Critique Anything You See!

[Gooldylocks]

Hey guys so this is my most recent match, from March 8th. I am shooting Limited Major with a Glock 35.

Things I think I see: going too deep into ports, draw is slow (most in the video are between 1.5-7), my footwork needs help.

Thanks in advance guys!

(pardon the lack of editing, I just threw all the clips together and called it good)

[tackdr1ver]

Well, on the first stage your start position was awkward, you were leaning a lot more than you shuld have been which resulted in a slow start. You should have hand on your gun in the first step and it should have been out before you got to the first position. You were going too far into the ports for sure. I don't think you really gained much by shooting the far right partial target on the move, you probably should have just hauled ass to the first port shot the array in the port, turned right and hammered that target and hauled ass to the next position. Then in the last position you threw a mag change when it wasn't needed you should have just gotten it back into battery as I am sure your gun holds more than the 14 rounds required for the stage.

Second stage the first 3 positions looked ok, In the 4th position it looked like you went back and fourth twice on the steel. Not being able to see the array I can't tell if it was necessary or not.

3rd stage; it looks like on your draw you hunch over, better to start in the position you want to shoot from and bring the gun into your line of sight. Good recoil control. 2nd string, draw looked a little slow and your reload was slow & bobbled which looked like it made your last shot go over the par time. Also your stance isn't very aggressive I think it would help you a lot to have a more athletic and aggressive stance. 3rd string; It probably would have been better to shoot from right to left and let the recoil do some work for you.

4th stage; looked pretty decent from what I could see. It looks like you're very tense in the shoulders and hunched over again. Relax.

5th; wayyy too slow on the draw, you should have had your gun out & up before getting to the first port. you look like you're pretty athletic and have decent foot speed. I think ironing out draws & reloads, relaxing and getting to postions READY TO SHOOT would go a long way for you.

Good job man, I am not trying to tear you apart. I think with some tweaks and some practice you could do pretty well. Keep it up!

[Nimitz]

On stage 1 I counted 16 shots fired (maybe 17). Why did you do a reload? Doesn't your G35 hold at least 18 rds? What am I missing?

[Nimitz]

Also, shooting on the move, while it looks cool, is usually not a good idea in many situtations. If you can guarantee 2 Alphas or 1st hit knockdown on steel then ok, otherwise you are better off not doing it. There are far fewer situtations where shooting on the move is aactually a good idea than most shooters think ...

[Gooldylocks]

Sorry just got back to this thread! tackdr1ver, this is what was going through my head during the stuff you noticed.

So the awkward reload on the first stage caught me by surprise. I am still new to shooting Glocks and my thumb was pushing up on the extended slide lock, so it locked back with rounds still in the magazine. I replaced it after it did it a couple more times with the standard one. You can see that the next time it happens (the next stage) I just hit the slide lock instead of dropping the magazine. I need to work on diagnosing issues faster. Do you have any good drills for that?

The switching back and forth on the steel was to shoot a drop turner. There were two rows of three poppers, and the middle one on the left side activates the drop turner. I don't know if it was faster or not to do it that way. I shot it left, right, left, right, turner, left and right; I did it this way because of how fast the turner and poppers were falling. Have you shot one of these/have any tips?

Stage 3: I definitely need to work on my reloads and draws more. Do you mind explaining how to use the recoil to move the gun like you are talking about?

Definitely need to work on hunching over. I noticed that watching the video too.

Stage 5: I hadn't thought about that, I just thought running up and drawing would be faster but I think you are right that it would be faster to draw then run. It definitely was kind of awkward to draw as I was starting to squat down.

Nimitz: I will work on running into positions and setup for shots. I have been doing a lot of shooting on the move recently, and should start working more on getting into and out of positions and actually setting up.

Thank you guys so much for the advice, I will start working on this stuff in my practice!

Do you guys have any drills to work on these skills?

Thanks again!

[fuentesd99]

I shoot a G35 for Limited, whenever I do shoot Limited, and I have taken the slide release off of my gun so that wouldn't happen to me. It really isn't needed for USPSA.

Drills: there are a BUNCH of books out there like Ben's. Saul's and Micheal's. Buy them and use them. they really do help and make a difference.

Dave

[Chris iliff]

Stage 5: I hadn't thought about that, I just thought running up and drawing would be faster but I think you are right that it would be faster to draw then run. !

It's true, if you concentrate on one thing at a time it helps. For a moving draw, establishing a good grip before taking a step is critical for me. Some might say draw the gun completely before moving. Flat out running and trying to draw can be a humbling experience.

With that said, I thought you looked fairly good and aggressive. Some minor things, but they have been mentioned, like deep in ports.

Nimitz is spot on about shooting on the move. Find what distance and types of targets you are capable of shooting (partials) and then use that knowledge to determine exactly what to shoot on the move during your stage walk through.

I did notice that there was one array that had a partial and an open target. Car seat stage in video, the array is the 2nd and 3rd target you shoot. You took the open target first. Because of its position the partial required a little more difficult set up. I had a very good GM tell me that most of the time it's better to find the one target that is the most difficult to set up on and then plan your entire setup for the array around that target. In this way your feet aren't shuffling and usually you can leave sooner.

It's hard to tell, but I'm guessing that I would have shaved 3 seconds off your time just by eliminating the first position in that car seat stage. You fumbled around getting in the shooting area, then shot moving backwards at the open target out to your right. I would have blasted out of the chair and straight to the left with a soft set up on the partial then backing out on the open target. Then shooting the target you engaged first while moving around the corner. Basically I would have skipped your first target and shot it 3rd, while moving forward and around the corner after the two on the left.

Again, it's hard to tell angles and such on video, so forgive me if what I said is not possible.

But food for thought, most positions cost us 3 seconds of time just getting into and out of, not counting the shooting. So eliminating a position is always preferred if it can be done and doesn't lead to a bunch of time sucking difficult shots.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Chris iliff

[alma]

Anything? Your belt clashes with your shirt.

Otherwise it looks like it's talking you too long to confirm your sights. For example there seems two bedroom apartments noticeable delay when you draw or come to any new target when you gun is on the target but it must be talking you awhile to get your sights where you want them.

[mgardner]

Overall looked pretty good. All I can add is that at 2:30 when you shoot strong hand it looks like the gun is tipped out. Most shoot with the elbow slightly out and the gun tilted inward which uses stronger muscles to control the gun. Are you wearing running shoes with bouncy soles? I switched to shoes with an aggressive tread and no cushion which makes it feel as if I'm tied to the ground and in more control of my movement.

[Gooldylocks]

Anything? Your belt clashes with your shirt.

Otherwise it looks like it's talking you too long to confirm your sights. For example there seems two bedroom apartments noticeable delay when you draw or come to any new target when you gun is on the target but it must be talking you awhile to get your sights where you want them.

I try to wear red or black on match days, but it just didn't work out this time

I have noticed (and people have pointed out to me) that I need to speed up my transition time between targets. I have started doing an "X Drill" (head torso torso head reload repeat; the objective is to have it be slow fast fast slow) to speed up my transitions but I haven't gotten any progress yet. I seem to shoot them all the same speed, I am not speeding up the torso shots and slowing down for the heads. If I try to speed up the torsos I rush the headshots, if I try to slow down the headshots I am way too slow for the torsos. A lot more practice needed. Do you have any other drills to work on transition speed?

Overall looked pretty good. All I can add is that at 2:30 when you shoot strong hand it looks like the gun is tipped out. Most shoot with the elbow slightly out and the gun tilted inward which uses stronger muscles to control the gun. Are you wearing running shoes with bouncy soles? I switched to shoes with an aggressive tread and no cushion which makes it feel as if I'm tied to the ground and in more control of my movement.

Nike Lunar Elites. I might have to dig out my high school football cleats and give those a try...

I normally do cant the gun inwards when I am shooting with only one hand, but for some reason this time I didn't when I brought the gun up. I need to shoot with one hand only and develop more muscle memory for it.

Thank you guys for the critique, I appreciate it quite a lot!

[Gooldylocks]

It's hard to tell, but I'm guessing that I would have shaved 3 seconds off your time just by eliminating the first position in that car seat stage. You fumbled around getting in the shooting area, then shot moving backwards at the open target out to your right. I would have blasted out of the chair and straight to the left with a soft set up on the partial then backing out on the open target. Then shooting the target you engaged first while moving around the corner. Basically I would have skipped your first target and shot it 3rd, while moving forward and around the corner after the two on the left.

Again, it's hard to tell angles and such on video, so forgive me if what I said is not possible.

But food for thought, most positions cost us 3 seconds of time just getting into and out of, not counting the shooting. So eliminating a position is always preferred if it can be done and doesn't lead to a bunch of time sucking difficult shots.

So I just saw your comment. Watching it again I think you are correct about shooting those in the other order. I would have had to round off that next corner a bit more ( you could only see that far right target from pretty close to the edge of the shooting area) but I think it would have been faster. Run straight to the very left corner, set up to shoot the partial and the open target, then run back the other direction for the open right target.

[Gooldylocks]

Here is last week's match if you don't mind watching me not be able to shoot steel worth a damn and do standing reloads with one round left in an array....

Again any critique is welcome and wanted!

(I was sure to wear a black shirt so no worries on the clashing colors )

Thanks guys!

[ZackJones]

Something I picked up from watching Ben Stoeger's Training to Win DVD is having your pistol ready for the next target. Starting around 38 seconds as you transition to the right you break your grip but you're only taking a few steps. Try maintaining your grip and carry the pistol at target height and see if that helps you get on target a little faster when making your transitions.

1:33ish - plate rack I assume? After the run ask the RO where you were hitting. Usually they will tell you if you're hitting low or going over the top of the plate. That could give you some ideas on why things are going wrong.

1:49 - 1:53 - Looks like frustration was getting to you. Twice you pulled the pistol back and then extended it. That's costing you some time.

2:16 - Ah crap pretty much sums it up

Classifier stage - even though you are closer to the target you were shooting faster weak handed than you were strong handed. That may have been part of the problem on that stage.

Also now that you're fashionably correct you're got to get some powder other than Bullseye .

Top 10 finish in limited is a great accomplishment - congrats!

[alma]

Whenever I have a long run to the first magazine like that I like to lock my slide back so I can use the mag release to load the gun once I get my mag.

[Gooldylocks]

Something I picked up from watching Ben Stoeger's Training to Win DVD is having your pistol ready for the next target. Starting around 38 seconds as you transition to the right you break your grip but you're only taking a few steps. Try maintaining your grip and carry the pistol at target height and see if that helps you get on target a little faster when making your transitions.

1:33ish - plate rack I assume? After the run ask the RO where you were hitting. Usually they will tell you if you're hitting low or going over the top of the plate. That could give you some ideas on why things are going wrong.

1:49 - 1:53 - Looks like frustration was getting to you. Twice you pulled the pistol back and then extended it. That's costing you some time.

2:16 - Ah crap pretty much sums it up

Classifier stage - even though you are closer to the target you were shooting faster weak handed than you were strong handed. That may have been part of the problem on that stage.

Also now that you're fashionably correct you're got to get some powder other than Bullseye .

Top 10 finish in limited is a great accomplishment - congrats!

1:33 I was told afterwards I was hitting left of the plates, but the 4 that I hit I was holding way low because I thought my rounds were going high. So... I guess I need to take my gun and just shoot a bullseye target for some groups to see if the bullets actually fly straight... And work on my trigger control, listening to it again I could hear the trigger reseting when I finally slowed down. If I was jerking the trigger that would send them left wouldn't it?

1:49 Yes it totally was. I agree.

2:16 I had it counted out, there was 18 rounds to right there. I start with 21 in the gun so I thought I could make it but the extra shots on the steel screwed me on that last target.

I am loading with IMR 700X now, and it seems to me to be just as smoky (or maybe worse..) than the Bullseye! It is terrible! I think that I am going to have to switch to different bullets, I think it has to be the lube burning making it so smoky.

Alma: That is brilliant. I never would have thought about that. Thanks!

[Gooldylocks]

So I suppose there is no harm in posting this video here for more critique, here are the things I see when I watch the video:

1: some slow draws in there (stages 4 and 5)

2: movement was super awkward in a several places

3: shooting too fast and having misses because of it (eg: first stage on steel, had a miss on the classifier on the middle left target)

4: still hunching!

5: poor stage planning

Thanks in advance guys, you have all been a huge help to me!

ETA link

Edited April 14, 2014 by Gooldylocks

[CHA-LEE]

(1) On the first stage you should have been DQed for breaking the 180 by drawing the gun while still facing up range. You got lucky because the RO wasnt paying attention. If you go to a big match and do this, you will be heading to Dairy Queen for a draw like that. Fixing blatant safety issues first needs to be a priority.

(2) Holly smoky ammo batman. If your ammo is too smokey then you can't see what you need to be shooting at. Saving money on lead ammo is useless if you can't see what you are shooting at. Switch to a plated, jacketed, or coated bullet to keep the smoke down.

(3) You shuffle around way too much in shooting positions. Enter a shooting position with a single wide stance so you can transition between the targets using your knees and not need to shuffle your feet around.

(4) Find a local shooter who you can train with or take a class from. Taking a class from an effective instructor will short cut a lot of the stupid mistakes that you end up learning by trying to do it on your own. A lot of shooters balk at the cost of getting training but they don't realize that effective training will save them a crap ton of time and wasted ammo in the long run, which costs way more than paying for effective training classes.

[Gooldylocks]

1: hadn't noticed that, yea that is a huge one. I guess I just rushed it since it wasn't a full turn like normal. Not good, thanks for spotting it.

2: Yea I am thinking I need to switch to some coated stuff, I can't afford to shoot jacketed or plated but I didn't realize coated could be had for as cheap as it could be until like last week. I am thinking about ordering some of the Blue Bullets and giving those a try.

3: Can you give me an example of the shuffling? I have really been trying to work on doing just that and setting up where I can see the maximum number of targets and just being able to transition like you are talking about. I am not doubting I do it, just looking for an example.

4: I just recently (like three weeks ago) took my first ever class from one of the local M's. It was extremely helpful. I definitely plan on continuing to meet with him.

Thanks for the help!

[Sandbagger123]

i have never seen a turn around stage where the target is engage at 90 degrees. facing downrange yes, uprange no.

[Gooldylocks]

Me either, it was very weird. And there was that other one where you started outside the shooting area hands on x's where the targets were really close to the 180 so you couldn't just back up and draw. It looks like you can in the video but that rear fault line isn't actually parallel to the 180, it's angled backwards. Very awkward.

[CHA-LEE]

On stages like the first one where you are starting up range with your hands at sides, regardless of the targets being at the 180 or not, its always best to initiate your turn movement with your hips as that gets your gun moving towards a safe direction sooner. You also need to slightly delay the draw of the gun from the holster with a hands at sides draw like that. Watch your video again and look at the trigger of turn movement you are using. You are triggering your turn movement by turning your head first then your body follows. Switch it up to trigger your turn movement with your hips as that will get you turned around before the gun is drawn uprange.

As for you shuffling around look at your video at times 0:16, 0:31, 1:37, 1:52, and 2:50. Every one of these shooting positions is circumvented because you are shuffling around.

You also lack the critical skill of launching out of the shooting positions. Watch your lack of acceleration as you exit each shooting position. You have a half hearted exit followed by a half hearted run. Any time the gun isn't running is 100% wasted time. Minimize the wasted time of moving from one position to the next by HAULING ASS like you mean it. You are giving away seconds of wasted time on the larger field courses by simply not hauling ass when you need to be.

Edited April 15, 2014 by CHA-LEE

[Nimitz]

So I'm going to offer my usual advise when I see threads like this one .... while all the "movement advise" you are receiving, particularly from shooters like Chris & Cha-lee is spot on, I'm going to suggest that what you need to work on FIRST, is a different set of skills ... namely, the fundamental USPSA skill set of being able to shoot accurately at speed. The troubles you have identified in your shooting all point to the need to address this first. Moving ain't your problem.

Do this simple test to see what you should be working on in your training sessions: Set up the classifier El Presidente and see if you can shoot it at the 75% level on command. This is a very simple stand and shoot exercise that highlights most of the req'd fundamental skills in our sport. If you can't do that then what you need to work on first is your ability to stand and shoot accurately at speed.

If you are unable to stand and shoot accurately at speed, what make you think you can shoot accurately at speed while moving through a course of fire?

Don't get me wrong, you'll eventually need to be able to move and shoot accurately at speed as well but crawl first, then walk, then run ....

(Most shooters never follow this advise and most shooters also never make Master class either ...)

[CHA-LEE]

So I'm going to offer my usual advise when I see threads like this one .... while all the "movement advise" you are receiving, particularly from shooters like Chris & Cha-lee is spot on, I'm going to suggest that what you need to work on FIRST, is a different set of skills ... namely, the fundamental USPSA skill set of being able to shoot accurately at speed. The troubles you have identified in your shooting all point to the need to address this first. Moving ain't your problem.

Do this simple test to see what you should be working on in your training sessions: Set up the classifier El Presidente and see if you can shoot it at the 75% level on command. This is a very simple stand and shoot exercise that highlights most of the req'd fundamental skills in our sport. If you can't do that then what you need to work on first is your ability to stand and shoot accurately at speed.

If you are unable to stand and shoot accurately at speed, what make you think you can shoot accurately at speed while moving through a course of fire?

Don't get me wrong, you'll eventually need to be able to move and shoot accurately at speed as well but crawl first, then walk, then run ....

(Most shooters never follow this advise and most shooters also never make Master class either ...)

This is why I suggested he do some training with a competent local trainer. No amount of online feedback, video watching, or book reading can replace the effectiveness of a trainer pointing out your flaws and providing solutions in a real time training scenario.

I have cut way back on providing video reviews of peoples stage runs because a lot of people have a hard time in correlating what I point out as a flaw with a method of fixing that flaw. Most people respond better in a monkey see, monkey do type of one on one training scenario. Giving people feedback online like this takes out the whole "monkey see" side of the training, which most people require to understand what needs to be changed. I can give valid "Monkey Do" suggestions all day long but there are not many people who can actually put that feedback into perspective and formulate a training plan to resolve their issues.

Thus my simplified response of "Get some training locally".

[Gooldylocks]

On stages like the first one where you are starting up range with your hands at sides, regardless of the targets being at the 180 or not, its always best to initiate your turn movement with your hips as that gets your gun moving towards a safe direction sooner. You also need to slightly delay the draw of the gun from the holster with a hands at sides draw like that. Watch your video again and look at the trigger of turn movement you are using. You are triggering your turn movement by turning your head first then your body follows. Switch it up to trigger your turn movement with your hips as that will get you turned around before the gun is drawn uprange. I hadn't ever thought of doing it this way before, I will start practicing that in dry fire. I had been turning my head because I was thinking along the same lines as mountain bikes or motorcycles, your body will go where your head is looking, so look where you want to go.

As for you shuffling around look at your video at times 0:16, 0:31, 1:37, 1:52, and 2:50. Every one of these shooting positions is circumvented because you are shuffling around. A few of those (:31 and 1:37) were because of the angles to the targets, I am not tall enough to setup right in the middle and see them all (1:37). Two targets all the way at like 160* and two up against the front wall, so I can't stand in the middle and see everything. Do you have a technique to help with this?

You also lack the critical skill of launching out of the shooting positions. Watch your lack of acceleration as you exit each shooting position. You have a half hearted exit followed by a half hearted run. Any time the gun isn't running is 100% wasted time. Minimize the wasted time of moving from one position to the next by HAULING ASS like you mean it. You are giving away seconds of wasted time on the larger field courses by simply not hauling ass when you need to be. Do you think it would be worth it to start doing suicides or some other short sprint/change of direction workouts? One of the drills my instructor taught me was to shoot T1 with two rounds, T2 with two rounds and be literally falling out of the box by the time you get the second shot off. Do you think if I keep doing that it will help speed me up getting out of positions?

Thanks for all the help Cha-Lee, I really appreciate it.

Do this simple test to see what you should be working on in your training sessions: Set up the classifier El Presidente and see if you can shoot it at the 75% level on command. This is a very simple stand and shoot exercise that highlights most of the req'd fundamental skills in our sport. If you can't do that then what you need to work on first is your ability to stand and shoot accurately at speed.

Next time I go to the range I am going to do this exact thing. Using Classifier calc that would be about a 8.1 HF, so that is what I will try to match.

I have a classifier match in a couple weeks, are there others I should practice that cover lots of the fundamental shooting skills well? I am also thinking so that when I get to the match maybe I will have shot them before and have a bit of a plan and familiarity instead of nothing to go on like normal.

Thanks Nimitz!

[CHA-LEE]

Falling out of shooting positions as you are engaging targets may seem like it is faster but its really not. When you fall out of a shooting position your on target hit quality usually goes into the crapper because you are rushing the shots to get the shooting done before you fall out. You are also shooting from a circumvented platform as you fall out of the shooting position which usually translates to poor recoil management and crappy hits. The most important factor to consider is that if you fall out of a shooting position you are not able to aggressively accelerate out of the position with a solid push off with your trailing leg.

A lot of the position to position movement that we do in this sport is over a distance that is only a few feet away. With the positions being so close to one another there is no time or distance to use a moment method that creates a delayed acceleration. You want to use a movement method that produces a peak acceleration with the first and second step, then you basically coast into the next shooting position. This can usually be achieved by a solid push towards the direction you want to go with your trailing leg followed by a second power step with your leading leg. By then you should be accelerated to near maximum speed and all you have to do is maintain that velocity to the next shooting position.

A good sport to reference for aggressive directional acceleration with a single step is racket ball. A lot of the same movement methods used in that sport can be directly ported over to movement skills needed in practical shooting.