New to USPSA and the mikes are pilling up.

[cheddchedd]

I've shot two matches now and my second match was worse than my first. The weather was down right nasty but no matter what I did I couldn't turn it around. I was in a squad with most of the front runners of the match. I don't know if their amazing speeds were pushing me but I kept telling myself to slow down.

It seems most of my first shots were reasonably well placed but most of my follow up shots were the issue.

My question is, what did everyone do when they started that helped them improve the most? I don't have the luxury of shooting every day or week for that matter. I'm looking for that little gem of advice that changes me for the better.

[zzw26n]

Only been in the game a year myself, but learning to call your shots (you'll know it when it happens) is what improved my HF.

[sfinney]

Don't slow down or speed up. Just see a good sight picture for each shot (first AND second, they are not double taps), and let your sight picture dictate your shooting pace. Get your hits.

Aim at a specific point on the target (a piece of tape in the A-Zone for example, not just "the A zone" or "the brown target". DO NOT try to keep of with other shooters, shoot your own game. It will work out.... and have fun!

[mikeyjones]

Most importantly shoot your own game. Don't worry about what other guys on your squad are doing.

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[GrumpyOne]

Most importantly shoot your own game. Don't worry about what other guys on your squad are doing.

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This. And it might be better for you to NOT watch the better shooters do their run. Get a stage plan that fits you and your shooting ability.

[grapemeister]

Yes, shot calling. If you make up your mind that the only job you have when the timer goes off is to call every shot, you'll find the shooting more fun and you'll go home feeling more content that you shot to the best of your ability. You see mikes, D's or a miss on steel, make the shot up.

Before the next match write down on a 3x5 card your mission for that match. Before it's time to shoot at every stage pull out the 3x5 and look at it. Being safe and having fun should be a no brainer, so you might want to keep the list simple and write down the last three. It's your card so write down what you want. Here are a few ideas.

1. Be safe

2. Have fun

3. Make a solid plan

4. Be aggressive

5. Grip hard

6. Call every shot

[cheddchedd]

I find myself making my own runs. I don't necessarily follow what the top guys are doing. I think watching them gets me feeling rushed but I also feel that watching them has been and can be beneficial in some ways.

One of my biggest issues (I feel) is my sights. I'm a big believer in "The Indian, not the arrow" but the LEO trade in glowing sights are way too big. Any intermediate to long shots I take, the target is mostly covered by my front sight. I'm looking for a simple set of FO sights (FO front and black rear) before my next match. I'm hoping this will at least aid me slightly in seeing an actual sight picture.

[TennJeep1618]

Like others said, don't consciously try to speed up or slow down, just shoot as fast as your sights will allow. If your second shots are the Mikes, then you probably aren't getting a good sight picture and just "double tapping."

Learning to call your shots would also be very beneficial to you, but even if you can't call your shots, learning to "follow your sights" should greatly reduce the Mikes.

[cheddchedd]

Ok, can anyone point me to info on calling your shots? I know I've seen it in a few places here but can't remember where. There is so much info on this sight I'm having a hard time keeping it all straight.

[wtturn]

Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire.

Get Ben Stoeger's dry fire training book and follow it.

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[grapemeister]

I think your onto something with the sights. To me smaller is better. I would actually recommend giving plain iron sights a try too. My fiber optic fell out about 6 months ago and I think my accuracy has improved with out it. But's that's purely a personnel decision.

Check this video out on shot calling.

[toothguy]

Ok, can anyone point me to info on calling your shots? I know I've seen it in a few places here but can't remember where. There is so much info on this sight I'm having a hard time keeping it all straight.

[wav3rhythm]

For this, I recommend doing live fire at speed first to see what an appropriate sight picture needs to look like. Shooting groups might provide some benefit, but you have to learn to shoot at speed with good hits. Don't accept D's or bad C's - that's your buffer zone.

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[grapemeister]

The video must be good Two for the price of one

Edited May 17, 2016 by grapemeister

[tanks]

...

My question is, what did everyone do when they started that helped them improve the most? I don't have the luxury of shooting every day or week for that matter. I'm looking for that little gem of advice that changes me for the better.

Living in CA, where the nearest range is an hour's drive, shooting every day is not quite possible for me either. I KNOW that dry firing every day with a purpose has helped me as I can see the results in live fire.

[wishfulshooter]

The other thing you can do is sight your gun in with a 6 o'clock hold. So that way on your long shots you can place the sight just at the lower part of where you are wanting to hit and not cover up your target blinding yourself. If you are blinding yourself to your target it is hard to shot call. Good luck and welcome to the sport.

[davsco]

how accurate are you when off the clock? that's probably your starting point. if you're accurate in super slow mo, guessing you may be yanking the trigger during the match especially on that 2nd shot. way too easy to do trying to go fast. need to get a good sight picture and manage that trigger.

[CZinSC]

The two best drills that helped my shot calling are:

Leave your ego at home on this one. Be honest with yourself. Start slow, then speed up. If you can't make the par time, don't make the time longer, move closer. Start at 5 yards. I've been doing this drill for a few years, and i've never shot it clean at 7 yards. I usually start every practice session with this drill. i have 12 dots on the cardboard target, run it 12 times, then move on to other stuff. There is a thread about how to get the dots, what stickers to use, what printout to use....seems all overkill to me. I took a blank target, cut 12 2" holes in it in symmetric rows/columns. That is now my template. I just hold that over another target and use black spray paint to make the dots on a new target. The template stays in the garage and i never have to worry about cutting out more dots, or printing more off. Takes me 10 seconds to spray paint a new target.

http://benstoeger.com/index.php/gallery/23-second-category/90-the-dots

This one will burn a LOT of ammo. I think my best on this one was 7 or 8. Never got to 10. I have a piece of steel that is the exact size of an A zone. Got it at a Steel manufacturer in town for like $10. Anyway, i put that on a full target and that way when i shoot at it, i know if i hit the A zone or not. anything that doesn't go "ding" doesn't count. you can do the same thing with just the cardboard target, but it would be a PITA to paste in between each round. I think i had the target at about 8 yards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLRxohRdIys

[Hi-Power Jack]

Don't slow down or speed up. Just see a good sight picture for each shot (first AND second, they are not double taps

+1. Mr Finney has hit it On The Head.

My first match (20 years ago), I hit everything, but Way Too Slowly.

My 2nd match, I sped up to shoot as fast as "all the other guys" - boy,

was that a mistake.

Took me another few months before I learned to put the sights on

the target, everytime. (Actually, I still have the same problem,

now and then).

BUT< you cannot hit the target without aiming the gun at the target -

that simple.

[superluckycat]

Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire.

Get Ben Stoeger's dry fire training book and follow it.

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This. Dry fire all you can. I've been dry firing for 50-60 minutes in the morning before work, 6 days a week for a month and a half. The results will amaze you.

My 7 yard draw went from 2.0 to 1.2.

Bill Drill from around 5.00 to 2.8 all A's

El Prezidente from 11.00 to 6.8 (reloads and transitions still need a lot of work)

ETA: Stoeger's Dot's drill is humbling bitch of a drill.

Edited May 17, 2016 by superluckycat

[MacLethal]

One thing that helped me was actually just firing the gun into the berm at the range, just watching the sight position when I broke the shot and where it leveled out again.. Trying to manage the recoil as best I can to keep the gun flat and being able to get the sight picture I want each time I pull the trigger.

[kneelingatlas]

Forget the sights and buy an Open gun!

[Ray_Z]

The guy that started me out in practical pistol, [Tom Grigsby} gave me two pieces of advice that I really didn't understand for a couple of months.

1. "Get your hits and let the time take care of itself."
2. "You can miss as fast as you can or you can take your time and get your hits."

BOY! was he right

[enzo357]

Take classes from a qualified instructor. Buy Ben's book and use it. Make a dry fire, live fire schedule, stick to it.

Shoot matches based on your skill level, not of those on your squad. Practice a lot........

[BeerBaron]

The guy that started me out in practical pistol, [Tom Grigsby} gave me two pieces of advice that I really didn't understand for a couple of months.

1. "Get your hits and let the time take care of itself."
2. "You can miss as fast as you can or you can take your time and get your hits."

BOY! was he right

I don't completely subsribe to that. at some point you have to work on various aspects of the game.

just 'getting your hits' and 'letting the time take care of itself' won't do much. anyone can get 100% A's on most stages if they trundle through nice and slow. still puts you down the bottom of the pack.

You certainly needs points as a priorty as after all it's a hit factor game which is points divided by time. if you don't have points you have nothing to divide...

but speed is also very important and a skill that needs to be learned. just continuing to shoot accurately and believing you'll somehow automatically get faster doesn't seem to work in my experience.