Limited Capacity Shooting on the Move?

[Smitty79]

I shoot Production. On the next run, I should be B and I am starting to finish in the top half of my local matches.

Other than the last step coming into a position of the first step out, I don't seem to shoot on the move much. Almost all of my movement time is spent reloading.

Am I wasting time practicing shooting on the move or is this an A, M, G skill I will need soon? Is shooting on the move, particularly moving side to to side, not very useful in low cap divisions, particularly with minor scoring?

[PatJones]

Stage dependant... Less reward when shooting minor. I think folks often over value shooting on the move.

[Flatland Shooter]

Its a good skill to have and will help finish higher in matches.

Since the classifiers do not utilize shooting while moving, it will not help you move up but it will help you shoot within your Class at matches.

[fishsticks]

TFI Movement class will cover that! I hear there is room in the June class.

The short answer is covered above. For a longer answer you will learn a lot in Keith's class.

[waktasz]

Depends on that match. Not much opportunity to do it at Nats last year, for example...but on stages that seem to be asking for it, you will lose time by not doing it.

[rowdyb]

Another place to "play" in your practice. Set up a small stage of two arrays. Run it shoot n stop and run it shoot n move. You'll learn quite a bit about your shooting.

I also second what other said that it is very stage/target dependent.

[mlmiller1]

Not to be critical but it sounds to me as though you need to practice reloading. Your reload should be done before you move more than a step or two out of position. Shoot, reload as you step, then MOVE while keeping the gun up in your vision plane. Gives you the opportunity to either move into position faster or shoot on the move.

[BillGarlandJr]

Points are so important in Prod. with its minor scoring. That being the case, if the targets are close enough to allow you to shoot good points (A's) as you move without causing you to slow down too much then shooting on the move can benefit you. If you shoot on the move and dump a ton of points then there is nothing gained. Shooting on the move is something to work into your practice routine, but for your current skill level I think time is best spent working on entering and exiting positions more efficiently. By that I mean having the gun up, sights aligned, and trigger prepped as you are settling into a new position, and then explosively leaving to go to the next position. I think ultimately on many stages honing those skills will have a bigger impact.

[cnote]

Stoger pod cast has an episode where he called it overrated, situation dependent, and most do it at the wrong time ......, in production

[perttime]

Almost all of my movement time is spent reloading.

That makes me think there is something not-quite-right with your reloading. (mlmiller1 already mentioned it).

Old mag out as soon as last shot is gone - new one in within a couple of steps.

[motosapiens]

Another place to "play" in your practice. Set up a small stage of two arrays. Run it shoot n stop and run it shoot n move. You'll learn quite a bit about your shooting.

I also second what other said that it is very stage/target dependent.

This is great advice. I typically find only 1 or 2 targets in a match that might be worth shooting on the move and the benefit is usually small, however I think practicing shooting on the move and learning to do it better is extremely valuable and has helped the rest of my shooting immensely, particularly my ability to call shots. The sights are moving around so much more that you really have to pay attention. Also, being able to hit mostly alphas at 12-15 yards while moving has made me much more comfortable with shooting on entries and exits.

Another benefit of being able to shoot on the move is that it can open up your stage plans a little bit and give you more options for when to reload.

[kevin c]

I heard Ben say the same and I think he's right, at least in Production. Slow C's taken at a walking pace get beat by A's taken after a sprint to a closer/more stable shooting position. Not saying it's never useful, but it seems the more I shoot the less I do it (although that might be just that I can't walk and chew gum at the same time any more...).

[bradsteimel]

Distance to targets is paramount when deciding whether to shoot on the move. Sounds obvious, i know. But if there are close targets, even when shooting minor, you should be able to shoot those on the move. The more advanced of a shooter you are, the further the targets can be that will allow you to shoot them on the move. Definitely something you need to know about your ability - how close do the targets need to be for you to be able to shoot them on then move.

[motosapiens]

distance is very important. what's also important is whether that target is available from anywhere else that you already have to go to. If I have to go there anyway, I'm usually better off getting there as fast as I can and shooting more quickly. One exception is when there are more targets from a particular position than I have capacity for. It may make sense to take 1 or 2 easy ones on the move then reload into the position.

If there is only 1 target in a particular place, I'd very much like to not have to fully stop and then start again if I can just do a drive-by. There were a couple like that at A1.

[Corey]

Shooting "on the move" can be subjective too. You dot have to be running or even walking at a fast speed. Learn to back out of a position and shoot the last target of an array as your body is shifting out and you maybe take one step. Likewise, try to maybe shoot the first target of an array as you are coming into a position. Learn to pause during a movement and take a shot if needed then keep rolling like the drive-by description from moto above. No need to setup fully, but you may not want to shoot it on a dead run either.

Its all dependent on skill, stage setup, target presentation etc. Set up some target arrays and a couple boxes or a small shooting area and see what you can do. Try it walking forward, backward, left and right. Did your accuracy suffer? Was the HF higher or lower? Was one way better than another. For me being a right hand shooter, i seem to do a little better when I'm moving left to right and i can turn my body with my string side moving forward. Just feels more natural. you may find that you can and should shoot on the move moving certain ways but not others yet.