Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

order to engage target.


ohsevenflhx

Recommended Posts

I have had an event in the recent week that I have encountered that I would like opinions about. It was a classifier where I had a start with a hard left target, transition to a hard right target then run down an alley with 3 poppers visible I can engage on the move. I was going to engage them left to right, but when I came off the hard right target to engage the poppers my dot was on the middle popper. I pulled the trigger, then engaged the left popper then right popper. Should have I stuck with my plan left to right or engaged them as I did middle, left, right. When I look at an open target and my dot is on it, do I shoot it then or stick to my plan. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Set it up in practice to play with.

Yes, I would prefer to shoot across an array with shorter transitions. If I transitioned to the "wrong" target like you did, I'd shoot it anyway and get on with things.

--
Pat Jones
Firestone CO
USPSA #A79592

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So you were leaving a target on the right to sweep across all the poppers to engage them left to right.  Why?  Since you were coming from the right, why not engage them right to left instead of by-passing two to get to the third?

 

But once you were on a target - popper shoot it rather than waste time moving to another and then back to it.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

58 minutes ago, Guy Neill said:

So you were leaving a target on the right to sweep across all the poppers to engage them left to right.  Why?  Since you were coming from the right, why not engage them right to left instead of by-passing two to get to the third?

 

But once you were on a target - popper shoot it rather than waste time moving to another and then back to it.

 

 

Your correct that I need to engage the new array right to left since it is the closest. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two separate issues - first one is the optimal order of engagement, the second one is the execution of your plan.

 

The second one is easier to answer. If you overshoot and find yourself on the incorrect target, you engage it, then continue with your plan. This is what you did and it's correct - continue to the left, then return to the right. No different from messing up any other aspect of the stage and finding yourself, e.g., running dry at unexpected position. You reload, then you reload again at your scheduled reload location so you can return to the original plan. 

 

As for the optimal order, I would agree with the other posters that you want to minimize transitions if possible. There are reasons why you'd change the order, such as to facilitate more efficient position entry or exit, but the basic rule of thumb is that you shoot them as they become available, which in your case would be right to left. 

 

Another way to look at it is that what you did is the same as engaging RTL, missing the first target, finishing with the remaining two in the RTL order (middle, then left), coming back to the missed target and engaging it with a makeup shot. You didn't pull the trigger so it's not as slow as a makeup, but you did cross it and could've engaged it by briefly pausing to settle the gun on it. Adding a tenth of a second to shoot the rightmost target as you sweep it vs. at least a few tenths of a second for the full transition from the leftmost target back to the rightmost target... Not too bad, just not optimal. 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...