Bacon and Broccoli: next steps

[-JCN-]

Freedom

 

The suppressed Alien gives me a sense of freedom to train without annoying the neighbors. 
 

I’m really excited for that. I think V using the 22 as a trainer will have significant benefit especially when ammo costs are factored in. 
 

I’m going to set up some stages tomorrow and run component parts to see what I can optimize and learn. 
 

Like sector times on a track, optimize areas then string it together. 
 

It’s the kind of thing that will be good to spread out over a day to prevent too much fatigue compounding. 

[-JCN-]

Brainstorming 

 

Trying to design trackable component movement drills for home in dry. 
 

I have par times and metrics for classifier skills, but as of yet I don’t have anything structured for movement. 
 

Like draws and reloads, movement speed also depends on target distance / difficulty so that has to be included at some level. 
 

I’m going to try and get something roughed in anticipation of the off season. 
 

Also I’m going to see how far out I can extend my predictive doubles with movement variables. 

[-JCN-]

More audiobooks…

 

Today was another audiobook day while puttering around the range. 
 

 

Set up some elements. Forward falling slow popper and wide swinger trainer. 
 

Range setup for tomorrow

 

Did some test partial elements and movements. 
 

I think I can get on target and transition faster with less vision. 
 

Tested springs and pistons with the suppressor using subsonic ammo. 
 

The polymer flat nose of the Syntech tends to hang up on the feed ramp and in the mags when dirty. And with a suppressor they get really dirty. 
 

Also took cardboard in bags to the local recycling… when I dumped it out… a mouse fell onto my shoulder. 

It was pretty cute. 
 

 

[-JCN-]

Breaking down match performance 

 

To look through finishing position and match results, I usually try to do it in the context of reviewing my videos. Even better if I squad with the people that I am trying to learn from because then I remember back to see where I am losing time.
 

V these days because we follow the same kind of walks and stage planning and footwork, her match times actually wind up being identical or very, very similar to mine. Her hits are a little worse because of mechanics, but her overall times are about the same because she is using the same visual plan that I am when we walk.

Breaking it down further, I think our stage execution is probably similar. She may be executing the footwork and positions better than me, it remains a weak point for me. 
 

Reviewing my last match video again, I think I need to work on a forward sprint and really trying to push transitions. They look lazy and slow.
 

So those are going to be my two things that I try to work on at the range today and at matches. Really pushing transitions and transition speed as well as some forward sprinting.

[-JCN-]

Breaking it down

 

Finally got some good skills lab time in together. 
 

There were a couple elements I wanted to work on and a couple that we needed to work on. 
 

V shooting rimfire and me shooting suppressed to get the work in first. 
 

Then final run at end with our competition guns to see how the work translated over. 
 

 

The numbers tracked pretty well. 
 

 

Then a field course that I set up the other day but didn’t shoot. 
 

We thought of a couple different ways to shoot it and we will try out a different one next time. 
 

V can sub 20 split static and on close transitions… but when she gets tight and dissociated with movement, she can’t yet. 
 

But she needs to in order to really get to A class performing. 0.25 splits aren’t going to cut it for footwork up close. 
 

V and I were talking:
 

I really like Land Rover Defenders. I really like my Outback. 
 

The cost difference between the two vehicles is more than I paid for the 20 acres and the dirt work to put up the range plus all the steel and targets on it. 

 

For the difference, I’d rather have the range hands down. It’s going to reduce a bunch of learning curve for us. 

My other two AMGs came in today. 10 months from ordering. So now I have spares. 
 

 

Aaaaaaaaand Kitteh….

Edited Friday at 10:47 PM by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Shot a match today and I think I’ve figured out where I go from here…

 

I think I need to be and shoot freer on the transitions and indexing. To be more free to shoot seeing less, especially up close. 
 

More aggressive movements and transitions. And more skills lab practice. 
 

Then on square range, lots of aggressive doubles. 

[-JCN-]

Malfunctions:

 

Now that I modified pistons, the gun has been reliable… except for the magazine after cleaning. 
 

I’m using C4 carbon cleaner in the chamber and Simple Green in a sonicator for pistons.  
 

I think I have to adjust my prep regimen to include a light CLP coating on the piston rings to prevent the first mag FTEs. 
 

Alternately I could CLP the chamber and when it blows up through the barrel port it’ll lube the piston. 
 

It has happened twice now post cleaning so I have to amend my protocol. 
 

.

Edited Sunday at 01:53 AM by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Speed:

 

I’m going to try and learn speed. 

 

My shooting mechanics are pretty good, now I want to push them on field courses. 
 

Rather than working things up… I’m going to try some top down. 
 

So I’m going to give myself 6 months of freedom to experiment at speed without worrying about where the finishing position is. 

[-JCN-]

I’m in mourning a little

 

We used to have a really strong region. 
 

But with the last year’s USPSA shenanigans, they really alienated some of the core volunteers and MDs. 
 

So the action pistol matches are firmly split into non-USPSA (hit factor and PCSL) and USPSA old school legacy clubs. 
 

Both types of matches are dying as a number of shooters refuse to cross party lines and attendance at matches has withered away. 
 

But it’s not just USPSA here that has lost critical mass. The former USPSA clubs have also lost their critical mass and health. Everyone is suffering. 
 

It is what it is, and it’s the cycle of life but it’s tough to see what looks like the end as we know it for the region. 

[-JCN-]

Need some accountability targets:

 

I have some steel at my range that's usable for training.

 

I had some spring loaded poppers on stakes, but they work better on dirt than on gravel so I bought regular bases so they can function as standard tip over mini poppers.

 

But they do take extra time to reset, and sometimes you want higher volume rapid feedback.

 

 

Amazon has these that tip down more robustly than the sprung ones that I currently have. I want the visual feedback of how good the hit was (which is something I don't get on a traditional steel on 2x4 hanger).

 

So will try these out and see how they work for training. I want more steel confidence with movement and position.

[-JCN-]

Testing versus training

 

For V, she was following my footwork and my cautious confirming plans with her mechanics. Her times were very similar with (as expected) worse hits.

 

Her judgment has improved and she is missing a lot less. She’s still pushing her growth so her alpha to Charlie ratio is still lower than optimal scoring.

 

But that IMO is where you want to be as you train up mechanics. 

 

You don’t want to slow down to comfortably be where you are… otherwise you stay where you are.

 

I had the epiphany that’s what I was doing and that’s why I was having a plateau in field course performance.

 

I was trying to get perfect execution and perfect hits / confirmation and it was handcuffing my growth.

 

The fast guys locally and watching some of the top guys, they still take make up shots.

 

Eric Grauffel is kind of an exception, but he’s a machine.

 

For the level I’m at, if I want to grow… I have to have the freedom to push.

 

So I let my speed and aggression come up and let my hits suffer. Then I’ll work on the hits in skills lab and on some of the movements.

 

In racing we had a saying that you can’t train certain things at reduced speed. The dynamic movements are only as they are. You can’t mock them up slower.

 

That was exciting to realize that. Have to keep attacking rather than defend.

[-JCN-]

So while typically at a match V and my times will be similar, when I decided to push speed more then I dropped approximately 15 seconds comparatively. 
 

My hits were worse but no misses and very few deltas. 
 

I was really trying to work on perfect footwork, but it never occurred to me that the footwork will be different at speed… even though that’s exactly what I’ve been telling V. 
 

It took some of the movement classifier scoring to remind me of what the task required. 24-06 is a prime example of that. 
 

It requires one step moving doubles to make a GM time. If you try and one step / one shot it… too slow and the best you can do is A. 
 

It’s the defining characteristic of that plateau. 
 

So while some of my friends might beat me at a match with slower times and high alphas… is it a recipe for a hard ceiling of performance at matches?

 

At least at Vs level it’s absolutely true… so why wouldn’t it be at a level above me?

 

That’s why it’s a journey of discovery!

 

 

[-JCN-]

Some videos:

 

Daughter’s golf instructor is helping a lot. I’m taking mental notes on some of what and how he teaches. 
 

 

I can see her mind working as she troubleshoots and takes direction. I’m very proud. 
 

 

[-JCN-]

Trying to go faster… but still need accountability 

 

 

I had a father of a friend at the match who came up to me and said “I really appreciate that you’re always smiling and friendly, it makes me feel good.”

 

That was a high compliment for me and it was nice of him to say.

 

It’s one of the reasons I sometimes wear cat shirts, so that they know I’m not Tacticoolio and that I’m approachable if they need anything.

 

It’s hard to be intimidated (I hope) by someone in a cat shirt…

 

I went to the indoor range and tried something a little different today.

 

More accountability. I have been slacking on this since not doing Steel Challenge this year. 

 

My trigger presses have gotten sloppy.

 

Started off too fast.

 

 

Walked it in a little better.

 

 

 

Looks like this in real time off a draw.

 

 

The distance was 7 yards. 

 

The larger circles are 3” and the smaller one is 1.5”.

 

It’s a little too small for USPSA practice I think.

 

A mini popper is 8” diameter.

 

So it would scale to a mini popper at 37 yards. That’s not something that’s common at a match.

 

The 3” is more realistic. It scales to a 28 yard full size popper.

 

I might still work the 1.5” circle at 7 for training, but it requires a little more slowing than I would like to train in.

 

 

 

Also was happy to get an inner belt configuration that works with the Lynx. It supports the bulging and floating areas of the links by the holster. It also allows more security over the belt loops.

 

Edited Monday at 11:59 AM by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Money doesn’t buy happiness… but it can buy opportunity.

 

The wife and I don’t have a set budget, but we wind up saving between 40-60% of our income per year.

 

I like to think that our spending philosophy boils down to two things:

 

1. We don’t “deserve” xyz. Money and material possessions aren’t a reflection of self worth. People who think that they deserve respect for the size of their bank account are douchebags, IMO.

 

2. Things we buy must have value or function. And we are honest with ourselves of what that value or function is and what we are purchasing for the extra cost. We don’t have any “keeping up with the Joneses” complexes.

 

One of the things I’m personally willing to shell out a lot of money for is opportunity.

 

 

This is the indoor range I go to. Since it was just me and I often just went on weekdays when not busy, I just had a regular membership.

 

I never considered the high level membership because it didn’t give me much value over the basic one.

 

But as my daughter got older and started to come with me to ranges… it became a huge value.

 

There’s a private high level area where she can hang out safely. There’s a private bathroom also for safety and separate keycard entrance. Corn dogs and candy means she’s always up for a range trip with dad…

 

It opens up opportunities for me to go to the range that I otherwise wouldn’t have while adding a level of safety for my daughter and for me. I feel very fortunate to be able to do this, but these are the kinds of things that are most meaningful to me (and hence the most value).

 

Things that facilitate my growth and development as a human, picking up skill or expertise, developing relationships…. That to me is real value and something that a douchebag with money can’t just write a check and get.

 

Plenty of rich people who are emotionally poor (and aren’t very good at shooting). We found this in autocross as well. My wife and I found that we resonated most with people who were lifelong learners and had demonstrable aptitude… their car cost / choice had no correlation to their awesomeness. Sometimes it was an inverse proportion, lol.

 

Same exact thing with USPSA / action pistol.

 

We all have different things we are looking for out of the sport. Having objective criteria makes it easy to make correlations between obliviousness, ego and aptitude… and hang out with people that have similar values. 

 

 

 

[-JCN-]

This video is for people who think fast splits require a lot of strength or a crushing grip.  Do those things help? Probably yes. Are they necessary for the basic technique? No. 

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 11:57 PM by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

On genetics:

 

So a dog was talking with his dog pal. First dog said, “If you want to live longer you should run up and down stairs and jump up and down on objects. That’s the key to staying trim, sprightly and living longer.”

 

While that might be true for dog 1 or person 1… but what a lot of YouTube trainers (person 1) don’t realize is how much genetics and the genetic lottery play into it. 
 

Just like the manly crush grip pistol guys, they give advice that really is limited to a subselected group. 
 

First dog:

 

 

Second dog:

 

The advice of the first dog may have very different application and results with the second dog. 
 

 

Shortest living breeds

 

People are built differently. And genetics are powerful things. Training regimen that might help some might injure others. 
 

For me, connective tissue isn’t a strong suit. Arthritis and back / neck issues run in my family. 
 

But this off season I’m going to see if I can do some agility and fitness training to help my USPSA game. 
 

I’ll be 49 in a couple months and things are creaking and aching. Strengthening and stretching I think will be beneficial, but I’m really going to have to ease into it. 
 

Ordered some agility equipment for indoors and outdoors, but I’ll have to see what I can do. Will start slow and see how things feel. 
 

 

.

 

Edited Monday at 12:22 PM by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Is this the answer to my (movement) questions?

 

At matches, I’ve been struggling to answer the complex questions “is this direction faster than this direction?” Or “If I shoot this backing out is it faster than planting and ripping?”

 

As I’m going to spend time and effort on the physical part of the game (as much as I can at my age with ortho limitations), I’m wondering if I can get more data and it occurred to me that this  might be what I’m looking for:

 

 

Will it be useful? Or just another tool that gathers dust?

 

I like data and I think it’ll be helpful for some proxy data. Of course a lot of times like in racing, a sector only matters in how it sets up the next sector, but for certain selected applications and interpretation it can be really helpful. 

[-JCN-]

Starting the process

 

Did a 10 min walk run on the manual treadmill. 
 

 

I like it over some of the other equipment because you can sprint on a whim and it’s your body that adjusts the speed. So doing walking with bursts of sprints to try and get my forward exits improved. 
 

Other agility stuff is coming. 
 

My daughter okayed clearing her toys from the right side and my wife said she’d happily share the space for me to up my fitness. 
 

 

I normally dry fire in the basement instead of the second floor, but I think it’s time to change things up a little for the Winter. 
 

Gotta get creative to find solutions to problems. 

[-JCN-]

Toys and tools

 

 

Will try this out compared to a traditional ladder. The construction feels cheap and I think the plastic will crack and break. But I like the ability to make it more than linear array. 
 

Also:

 

 

I think these will be illustrative. Running forward versus side shuffling was 0.3s difference even at such a short distance. I was not expecting that. 
 

Looking forward to testing different movement types and seeing the difference. 
 

I’m interested to see the difference in time between pumping versus both hands on gun. 

[-JCN-]

Movement noob

 

I haven't really studied field course things like I have with shooting things.

 

Same thing with movement. I haven't really deep dove into it like I have with shooting components.

 

I think it's time to invest the same kind of analysis and breakdown.

 

In doing even brief speed gate work last night, I realized something about running with a gun that I haven't before.

 

It's kind of a DUH moment of discovery.

 

When I don't break my grip on the gun... it restricts my balance, stride and hip movement. My stride shortens considerably and it winds up being slower. How much slower? Will get some numbers when I go to the range today with V.

 

 

[-JCN-]

Freaking awesome!

 

Spent some time at Skills Lab with V yesterday. The speed gates are a great addition to the training and learning regimen.

 

 

 

 

 

Getting the data really helped crystalize the difference in certain movements and I think like a shot timer it's going to be really useful to work efficiency.

[-JCN-]

Then I took what I learned in movement to league...

 

Just like at skills lab, it started off too wobbly at speed but then I crisped up the vision at the same accelerated pace.

 

The last two stages went well. I got a high number of alphas while also being efficient and not overconfirming.

 

 

 

 

 

It felt great. I think I'm finally matching my mechanical pace and able to get the good hits without overconfirming.

 

It'll take some work to keep learning what vision is required for what scenarios, but I feel that having the speed gates for movement training will be as helpful for field course improvement as a shot timer was for my shooting mechanics.

 

It just makes sense to have the same kind of experimental rigor with movement as I did for shooting mechanics.

[-JCN-]

Also the case for learning

 

If people followed my previous journal when I was testing and tuning the reliability of the Alien with my ammo, you might recall that I went through a number of iterations trying to improve reliability of function with the particular ammo I am using.

 

I understand the platform pretty well at this point.

 

That came into play yesterday when tuning the suppressed trainer Alien. I'm using cheap remanufactured 147gr because I don't mind leaded ammo outside but the back pressure of the suppressor has an effect on the gas delayed blowback system.

 

I had some reliability issues but was able to troubleshoot with the lighter factory Alien recoil spring, bore mopping the chamber with C4 and periodically wiping out the magazines with a yarn brush.

 

It's not reasonable to expect a factory configuration to be optimized for all situations and that's one thing I've learned from racing is that having an understanding of the suspension and alignment is very helpful for troubleshooting WHEN things happen.

 

I love learning and I love application of learning. Being able to share that with V is deeply meaningful.

[-JCN-]

I showed V the stage times of my two good stages. They were faster with higher HF than the local fast guy. 
 

This is a departure from the typical performance where I’d be a tick or two slower than him. 
 

Her response:
 

I’m pretty good at figuring stuff out and figuring out ways to get somewhere when there isn’t an easy road map. 
 

But there are absolutely things I can’t do because of physical limitation or lack of coordination. 
 

When it’s just a matter of figuring something out? I’m pretty good at that. 
 

Revolver and irons I don’t think are things that I can get good at because of strength and vision limitations, so I am sticking with things that the limitation is in judgment and learning. 
 

It’s going pretty well and I’m having fun.