GunBugBit Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I think there must be a few of you out there who have been able to jump up two or three USPSA classes in a short period of time, based on a routine of intensive dedicated practice and skill advancement. If you were able to accomplish this, would you mind sharing some of your story here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I know a guy who hooked up with a trainer for a solid year and moved all the way up to GM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waktasz Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Daily dry fire and twice weekly practices did a lot for my friend and I. A whole lot more than just shooting a club match or two every weekend, but that should be obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunBugBit Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 waktasz, I'm curious about how long it took you and your friend to make GM once you committed to that amount of dry fire and live fire practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunBugBit Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 I know a guy who hooked up with a trainer for a solid year and moved all the way up to GM. Sarge, did you ever hear from your friend what kind of individual practice routine he went on during the time he was working with the trainer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hittman21 Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I wish I could leapfrog I have been stuck in C-class for what seems like for ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waktasz Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 waktasz, I'm curious about how long it took you and your friend to make GM once you committed to that amount of dry fire and live fire practice. I was already an M in Limited, although just barely. I was an A in Production by default, but had a B class percentage. I got my Tanfo in July of 14 and made GM with the November 14 update I think. Just barely making GM and shooting like a GM are very different though. I know for me that swapping platforms and divisions was reinvigorating and drove me to want to practice more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 (edited) I'm lot leapfrogging anything. I have made slow steady progress the last 2 or 3 years with pretty much daily dryfire and weekly live-fire. I did find myself wasting some time with bad training habits on at least a couple different occasions. My progress has increased significantly since I made the commitment to put learning to call my shots as my first priority. Now it seems like each training session I'm picking up some important new bit of information. If I had made that commitment 2 years ago, I believe I would be far ahead of where I am now. fwiw, at age 54, I don't know if I will ever make GM. I don't really care that much either (yet). I just want to be better than I am right now. And in 2 months I'll want to be better than I am then. The thought of making M with 1 or 2 more solid classifiers is cool, but I think it's more important to acquire the skills to shoot consistently at that level, and then my match results will improve and the classification will come without me having to stress about it. Edited February 17, 2016 by motosapiens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I wish I could leapfrog I have been stuck in C-class for what seems like for ever. what is your practice schedule like? What are your weakest areas and what are you doing to make them strengths? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitrohuck Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 (edited) I went from being a D class to B class within my first year (and managed to snag 3rd place at my first Nationals in C class in the process). Not really that impressive whatsoever I'll admit, but then again I've shot three GM classifier scores and got screwed out of them each time. The first two were at a club that was still pending official uspsa affiliation (that sucked learning that info AFTER shooting GM scores) and the third was thrown away by USPSA because they literally said they didn't believe I shot that score, that was sort of upsetting but since I didn't notice for months thereafter it was too late to contact the club and have them vouch for me :-/ GM or M is my goal by summer's end, won't be an easy feat but I plan on putting in the dryfire and live fire practice in between matches to get there Edited February 17, 2016 by nitrohuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I went from being a D class to B class within my first year (and managed to snag 3rd place at my first Nationals in C class in the process). Not really that impressive whatsoever I'll admit, but then again I've shot three GM classifier scores and got screwed out of them each time. The first two were at a club that was still pending official uspsa affiliation (that sucked learning that info AFTER shooting GM scores) and the third was thrown away by USPSA because they literally said they didn't believe I shot that score, that was sort of upsetting but since I didn't notice for months thereafter it was too late to contact the club and have them vouch for me :-/ GM or M is my goal by summer's end, won't be an easy feat but I plan on putting in the dryfire and live fire practice in between matches to get there You can contact HQ about that one GM score and ask them to run it. If the score was legit and documented your chain of command should help you. Just be careful what you wish for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunBugBit Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Very cool, nitro. Keep shooting GM-level classifiers and it will happen for you soon enough I'll bet. Sounds like you must be one of those who has figured out how to practice and puts in that practice. I don't know what USPSA requires when a shooter suddenly starts shooting classifier scores far above what they were shooting just a few months prior, in order to believe the scores. Match Director vouching? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I've shot three GM classifier scores and got screwed out of them each time. The first two were at a club that was still pending official uspsa affiliation (that sucked learning that info AFTER shooting GM scores) and the third was thrown away by USPSA because they literally said they didn't believe I shot that score, In my experience, all it takes is for the shooter to contact uspsa and say 'hey, that score is legit, i am practicing and got better', and they will count it. There is a young man at our range (he might even be a GM by now) who had a couple scores rejected, and he just emailed them and they straightened it out. I don't *think* the MD had to get involved. OTOH, if you can actually shoot at that level, you should have no problem repeating those scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limited shtr Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Best way to move up is to take classes for local gm's or take a max Michael class and they can notice what your doing wrong in just a few hours . These types of classes helped me shoot smother and faster without feeling rushed. Also the drills I did in these classes i do in practice and as I have gotten better modify them for a new challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinready300ex Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I had one classifier get thrown out and just emailed them and they fixed it. My first classification in USPSA was A Class in Revolver. I came in as a Master in IDPA. My training primarily consisted of regular dry fire. I added in some live fire and almost made master. Then I changed to Open, and classified as B at the very end of the season. I dry fired twice a day, 5 days a week over the winter. And added in some live fire as the season got going and jumped to M after the next classifier match. I finished last season at 93.xx%. I'm amazed just how far I've come with mostly dry fire practice. What's even more amazing is telling people that is all it takes and they seem to not believe it, or brush off the idea of dry firing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitrohuck Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 (edited) I had emailed roger at uspsa and his response was: "I need to hear from the club that there wasn't an error entering the hits or time. The hit factor I see is significantly above the high hit factor while the rest of your scores are in the mid A class range" I'll take their disbelief as a compliment, since I did in fact crush that classifier . Like you said, I should have no issue repeating these scores in the future, so intend to do just that. As Waktasz said, there is a big difference between "shooting a GM score" in classifiers, and truly "shooting like a GM", I don't care what my classification card says at this point, I care about putting in the footwork to consistently perform at the highest level I possibly can. Luckily for me, some of the guys at the local club I shoot with are truly great shooters with a lot of experience and most of them are willing to lend their opinions and critiques. Their help, coupled with dry/live fire practice will be my ticket to getting my shooting to the level I want it at. Edited February 18, 2016 by nitrohuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) I know no one cares about Steel Challenge but I shot my first SC match ever Jan 2013 & then once a month for that year without any dedicated training for it, just continued to do USPSA Production training. From Dec of '13 to March of '14 I focused full time on SC training to get ready for the US Steel Nationals. After that I again went back to USPSA training for the rest of 2014. Dec 2014 I started to focus full-time on SC. Mar of 2015 I underwent wrist surgery and could not pick up a gun until mid Aug 2015. I've been shooting SC full-time since then. Using the 'soon-to-be-implemented' new rimfire Steel Challenge classification system my initial classification after my first match in Jan 2013 would have been C class. This past Dec my 'unofficial' rimfire classification passed 95%. It currently sits at 100.7% assuming no changes once the system goes live. My open centerfire Steel Challeneg classification is A class but I've only recently started to train seriously with that gun over the last few months. So if I can do math in public it looks like about 17 months of serious training spread out over the last 2 1/2 yrs to go from C class to GM ... The "how" of that is painfully documented in my range diary .... However, the short answer is ... I met Ben Stoeger .... Edited February 19, 2016 by Nimitz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunBugBit Posted March 19, 2019 Author Share Posted March 19, 2019 (edited) Hey Nimitz, I recently shot with some Florida shooters visiting Arizona who know you. I've been enjoying your Steel Challenge articles in USPSA magazine. Edited March 19, 2019 by GunBugBit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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