Good DVD's or books for stage breakdown?

[Tuflehundon]

Shooting with some guys today that were better than me (couple of A's and an M), I noticed that my stage breakdown is lacking a bit. I went from shooting Limited for over a year to now shooting Open for the past couple of months. Seems like I am still stuck in Limited mode, and I am playing things to safe and staying in my comfort zone.

I took videos of some of the better guys shooting each stage, and had a friend video me. Comparing videos, they were faster on several things. They just shot faster (accurately), faster in and out of positions, more efficient with movement, etc. But I noticed what saved them more time than anything was the way they shot that stages different than I did. They pushed themselves, took harder shots, and took risks. But it paid off for them in the end.

Are there any good books or DVD that deal with stage break down?

I am gonna be taking a class or 2 this summer with Shannon Smith, but want to learn a few things in the mean time.

[CHA-LEE]

You need to understand up front that Shooting/Moving Skills and Stage Breakdown Strategies must be closely linked to one another. If you don't know what skills you can leverage or the limit of your skills are, you can't formulate an effective stage strategy.

A good example would be on shooting an array of targets from a stationary shooting position or engaging them on the move. YOU need to test these skills in practice to know what conditions warrant the use of one over the other to yield effective results. The shot timer and quality of hits on target are your tools in figuring out what is or isn't effective in any given condition. Nobody can spoon feed that to you. YOU need to put in the range time to figure that stuff out on your own.

You also need to understand that as your skills improve, your strategy must also change to leverage those improved skills.

Lastly, get in person training from an effective trainer sooner than later. Shannon Smith is a great trainer and he will get you on the correct path. If your schedule or budget allows, start training with him as soon as possible. Trying to figure things out on your own until his class will probably not yield much effective training or learning by its self. Learning how to perform better in the practical shooting sports isn't like snapping Lego pieces together. Its a complex and dynamic endeavor that is usually a unique path for every student of the game. Without solid in person training its very easy to waste a bunch of time, money, and ammo while you are wondering aimlessly through the process of learning.

[Nimitz]

my stage plans today look very different than they would have for the same stage 2-3 years ago when I was first learning how to shoot because my skill set is vastly different. I do things on a stage today that I would have never considered 2 years ago because I knew i didn't have the skills to do it even though I knew it was costing me time.

I also doubt those better shooters are taking more risks even though it may seem that way to you. Good shooters work hard in practice and shoot easy at matches and rarely take risks. They simply are able to execute things you may not be able to and that may look "risky" to you (because it is) but it is well within their comfort zone. As your skills improve so will your ability to do things differently on a stage to take advantage of it and lower your stage times ....

Edited January 13, 2015 by Nimitz

[eric nielsen]

With your 2nd paragraph, you pointed out the things you can work on. Between now and training with Smitty, test your abilities and take notes of what shots you can make. Shots you've proved you can make standing, after a tricky position set-up, on the move, leaning around left, leaning around right, crouching sorta low, crouching very low, and so on. Once you know how small a target you can take and how fast you can take it - successfully - then you can put together stage plans that look more like the guys who are doing it in less time. There are DVD's out there by Saul Kirsch and Matt Burkett that address strategies they used in a match, but those are plans that can be executed by high-level Open shooters. The best strategy DVD that I've seen looks to be unavailable now, that was Saul's coverage of the 2003 Open Nationals. He has a set covering match & tactics at the 2007 Nationals, might be worth a look. AFTER you know what you can shoot.

It seems like simple-type stuff to me now, but what I remember of my first few months in Open (initially B class, 4 months later A) is I figured out when and where I needed to stop the dot, and when I could let it flop around some and still get good hits.

[Tuflehundon]

Thanks for the advice. Open seems like a whole different animal than anything else I've done. I do realize the other shooters weren't so much taking risks, they have around 20 years each in competitive shooting. To me it seemed like risks, things I wasn't fully comfortable with. But I know if I do stay in the comfort zone, I'll never learn. You could see in the videos were we did the same plan, they seemed very natural, and I was conscious of what I was doing to be sure I pushed myself, but remained safe and in control. They were almost on auto pilot, like they knew what to do and just did it.

One of the big reasons I am waiting till summer to the get the training is Shannon and my schedules. He has a major match a month at his range for the next 4 months, and my schedule doesn't jive with his until summer.

I think what I need to do is start doing some bigger local matches instead of the smaller ones at my local club. There are some amazing shooters at my local club, but not that many really good Open shooters. If I go to some of the larger monthly matches I can squad up with some of the better shooters and pick there brains and pay attention to what they did different. By filming what they did and then myself on the same stages I did see a lot I can improve on. Maybe I should work on those things between now and when I can train with Shannon.

[Tuflehundon]

One other thing I will add as to why I am waiting till summer to get training with Shannon.

Another issue I am having is that I am out of shape. Not nearly the 220lbs I was when I got out of the Marines. I am starting to work with a personal trainer that is a shooting friend to get back to my fighting weight. Loosing 50 - 60 lbs between now and then would put me in a much better place. Can't afford to do both at the same time right now.