Stick's Training, Range and Match Log Diary

[stick]

Dry fire training to complete today.  8/21/18

·         Five to Go

·         .75 par time from low ready to plate #1

·         .50 transition from plate #1 to plate #3 1.25 par time (T1)

·         .50 transition from plate #2 to plate #4 1.75 par time (T2)

·         .50 transition from plate #4 to plate #5 2.25 par time (T3)

·         .50 transition from plate #5 to stop plate 2.75 par time (T4)

I started out with 5 repetitions with the 2.75 par time.  I then went into my normal pyramid training of 5 repetitions from each transition.  I’m trying to move the gun in an even line across the plates as I transition from plate to plate.  The 12moa dot makes it easy to call my shots effectively.  I was having little trouble making the par times on any of the runs today.  I’ll probably start running two banners again next week.

[stick]

Dry fire training to complete today.  8/23/18

·         The Pendulum

·         5 Repetitions with a 2.63 par time

·         5 Repetitions with a 2.60 par time

·         5 Repetitions with a 2.55 par time

·         5 Repetitions with a 2.50 par time

I changed up my training slightly tonight.  I had grand plans of doing some banner work then switching to some movement work for USPSA, but my back had other thoughts.  I decided not to push it and stop after the 20 repetitions on Pendulum. 

I started with the 2.63 par time and I dropped the time until I could barely make the par time.  I had no problem with the training tonight.  I just need to ensure that I continue to focus on my transitions and shot calling.  I strongly believe that my shot calling in practice is the difference in making and missing my par times in real matches.  I do a much better job calling my shots in practice.  I’ll have to focus on shot calling during my live fire training next week.

[stick]

Dry fire training to complete today.  8/24/18

·         Showdown

·         5 repetitions with 2.13 par time

·         5 repetitions with 2.08 par time

·         10 repetitions with 2.00 par time

I started out with 5 repetitions with the 2.13 par time on Showdown left.  I walked down the timer until I got to a 2.00 par time.  I repeated the process for showdown right also.  I had no issues making any of the par times during dry fire tonight.  My current percentage on Showdown is 92.59% or 9.18 for the stage.  This equated to a 2.29 par time.  So why am I .29 seconds faster in practice than live fire?  Or should I say why am I .29 seconds slower in live fire than dry fire?  I think it has to do with my shot calling.  I’m seeing the targets fast enough but am I waiting for the audible verification from the ringing steel?  I think this is my issue.  I have worked hard on ensuring I call my shots the same in live fire and dry fire.  This is something I need to divulge into deeper as I progress further into my training.

[stick]

Dry fire training to complete today.  8/25/18

·         Accelerator

·         2.38 par time

·         2.30 par time

Why does it always rain when I decide to practice?  I went out in a slight drizzle to get in some practice before I switch up my training regimen.  I decided on Accelerator and I started with the 2.38 second par time.  I ran five repetitions and decided to drop the par time to 2.30 seconds.  I ran the next 20 repetitions making about 98% of the par times.  I noticed that if I accelerate from plate 1 to 2 and from 5 to 4, I would easily make the par time.  When I hesitated or stopped on the plate for a split second, I was either right at or just over the par time.  Next week starts multiple stages and a modified pyramid training regimen.

[stick]

Dry fire training to complete today.  8/27/18

·      Outer Limits 4 second par time

·         Showdown (Left)2 second par time

·         Showdown (Right) 2 second par time

·         Pendulum 2.50 par time

 

In preparation for Saturday’s & Sunday’s steel challenge matches, I ran 5 repetitions for each of the following stages.  Since my daughter is shooting with me Saturday, she decided to join me for some dry fire.  I didn’t have any issues making any of the par times tonight.  I didn’t give my daughter a par time; I just gave the typical commands with the beep from my CED7000 timer.  Tomorrow, I’ll run the rest of the stages (hopefully) I plan on going to the range and doing some live fire in the morning.  I just installed Taccom’s short stroke kit on both my PCC’s and my daughter’s PCC.  I’m curious to test the guns and see the difference.

[stick]

Live fire training 8/28/18

I headed out to the range today with the thought of getting in some steel practice while testing out the short stroke buffer kits from Taccom.  I’m already running the Taccom 3 stage buffers in both of my PCC’s as well as my daughter’s PCC.  I heard about a potential issue with a dead trigger when using the short stroke buffer kit.  I got through about 40 rounds on my SCSA PCC before my trigger died.  I called Tim @ Taccom for advice.  Tim mentioned that the gun was just a little short of cycling correctly.  He recommended that I remove the back delrin spacer.  I removed the delrin spacer from the rear of the buffer and the problem went away.  I continued to shoot the plate rack from 25 yards without issue.

I removed the rear spacer from the remaining two PCC’s before practicing with them.  I noticed a distinct difference with my USPSA PCC’s recoil.  The recoil was short and straight up.  I finished my practice with the gun and I never encountered the dead trigger issue.  I took out my daughter’s PCC and boy was I in for a surprise.  I loaded 6 rounds into the mag and took aim at the plate rack from 25 yards. 1,2,3,4,5,6 all misses!  Hmm. I loaded another 6 rounds and I missed all 6 again.  I loaded another 6 and moved to 10 yards and I hit 2 out of 6.  Since I wasn’t prepared to sight in the gun (Lead sled was left at home) I improvised and sighted in the gun.  The gun was shooting 12 inches high and 3 inched left at 25 yards.  I quickly sighted in the gun and went on with my business.  I asked my daughter if she had dropped the gun because the C-mores don’t move that much from zero.  After finishing my live fire training with the three PCC’s, I went over to the 200 yard range with one of my 3gun AR’s to plink on a steel plate from 200 yards.

[stick]

Dry fire training to complete today.  8/29/18

·         Smoke & Hope 1.88 second par time

·         Roundabout 1.90 second par time

 

I decided to run two stages today, two tomorrow and then all of them on Friday in preparation for Saturday’s and Sunday’s Steel Challenge match.  Smoke & Hope is actually getting better.  I’m indexing on the stop plate to ensure my NPA (Natural point of Aim) brings me back to the stop plate.  I’m still shooting it 4-5-1-2-stop which I think is a faster way for me.  I actually made a few of the par times today.  Most of time I was just missing the 1.88 second par time.  I like my progress on this stage today.  I ran 20 repetitions using the Shoot steel banners.  My second choice for the day was Roundabout.  Since I’m currently at 108% I decided to drop the par time to 1.90 seconds.  I like the fry fire session I had today.  I feel really good about my progress today.  Tomorrow will be 5 to go and accelerator.

[stick]

8/30/18

I’ve been listening to a Steel Challenge pod cast that a friend of mine hosts.  He’s a three class GM steel challenge shooter.  His knowledge of the sport and of shooting sports is amazing.  He’s been developing a new type of training called hyper mode training.  It basically consists of running some extremely low par times on the stages.  I’ve sort of toyed with the idea for a while running some extreme par times.  I think this is exactly the type of training I need to push me to the GM level.  Going forward, I’ll be running some hyper mode training times for my dry fire stages. 

Here’s what I’m doing currently along with my thoughts on times for hyper mode.

Accelerator 2.38 par time                              Hyper mode Training Time 1.90 par time

Outer Limits 4.00 par time                             Hyper mode Training Time 3.20 par time

Five to Go 2.75 par time                                 Hyper mode Training Time 2.20 par time

Showdown 2.13 par time                                Hyper mode Training Time 1.70 par time

Smoke & Hope 1.88 par time                         Hyper mode Training Time 1.50 par time

Pendulum 2.60 par time                                 Hyper mode Training Time 2.10 par time

Speed Option 2.63 par time                           Hyper mode Training Time 2.10 par time

Roundabout 2.13 par time                              Hyper mode Training Time 1.70 par time

[stick]

Hyper mode training to complete today.  8/30/18

·         Accelerator 1.90 second par time

·         5 to Go 2.20 second par time

 

Today I tried to complete the above stages using the hyper mode training methodology.  It was very humbling to say the least.  I trained with the knowledge and understanding that the par times are a far stretch for me to meet.  I used 120% of the peak times for my hyper mode par times.  I can see the merits of using this methodology for training.  I don’t believe that I actually made any of the par times in the 15 runs I performed on each stage, but I did notice some of my runs were faster than previous training sessions.  I only performed 3 sets of 5 on each stage.  I’m trying to stay within my initial goal of 15 minutes a day.  I also had my daughter doing some dry fire in preparation for Saturday’s match.  I don’t want to get reckless trying to chase a number in dry fire.  I want to make sure that I’m still seeing what I need to see, but the hyper mode has its merits.  I need to make some gains on stages that have been my Achilles heel.

[stick]

8/31/18

In preparation for Tomorrow’s Steel challenge match, I ran through all 8 banners with 5 repetitions each.  I used the hyper mode training par times.  I’m humbled to say the least.  The 1.50 par time on Smoke & Hope seems like a blur.  The other blur was speed option at 2.10 seconds.  I’m holding on to the idea that the hyper mode training will make me faster.  I have to remember that speed doesn’t replace fundamentals and shot calling.  I can see where this type of training will make a difference in my stage times.  I just need to stay positive and focused on my goals.  Now to work on my mental game in preparation for tomorrow’s match.

[stick]

9/1/18

Final	Name	Number	Class		Division		Time
1	XXX	XXX	GM	RFPO		84.09
2	XXX	XXX	GM	RFRO		86.27
3	XXX	XXX	M	RFRO		91.02
4	Scott, Michael	A78613	M	PCCO		91.79
5	XXX	XXX	U	RFPO		93.52
6	XXX	XXX	U	PCCO		93.65
7	XXX	XXX	A	RFPO		96.97
8	XXX	XXX	M	RFPO		97.17
9	XXX	XXX	A	PCCO		99.08
10	XXX	XXX	M	RFPO		101.2

Here are the results from today’s match.  I was fourth overall and first in PCC.  I have mixed results from today.  I had personal bests in Pendulum, Outer Limits and Accelerator.  I also moved from 90.89% to 93.01%.  I’m now only 2.99% away from GM.  I also have five misses that counted on my runs.  I spoke with The GM shooter who won after the match about the mental game.  I was given some really good pointers and I’ll be incorporating them into my mental game very shortly.  I’ll try and post some videos of the match in the next few days.  Now I need to prepare for Tomorrow’s Steel Challenge match.

[stick]

Final	Name	Number	Class	Division		Time
1	Scott, Michael	A78613	M	PCCO	87.84
2	XXX	XXX	A	RFPO	90.6
3	XXX	XXX	M	RFRO	94.23
4	XXX	XXX	M	RFPI	94.45
5	XXX	XXX	A	PCCO	96.33
6	XXX	XXX	M	RFPI	98.69
7	XXX	XXX	U	PCCO	99.2
8	XXX	XXX	M	RFPO	102.27
9	XXX	XXX	B	RFRO	103.2
10	XXX	XXX	B	RFPO	104.21

The results are in from today’s Steel Challenge match.  I took first overall out of 69 shooters.  The afternoon squads had some really good shooters who either didn’t finish or got rained out, but I’ll take the win.  I had four personal best stages today (Showdown, Smoke & Hope, Accelerator and Speed Option).  I broke the peak time on Showdown today with an 8.21.  It’s my third 100% stage.  I did leave some meat on the bone with a couple of stages, especially Roundabout where I had a 12.33 stage time.  Outer limits is now my worst performing stage at 87.72%  When the SCSA update runs Wednesday, I’ll officially move to GM in Steel Challenge.

[stick]

Here's three videos from Yesterday's match.  I was playing around with Gopro Studio (Not Quick) and decided to do it up.

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by stick

[stick]

Dry fire Training 9/3/18

·         Outer Limits

 

Today I listened to a pod cast on Steel Challenge about Outer Limits.  I also reviewed my recent stage times for outer limits.  My last stage times are 14.98, 14.06, 13.68 & 15.59.  My Current percentage for that stage is 87.72% while my overall percentage is 96.52%.  It’s almost a 10% difference from all my other stages.  So, logically I decided to put in some dedicated time on outer limits.  I also have a speed ladder on order.  I’m hoping to improve my footwork for outer limits and USPSA.  Here’s what I worked on today:

·         Footwork from box to box no gun

·         Focus on balance and staying low entering the box to reduce gun bounce.

·         Focus on entering the second box and immediately shooting.

·         Run repetitions without the timer focusing on putting it all together.

[stick]

Dry Fire Training 9/4/18

·         Outer Limits

 

I started off the day by going to the gym and getting in a good total body work preceded by cardio on the treadmill.  I ended the day with my second intense workout for outer limits.  I worked up a good sweat by working on my footwork from box to box.  I tried making the transition in 1 second, but it was a bit too fast for me.  I did make the 1.4 second transitions though.  After working on the footwork, I got out the PCC and ran some repetitions without the timer.  I then decided to run some 3.90 second par time runs.  I made each of the runs I tried.  I immediately put down the timer and gun and ran more repetitions working on my footwork again.  I’m trying to stay away from results based training, so I’m limiting my dry fire runs with the timer.  I’m also thinking that my speed ladder will help me develop better footwork for outer limits and USPSA.  A couple of more days working on outer limits before I decide to throw in another stage, I’ll then throw in accelerator seeing that I’m only at 91.70%.

[stick]

New Update came out today.  I’m excited to say that I officially made GM!

Another day of dedicated dry fire practice for Outer Limits.  I worked on footwork only, for 5-10 minutes doing nothing but moving from box to box.  I focused on staying low and not crashing the box as I entered it.  I noticed that the dot doesn’t bounce when you keep low even at speed.  I’m pretty tall, so staying low was a challenge at first, but now I just keep a nice bend in my knees and I’m good.  I ran a couple of runs with the gun, but I didn’t like what I was doing so I stopped and went back to working on my footwork.  It’s only a matter of time before my hard work and dedication will pay off on this stage.

[stick]

Dry Fire Training 9/6/18

·         Outer Limits

·         Accelerator

I got going early with a quick 30 minute total body workout at the gym; I then got into training mode with my daily dose of Outer limits and Accelerator.  As usual, I worked on footwork from box to box before picking up the gun.  I ran 15 repetitions with the gun and I had the par time set to 3.70 seconds.  I made 90% of the runs.  I did slip once on the pvc box as I was leaving box one for box two.  I’m feeling extremely confident in my training over the last few days.  I can really tell I’m making progress on outer limits.

I had Accelerator setup with a par time of 2.10 seconds.  My last three matches on this stage have an average of 10.54 seconds or 2.63 seconds per run.  I will say that my last three matches have seen decreases in this stage (10.65, 10.62 & 10.36).  I feel confident in setting the par time at 2.10 seconds.  I made about 3-4 runs out of 10.  I’m confident that my current training plan will help me excel.  At my current level, it’s more about consistency!  I know I’m fast enough.

[stick]

Dry Fire Training 9/7/18

·         Outer Limits

·         Accelerator

I worked another day on my two weakest stages.  I started out on Outer Limits by working on my footwork.  I added the gun and ran some repetitions.  I did have a slight aha moment when I noticed that as I was transitioning from box to box, I was looking at my next target.  I noticed that I was looking in the general direction of the targets.  As I focused on my target during transition, My times were slightly lower.  I had the timer set at 3.70 seconds.  It was hit or miss during my runs, I was either right on time or just over.

Accelerator was set for a 2.10 second par time.  I ran 10 repetitions and I only made 1-2 of the par times.  2.10 on accelerator is very quick.  I still need to work on this stage to engrain good habits. 

[firewood]

You are doing well Stick!

[stick]

12 hours ago, firewood said:

You are doing well Stick!

Thank you!  I've been working hard.

[stick]

9/11/18

I've taken a few days off to deal with some family issues.  I started back tonight with a couple of drills in preparation for USPSA on Saturday.  First, I did some ladder drills.  I realized that I'm not 20 anymore and I'm slower than I thought.  I then worked on some dot drills for transitions.  I ended up doing some PCC reload drills.

[stick]

9/13/18

In preparation for Saturday’s USPSA match, I worked on speed ladder drills and lateral movement.  I have identified an opportunity with my footwork.  In steel challenge, only one stage requires movement, so until recently I’ve neglected that part of my training.  Last week, I worked exclusively on Outer Limits in an attempt to move better from box to box. In USPSA, most of the stages require movement and this is where I can pick up some time on my stages.  On the ladder drills, I worked on one and two foot forward in forward, one foot lateral crossover (both left and right), two foot lateral (both left and right) and slide step.  I then grabbed the gun and worked on one foot in forward and lateral crossover steps.  With some practice, I’ll get my movement faster and hopefully decrease my USPSA stage times.

[stick]

9/15/18

USPSA Match today at OK Corral.  I finished 3 in PCC out of 17 and 16th out of 90 overall.  I had a good day.  I could have cut down some time by shooting better on the move (This is something I need to practice more!)  The new Taccom Tension barrel performed well.

Place	Name	Member #	class	Division	PF	Categories	Match Pts	Match %
1	XXX	XXX	A	PCC	MINOR		1,058.17	100.000 %
2	XXX	XXX	A	PCC	MINOR		905.4319	85.565 %
3	Scott, Michael	A78613	B	PCC	MINOR		872.4629	82.450 %
4	XXX	XXX	B	PCC	MINOR	Lady	801.4561	75.739 %
5	XXX	XXX	U	PCC	MINOR	Military	798.8861	75.497 %
6	XXX	XXX	U	PCC	MINOR	Senior	740.387	69.968 %
7	XXX	XXX	B	PCC	MINOR		730.1829	69.004 %
8	XXX	XXX	U	PCC	MINOR		729.5196	68.941 %
9	XXX	XXX	C	PCC	MINOR		725.6461	68.575 %
10	XXX	XXX	C	PCC	MINOR	Lady	646.591	61.104 %

Edited September 16, 2018 by stick

[stick]

9/15/18  Video from USPSA Match

 

[stick]

9/18/18

I'm really getting tired of the 100 degree weather/humidity in Florida. I started out this morning with the intention of doing some footwork training and then doing some dry fire training this afternoon.  I got out and worked on the speed ladder both with and without the gun in an attempt to improve my footwork.  I went to the gym and got in a nice workout.  Fast forward to this afternoon and it's just too damn hot to go back out and dry fire.  I decided to take the rest of the day off.