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Jeremiah's Ladder


JeremiahD

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elbow is almost completely resolved.

cardio progressing, this weeks good temps have helped.

Learning I dont need to worry so much about my sight. decided to train the right eye and go with a slightly 'closer' right rx.

shooting basics are better, but still bad.  

about 4 weeks to local matches, 7 weeks to class, 8 weeks to first major, so those are my milestones to work towards for the next 2+ months.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
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3 hardware notes..

- slide glide actually works exactly as advertised. o.0

- breaking in a new trigger group from Cyl & Slide, so far no complaints

- due to a shortage of time, I've been shooting factory 230grn .45. went through an old box of leftover handloads today.  found my grip had really gotten sloppy shooting the light stuff last year. I know the conventional wisdom is to train with what you shoot in match, but the heavier stuff has been really beneficial in highlighting weaknesses and addressing them.

 

PT has been taking a back seat to work concerns unfortunately.  %50 Have been working on lateral movement.

Shooting less live than I would like, but been consistent.

DF is boring.  Focusing on mag changes.

Eye issues are pretty much resolved.  Fresh contacts before shooting helps.  Have been working on tracking the front sight on recoil, and shifting the eyes to the next target as soon as the second shot breaks rather than waiting on the sights to settle.  did 250 rounds of just training the eye today.

 

Had a weird moment today where I quit pasting targets, as I knew exactly where I was hitting every time. THAT was a good feeling.

 

Need to get on movement and reloads while moving again.

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  • 4 weeks later...

March rollup update: 

Maintaining PT, need to get with someone to help me push hard on the workouts now that the schedule is opening up. 

Have a good base, Not getting enough cardio at the moment since winter reappeared. Having to baby the knee a bit. Elbow good.

DF had stalled, not getting it in every day. Getting it in as often as possible, but needed direction (have it now...)

Live fire 2-3x/week working well. Grip is back to normal, eye tracking is much improved. Have lots to work on and find more every time I shoot.

Upcoming- MPRC today, indoor every monday, practice every thursday, Oxford, Vogel class, Dawg Valley, Battle in the Bluegrass.

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MRPC 3/24-

First outdoor match, sunny and clear, 28 deg to start, 40 deg to finish, noticeable wind.

First time there, beautiful club, well run match, fun stages. Didnt get to pick squad (?), ended up on an excellent one anyway, good people to learn from.

 

The good-

First B classifier (Mini Mart, 8.0576 HF, about %69 I think). very happy about it.

Arm/grip work in PT paying off as is training sight tracking in live fire.  Had good accuracy.

GREAT match mode. Finally hitting home that practice/DF/PT is where I need to worry, not the match. Showed up, called shots.  Total autopilot. Left every stage thinking of the next one.

first stage (stage 2) was big, had lots of quirks, pulled off a solid plan and did well.

Gun itself did well. New trigger breaking in nicely.

After nearly falling 3x on walkthrough, switched to metal cleats for the big muddy stage. Made a huge difference and positively impacted my time.

 

Trouble spots- 

Had several mag issues.  First and foremost, I need to work hard at changes on the move. I missed a change that bumped a round up into the gun, then jammed the mag on top of that which cost me 5.5 seconds to clear. Second, I need to replace my current mags.  feed lips are starting to prevent the first round from being stripped off. retired 3 mags today. Mags impacted 2 stages for 8 seconds.

Need to work hard at transitioning while moving. Felt ok, but watching the video, I'm moving at half speed between targets.

I see room to shave about 20 seconds off this match overall. Speed was the weak point (big time)  

Thought past where I should have been thinking and left a target early to start a run.  Did not put second round on target. Foolish mistake. focus on task.

 

119A, 2B, 25C, 3D, 1M

 

Goal for DF and PT-  speed speed speed. reloads on the move. Transitions on the move. 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Rushed through he last 2 weeks of class, squeezed in 2 monday shoots, two thursday sessions, some one-on-one time with a qualified instructor, another local match, and got my PT in.  DF was sporadic, but had pretty well put it off until I could get some good feedback. Spent some time sick, but took the time off to get over it.

 

Thanks to an observant training partner, I figured out my mag changes.  Safariland carriers sit too close to my body to get an effective, consistent grip at each position.  Have added 1cm nylon spacers at the contact points last night and IMMEDIATELY my mag changes improved.  currently drilling the new positions in.  

 

Had the opportunity to visit Robert Vogels home and spend the day with him as a student.  While I'm disappointed he did not simply sprinkle Magic GM Dust  and suddenly turn me into a competent shooter overnight, I did get an excellent amount of critique and feedback which should do the same thing provided I hold up my end and learn from it / drill it in. Draw times to hit an A from 5 yards are consistently under 1 sec (best, .90), and I need to translate that into a sub 1 sec in match mode.  Also, I thought I was pushing during movement.  I am not.  I need to incorporate much more into range and backyard practice leaving a position, blasting to the next, and landing smooth, ready to shoot as the last foot touches.  While the coursework and range drills were simple, its evident that exactly what I needed and I have a clear understanding of where to take my practice.

 

Shot the Dawg Valley match 4/14.  poured rain the entire time.  made the last minute decision to go and didnt bring a good game/attitude, just kind of shot my way through it.  Took the draws slow in the wet.  3 mikes in the match. had minor trouble with moving steel, will work on it. Bad stage planning, partly due to attention span/attitude. Mag changes were an issue (now resolved!!).  Landed another B classifier, which I suddenly realized is just a matter of paying attention and hitting, so now I'm thinking A or better.  I need to get my field skills up to par first to meet my goals.

 

early practice session tomorrow, heavy on the reloads and movement, think visual patience. 

Battle in the Bluegrass is friday, already checking out the stage diagrams and cleaning/prepping gear.

MPRC match sunday

 

PT progresses...

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Have my first major of the year under my belt, and overall I’m pleased.

Battle in the Bluegrass IX-

Weather- mostly sunny, temps from 30F-60F through the day, no precip

Good- arrived Thursday afternoon and went straight to the range.  Spent hours walking the stages until I had good solid and appropriate for my skill level plans. Took notes. Modified as needed.  Ran through them until I could see the targets with my eyes closed. Had them drilled in well enough I fell asleep still running them in my head that night. Ran an hour of df before bed.

Ate well, slept well, stayed hydrated.  Showed up early and with the right match-mode mindset. Treated every stage with respect, walked away from each one only thinking of the next. Took video for training review, made sure not to watch them until the next day.

Zero mag change issues.  New mag pouch placement was just the ticket.

Saw the sights and shot target-appropriate sight pictures. Called the vast majority of my shots.  Made good makeup shots if needed/time appropriate.

Felt like I was moving well, focused of bursts of speed when moving without shifting from match mode back into speed/practice mode.

Cleaned a texas star with just one makeup shot. Go me.  Don’t get to shoot them in practice.

Had several very solid stages.  Fast times, no deltas, good movement, executed stage plan perfectly.  One I don’t even remember, just *beep* (step in, ~~blurr~~) “if you are finished..” 

 

Mistakes- Still getting used to moving fast, with purpose and it showed. Misplaced my feet in one stage and moved past my shooting position, had to modify on the fly. Recovered ok, but cost time and brainpower.  Slipped off the foul line on a hard lean and tripped badly.  Recovered, but did not take the final shot. (too much time).  Sent a shot over a target on the move heading for another hard lean finish on the following stage and didn’t make it up.

-          Continue work on moving into and out of shooting positions as fast as possible, yet coming into a reasonable shooting position, gun on target.

-          Work on shooting on the move

Had a good, all-out ballsy stage plan on a particular stage.  I let everyone else get in my head and decided to switch to something more conservative at the very last minute.  Stage ended up being a disaster on several levels as one should expect from a last minute change.  Don’t do that.

 

Had way too many non alpha’s for my taste.  My take on the math with major scoring is its better to push the time hard and take a C, but I feel I had too many for my current level of speed.  Also learned on really short stages, get the alphas.  There’s not enough time to settle for anything else.

 

In all, this was a great match to gauge my actual ability.  At least 14 GM’s and about 25-30 Master class shooters in divisions that directly relate to what I shoot.  The low hanging fruit for me currently is speed.  I should have trimmed at least 40 seconds (4 sec/stage) off this match, which is very doable, even at my skill level.

 

I Need to shoot more majors, as many as I can. These are great.  

 

63.5%, 245.58 sec, 165A, 97C, 18D, 3M

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  • 2 weeks later...

PT taking a backseat, need to prioritize my days and be 'all in' when I'm there.  Really need to up weights and really really need to put the time into running.  letting too much slide. Been discussing with several others successful in their respective endeavors, maybe I can get a spark.

Been hitting the DF daily, working on par times on basics. shooting either in practice or matches 3x week.  still suffering from wanting to "shoot fast" and not shoot well (and do everything else fast. Its an aggravating problem, especially since I feel like I should be past it.  Shot "the heads" drill for an hour or so last thursday and found I'm good when I let myself be good.  I'm bad when I don't.

 

side note, realized I've been trying to fit me into other peoples technique (be it grip or draw or whatever).  Its good to get an idea what works, but I need to figure out what works for me.

 

goals for the next 4 weeks are major match prep. focus on field skills, esp movement. 

ut in a few long days at least weekly (df-long run/ride-lift-df) to prep for being 'all in' during 12-15 stage days.

 

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Oxford 5/6. Sunny, temps from 60-80, dry ground/no mud

99A, 2B, 33C, 5D, 1M/1NS  121.38 SEC, 57% (of pcc gm) 

great squad, good tips from good shooters. squadding with the highest level shooters I can manage to find is paying off.

1 disappointing stage, automatically went for a makeup shot I didn't really need and required an additional mag change at the end costing time.

Speed continues to be the big issue with a solid 20 sec that could have been shaved (5 sec/stage average) . Wasn't feeling confident on accuracy early, but it shaped up.  

Noticed that I'm hitting my mag changes but my lack of confidence from missing them before is causing uncertainty which manifests as a pause before seating, or a need to reseat on occasion despite the mag being seated fine (which sucks time).  Did burkett reloads and multiple mag changes until my fingers cracked and bled last night. I will make it a strength and not worry about it. 

Classifier squeaked me into B

 

speaking of, I have met my goals of making B by 7/1, and of having B class field skills by then.  While there's much improvement to be made, I beat out most of the B field at Battle (would have been 6th in class/div), and half the B's overall at Oxford, so I feel I can be competitive within B now.  

 

Monday night shoot 7th/26 overall.  solid runs, decent hits, good speed (can be improved..).

 

PT- need muscle mass.  upping weights, adding a last set of maximum weight, reps-to-exhaustion.  Working at box jumps, one leg box jumps, shuttle runs.  Have been neglecting running, but thats ok for now. Been throwing rides back in on off days to change it up (which arent many right now.)

DF continues, been working Andersons first 12 drills daily, movement during PT.  Live fire practice weekly, considering adding another day to build on.

 

Shooting Dawg Valley Saturday 12th, monday matches 14th and 21st, Buckeye on 25th/26th. No MRPC match this month. 

Looking for a major to shoot in June.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dawg valley 5/12- good match, great stages, very concerned about some 180 traps. shot my match level, identified issues, targeted them for practice.  cant ask for more.  RO'd the squad, spent more time worrying about that than stage memorization but that's fine.  If I cant currently separate shooting/RO'ing, I'd rather give %100 to RO duties.  Either way, good match.

 

Monday shoot, Thursday practice, Buckeye 5/25-26.   

 

DF/Live fire:  Been working hard on side to side and front to back movement. finally "get" leaning and leaving on one foot as the shot breaks.

also have started a DF session at the range daily, assessing whatever the drill is with a string of live fire, then tweaking the DF.  takes <25 or so rounds and has shown good success for me. Been on the range daily for the last 6 days.   I'll likely end up taking all of this feedback home to work into df, but its been so successful this may become a regular thing.

 

PT: upped weights, changed my sets slightly so I'm pushing a standard weight 10 rep warmup set, a 10 rep "fast" set focusing on explosive movement, and a 3-5 rep set with the heaviest weights I can manage w/o a spotter. Its really working for me, was just what I needed.  Cardio has been nonexistent, need to reboot. Noticing I need to watch my weight

 

I have been sitting on a Nationals slot code for a couple months.  I had no intention of taking a slot from a worthy shooter if I wasn't sticking to training or getting results. I've met goals and  I feel confident I can spend the next 4.5 months making consistent, significant gains so... I pulled the trigger, am signed up and squadded.  So thats the goal: Nationals ready by mid October.  milestones/plan forthcoming.

the original goal schedule I set up is to reassess all training on June 1 and plan for the next major goals anyway so... here goes.

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Eventually splitting RO/shooting duties gets a little less challenging but you will NEVER perform to your max as a shooter if you dedicate yourself to RO. 

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4 minutes ago, Sarge said:

Eventually splitting RO/shooting duties gets a little less challenging but you will NEVER perform to your max as a shooter if you dedicate yourself to RO. 

 

I suspected and I'm totally ok with that.  I figure if I have a lack of focus, I'd rather it be on my own shooting than on other peoples safety. I can live with a mike.

Certainly gives one a new appreciation for those that have been RO'ing the matches I've been shooting, thats for sure...

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hitting Andersons first 12 drills daily, setting a 5 min timer for each.  Confidence  is improving, erasing the old bad mag change juju

PT is progressing, will alternate run and lift ways until june 1

 

been working andersons or stoegers movement drills once daily on weekdays for an hour in the evenings by doing DF at the range and "confirming" w live fire..  enter the box last night, getting a good feel for shooting when that first foot touches.  I was doing it to establish live fire times and tweak df, but its really working for me as drills on their own.

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  • 2 months later...

Long delayed update. Am finding that with squeezing DF, PT, live fire, matches, reloading etc into every available moment and not short my family or my career too badly, I just dont have time to screw around on the internet.  I should make updating this a minor priority, especially as I head into the last 12 weeks pre-nationals.

 

May- Buckeye was an unmitigated disaster for me.  I was plagued with enough ammo issues it was causing multiple jams each stage, some taking 5-10 seconds to clear. I let the ammo affect the rest of my performance, moping through stages. debated leaving at lunch to buy walmart ammo.  The cause was poor crimp (ie- none) which was caused by a number of factors (still my responsibility). Issue is resolved, but my placement (and my ego) suffered badly on what should have been a great match I was otherwise prepared for. Wont occur again.

 

June, I had an unexpected health issue that required minor surgery. was forbidden from running, heavy exercise, or heavy recoil for several weeks.  Got back on DF as soon as I felt up to it, but missed several matches and put PT behind significantly. 

 

July Backed out of Ryan Rocks, partly due to a conflict, partly due to being totally out of practice from the June issue.

Have returned to full time practice and PT schedule, and at least 3 matches per month.  Without getting into detail, I have learned quite a bit from this months matches, particularly on my mental game (and where its lacking).  Match consistency is an issue currently.  I can crush some stages while tanking others.  Mental game.

 

Time and scheduling  have coalesced into the following (and its working!):  every day, 90+ minutes, alternating between 1- full body freeweight workouts (deadlifts, squats, presses etc) and dedicated DF specific to the fundamentals (reloads, draw, sight alignment, transitions, etc) and 2- running full stages in DF in the backyard or range.  Every day I'm running a mile and am working the wrist curls/reverse wrist curls/tricep/bicep to keep the elbow issues away.  Am seeing improvement across the board and "consistency" has become my daily mantra. At least once a week I am at the range in addition to the above, and have been making it to matches most weekends since recovery.

 

I'm keeping my October goal in sight the entire time, and its highly motivating.

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  • 11 months later...

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