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Now that I started in USPSA, I'm kind of overwhelmed with where to


ArrDave

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EDIT: the title keeps getting clipped - where to start?

3 year veteran of IDPA, shooting production now. Holy crap, where do I start? I need to be faster, and more accurate. based on match performance, I'd be a middling B, but I duffed 2 classifiers so my initial classification should be a high C. I have a section match coming up end of August and I want to put my best foot forward.

Shooting minor, seems like accuracy should be prized somewhat. I think i am capable of improving accuracy without giving up any speed through the combination of a new front sight and being more intentional about where I want to hit the target rather than just "shooting at" the A zone.

But I'm also slow - ish. Draws are in the ball park but figuring out the movement around the stages and the nuances of shooting into and out of positions are lost on me.

Stage breakdowns - no way around it I make some poor decisions and either give up points or time. I'll get 2 more proper outdoor matches prior to the match and each time it's gone better for me.

SO game plan for the next couple months: Work the gun handling in dry fire. Do my transition/reload stuff, etc there.

Live fire - I shoot at an indoor range once a week for practice, I can come from teh holster but I'm limited to what I can do to one target. I'm thinking I spend a couple weeks shooting groups / 25 yard bill drills then get back into shooting the dots. I've cleared 4 shots per dot at 15 feet, but I'm thinking that's probably where my time/ammo is best spent.

what would your recommend for a former IDPA guy adapting to the other game?

Edited by ArrDave
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Since you are shooting Production, you need to practice reloads - when and where to reload, and how to shoot the COF

within the confines of a 10-round magazine.

Make sure your loads will make Minor (125+ PF) at the chrono table, or you'll be shooting for fun instead of for score.

Your draws are "in the ballpark" - not sure what that means - should be okay to be in the 1.2 - 1.5 second range for

the first shot, with a rapid 2nd shot (don't get off a very fast first shot by not having a proper grip, and then taking the

time to adjust your grip for the 2nd shot).

What is your time on the 25-yard Bill Drill?

I'd stop putting so much pressure on yourself to "put your best foot forward" - practice, get as much dry fire time

as possible in July, and go "HAVE FUN" at the regional - don't over try.

Give yourself a break, and have a BLAST, safely (don't DQ).

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Print the Dots from Ben Stoeger's website and work on clearing that at least once per range session. It will take a long time and a lot of ammo. Buy some grip exercisers. Keep your stage plans simple and work to your strengths; minimize the number of shooting positions, and don't use plans that include shots that you probably or definitely can't make.

You need to be interested in the shooting. It isn't just gripping and triggering against a sight picture. It's drawing, reloading, moving as fast as possible in between shooting positions, working stage plans that you are confident that you can execute.

Don't BS yourself about the classifiers. If you duff a classifier, that's how good a shooter you are on that test. The classification system works well.

Learning to go fast means eating a lot of failure in practice and failing on purpose a lot as well in order to learn what high speed feels like.

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Since you are shooting Production, you need to practice reloads - when and where to reload, and how to shoot the COF

within the confines of a 10-round magazine.

Make sure your loads will make Minor (125+ PF) at the chrono table, or you'll be shooting for fun instead of for score.

Your draws are "in the ballpark" - not sure what that means - should be okay to be in the 1.2 - 1.5 second range for

the first shot, with a rapid 2nd shot (don't get off a very fast first shot by not having a proper grip, and then taking the

time to adjust your grip for the 2nd shot).

What is your time on the 25-yard Bill Drill?

I'd stop putting so much pressure on yourself to "put your best foot forward" - practice, get as much dry fire time

as possible in July, and go "HAVE FUN" at the regional - don't over try.

Give yourself a break, and have a BLAST, safely (don't DQ).

Print the Dots from Ben Stoeger's website and work on clearing that at least once per range session. It will take a long time and a lot of ammo. Buy some grip exercisers. Keep your stage plans simple and work to your strengths; minimize the number of shooting positions, and don't use plans that include shots that you probably or definitely can't make.

You need to be interested in the shooting. It isn't just gripping and triggering against a sight picture. It's drawing, reloading, moving as fast as possible in between shooting positions, working stage plans that you are confident that you can execute.

Don't BS yourself about the classifiers. If you duff a classifier, that's how good a shooter you are on that test. The classification system works well.

Learning to go fast means eating a lot of failure in practice and failing on purpose a lot as well in order to learn what high speed feels like.

The classifiers kind of trip me out because I've not developed the level of confidence just to shoot them cleanly as I see them. I'm improving on my discipline to not just pin my ears back and make a lot of racket.

Since you are shooting Production, you need to practice reloads - when and where to reload, and how to shoot the COF

within the confines of a 10-round magazine.

Make sure your loads will make Minor (125+ PF) at the chrono table, or you'll be shooting for fun instead of for score.

Your draws are "in the ballpark" - not sure what that means - should be okay to be in the 1.2 - 1.5 second range for

the first shot, with a rapid 2nd shot (don't get off a very fast first shot by not having a proper grip, and then taking the

time to adjust your grip for the 2nd shot).

What is your time on the 25-yard Bill Drill?

I'd stop putting so much pressure on yourself to "put your best foot forward" - practice, get as much dry fire time

as possible in July, and go "HAVE FUN" at the regional - don't over try.

Give yourself a break, and have a BLAST, safely (don't DQ).

Ammo - no problem. Got it covered.

Draws - ~1.05 1.15 @ 5-7 yards 1.25ish 10-12 yards 1.5ish at 18 yards 1.85ish at 25 yards (all A's or close C's) - splits ramp up as well, I'm not super fast on splits because I'm afraid of losing the front sight and throwing bad shots. They range from .25-.30 at 7, .30-.35 at 10-12 .5 @ 50' .75-.85 at 75'. Definitely need to do more dots.

25 bill drill is about 5.25ish with 3A/3C or 4A/2C.

The blow to my ego from going from one of the better dudes at my IDPA to utterly and totally average at USPSA monthlies so I'm just very motivated to put the work in. Tough not to enjoy yourself at a USPSA match!

you can see my most recent match vid here:

https://youtu.be/Q88riVxY2pk

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Classifiers are just another stage, they should be treated exactly like any other stage in the match. That's a pretty big mental hurdle though, especially if you have them built up in your head as the "test". Shoot a few more matches and I'm sure you will settle in to the more freestyle environment that is USPSA.

Dryfire during the week and matches on weekends.

Edited by js1130146
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"The blow to my ego from going from one of the better dudes at my IDPA to utterly and totally average at USPSA monthlies"

Utterly and totally average is real good coming out of IDPA. Sure, both games use a gun but the true comparisons end there. You are going to be humbled on a routine basis for a while so relax and enjoy it

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You've hit on The Real Problem here - EGO.

I guess we all have the same problem - I know I do ...

Sounds like you're a very good shooter, and dedicated, and know exactly

what to do to improve - you just have to shelve some of the EGO for

a while, until you become one of the better USPSA shooters - you will

make it if you keep going the way you're headed.

Good luck at the Regional Match.

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"The blow to my ego from going from one of the better dudes at my IDPA to utterly and totally average at USPSA monthlies"

Utterly and totally average is real good coming out of IDPA. Sure, both games use a gun but the true comparisons end there. You are going to be humbled on a routine basis for a while so relax and enjoy it

I guess that's the correct way to look at it. It just feels so overwhelming where someone pulls the rug out from under you "All this stuff I thought I was pretty good at, I'm not very good at". In the grand scheme of things I'm guess it's like the square ranger types who think they're hot stuff with their range toys but have never really been tested.

You've hit on The Real Problem here - EGO.

I guess we all have the same problem - I know I do ...

Sounds like you're a very good shooter, and dedicated, and know exactly

what to do to improve - you just have to shelve some of the EGO for

a while, until you become one of the better USPSA shooters - you will

make it if you keep going the way you're headed.

Good luck at the Regional Match.

Sure is humbling keeping a journal and realizing you're not who you thought you were.

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I have to disagree, again....

You are still "who you thought you were" ....

It's just that you have now realized that there are people who have developed a higher skill set.

But, you also know that, just as you mastered IDPA, in time, YOU can still master USPSA.

Just a matter of more concentrated work.

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sounds to me like you have your head on straight and have done a reasonable job of analyzing your weaknesses and figuring out what to train. That is good. One thing you left out to work on tho is shot-calling. It is the most important skill you can develop, and as you start to be able to do it more consistently, it will dramatically increase the effectiveness of your dryfire training, and also your ability to analyze your performances.

I recommend treating EVERY drill as a shot-calling drill. Try to score your targets (at least know which shots were bad and what direction of bad they were) before you walk up to tape them. I also recommend you stop accepting c's on bill drills, even 25 yard ones, although if you see it from the sights and know it was a C, that's not nearly as bad as being surprised when you walk up there to tape.

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