New to USPSA and the mikes are pilling up.

[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

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.

I agree with you. I was referring to rules for a new shooter.

Rule #3 that he gave me was

"Speed is the economy of motion."

[Flexmoney]

EVERY SHOT:

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/words.html#fundamental

It is important to distinguish between fundamentals and technique. "Fundamental" means essential.

The Fundamentals of shooting are:

Locate the target (visually, or with the force).
Aim or point the gun at the target.
Hold the gun there until the gun fires and the bullet has left the barrel.

[waktasz]

Stop with the "double taps"

Each shot is its own, aimed, shot. If you are missing your second shot more often than not you are probably trying to aim once and hammer the trigger twice. Not a winning strategy.

[BrianKr]

You can't shoot fast enough to make up for misses. Start slow and work up through competence as you gain it through practice and dry firing.

I know about it, I just won't practice, so I remain accurate, but slow. :-)

[dogtired]

Shoot so you don't have misses. Compare your points earned to the top competitors points. If you are in a comparable range, then work on your speed.

[barebones1]

let me start out by saying, im coming up on my first year. when I shot with "faster" shooters I tried to shoot faster. maybe not a conscious decision, but in reflection. I was trying to keep up. knowing I was a more accurate shooter that my first couple of showings. I started to mentally breakdown every stage every shot on the "long ride of shame home". What did I really see when the shot broke ? I decided to practice during the week, when the range was empty. several of the consistent top 5 idpa ( master) shooters were there shooting alone. clue #1 the "good " guys practice clue #2 there are wrong ways to practice. in every instance , all stopped their practice and had me join them for one on one "lessons". during one such informal session, after a 1 st round center mass and a 2nd round mike. as I grumbled under my breath he said " well that's where you were aiming when you pulled the trigger. ( light bulb) made perfect sense to me! why am I pulling the trigger off target? I took some shot-up targets home after the match. used paper plates with a quarter size black dot. over the "0" ( IDPA targets.) This was my key, a 1 inch black circle. I have been using a 1911 co2 bb pistol as practice. 2000 bb`s later I realized what "aim small, miss small means" I guess I was just kinda pointing at brown and pulling the trigger before. so armed with my "new perspective" I shot the next 3 match's, breaking my shots when I KNEW where they were going. so I finished in the bottom 10 all three matches. 40 shooters average.....BUT I was top 5 most accurate. now I know where my round went before I transition to the next target. I tried to add some speed last match ( idpa) finished 17th of 34 shooters. couple of head shot misses. Somewhere in the 3 match group of trying to score all "0" or "a" it just kind of dawned on me. " where I was aiming, when I pulled the trigger" ( calling my shots). the best way for me to describe it to you is riding a bike. lots of people tryed to described it too me. But its just got to happen (with practice)on its own. my matches have slowed down in my mind as I reflect on the match "long drive of not so much shame". Now I am going to work on "dot torture drills" and speeding up target transition. 11 match's idpa 4 match's uspsa 4 rifle side match and 4 shotgun side match's my first year. good luck cheers

[Chris iliff]

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

2. What did everyone do when they started that helped them improve the most?

3. I don't have the luxury of shooting every day or week for that matter.

4. I'm looking for that little gem of advice that changes me for the better.

1. You need to learn to call your shots. IT STARTS HERE. So, start digging in the search function. Lots of ways to do this,.....do them all.

2. DRYFIRE lots of DRYFIRE. Find a drill (El Presidente for example) DRYFIRE the heck out of it, then when you go to the range and live fire the drill. You can do this with many drills. DRY DRY DRY,.....go to range and livefire. Conserve ammo and DRYFIRE twice for every livefire while at the range.

3. Most people don't. You can get really good just dryfiring a lot. I recommend Steve Andersons DRYFIRE books. They are the original and will quickly get you up to par.

4. Learning SHOT CALLING is the absolute gem of all gems. This is a must. Everything about this sport starts here. This is first and foremost a SHOOTING sport. Calling the shot should be the centerpiece of your training until you can do it.

[Chris iliff]

Good drill to start seeing the front sight......

Aim at the ground, berm, whatever,......pull the trigger as fast as you can six times.

I mean fast...get a good grip and rip it 6 shots. BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG.

NOW, PUT ALL YOUR FOCUS ON THE FRONT SIGHT AND WATCH IT. REMEMBER WE ARE NOT AIMIMG, WE ARE SIMPLY POINTING AT GROUND AND RIPPING OFF THE SHOTS.

OUR PURPOSE IS PURELY TO LEARN TO SEE THE SIGHT AND FIGURE OUT WHY WE ARE NOT.

This is a simple drill that will allow you to start finding the sight. It's not gonna happen any other way.

Tips......

As you are doing this, pay attention to your face and eyes. Got some twitches and blinks I bet......now get rid of them. Notice them then get rid of them during the exercise. It's your muscles in your head, control them.

Then, once you start seeing the sights and recognize what it takes to keep those eyes open,...start doing Bill Drills. From holster, six shots in the A zone at seven yards, hands surrender, .........2 seconds or less for master class.

Remember,....it's an explosion 2 or three feet in front of your face, it might take some time, but you'll get it. Also, once you have it, you'll need to redo the exercise as needed. Some of the best shooters make this a regular check to ensure they don't develop a blink or flinch. So, no big deal if you have to redo every once in awhile.

[Ghorsley]

Get to the match early and request they put you in a C type squad. If you get paired with A's you may not feel comfortable. Relax, make some new friends and have fun. You are not likely to make any money so just be safe and have a good time.

[IHAVEGAS]

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".

If I do this, (aim for the center) calling shots is automatic, when I don't do this I can not call shots.

[rocket99]

great suggestions, I am a new shooter myself and I have picked up a ton of ideas

[Bill H]

Most new shooters I see move too slow and shoot too fast. It will work out.

[cheddchedd]

A little update a of today (6-18-16)

Had a match today that went a lot better. I was in a slower squad which I think helped me to concentrate on me. I ended the day with 6 mikes and a NS. Overall I felt much better and had more fun.

That stupid Texas star though...

[kneelingatlas]

Next match try approaching the line with the attitude mikes and no shoots are unacceptable. Shoot the whole match clean and see what it does to your overall standing.

[wav3rhythm]

In practice, try doing a few drills and shoot at a pace that you can guarantee that you hit the A Zone with every shot and that you do not miss on steel. After trying this, I realized that I was rushing and started to learn what I needed to see in order to break an accurate shot. Don't worry as much about the TX star or other carnival type stuff right now.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cheddchedd]

I was flying through the steel with minimal mikes on those. We had some weird stages today that had us shooting with a brief case in weak hand and the Texas star course was the last one. Both of those were where I picked up 4 mikes total so the rest of the day was pretty solid.

[IHAVEGAS]

the Texas star course was the last one. Both of those were where I picked up 4 mikes total so the rest of the day was pretty solid.

The thing with the star is that there is really no time pressure. Everyone thinks there is at first, but if you just relax and take that shot on the highest plate after you have a good center of target sight picture you will do well.

Some of the more elaborate gadgets definetly do have some time pressure, but usually you can still shoot them at a more relaxed pace than you think you can.

[barebones1]

last match up date. 67 A / 12 C / 2 D / 2 M I knew I missed on the 2 d`s both mikes were head shots in the qualifier stage. and still having an absolute blast!

[Muldune21]

Work on dry firing and getting that front sight crystal clear and target blurry for farther shots, closer shots you do not need that much of a clear front sight just point and fire. Try to really let your eyes call the shots and get your head out of it. Try reading Enos book, i am still working on it, nothing comes easy or quick, keep at it.

[e4effort]

Next match try approaching the line with the attitude mikes and no shoots are unacceptable. Shoot the whole match clean and see what it does to your overall standing.

This is how I changed my pace and improved my game. The less you aim to look like a YouTube warrior, the better you'll actually get. Mikes and NS hurt your entire day and you are in complete control of that.

[Daft]

Its dynamic, how far away is the target=how much precision to use (takes time), the 2nd and 3rd shot are from recoil, so its normal to lose precision. You have to learn to time your next shot to allow it recoil and come back to the target at x distance. Sounds good, but do not trust me.