting-related thankful items:

2) running 3 miles at increasing pace - my knees finally feel okay to run again!

4) picking up my XDM!!!!! :-D

6) Alex showing me his 1050 reload press and how reloading works. And showing off my new gun! :-)

[toothguy]

* I realize that sucking is not so black-and-white. Part of the difficulty of being an artist/writer is that it is very hard to tell if you suck or not. If you don't have an audience, it could be because you are new or because people have bad taste or because you suck. Even if you become popular, it's hard to know if your success is because you are good or because you happen to suck in a way that appeals to many people (e.g., reality TV and Twilight).

Years ago I lived next to a woman that wrote romance novels. Every month she would get together with a critique group to get feedback. She wrote books under many different names. I remember her saying that she could write a book for herself or what she new would sell. It's the difference between an Artist and an Illustrator, the Illustrator earns a living and the Artist starves.

[GreenDragon64]

As long as you're better than the person you were yesterday, you're heading in the right direction.

[Esther]

toothguy - Thanks for the anecdote. IMHO, writing romance novels is a great example of sucking (perhaps consciously) in a way that sells.

GreenDragon64 - Thanks! The way I think about that sometimes is, it's not the point on your position function that matters, but your velocity and acceleration.

Today's shooting-related thankful items:

5) practicing with Rogers at Richmond! The drive over was a pain in the butt (>2 hrs and a snail's pace along I-80), but once I got to the range, it was worth every minute.

Highlights: a) shooting my XDM for the first time!!! :-) b)getting fast and accurate first shots on plates, c) shooting the plate rack accurately WHO, d) shooting steel! (I almost never get to shoot steel, so it is always extra fun)

Takeaways: a) When I do a mag change moving between positions, drop the mag immediately! b)get the gun up and out of the holster as fast as possible so that I have more time to refine my sight picture, c) if the start position requires me to stand behind a barricade but doesn't stipulate where my head needs to be, lean around to look at my first target instead of staring stupidly ahead at the wall, d) get cleats so I don't slide when coming to a stop.

6) being a new and not (yet) very good shooter. It is a really fun place on the learning curve to be. So many better shooters have offered advice, lent me gear, and offered to shoot with me. Thank you guys so much!

Edited March 23, 2013 by Esther

[Aglifter]

Artistically, all you can do is portray truth as you see it. You can make other things, which appeal to the market, but I don't know if that's truly art - if its what has to be done, for economic reasons, so be it.

Learn your craft, and reject sloth and express yourself as fully as you can - part of artistic expression does require baring quite a bit of yourself.

[Esther]

Aglifter - Thanks for the encouragement!

Yesterday's shooting-related thankful item:

1) day 1 of Louis Awerbuck's handgun class. The first part of the class was just review. But after lunch, we incorporated moving left and right while shooting at a stationary target. At first, I moved super slowly while trying to get my hits. Louis yelled at me and said that I could move much faster while still getting good hits.

Then, we did a drill shooting on the move starting with the gun empty in the holster. At the start signal, I grabbed the mag and gun at the same time, racked the slide, and made two good hits in 4 steps. Louis gave me a high-five and said, "I wish I could consistently move as fast as you just did!"

Today's:

2) day 2 of Louis Awerbuck's class. On one of the drills, we had to shoot at one target that was surrounded by others. When Louis asked which target I wanted to shoot at, I picked the hardest one (it was mostly obscured by three other targets and was only partially visible from a few angles). I shot it moving left and right and towards and away from the target. When I finished the drill, the rest of the class applauded. That made me feel happy. :-) Later, Louis took me aside and said, "You think really fast on your feet. It's like a lightbulb goes on in your head or something." That made me really happy too!

3) making some new friends in the class - David, Fred, Andrew, and Gaylord, who is also into USPSA.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Esther

[Sleepswithdogs]

Shooting as art. Shooting as Zen. Shooting as a channel to direct my life through, much as the camel goes through the "eye of the needle." Camels enter the needle loaded down with burdens of the long trip, but the passage through the "eye of the needle" requires all burdens be removed so the camel may fit through the eye.

[Chris Keen]

Shooting as art. Shooting as Zen. Shooting as a channel to direct my life through, much as the camel goes through the "eye of the needle." Camels enter the needle loaded down with burdens of the long trip, but the passage through the "eye of the needle" requires all burdens be removed so the camel may fit through the eye.

[Esther]

Sleepswithdogs -

Shooting as art. Shooting as Zen. Shooting as a channel to direct my life through, much as the camel goes through the "eye of the needle." Camels enter the needle loaded down with burdens of the long trip, but the passage through the "eye of the needle" requires all burdens be removed so the camel may fit through the eye.

+1

Today I surprised Max with a visit to DC. He thought I was a home invader at first when he returned to his apartment. But he seems really happy to see me!

Edited March 27, 2013 by Esther

[GreenDragon64]

Were you able to pick up the XDM with the full capacity 19rd magazines or were you forced into the 10rd mags?

[Esther]

GreenDragon64 - Good question.

There are several quotes that I think of often. One is from T.S. Eliot's East Coker:

I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope,

For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love

For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith

But the faith and the hope and the love are all in the waiting.

Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:

So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.

And another, which I don't remember where I read it:

"The principal part of faith is patience."

Each day, when I remember, I pray for God to help me to be open to this moment. I pray for openness and awareness to receive all of the good things that are given to me, often without my knowing to ask. And I ask for help in being present to other people who come across my path.

Sometimes, obviously good things happen. I talk to Brian Enos on the phone. I make a new friend through shooting. One of my tutoring students "gets" a concept that she's been struggling with, that she wouldn't have without me. I learn that I touched someone through something I created. (Though remember, that doesn't necessarily mean anything - artists who make trite and/or insipid work often touch people too.)

Other times - most times - I feel like Sonny in "Sonny Came Home": "Days go by / I don't know why..."

I tutor. I eat stuff. I dry-fire. I see family and friends. I know that relationships, work, and hobbies/activities should be enough; but somehow, they're not.

Recently I published my first piece. It is a 12,000-word essay on why beauty matters - Whom do we consider beautiful? Are our tastes and attraction to feminine beauty, in particular, based more in biology or culture, and what difference does it make? I explore these questions from the perspective of critical theory, evolutionary psychology, philosophy, religion, and my own experience as a makeup artist and a woman.

I think it's good and adds something new to the conversation. And I'm thankful that the Internet allows writers to publish their work and grow their own audiences without going through established "channels." But it feels like tossing a bit of your soul into the wide sea of the Internet.

Edited March 29, 2013 by Esther

[Esther]

Today's shooting-related thankful items:

1) running 8 miles total! I ran 5 miles pretty hard, took a break and was going to just cool down, but ended up jogging/running 3 more!

2) touching my gun for the first time since leaving for DC! I dry-fired a bunch of draws and reloads and practiced leaning around a "barricade" (living room lamp) and shooting at targets on the far side of the wall.

Some of you have asked where you can read my article if you don't have a Kindle. Here it is. But don't feel like you have to take a look unless you want!

Edited April 4, 2013 by Esther

[toothguy]

You look great! When you look in the mirror I don't think you see what everyone else does.

[Garyg19]

If beauty matters I am so screwed......

[daves_not_here]

Ester,

Stanford Neuroscience?

Procedural memory is very important in getting shooting skills into the "subconsious". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_memory

Without conscious processing shooting becomes naturally faster because commands go through the brain faster. Especially visual processing.

For transitions consider quiet eye.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/03/21/spark.quiet.eye/

This is a researcher's book. Structured like a textbook.

http://books.google.com/books/about/Perception_Cognition_and_Decision_Traini.html?id=2iVyZNLnVxMC

This may help you analyze and refine your techniques.

DNH

[Esther]

toothguy - Thanks, Tim!

Garyg19 - Lol! Another Enos friend said, "As an unattractive male, I am encouraged by the survey results!"

It's true that beauty does matter (especially for women). But so do height (for men), intelligence, charisma, wealth, and (in some times and places) class.

I'm not sure why, but it's always bothered me that we treat people with socially valued assets very differently than those without. Feminists often criticize Society for valuing women too much for their physical beauty. I agree that measuring women more for other qualities (e.g., strength, courage, intelligence, etc.) is an improvement over prizing them for their beauty.*

But I also think that prizing women for other reasons simply shifts the question of value to another (though admittedly better) spot under the rug.

Admiring Sheryl Sandberg is probably an improvement over admiring Pamela Anderson, but what about those of us who can't - or don't - fit any of our measures of value?**

Sorry, that was a really long-winded reply to your pithy comment.

daves_not_here - Thanks for the references! Do you have a background in Neuroscience as well?

Yesterday's shooting-related thankful item:

5) getting my DAA mag pouches in the mail!

* From what I can tell, most cultures in most times and places have emphasized female beauty more than male beauty. But other societies have primarily valued women for attributes other than beauty. Fertility and land rights, for example.

** When I was in business school, one of our professors told us that we were surrounded by "400 of the future most powerful people in the world." The implication being that we should make friends with each other while we could. That attitude bugged me a lot about business school.

Edited April 7, 2013 by Esther

[Esther]

Tonight's shooting-related thankful items:

1) a good strength workout

4) shooting with David (56hawk) in Oakdale! I've been dry-fire practicing and saving my ammo for matches and practicing with shooters who are much better than me.

Takeaways from today: 1) cadence on closely spaced targets, 2) look for the shortest distance/straightest line to move through a course, 3) test different plans to see if I actually save time shooting while moving versus standing still, etc., 4) move support hand closer to gun during draw instead of pausing at body's centerline.

5) shooting David's open gun and revolver!

Edited April 6, 2013 by Esther

[TJ1911]

So, how did you like the revo? It will really help your trigger technique and they're just fun to shoot. I was at my local indoor range getting ready to ship my gun to Louisiana for trigger work ($150.00; they have to ship handguns overnight now, apparently) and a gentleman walked in with two of the most magnificent revolvers I'd ever seen-a really nice Python, and a 1930's vintage Smith & Wesson M&P .38 (the original S&W M&P series). You could just about lose yourself in the depth and perfection of the metal finishing and bluing on these guns. My Smith looked nice when I bought it, but nothing like these. Lesson-always take a peek when somebody comes in and says, "I've got an old gun I'd like you to look at." Like the Pawn Stars guy says, "You never know what's gonna come through that door."

[Esther]

Tim - That's a neat story. The way you felt about losing yourself in the depth and perfection of the guns is how I feel about beautifully crafted pieces of jewelry. And, shooting the revolver was a lot of fun!

Today I shot my first match at Richmond. It was a really frustrating experience. I failed to properly seat the mag four times, and my XDm malfunctioned literally dozens of times. On some stages, I was getting a stovepipe or failure to seat between every shot! I think it was because 1) my gun was really dirty and dry - I had fired some 700 rounds through it without cleaning and greasing it before the match, and/or 2) I was not using a firm enough grip when shooting weak-hand only, which caused the gun to not cycle properly.

From now on, I will ALWAYS 1) clean and oil my gun before a match, and 2) seat the mag really hard. (I asked Alex to help me make dummy rounds so I can dry-fire reloads with a fully weighted mag.)

But I still have some thankful items:

1) driving to Richmond with Alex

2) squadding with Jon, Alex, and David

3) Jon helping me to construct temporary spacers out of cardboard (my DAA mag pouches are too spacious for my XDM mags, and the small spacer is too small and the big spacer too big)

4) David helping me to break down stages

5) shooting closely spaced targets at a good cadence (though I got more C's than I would have liked!)

[GreenDragon64]

You'll get the mag seating down. I did something similar at my last match, but a little worser. After the "Load and make ready" command, took the magazine out of my pocket and up to the mag well like usual, however, the mag ended up catching on the grip and subsequently landed in the sand. To make it worse, had both of my mentors in attendance at the match.

Edited April 8, 2013 by GreenDragon64