First match results. Need advice!

[BamaShooter88]

I just finished my first USPSA match. I shot my Glock 19 in limited minor. It was my first match so my goal was to finish the match without dq, or penalty. I accomplished my goal and actually surprised myself. I placed 23 out of 37 overall and 9 out of 16 in my division. I struggled with stage planning and reload points. Any advice on training for those? By the way this is so addictive! I love it!

[Hi-Power Jack]

23 minutes ago, BamaShooter88 said:

  I struggled with stage planning and reload points. Any advice on training for those? 

 

Usually, people don't have much of a problem with reload points in Limited - can

you get mags that hold 22 or so rounds ?

 

Plan to fire all your rounds except 3-4, and then reload at that point - usually one

reload does it in Limited.      

[BamaShooter88]

4 minutes ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

 

Usually, people don't have much of a problem with reload points in Limited - can

you get mags that hold 22 or so rounds ?

 

Plan to fire all your rounds except 3-4, and then reload at that point - usually one

reload does it in Limited.      

I was shooting a Glock 19 with 15 rounds. Next match I will be using a Glock 17 with 21 rounds. That makes sense. I will try that next time. I swear that shot timer erases memory when it goes off lol. I completely forgot my plan once the timer went off. I gotta train to stay calm and think. 

[MemphisMechanic]

If you cannot close your eyes and run through the whole stage like a video, you didn’t run through it enough while “air gunning.”

 

Memorize the whole thing. Then execute *at a controlled pace* when the buzzer goes off. 

 

You shouldn’t need to stop to think about what to shoot next.  

 

We all suck at first and get better over the first year. Too. 

[Bwillis]

John made some difficult stages for a first time shooter today so take that in to consideration. 

[Lastcat]

1 hour ago, BamaShooter88 said:

I just finished my first USPSA match. I shot my Glock 19 in limited minor. It was my first match so my goal was to finish the match without dq, or penalty. I accomplished my goal and actually surprised myself. I placed 23 out of 37 overall and 9 out of 16 in my division. I struggled with stage planning and reload points. Any advice on training for those? By the way this is so addictive! I love it!

 

Welcome to the Sport, it's a blast, that's for sure . I've only had 22 Matches so far, in Open Div. I only get in 2 Matches a month, the Matches are many miles away . Get to as many as you can, 4-5 times a Month. 

 

Find spots on the Stage, where you can engage as many targets as possible. I look for a spot on the ground, edge of a wall, fault line gap, etc... that I need to hit, to engage as many targets as I can, with the least amount of movement. Have fun and stay at it. It does get better. 

[BamaShooter88]

1 hour ago, Bwillis said:

John made some difficult stages for a first time shooter today so take that in to consideration. 

Yea I thought they were pretty tricky. Very mental! No hosing at all. Great practice though.

Edited April 14, 2019 by BamaShooter88

[Hi-Power Jack]

8 hours ago, BamaShooter88 said:

I was shooting a Glock 19 with 15 rounds. Next match I will be using a Glock 17 with 21 rounds. 

 

I betcha that solves the whole problem.     

[BamaShooter88]

2 hours ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

 

I betcha that solves the whole problem.     

Yea it will definitely help!

[Part_time_redneck]

As far as stage planning this will get you started. 

 

 

[elguapo]

If you finished in the middle of the Limited field shooting minor, you're doing OK.

 

My recommendation is that you buy enough mag pouches to carry five on your belt, get enough standard magazines to fill those pouches up plus an extra for make ready (total of six) and then shoot the 17 in Production.

 

Then reloading becomes easy: four targets, reload.

Edited April 14, 2019 by elguapo

[elguapo]

11 hours ago, BamaShooter88 said:

 I swear that shot timer erases memory when it goes off lol. I completely forgot my plan once the timer went off. I gotta train to stay calm and think. 

 

You can train all the technical skills without going to matches.  There's plenty of books for that. 

 

Training for match stress can only be done by shooting matches.  There is no other way.  Period.

 

That's why I roll my eyes every time I hear someone say "I need to get better before competing" or some variation of that.  Typically they never show.  Or if they do they never return because they thought they were s#!t hot then experience what you did and their ego can't take it.

 

Kudos to you for just jumping in.

[BamaShooter88]

1 minute ago, elguapo said:

 

You can train all the technical skills without going to matches.  There's plenty of books for that. 

 

Training for match stress can only be done by shooting matches.  There is no other way.  Period.

 

That's why I roll my eyes every time I hear someone say "I need to get better before competing" or some variation of that.  Typically they never show.  Or if they do they never return because they thought they were s#!t hot then experience what you did and their ego can't take it.

 

Kudos to you for just jumping in.

Thanks! Yea I did a lot better than I expected. I credit that to forcing myself to go slow in order to not get penalized or dq. I had good hits on most of the targets. So I know I can speed up a little. The part that threw off my reload plans were the steel targets. I’d miss one here and there and completely throw off my reload plan. So then I would just run dry and reload which was really slow. I wanted to just jump in and get started because I knew the matches would be better training than just range practice.

[scroadkill]

12 hours ago, BamaShooter88 said:

Any advice on training for those? By the way this is so addictive! I love it!

find a buddy with some experience and squad up.. get to match an hour early and walk the stages together and make your plans. stage planning is kind of like an onion. at first you just want one layer - draw 2L 4R 2L reload 3L 3R - keep it simple, 3+ walkthroughs before you shoot
as you develop add more layers. visualization, focus, contingency plans, entry/exit targets, hard leans, fight focus vs target focus, foot work, when to shoot on the move, counting steps, exact footwork. again find a coach or experienced shooting partner (or team) that will help you along.

 

[BamaShooter88]

11 minutes ago, elguapo said:

If you finished in the middle of the Limited field shooting minor, you're doing OK.

 

My recommendation is that you buy enough mag pouches to carry five on your belt, get enough standard magazines to fill those pouches up plus an extra for make ready (total of six) and then shoot the 17 in Production.

 

Then reloading becomes easy: four targets, reload.

I thought about shooting production but I just hate the idea of only having 10 rounds in a 17 round gun. I love everything about production except the round count. 

[elguapo]

Just now, BamaShooter88 said:

I love everything about production except the round count. 

 

Embrace the suck.  It will make you better.

[BamaShooter88]

1 minute ago, scroadkill said:

find a buddy with some experience and squad up.. get to match an hour early and walk the stages together and make your plans. stage planning is kind of like an onion. at first you just want one layer - draw 2L 4R 2L reload 3L 3R - keep it simple, 3+ walkthroughs before you shoot
as you develop add more layers. visualization, focus, contingency plans, entry/exit targets, hard leans, fight focus vs target focus, foot work, when to shoot on the move, counting steps, exact footwork. again find a coach or experienced shooting partner (or team) that will help you along.

 

I would love to find a group to train and shoot with. 

[BamaShooter88]

1 minute ago, elguapo said:

 

Embrace the suck.  It will make you better.

That is very true 

[scroadkill]

4 minutes ago, BamaShooter88 said:

I thought about shooting production but I just hate the idea of only having 10 rounds in a 17 round gun. I love everything about production except the round count. 

imo limited minor is easier - get 2-3 mags that hold 20+ and just go shoot. work on stage planning and shooting w/o the extra complexity of the extra mag changes.

 

[BamaShooter88]

1 minute ago, scroadkill said:

imo limited minor is easier - get 2-3 mags that hold 20+ and just go shoot. work on stage planning and shooting w/o the extra complexity of the extra mag changes.

 

That’s why I shot limited my first match.

[scroadkill]

5 minutes ago, BamaShooter88 said:

I would love to find a group to train and shoot with. 

we have a team of 5 guys that squad up and we will meet at the range early and walk the stages building plans together.. then tacos/beer after the match.  Im not sure which is the best part..

 

[scroadkill]

1 minute ago, BamaShooter88 said:

That’s why I shot limited my first match.

stick with it.. just get some base pads / springs to get you to 20+ rounds. at least 2. 3 is better.

[BamaShooter88]

3 minutes ago, scroadkill said:

we have a team of 5 guys that squad up and we will meet at the range early and walk the stages building plans together.. then tacos/beer after the match.  Im not sure which is the best part..

 

That’s awesome!

[GrumpyOne]

17 minutes ago, BamaShooter88 said:

I thought about shooting production but I just hate the idea of only having 10 rounds in a 17 round gun. I love everything about production except the round count. 

What Elguapo said. 

[scroadkill]

5 minutes ago, BamaShooter88 said:

That’s awesome!

during the match ask your squadmates where they are going eat after.. odds are some of guys shoot every Saturday have a routine.. and know where the best tacos are. join in, be friendy, and start asking questions.. swap phone numbers and ask about stage planning.. squad up next match. eat more tacos. rinse. repeat. learn. shoot.