Revolver? Die on the vine?

[-JCN-]

More than you can afford, pal!
 

I think I’m a GM level coach. But there’s not enough money in the world to make me want to coach people who actively get in their own way. 
 

I get paid well in my day job using the same kinds of logic, communication skills and active problem solving that I use for coaching. 
 

So if I’m going to help someone with coaching, it’s going to pretty much be a donation of my time which only goes to people who will really appreciate it. 
 

Some of the local IDPA guys squad with V and I. They’ve asked me to help them get better. 
 

But the great thing about these guys is that they gave something before they took something…

 

The main guy came up and gave me some shotgun help when an IDPA stage had a bonus clay launcher and a shotgun. I didn’t know where to lead or hold and he came up to me (after I had asked which side the button safety pushes) and said “since you don’t do shotguns, XYZ…”

 

He helped me understand some of the mechanics. 
 

We are going to trade pistol help for shotgun and hunting help. Things that I can’t really learn well on my own from videos. They’re things I wanted to do but the barrier to entry was too high emotionally. 
 

So he texted me recently asking when I’d like to go shotgunning. 
 

A guy who offers something in order to get what he wants, that’s my kind of guy. 
 

I’ve had people in the past only message when they want something and they don’t care about imposing or taking and taking. They don’t last very long with me.

 

It’s part of the “reap what you sow.”

 

You don’t put much into the relationship, you’re not going to get much out of it. 
 

And you might never know what you’re missing. 
 

V puts a crap ton of effort into our relationship and emotionally supporting me. She also helps me get to my goals and wants me to get to my goals. For that, I’m grateful. She’s a selfless friend. 
 

For the IDPA guys, I’m helping them set up their skills lab and will teach a group class to help them learn how to learn. 
 

 

.

Edited July 31 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Okay, this f*#ker is heavy. 


 

 

It’s going to be too heavy for my daughter.
 

Is it wrong that I kind of want to keep it for myself?!

 

It’s basically a 2011 lower with a full mock weight magazine but a blowback Ruger top with the ability to mount an RDS. 
 

 

[-JCN-]

I was up most of the night for work stuff so a little tired today (still working). 
 

But having some nice discussions with some friends in the shooting sports. 
 

Going to help some of the IDPA guys here transition to USPSA. 
 

My main contact is excited and is going to start building his own range. 
 

 

I have some thoughts that I’ll put down later today when I get a break. 

 

 

[-JCN-]

What’s in it for me?

 

I’m not sure that I believe in unconditional love.

 

I’ve been married to my wife for over 23 years and we’ve been dating for 27. 
 

Early on in the relationship, I told my then girlfriend, “If one of us ever stops trying, it’s over.”

Our love and relationship is conditional and contingent on mutual respect and commitment to each others well-being.
 

I think my love for my daughter is as close as it gets to unconditional, but I still make it a point to discuss that we are in a relationship and we both look out for each other and it’s important for each of us to be a good friend to each other (which means being considerate and thoughtful).

 

I also stress to her that there is an expectation of return on the investment, ha ha. I joked that it’s a loan, not a gift.

 

I spend a significant portion of my free time helping her get better. Far more than I spend doing pistol stuff. 
 

I want her to a kind, compassionate, successful problem solver for her own mental health and growth, but also because as I age I’ll need someone like that to help me as I’m eventually not able to help myself. 
 

When I first started working with V, I had a discussion with her about what I hoped to get out of the relationship. It has exceeded both our expectations, but I felt that it was important to set the expectations of what I needed from a relationship and what I did not want.

 

Thankfully, she immediately understood the value of what I had to offer, which isn’t always the case.
 

That’s a long-winded lead up to my current situation and what I’m thinking.
 

The IDPA guys asked me to help them out so I’m just going to just unilaterally donate some time in exchange for a little bit of shotgun and hunting advice down the road.

 

But then I got to thinking, I could potentially help them get better in a structured way.
 

My curriculum with V has been based off objective classifier performance and skills assessments. 
 

They are unofficial and we do official classifiers that are picked by other people and sometimes the stages are not set up properly. We have had classifiers on such severely sloped ranges that the targets in the distance are a good 10 feet higher than horizontal and stages that have been built incorrectly that have required having the match director get a tape measure and fix it. 
 

What if I designed a curriculum for new USPSA shooters like I did for V, but instead of unofficial classifiers we got official baselines and tests so people could learn to know what they don’t know. 
 

So we might make a new USPSA club to that end. As a training method that I know already works as I did it myself and with V. 
 

What’s in it for me? I enjoy helping others (who appreciate the help) and I don’t have to travel for away classifiers. 
 

I can goof around with Production and Revolver. And instead of asking my local MDs to run something like 24-01 which will inevitably happen, I can choose to run that sometime. 
 

Is it cheesy and cheap? Maybe. But as a training tool, it has worked very well for V to have consistent performance metrics and benchmarks. It might be a very good way to get a small group competent in a short period of time… it would be an experiment for me.

And you know how much I like experiments!

 

It also would guarantee me to get LO GM which was pretty much guaranteed anyway, but without me having to travel somewhere to get to that match. I was proud to have made it this far shooting match plus pace, which was my goal.
 

So that is what I am currently thinking about. I might post the tentative curriculum and how the students are doing here.
 

And people training on their own who come across this journal could treat it like a postal curriculum and train on their own alongside virtually. Inevitably people sink or swim based on their work ethic, but sometimes a floaty doughnut can help them get farther faster.

[-JCN-]

Big head, little tail…

 

There is an Asian saying about somebody who has a big head and a little tail. 

 

It basically represents somebody who has a lot of ideas and huge plans, but no ability to execute it and peters out and bails before it comes to fruition.

 

I also remember watching a graffiti competition on television when I was young where two competitors had a set amount of time to complete an artwork.
 

One person came up with a simple plan, but finished it and the other had a very elaborate vision and plan, but only completed about 25% of it and was disqualified. It did not matter how awesome his 25% was, he did not complete the task at hand within the allotted time so it did not matter.

 

As silly as it is of an example, it really stuck with me that goals and plans should have a temporal limit and it’s OK to do a simple plan if it means you can complete it on track.
 

When I started USPSA, my goal was to get to A class, not GM. If I didn’t know what it took to get to A class, how could I reasonably estimate how much time and commitment it would take to get to GM? 
 

Being a perfectionist, I constantly have to remind myself not to take on too elaborate of a plan before understanding how much effort and commitment it will take.
 

One of the best things I have done with my daughter is get her to realize that sometimes things are “good enough.“

 

It’s OK to get a B if that’s the amount of time you had available to complete the task. It’s not a condemnation of your potential ability, just a reflection of the time you had available.
 

But it also helps push creativity and efficiency to try to get as much progress done as possible within the allotted time.

 

Today, I’m reminding myself not to get a big head and fail with a little tail regarding the new club and educational plan.
 

It worked super well with V because she is exceptionally motivated and has no ego. She is also smart and solves problems on her own. Most people don’t have that ability without more coaching input.

 

So I think for a curriculum, maybe I go a little more hands off and let people explore their own goals and motivations rather than setting achievement criteria for them.

 

.

Edited August 2 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Did a quick range session with V today.

 

She has the 0.15 splits down pretty cold. No trigger freezes and really burning in the feel of clean, simple, efficient recoil to trigger timing.

 

In order to do that, you have to have very efficient mechanics but it's the only way to learn the base mechanics without visual correction and compensation... that's the basis of building everything else on top of.

 

 

That particular gun is my old CO gun and it's set up for 0.15 resonant splits with the ammo I used (which is the same ammo she's using). 

 

Gun setup, tuning and balance matter.

 

Using a known, set up gun and ammo combination means I don't have to wonder if she's getting everything out of her skill.

 

When she wasn't splitting 0.15s, I knew there was an inefficiency in her mechanics.

 

She got down to 0.19s and 0.18s... but I knew there was still inefficiency because that's not the gun's happy place.

 

Now she's down to 0.15s and I know she is efficient.

 

It's key to actually being able to perform at an A class level IMO.

 

Of course you don't split 0.15s all the time... it depends on the target distance and the amount of wobble in movement.

 

But if you can't split 0.15s on demand standing still... you certainly can't split 0.16-17s while transitioning and rolling out (which is what it takes to get GM level movement classifier scores).

 

 

[-JCN-]

I’m a little nervous for today

 

Going out to help the IDPA guys today and I want to perform well today. 
 

Not in my shooting, but in my coaching. 
 

I think especially before students have bought in and emotionally committed, it’s important to really keep their feelings at the center.

 

Now that I think about it, it’s exactly like what I do at work.

 

Talking about it here and thinking through the scenario… I can’t believe I didn’t realize it until now.

 

At work, I have technical knowledge, objective training and achievement… but the customers don’t really care about that.

 

They care about how I made them feel.

 

That’s where the trust and the space for them to listen, understand and process the information comes from and is a large part of whether I consider myself successful at my job.

 

It’s not whether I know stuff… it’s whether I can communicate what I know effectively in a way that impacts the customer behavior.

 

Key at work is that the focus is on them, not on me. My goal isn’t to show them how much I know, it’s focused on helping them get better.

 

That’s the approach I’m going to take today.

 

Thanks, blog! Sometimes writing it out for others helps me clarify my own thoughts and motivations.

[-JCN-]

That went really, really well. 
 

Did a little talking about kinesthetics and vision. 
 

Had V demonstrate. Had students work on stuff, then did individual runs with coaching. 
 

Worked on doubles, index, draws and transitions.
 

Then added movement on a 4 target demonstration array to demonstrate how the non-shooting parts matter for the overall time. 
 

It flowed well and naturally. I knew most of the people there except the guy who owns the land.

 

I wasn’t surprised when he had a moment of skepticism about the race gun I was using versus his stock Glock. 
 

I told him that absolutely there is a difference and it might be 15% on pure shooting tasks. 
 

I then asked him if he wanted me to demonstrate the drill with his gun.  
 

He said yes, so I did. 
 

Equipment matters. But most people lose a lot of time in the non-shooting things. 
 

People seemed like they really got a lot out of the class and they said it was information that made a lot of sense but they had never heard before (in this way). 
 

I was able to talk about what I hoped to get out of the relationship in the future and I think it’s going to be a viable one. 
 

The students asked if they could throw me some cash and I said $10 (figuring gas, target clips and pasters). 
 

Everyone gave more than that and I told them that I’d put the money towards the USPSA club affiliation dues. 
 

V said:

 

I was pretty happy with how it went down. 
 

This recent video from Hunter Constantine has >100k views. 
 

He’s a strong guy and as such, has his mechanics built around being a strong guy. 
 

That’s what he knows and that’s what he teaches. 
 

 

He has a grip strength of 170 pounds and he says he squeezes the s#!t out of the grip. 
 

I’m old and not strong. I’m not downplaying.

 

But opinions are just opinions. 
 

What’s MY grip strength?

 

 

Way, way, way less than his. 
 

And I don’t use all of my available strength. I really don’t crush at all. 

So is a crush grip necessary to split fast and accurately? I’d say no.

 

Would crushing help if I had the strength available to me? Maybe. Probably. 
 

Should I spend time trying to build grip strength?

 

I personally don’t see a need to do so. I’d rather spend the time and energy working on transition precision or index. 
 

My $0.02. 

[-JCN-]

So what’s the grip strength that I use on an actual gun?

 

So if Hunter has 170# grip and he uses 100% of his strength when shooting…

 

And I have ~100# grip and I don’t use my full strength when shooting…

 

I was curious to see how many # of grip I use in my typical grip. 
 

So I did some SHO/WHO mock gripping and freestyle mock gripping…

 

This is what I got:

 

 

I’m only using 50# of grip. 
 

While more strength may be better, I would say that 150# of grip isn’t necessary to shoot hundo scores on USPSA classifiers and that if the mechanics are good, 50# will get the job done. 

[-JCN-]

Daughter doesn’t have golf tomorrow so she and I can go out for breakfast while mom gets a break. 
 

Then to the big box lumber store to get some more wall building stuff and off to the range with the kiddo. 
 

Going to set up:

https://uspsa.org/viewer//24-06.pdf
 

[-JCN-]

More breakfast cafe

 

Went back to the breakfast cafe this morning before range time. 

 

 

Peep came along. 
 

 

[-JCN-]

Big storm, walls still standing 

 

Good test of the anchoring. Combination of T posts and long stakes.
 

[-JCN-]

This might happen today. 
 

 

It fits her hands proportionally to what a full size Glock would do for a full size human. 
 

I want her to have good ergos and also learn safety. 
 

When I see little kids on YouTube shooting 9mm with guns too large for their hands, I wonder what the motivation of the parents really is. 
 

And because one is none…

 

 

I ordered a second one that I can experiment mounting an RDS on. And some more mags. 

[-JCN-]

 

 

Painted a barrel together. 
 

Those are ice creams at the bottom.

 

 

Shes glamping in the back while I build some stuff at the range. 

[-JCN-]

What a pain in the booty. 

I set up some of the structure for 24-06. I usually use a grid with wood to make sure I don’t get tilted too far. 
 

 

I was able to squeeze it on the side of the range so that I can have three movement classifiers just set up forever. 
 

Then can use all the walls together for a mega stage…

[-JCN-]

These are the classifiers I want to use to train the IDPA guys. 

 

[-JCN-]

[-JCN-]

USPSA club thoughts

 

Doing the coaching class for the IDPA guys, my vision for the USPSA club is a little clearer.

 

After seeing how much benefit good coaching and structure can help, they are extremely motivated now. 
 

They want to put more time and effort into improving the range. I requested that the surface have good traction rather than a sandy beach. Especially if we do movement classifiers.
 

So my vision for the club would be that they set up the stages. They are extremely handy people and work in construction and trades. They are perfectly capable of measuring and setting up a classifier off of a blueprint.
 

It would be totally worth my time to coach rather than set up/teardown.
 

It also leverages everybody’s strengths of contribution.

 

It also gives them an objective grading criteria and framework for context and improvement. Also as an introduction to component parts of USPSA before setting foot into larger matches.

 

The value of USPSA for me is the shooting database.

 

That they can make new classifiers and instead of an arbitrary grading criteria, they can have robust performance based data of how good is good.

 

All the politics and drama aren’t going to keep me away from the sport. Just like all the politics and drama don’t prevent me from loving the USA.

 

If I can spend some time and effort bringing in the new shooters with good attitudes and a love of the sport, that’s ultimately what makes the organization healthy in the future.

Before they get their range fully set up, we can start with stand and shoot classifiers. 

[-JCN-]

I’m not sure who reads this journal. It’s mainly for me to organize my thoughts and to document V and my progress. 
 

But if there are any noobs at the C/D level casually browsing that could use more detail and explanation of what I did during the coaching class and why I’m picking the benchmarks for the IDPA guys I am, I’m happy to expand on it if it’s helpful. 
 

People have to let me know though otherwise I won’t spend the time expanding on it. 
 

Can even just PM/DM me with a “hey” if you don’t want to post publicly in this thread. 
 

.

Edited August 5 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Just one fee…

 

I heard back from USPSA that getting SCSA affiliation doesn’t cost anything extra when creating a club. 
 

Regardless of politics, I’m getting a lot of value for my USPSA dollars. 
 

 

I’m a largely self taught shooter and need the database to help tell me “what’s good.”
 

I understand that my learning and processing might be a little different than others, but I would rather have a classifier database than attend a class for $500-1000 over one weekend. 
 

That’s just me though and I understand that others might need more external help. 

[-JCN-]

Comments from students

 

This is from the main IDPA guy:

 

 

And this is from V.

 

 

 

It’s fun to be appreciated. Like I said, I only want to perform for people who understand the value of the performance.
 

I don’t charge anything for coaching, but I’m not going to waste my valuable time either. By not charging money, I have no obligation to do anything I don’t want to do.
 

If I had to perform for money, it would take a lot more emotional investment to help get the best out of somebody with their own ego and agenda. I can do it, but it takes a lot of mental effort for me to work around somebody who is getting in their own way.

 

I do it at work and I enjoy it, but I’m left emotionally drained. That’s not what I want out of a hobby, I want to be emotionally recharged from the people I spend time with.

 

 

.

 

Edited August 6 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Sometimes I have bad ideas…

 

So a work friend is stuck out East because of weather so I offered to cover his overnight work call. 
 

I had to attend to some stuff so now I’m lying in bed and my mind is wandering to bad ideas…

 

I have a couple of original Aliens that I never used much due to grip angle differences. 
 

I also have about 14k rounds of Everglades 9 major…

 

I’ve heard that Aliens don’t hold up to shooting 9 major…

 

But I have two of these guns just sitting here…

 

Hmm…

 

HMMMMMMMMMMM….

[-JCN-]

Okay after some sleep I’m more clear. 
 

I really should stick with one gun and one configuration if I want to get my mind’s eye trained and in tune with stage plan visualization. 
 

I’ve been a little conflicted with my LO GM pursuit now that it looks like the training club will happen. 
 

Here is what my ego is saying to me:

 

1. I’m good at classifiers because I enjoy working those skills. But… haters are going to be jealous if I have the opportunity to run classifiers of my choosing. But… current MDs locally do this and double enter their own classifier matches. 
 

2. I’m already a double GM, does it matter if I am triple GM (pro or con). 
 

3. Am I emotionally secure enough to say to haters that I’m a GM because I play the classifier game and that’s somewhat independent of the field course game?

 

I don’t know yet. 
 

Still chewing it over. I’m also trying to come up with guidelines and rules for running classifiers. 
 

My saving graces are that:

I’m doing it as a training module for V and the IDPA boys. My own classifications aren’t the goal. 
 

I’ll have to think about it a little more. 
 

 

[-JCN-]

RV repairs

 

So our RV is a 2014 with 70k miles on it. It recently had a bunch of engine and emission work done for free (dieselgate). 
 

It has some rust and some of the RV type things need service. 
 

I’ve replaced the coach batteries myself a couple times. 
 

But the valve off the black tank isn’t working so I can’t dump the black tank. Not a big deal because I normally don’t use the black tank… but one time my daughter did….
 

Made an appointment at the large mega RV shop and they’re booked out until Sept 10. 
 

Since we are waiting that long, might as well get the whole thing refreshed!

 

Going to get some of the rust spots repaired and painted and some of the things like the corroded electric step fixed. 
 

Should be able to get a good number of years more out of it yet. 
 

The newer models have lane holding adaptive cruise which will be a must. But I don’t do as much long distance travel as I used to. 
 

I could see getting a smaller, lighter duty one. The current one is a Sprinter 3500 (dally) chassis that we used to tow an enclosed trailer with. 
 

Excited for the refresh though. 

[-JCN-]

Goober squad

 

League was an interesting experience. I had to work today so didn't get to the match until about 30 min before it started. I was smarter and loaded mags and cleaned gun before going into work today.

 

All the stages were very technical, high round count memory stages.

 

I implemented my stage memorization protocol and I realized that a helpful thing is to locate targets front to rear positioning to anchor them in the plan... because I want to engage them in the closest position I can.

 

My general stage planning consists of:

1. Walking around to locate all targets. Count the paper and steel.

2. Look at targets from forward position and then from each rearward position.

3. Locate which targets HAVE to be shot from particular positions.

4. Break the targets and positions into arrays and sectors.

5. Video walk through counting targets and highlighting any key footwork or movements.

6. Repeat walk through counting and determine reload position.

7. Continue repeating walk through counting targets but with robust footwork mapping.

 

I wound up being on a "goober squad" with people I don't normally shoot with. It was really interesting because I don't think I've shot with some of these guys ever, even though we've been at many, many league matches together.

 

Most of them were terminal B and C shooters.

 

I was late in the order and it was very interesting to hear them talk to each other. I don't know how to adequately explain it, but it was weird and foreign to me. They talked a lot and had very low standards to celebrate. It was exactly the kind of self-talk that prevents progress and learning.

 

It got very quiet after I shot... 

 

I wound up having a great time on the squad and tried to help keep the mood light and positive. It actually let me stay in the moment and not concern myself with how the other good shooters (on other squads) were doing. I just did my thing. 

Had a pretty solid execution match and am feeling like things are starting to "click" with my field course learning and processing.

 

That's exciting!