The Gun Doesn't Matter

[CClassForLife]

27 minutes ago, Tango said:

Congrats! 

Q: Why do you shoot? 

 

Thanks. I shoot because I feel I can be the best in the world at it. I continue to shoot until I prove it to myself. The only constraint is that I must do it with the Glock 26.

[Tango]

4 minutes ago, CClassForLife said:

 

Thanks. I shoot because I feel I can be the best in the world at it. I continue to shoot until I prove it to myself. The only constraint is that I must do it with the Glock 26.

 

I am asking because of curiosity, I just want to understand how you think, with the hopes that it would give me motivation.

 

Even if you have a shot at being the best, is it really worth it? All the time, money, sacrifice....last time I heard even world champions are not making much money, its not the NBA or pro-golf or anything like that. All that time...I don't know, there are more important things to do in this life than dedicating all my time to a game, a hobby in the end. 

 

Don't get me wrong, I am cheering for you.

[CClassForLife]

2 minutes ago, Tango said:

 

I am asking because of curiosity, I just want to understand how you think, with the hopes that it would give me motivation.

 

Even if you have a shot at being the best, is it really worth it? All the time, money, sacrifice....last time I heard even world champions are not making much money, its not the NBA or pro-golf or anything like that. All that time...I don't know, there are more important things to do in this life than dedicating all my time to a game, a hobby in the end. 

 

Don't get me wrong, I am cheering for you.

 

It's not about the money for me. I have my day time job for that haha.

 

I treat it as a serious hobby in that it's my priority when I don't have plans with friends or family. Honestly, I'm not really sacrificing much at this point in my life. Look at JJ, Max, or Eric. They have families and a lot less free time than me, yet they can compete at the top year in year out. If looking at my available hours, shooting probably takes up less than 10% of it.

[Sniperboy]

11 hours ago, CClassForLife said:

 

Thanks. I shoot because I feel I can be the best in the world at it. I continue to shoot until I prove it to myself. The only constraint is that I must do it with the Glock 26.

 

Hobbies are important.  If you can prove to yourself you can accomplish your goals, if you have the right mindset, then you can easily transfer that mindset to other avenues in life.

 

You're my hero and congratulations.

More videos and more of that yellow burning rubber please!

Edited September 17, 2020 by Sniperboy

[CClassForLife]

Area 4 was my first major match and it was a fantastic learning opportunity. I wanted to test various mindsets and shooting strategies to see which worked best for me.

 

I began the match going at a leisurely pace with no sense of urgency. Stages 12, 13, 1, and 2 were shot in this manner. They ranged from 70-85% of top CO HF.

 

Stages 3 and 4 were pure accuracy, netting 87-90%.

 

Stage 5 was shot purposely continuing the high feeling from the previous stage to see if an overly positive mindset helps. This did not as it took away from my attention and I ended up forgetting to relax my grip. It was almost comical how every target was Alpha-Charlie (with first shot being in the center and the second at the belly button) – 72%.

 

Stage 6 and 7 were shot with a “world destroyer mentality” – 86-91%.

 

Stage 8 was testing no visualization – 80%.

 

Stage 9 was the first stage of the second day. I wanted to see what happens when I shot with cold arms. The answer is immense trigger freeze – 44%.

 

For stage 10, I was curious to analyze why the top shooters were faster than me. I decided to shoot only 1 shot per target. This let me focus on movement and target acquisition without worrying about recoil control. My hypothesis is that I should be 3+ seconds faster than the next fastest time. If that’s the case, then I’m losing time from lingering on my second shots and not transitioning the dot immediately after firing. If it was much fewer than 3 seconds, then it’s not my splits that need work but stage execution instead. It was about 3 seconds, so I need to work on transitioning off paper better - 0%.

 

Stage 11 was my final stage to put everything together. Work on heavy visualization and shoot it as if I was going for my optimal HF – 96%. Would have been the fastest CO time as well. I know now that I’m fast enough to be top 10. The question is whether or not the accuracy is there.

 

So what did I learn from all this jazz? The best I can hope for with my current skill level is 6^th at Nationals. This assumes no procedural or shooting errors (M, NS, and P). A more realistic estimate is 15^th-20^th. However, I'm not a fan of hoping. I got three weeks to refine my skillset. Time to get to work.

 

TL;DR - I placed 96th overall at Area 4.

 

Edited September 21, 2020 by CClassForLife

[CClassForLife]

On 9/17/2020 at 10:42 AM, Sniperboy said:

More videos and more of that yellow burning rubber please!

 

Switched to black Nike cleats. I'll probably order a custom yellow colorway once this pair wears out.

 

Experimented with some one-handed shooting on stages 4 and 6. Stage 5 was an overall win even with a Mike. Ended the match with 10D / 9M / 3NS.

[CClassForLife]

More of a mental note to myself:

 

I'm approaching this all wrong.

 

If I shoot safe, I have a 0% chance of winning Nationals this year.

 

If I shoot with maximum aggression, then that number is slightly higher than 0%.

 

I will maximize my odds of getting first place.

 

Nothing else matters.

 

----------------------

 

Lately, I've been doing eye exercises over any dry-firing. I look at a piece of tape, then switch to another piece of tape. I do this as quickly as possible while attempting to focus on an exact point on that piece of tape. I keep going until mental fatigue. It's interesting to observe how my eyes try to "cheat". My goal here is to do this until my mind is blank and I realize that I can't go any faster. So far, my point focus is roughly 50% of my maximum peripheral focus speed. Not very scientific, but I like trying random stuff.

[ngodwetrust21]

On 9/26/2020 at 9:28 PM, CClassForLife said:

 

Switched to black Nike cleats. I'll probably order a custom yellow colorway once this pair wears out.

 

Experimented with some one-handed shooting on stages 4 and 6. Stage 5 was an overall win even with a Mike. Ended the match with 10D / 9M / 3NS.

My thoughts on your one handed shooting experiment. I think it makes sense if it is close and you are shooting from the hip like Taran Butler does because you are eliminating the presentation from your draw stroke and saving time. I also think it could save some time on a really really ridiculous lean. The way you did it on those stages it looked as though you were not firing from the hip on the first stage and on the reload if you are bringing up your support hand far enough to do the reload, it is not that much further to simply put the support hand on the gun and shoot normally. On the other stage, the lean didn’t look that extreme where you needed to shoot one handed.

Edited September 30, 2020 by ngodwetrust21

[CClassForLife]

5 hours ago, ngodwetrust21 said:

My thoughts on your one handed shooting experiment. I think it makes sense if it is close and you are shooting from the hip like Taran Butler does because you are eliminating the presentation from your draw stroke and saving time. I also think it could save some time on a really really ridiculous lean. The way you did it on those stages it looked as though you were not firing from the hip on the first stage and on the reload if you are bringing up your support hand far enough to do the reload, it is not that much further to simply put the support hand on the gun and shoot normally. On the other stage, the lean didn’t look that extreme where you needed to shoot one handed.

Those leans might not look extreme, but I was more than a second faster by that fourth shot. The stage designer purposely made it hell for PCC shooters and it was real awkward even for handguns. Regardless, I'm not good enough to shoot those yet, so I won't be trying that during Nationals haha.

 

 

[Matt1]

I haven’t read the whole thread so if it hasn’t already been mentioned you should take out a Gold membership to PSTG and follow their advice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CClassForLife]

2 hours ago, Matt1 said:

I haven’t read the whole thread so if it hasn’t already been mentioned you should take out a Gold membership to PSTG and follow their advice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've taken a Stoeger class and evaluated PSTG under a bronze membership. Personally, I do not think I'll receive enough benefit from their advice. My approach to improvement is vastly different than theirs.

 

Their feedback and analysis centers around videos of the student's dry-fire, drills during live-fire, and matches.

1. My dry fire is mostly me staring at pieces of tape and thinking about shooting.
2. Drills have almost zero utility for me. I prefer Grauffel's or Gushina's method of setting up different mini stages each time. I care about minimizing the time on a single, cold run. While the accelerator, criss-cross, go-stop, and Bill/Blake drills are nice in developing a shooter's comfort, there's a point of diminishing returns on their efficacy to match performance. 
3. I shoot every match to beyond what I can reasonably do at that time. This is non negotiable in my mind. This can look like I'm dicking around, but I'm deeply observing my mistakes. Contrary to what most people do, I don't try to eliminate mistakes, but go even faster to see the same mistakes again.

-----

 

Also, Joel probably doesn't approve of my choice of gun. 

 

[Tango]

My limited experience showed me that there is a big difference between local and major matches. Performance anxiety, energy conservation through the day, weather, not taking it too conservative, complex stage plans, etc etc. If I were you, I would treat all major matches as if they are the nationals and try to get the relevant major match experience, instead of trying new things. Local matches are good for trying new things. 

[Whoops!]

The haters seem to be making fewer comments now that you’re a GM.  I’m glad. 

I enjoyed your diary and have been through a lot of what you’re describing.  The eye exercises are particularly helpful.

 

I once had the same logic you do about a smaller gun having greater potential to move faster.

 

It is absolutely true.

 

if we forget that we are human and must make sacrifices for our mortal form.

 

I was 23rd overall at Area 4.

 

Every stage finish below 82% was directly as a result of my gun malfunctioning because of old recoil and main springs.

 

I use a Tanfoglio Domina Xtreme - one of the heaviest open guns on the market - as does Eric Grauffel.

 

Jorge Ballesteros also uses one of the heaviest open guns on the market with his Bul.

I don’t use it because it is easy to move.

 

I use it because it is not easy to move.

 

It has nothing to do with muzzle flip.

 

It has everything to do with left-right deviation for rapid shooting.

 

I want more A’s while shooting faster.

 

The Glock 26 is holding you back - even if we do not factor in weight.

 

The recoil system in the short slide does not have enough travel to prevent the 9mm cartridge from torquing your hand left and right with each shot.

 

It contributes to weak hits and always will - no matter how talented or strong you become.

 

When the slide bottoms out - it is just like a shock bottoming out.

 

What was a nice straight up and down movement becomes vibration.

 

The harder it bottoms out, the more vibration.

 

You’re basically taking a Mazda Miata to the Baja 500.

 

You have the ability to learn to drive that Miata pretty damn well.

 

But I’m in a trophy truck.

Even when my shock bottoms out - It is attached to a nice, stout frame to help quell the vibration.

 

Applying this to Carry Optics - I would try the newish Defiant Stock Master.
 

That being said - I can tell you are stubborn like me and will want one that is also IPSC legal - that’s why I use a Stock II.

 

It’s easy to put down high classifiers.  My life’s goal has been keeping them off of my classification.

 

Because I want the match results to show what I can do. (More prizes are nice too)

[DyNo!]

This is ridiculous but I love it!

 

Looks good, keep it up! 

[CClassForLife]

Shot Nats and ended up 23rd in Carry Optics.

 

I decided to shoot conservatively to see where my relaxed pace ended up. Biggest lesson learned is to count all the targets during the walkthrough. The only stage where I didn't do this ended in an FSTA on an open target. It didn't even exist in my vision until it was pointed out to me even though it was literally 7 yards away.

 

Some random notes:

• Shooting in a downpour is hilarious. The gun is kinda hard to hold on to if it's wet. Nike football cleats are top notch. Never a moment when I questioned my traction.
• My dot broke on the first stage which was filled with no-shoots and a swinger. Let's just say I've never been more happy with a Charlie-Delta on a swinger.
• My squad mates were from Ecuador and Puerto Rico, super cool people to hang out with and I can't wait to visit them.
• Shooting AM/PM/AM is great in October. The sun glare issue was non-existent. I didn't bother taping my optic at all.

Overall, I'm not satisfied with my finish, but I will never be. Time for the off-season, so I probably won't update much in the next few months.

 

In the short term, I'm switching to my non-dominant hand until I can lay down M classifiers in Open. It's more of a curiosity to experience what having zero muscle memory and my current knowledge can lead to. Also, it will be useful to diagnose what parts of the fundamental building process is most important to my performance.

[cjmill87]

Congrats on the finish and being ahead of the curve on your goals.  Probably now safe to say that the title of the thread and some of the discussion here have been proven.  Maybe the G26 becomes the hot ticket in CO in 2021?

[CClassForLife]

@Whoops! I'm well aware of the physics. The 26 is my favorite gun, and I'm not remotely close to being good enough for it to hold me back. I'll admit that there is a performance difference right now (my HF is at least 10% higher with my G34 that I don't practice with), but my theory is that there will eventually be a crossover point. I attribute this performance delta not in the mechanical aspects of the gun, but the weakness in my technique. The gun's fine, I just need to get better. Also, I'll probably pick up a DA/SA gun for fun. I might pick up a Stock Master. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

@cjmill87 Thanks. I still got to prove the title to myself. A long ways to go on that journey, but it's a fun one. People might start hopping on the 26 bandwagon. As of now, it has a 100% success rate to make GM in CO 

[TheChewycookie]

It's still impressive making it within the top 25 for your first Nats with a smaller gun that has a higher chance of hanging most people up on reloads, so Congrats on that. Can't wait to shoot with you again in the future.

[Blockader]

I just discovered this thread. It is awesome. You might want to try 3 gun out, it has 3 times more guns to do ridiculous things with! 

[Cliveb]

Pretty damn good result - I'm sure that with your approach you'll improve further and will soon be snapping at the heels of the big boys - looking forward to reading about your first major match podium place.

 

Hopefully, next year you'll be able to pop over again - and we'll see whether you deserve that GM card  

[Tango]

congrats man! perhaps we will meet at the next nationals.

[Whoops!]

On 10/22/2020 at 12:12 PM, CClassForLife said:

I might pick up a Stock Master. Thanks for the recommendation.

My work here is done.  You’ll be winning Carry Optics at Area matches in no time.

[hugh]

I saw the interview you did with Humble Marksman and came here and read the whole diary.

 

You are indomitable. Your utter fearlessness - not recklessness- is simply impressive. 

 

Some would say you're tilting at windmills but I'd disagree. You are attacking a vertical learning curve.

 

Not many people have turned on a light as bright for me but you certainly have. I have some thinking to do!

 

Thank you, and Bravo. sir!

[CClassForLife]

@Cliveb The moment borders open up, I'll be there.

 

Appreciate all the friendly feedback guys.

 

-------

 

My lack of skill with my weak hand annoys me. I'm going to shoot the 2021 Nationals with my weak side. I shot one local match with my left hand and dominant eye with a day of practice. As of now, my worse half is a C class shooter . Going forward, I'll start using my non-dominant eye so I can go fully left sided.

 

This will take a lot of adjustment as I have yet to build the muscle memory. Also, I signed up for another USPSA membership under the name "Luft Hanz" (A131263) to track this progress.

 

My next match will be the AREA 59 CHAMPIONSHIP 2020, and I'm curious what 3 weeks of training can accomplish.

 

Training:

• Build index through draws and transitions. Grip cannot be mirrored due to discomfort, so the right thumb is pointed forward instead of straight up. Draw is probably at 1.5 seconds. Huge issue finding the dot when moving positions, but this will get better through practice.
• Gun manipulation through reloads. The magazine catch is kept on the left side, because I want to feel the pain of lefties. Currently, my reloads take roughly 2 seconds. I noticed that when showing clear, I'm moving the gun to my right side as I still have no idea how to rack the slide properly.
• Dry-fire about an hour a day.
• Live-fire practice once a week ~250 rounds.

I have near-zero muscle memory, especially, with my left eye. It will be a nice way to track progress from the beginning, and I can make note of which things were most effective in increasing performance.

Edited October 28, 2020 by CClassForLife
Making a second USPSA membership is not allowed.

[Racinready300ex]

4 hours ago, CClassForLife said:

@Cliveb The moment borders open up, I'll be there.

 

Appreciate all the friendly feedback guys.

 

-------

 

My lack of skill with my weak hand annoys me. I'm going to shoot the 2021 Nationals with my weak side. I shot one local match with my left hand and dominant eye with a day of practice. As of now, my worse half is a C class shooter . Going forward, I'll start using my non-dominant eye so I can go fully left sided.

 

This will take a lot of adjustment as I have yet to build the muscle memory. Also, I signed up for another USPSA membership under the name "Luft Hanz" (A131263) to track this progress.

 

My next match will be the AREA 59 CHAMPIONSHIP 2020, and I'm curious what 3 weeks of training can accomplish.

 

Training:

• Build index through draws and transitions. Grip cannot be mirrored due to discomfort, so the right thumb is pointed forward instead of straight up. Draw is probably at 1.5 seconds. Huge issue finding the dot when moving positions, but this will get better through practice.
• Gun manipulation through reloads. The magazine catch is kept on the left side, because I want to feel the pain of lefties. Currently, my reloads take roughly 2 seconds. I noticed that when showing clear, I'm moving the gun to my right side as I still have no idea how to rack the slide properly.
• Dry-fire about an hour a day.
• Live-fire practice once a week ~250 rounds.

I have near-zero muscle memory, especially, with my left eye. It will be a nice way to track progress from the beginning, and I can make note of which things were most effective in increasing performance.

 

I'm just going to throw this out there, is it legal to just make another number under a fake name? Considering what was just done to Ryan Flowers for something as minor as deleting himself from a match (lifetime ban) I wouldn't recommend doing that. Or at least I wouldn't post about it on the internet.

 

Some of your training ideas I like, some seem crazy but it's all interesting.