Those dang long courses!

[jayjay1]

I have no idea what my problem is.

Mostly every time I´m shooting a long course in a match, I miss something.

Especially if there are hidden targets (covered from a barricade or so) in the game.

At the walkthrough I try to keep everything in mind, especially the "somehow special targets".

But you can bet, if the Beep comes I´m starting my run and will forget those little bastards, although I tried to memorize them.

What am I doing wrong?

[gng4life]

I used to do that a lot but found some things that help me and hardly ever miss one now...well, I mean, go by one and forget it

Count out your targets to make sure you know what you have and then get your plan together - 99% of time, DO NOT CHANGE YOUR PLAN! Dry run your plan by walking the COF and seeing it in your head over and over until you are sick of it.

Sometimes, you need to slow down and not try to rush it too much. Yeah, time is a huge factor but missing targets and taking the -30 for each is even worse. Once you start getting the hang of it, start getting your speed back up.

How often does it happen? Is it common to a particular type of stage such as one that has multiple locations to take the shot or very tight locations and you are blowing by the locations?

[Sarge]

Walk the stage until you are told to clear the stage. Don't feel obligated if the RO asks if everyone has seen it enough. If you are the only guy who still wants to look at it so be it. Count shots in your head from each position and memorize that as well. And only shoot the stage as fast as you can without missing targets

[Graham Smith]

There is no simple answer to this but I can make a few suggestions. On long courses in particular, be one of those people who grabs a roll of pasters and get's out there after someone shoots. Try and work a different section after each shooter.

If you aren't pasting, then think about the stage as others are running it.

The rule is to make a plan and stick with it, but if 5 people in a row all shoot it differently then you are thinking of doing it, there might be a reason.

[Corey]

It'll come with more practice. Walk the stage PLENTY of times to know where all the targets are and figure out a plan to shoot them. Then step back and close your eyes and try to see yourself moving through the stage. Can you find your positions and all the targets? If so, good you should be able to repeat that. If not, go walk it a time or two more to pick up the ones you are missing. You should be able to close your eyes and say to yourself "Beep, move to left side shoot 3 paper and 2 poppers, move to the window and shoot 2 paper targets, reload and move to the 2nd window and shoot 4 targets, go around the corner and shoot the 2 targets on the right and the last popper". If you can't do that in your head figure out where you lose track of it on the stage and go walk it again until the Ro says clear the stage. Getting there early and rough walking the stages before the match always helps. 5 minutes isn't a lot of time for some stages

[Nimitz]

your issue is that you are not ready to shoot ... you need to spend more time visualizing .... if you can not close your eyes and run the entire stage in your mind, see every target, every position, every reload, every transition you are simply not ready to shoot ... period.

ask any top shooter what they are doing in the 10-15 mins before its their turn on a stage like you describe and they will all tell you the same thing ... they are visualizing continually until its their turn ...

the typical rank and file USPSA shooter vastly underestimates the exteme importance of visualization ...

[jayjay1]

Well, no USPSA over here in Germany, I´m doing IPSiCk.

We only have 3 minutes to walk through the stage after the briefing.

Going through the stages before the match without permission can result in a DQ.

And as we are Germans (mostly), all 15 shooters in a squad are standing in a row and are waiting until it is their turn to walk through.

So, the longer the stage, the less times you can walk through.

At long courses roughly two times.

And if it is a difficult one with some shooting positions and "hidden" targets and/or plates, I tend to forget one or more.

Normally I need my first walkthrough to count the targets and make a decision how I will run the stage and where I want to do my mag changes.

On the second turn I try to find my positions.

I agree, that I have still to learn a lot and am not the fastest on this planet.

But I can tell, that I´m doing exactly the same as Eric Grauffel does, just a tad slower.

Well, I will take your tips to visualize the stages and will train that.

Thank you so far.

[Chris iliff]

Take notes. Literally draw it out and study whtat you have drawn until it is your turn. I'm sure that even on the longest most complicated stage I could draw it and memorize it from the drawing. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to represent what you are going to see.

[Hi-Power Jack]

If I have 14 other shooters and 3 minutes to walk the course,

there's no way I can come up with a foolproof plan, either.

That seems a little fast to me.

Of course, the more practice you have, the easier it will

become, but that is a difficult set of restrictions you have.

[jayjay1]

Well, that are the IPSC rules in Germany.

Squads mostly variy between 12 and 16 shooters.

In training I only do short sequences of some sort of skills, so I have to do more matches to get that vizualisation thingy.

But I´m trying this right from now.

Thanks for your support, gentlemen.

[motosapiens]

do you guys have to paste the targets and reset and stuff? if so, then 3 mins is only a problem for the first shooter. Everyone else gets more time. I like to not only know where I'm going to stop and shoot, but exactly what the targets are like, which one I'm starting on, etc... I visualize the whole sequence including shooting while slowing/stopping on the first target where appropriate, and starting to shift my weight and step out as I'm shooting the last target. Each time I go forward to paste and reset, I take another quick glimpse of anything I don't remember perfectly.

When some other shooter steps up to the line, I typically just close my eyes and go through the whole stage in my memory. It helps to say 'pew pew pew'. Not sure wie sagt man 'pew pew pew' auf deutsch.

I find that the more I do it, the better I get at committing a plan to memory quickly.

Edited March 5, 2015 by motosapiens

[TJ1911]

Pitching in to tape/score definitely helps. You can basically walk the stage after just about every shooter. Helping to score will help with target memory; you've got to account for the hits on each paper, and re-set all the steel.

[Kraj]

The first year I did uspsa I ran past targets all the time. The more I did it the easier it got to break down stages and focus on the best way to shoot the stage not just trying to get every target

[Pat Miles]

your issue is that you are not ready to shoot ... you need to spend more time visualizing .... if you can not close your eyes and run the entire stage in your mind, see every target, every position, every reload, every transition you are simply not ready to shoot ... period.

ask any top shooter what they are doing in the 10-15 mins before its their turn on a stage like you describe and they will all tell you the same thing ... they are visualizing continually until its their turn ...

the typical rank and file USPSA shooter vastly underestimates the exteme importance of visualization ...

What he said^^^^^^^^^^!

[jayjay1]

Not sure wie sagt man 'pew pew pew' auf deutsch.

"Peng-peng-peng", but pew-pew-pew would work too.

[shws]

I have trouble with this. Show up early for the match, look at all the stages. Go through the walkthrough and run it through in your head until you don't have to think about where the targets are going to be and just know.

[elftech86]

The worst part about some of those jumbled stages is when you double engage a target and get the 2 mikes and the FTE penalty on the one you thought was already taken. HAHA. That has happened to me twice now.

[BeerBaron]

I have trouble with this. Show up early for the match, look at all the stages. Go through the walkthrough and run it through in your head until you don't have to think about where the targets are going to be and just know.

in ipsc rules you are not supposed to be on the other ranges until your squad gets there to shoot it. however, for most matches you should get a match package before the match that has as booklet with all the stages in it including the diagrams, round count and start condition etc.

my advice.

before even getting to the stage check out the stage briefing to get a basic idea of its layout and CHECK THE ROUND COUNT!

That will give you a start to at least figure out how many targets you need to 'find' when you get to the walk through etc. even if you don't get a 'match package' there will always be a written stage briefing and diagram posted on the stage.

when you get your 3min walkthrough if you are in the first 3-4 shooters for that stage you should be at the front of the queue for walkthrough and should get as many walkthroughs as possible in the allotted time.

Go through and firstly find all the targets. check against the round count.

secondly go through and determine where you can see targets from to break the stage down into the smallest number of positions/the most efficient way of shooting it (from memory no shooting on the move in germany, so it will all be static shooting positions which makes this crucial).

now that you have your positions, plan the reloads

now you need to fine tune those positions. where exactly am I going to stop (look for markers on props, fault lines etc). plan how many steps to each position so you're not looking at the ground as you're running the stage.

now as the other guys ahead of you shoot you should be burning that plan in so you can run it fully in your head and visualise what you will see when you get to each position, each port etc.

while the others are shooting watch them, it helps ensure your plan is solid.

help reset the stage and while patching/resetting burn that plan in even more.

3 shooters before your turn make sure you are all geared up. mags full, gun on etc.

2 shooters before your turn you are not doing anything except focusing on your run. don't do any patching, scoring etc. just keep running that little stage movie in your head (beep, draw and 2 big steps, peng-peng....peng-peng...run, 8 steps to next position, peng-peng....peng-peng....peng (ding!).. reload, 4 steps......and so on....)

like so many other parts of shooting it's a learned skill you can develop. It's hard on the long courses with short walkthrough time but the key is don't waste time on the valuable walkthrough time, and then after that get focussed on burning that plan into your mind.

[ATLDave]

I have struggled with this at times, often because I was trying for a stage plan that was too focused on maximizing efficiency, which often required skipping targets in one position to get them from a different position later, trying to find one magic spot where I could see a bunch of things by leaning and craning, etc. I have since come to the conclusion that the best approach for me is usually to:

1. Figure out where I have to go to see all the targets.

2. Go to those places.

3. Shoot everything I can see from there unless I can already see bullet holes in it.

4. If I'm torn between stage plans, go with the one that minimizes the chance of me forgetting a target (or DQ'ing, which is an even bigger disaster).

Sometimes this creates a stage plan that is not the fastest possible stage plan. Better to take an extra second than to eat -30 for not even engaging one of the targets. Similarly, if you are torn between two stage plans, and one will require you to remember to make a huge transition to even see a target, and one avoids that, go with the one where you don't have to remember to turn through 120+° just to pick up the target. If you are torn between two spots to engage a target that you are worried about forgetting, and one of those spots has a better marker (a barrel rather than just a discoloration on a fault line, for instance), pick the spot with the more prominent marker. You're less likely to forget the spot entirely, and you'll have to spend less mental capacity on hunting it down, rather than remembering what to shoot once you get there. Similarly, if running the course from one direction lets you see more targets heading into your position or see the marker that's going to remind you to look for a hidden target, go with that direction.

Taking this approach has helped me significantly.

[jayjay1]

Three minutes is the time for a walkthrough in IPSC in Germany.

You get no infos before the match.

If you have finished a stage early, you can move on and view the other squad on the next stage.

[Nimitz]

Makes being able to visualize even more critical ....

[theWacoKid]

I thought this would be a problem for me when I started shooting, but turns out it wasn't so bad. I remember leaving one paper and steel combo that I didn't know existed and didn't put in my stage plan. Probably wouldn't have happened if I wasn't the first shooter and we had been given a round count.

Which gets me to my keys:

1) Round count, round count, round count. Know the total as you plan the stage. I count total rounds every time I walk through or visualize.

2) I memorize shooting spots whether it's posting up or moving.

3) Shoot targets as seen from my shooting spots.

4) If I want to skip a target from a position or there is a target that is hard to see/easy to miss then I memorize that one particular target only.

5) If there's a spot that feels troublesome I'll memorize only the number of targets to engage from that spot.

This worked well for me because when I got started in uspsa memorizing every little thing seemed so overwhelming. I've now stuck with this and just memorize only the essentials. The engaging of targets is more reactive than planned and I've found the more matches I shoot the better I get at this part, so it's not something I have to clutter my mind thinking about. Just let it go.

Hope this helps some.

Edited November 21, 2015 by theWacoKid

[my00wrx1]

Try breaking the stage down into chunks to assist with planning and memorisation.

I shoot IPSC, I do not have the best memory but I can plan and memorise a stage quite easily using this technique.

The first thing I do is look at the most efficient pathway way to move through the stage where their are multiple directions you need to move to.

I mime and consciously say the actions to myself as I move through the stage, working out shooting positions, the shoot order for the targets, reloads (I am limited to 10 round mags) and counting targets.

I do physically get into position, check what else I can see from that window or around that wall.

I don't generally count steps and I don't use markers on walls, the ground etc. I am looking at or toward my next target.

I rely on sighting my target, looking 'through' obstacles where required, and my peripheral vision to locate my shooting positions.

This is what my initial walk through and stage plan on a 27 round stage I shot earlier in the week looked like.

Move and draw, 2, 4, 6 (as I visualise and count the rounds required on each target) - move and reload - 2, 4, 6 - move and reload - 2, 4, 6, 8 - move and reload - steel, 2, 4, 6 = 7

As I walk back to the start position I count the targets from my initial walk through I just to confirm the round count like this:

6 and 6 is 12, 12 and 8 is 20, 20 and 7 is 27

After a few walk throughs and I have my stage plan worked out any further walk throughs are primarily used to to fix in my visualisation of the targets and shooting positions.

In between walk throughs and after they have finished, say when patching targets, I continue to fix in my memorisation by envisioning the targets in the order I am going to shoot them as I repeat the key steps to myself.

For the above stage my burn in was something like this as I envisioned the targets and repeated to myself how I would move through the stage:

2, 4, 6 - reload - 2, 4, 6 - reload, 2, 4, 6, 8, - reload - steel, 2, 4, 6

If I have burned the stage into my memory correctly when the buzzer goes off I just shoot the stage on auto pilot as I memorised it with no real conscious thought other than calling my shots.

[eric4069]

For the above stage my burn in was something like this as I envisioned the targets and repeated to myself how I would move through the stage:

2, 4, 6 - reload - 2, 4, 6 - reload, 2, 4, 6, 8, - reload - steel, 2, 4, 6

If I have burned the stage into my memory correctly when the buzzer goes off I just shoot the stage on auto pilot as I memorised it with no real conscious thought other than calling my shots.

+1 I really like this post

In developing the plan it helps me to simplify by first marking off in my mind (or on my piece of paper) the targets to be shot from the first and last position. Then the remainder of plan development is just for the intervening two or three positions

Eric