4 classifier Match - Sound Strategy

[jkushner1]

I shot Nik Habicht's Central NJ Gun Club, 4 classifier match yesterday (with two add'l field stages to help the flow of shooters). Major compliments go to Nik on pulling this off without having the event go past midnight. Anyway, I want advice on my strategy and if you think there was a better way to approach it realizing my D classification and relative newness to the sport. I shot production class using my Para 18.9 9mm LDA Ltd. - A gun I really love, the classifiers were:

CM03-07 Riverdale Standards

CM99-08 Melody Line

CM99-32 Indoor Rapid Fire Standards

CM99-49 Speed-E-Standards

My strategy really applied to everything but Indoor Rapid Fire (which I had hoped to walk away from with no more than 8 mikes and more that 50% A's on those shots I got in under the buzzer, I had planned to stop the front sight on each target, get the A, and move on - but when the horn blew I went into speed shooting mode with aweful accuracy - ended up with 10 mikes).

On the remaining stages my strategy was to shoot A's at the expense of speed - I did suceed here. I probably shot 80% + A's with times that were 3-4 seconds greater than the max speed that would have had me on the paper but with lots of Charlies and Deltas.

Was this strategy sound, is this a smarter way to get to the C class or would I have been better off shooting faster and getting my share of C's and D's. I know I need a refresher in scoring strategy - Hit Factor vs. Speed, etc

Thoughts please.

Jon

[Flexmoney]

Accuracy vs. speed.

Often, starting out, there is a need to think of the two as being opposed to one another. Eventually, you will want to realize that the two should not be in conflict.

Here are two completely different phrases:

1. Slow down to shoot Alphas.

2. Shoot Alphas as fast as possible.

[SRT Driver]

jkushner1,

The most important issue in Production is points. A C now and then is OK but a D is never acceptable. A D, in my mind, is a no-penalty mike.

On 99-32, there are no mike penalties, as in any fixed time COF. Just get good hits.

Don't worry about the time at this point..it will come. Just get the hits.

My 2c

[Ron Ankeny]

I have been trying to help a couple of D shooters make the jump to C class. No matter what class you are aiming for, you have to get the points or the time is of little consequence. Mikes are killers and the extra time spent on the sights is well worth turning the Mike into a C or better.

Flex is right on the mark (as usual). Don't think of time versus points at this stage of the game. Afterall, C class is just a wide spot in the road on the way to Master so just shoot and let the chips fall where they may.

Not to sound like a broken record, but see what you need to see to make the shot, trust yourself to drive the gun, and the time will be what it is.

[Jake Di Vita]

The main reason most people are stuck is B and C class is the fact that a lot of them don't realize that you need to shoot points to get ahead.

My best runs on stages have usually been those where I see the sight lift and return on every single shot. It feels so slow, but the human body is incapable of registering time accurately. The timer doesn't lie.

Shoot A's as fast as possible.

[Steve Moneypenny]

8 mikes? acceptable.... your strategy will put you in E class!!!! remember it's -10 points for the miss and -5 for not getting an A

this may help start out shooting A's ... then go a little faster. then faster.. when you drop anything over an inch into Charlie territory slow it back down. you have to find YOUR shooting speed. if it isn't C class then it isn't C-class work on improving and you'll get there when you do.

[jdt]

Jon,

After reviewing your scores from the Oct. 11 classifier match I saw that you had the highest points in your division and you were in the top three in points for the combined on every stage. (not counting the two you tanked #s 2 & 5) With hits like that you are on the right track. Keep up that level of accuracy and the faster times will come with practice and experience. You will move up in class easily with that kind of effort. Keep up the quality shooting.

[froglegs]

Probably just another crazy idea from the froglegs but here goes

Shoot it as you would any other day and at least get your hits, might as well have the satisfaction that you can hit the target if you want to or if you really had to. There's no joy to be found in shooting a stage really fast and having even a single miss to me that feels like CRAP I'd rather go slower and at least damage the paper. If you can't duplicate your score it was just luck and that only feels good for a little while.

Going at my own pace has by what means allowed me to become a B in uspsa its beyond me but when I take my time I do well and when I hurry I shoot barely low C or high D if I'm lucky.

Any time I've shot well I felt like I was slow when shooting and it's surprising to find out how smooth and fast it was when other people tell you that.

Im just a newbie myself, started in april this year and that's what worked so far.

[Tman33_99]

8 mikes? acceptable.... your strategy will put you in E class!!!! remember it's -10 points for the miss and -5 for not getting an A

Steve,

He was refereing to Indoor Rapid Fire Standards, which is a timed fire course. There are no penalities for mikes. Jon, did very well to estimate how long it would take for him to get his hits, and the 8 mikes he was referring to were shots never fired in the time allowed.

[shred]

Points are far more important than time for lower-level shooters, even though there are also huge time gains to be had.

Take a look at your stage hit factors sometime at a match. That's your personal points-per-second score. Make it into a fraction by putting a 1 over it and that's how much time each point is "worth". If each point is worth 1/2 or 1/4 second, that means that each D-hit costs you one to two seconds each.

[Steve Moneypenny]

Aaaahhh. the idea doesn't sound so insane now :-D

[jkushner1]

Thanks for the comments JDT and TMAN. I clearly will be "points driven" for the forseeable future. Steve, great web store - I'm kicking myself, I bought an M4 6 pos. butt stock for my Ltd class AR from Gunaccessories.com last week for $99 bucks, you beat that price by almost $40 !

Take good care gents

Jon

[JerryDGeek]

When I was shooting C-class and counselling D-class shooters, my mantra was "He who screws up least, wins the class". This is the mind-set that got me out of D-class.

Getting out of C-class, I realilzed that the basic rule was the same, except that you have to screw up least ... faster.

Now in B-class, I try to get A-hits really really quickly. Without screwing up. And I'm beginning to realize that I usually get misses on big, fat, wide-open targets with no penalty targets or other external factors which would normally encourage me to slow down and get the hits.

Here's the bottom line: it takes a few hundredths of a second to get an A-hit instead of a D-hit or a miss. Take the time, get the hits, and make up the time on MOVEMENT, not on shooting quickly.

[Flexmoney]

I never shoot as well as I am capable when I think in terms of time... fast or slow. (One wastes accuracy, the other wastes ticks on the clock.)

When I let vision control the shooting...that is when my best scores appear.

[Jon Merricks]

In practice I have found out that it really does not take any more time to shoot A's. I have worked on just seeing what I need to see.