The Fish

[Catfish]

Got up a bit early and did about half of my practice that I did last night.

Got home from work and made bullets for tomorrow's match, some generic pistol fondling, and about 30 minutes of draws and reloads. Everything stationary tonight, getting ready for the steel match tomorrow, most of my draws (prob 80%) were from surrender.

Good reloads tonight, afetr awhile, I made it a goal to stop when I hit the old mag coming out with the new mag coming in. Took a bit of focus, but got it done.

I move smooth and fast

I attack each shot and each stage agressively

I focus on every shot, every stage

I train and shoot like a champion

[Catfish]

Steel match today - first time in a long time that I've shot a steel match only, and had a lot of fun! Best part, as usual, is just hangin' out with my buds. Got to shoot SgtSvi's new can, how cool was that? Not to mention his 9mm open steel gun....

My main goal today was to just make sure my gun was working. Shot the first two strings on stage 1 and was getting massively light primer strikes. Took my two alibis for the match and went to sawp out my mainspring and checked my bag only to discover my extra mainspring was at home.

Ended up scavenging a mainspring out of my 1911 that was in my car and perform battlefield surgery on my Limited gun. Broke both guns down, swapped out the springs, and thanks to Dan didn't lose anything... Actually, I was pretty pleased with myself because anyone who knows me knows that I don't really get along with tools very well.

Gun ran flawless the rest of the day, shot about 200 rounds through it. Had some pretty good runs on the steel once I slowed down and watched that little bump on the end of the slide.

[Catfish]

OK, it's fess up time. Did a dumb ass deal at the gym today....

I learned a few months ago that I have to do a warm-up set for my squats after tweaking a quad muscle. You would think that a rational human being would apply that lesson to other parts of the body.... I was lifting heavy OHP today, and jumped straight in. The first set of 3, something popped in my right trap and now I've got a nice dull ache. Great!!

Was able to finish the rest of the OHP workout, and the rest of my total workout but man I have a feeling this is going to ache tomorrow.

Gads, what a moron.

[Micah]

Fish, heal up soon man. Thanks alot, btw, for the words of encouragement. Nothing is ever a loss if it is used to help you win!

[Catfish]

Thanks PB! You are so right. Each match and practice session we do now count as only one step on the path.

About an hour's worth of practice tonight. Draws standing still, and on the move. Engaged a target with a 'bill drill', moving forwards, backwards, left/right, and on a "V", with the point being about a yard from the target and each end out about 7 yards.

Discovered that it's easier to keep the sight on the target moving right and left if I push the arm closest to the target more straight out than the other arm. A good discovery I think.

In heeding my own advice, passed down from Musashi, while dry firing tonight I noticed that my rear sight looked a tad out of whack. Broke out the measuring stick and sure enough, it was slightly less than 1mm to one side. Fixed now, but I'm glad I caught it and it gives me some more confidence on those longer range shots.

Reloads tonight as well, felt pretty 'snappy' and crisp. Good stuff.

I move smooth and fast

I attack each shot and each stage agressively

I focus on every shot, every stage

I train and shoot like a champion

[markwilliston]

Geez, hope you didn't do a real booboo on your trap. It's tough when you want to train, and you have an injury that needs rest. Better tone it down, and see what's happening with it.

Got a question for you, Do you guys do live fire somewhere on tuesdays? I'm gonna be visiting a lady friend of mine in Dallas on tuesday the 24th. She is a new shooter, and I wanted to introduce her to some local people that could steer her in the right direction.

[Catfish]

Geez, hope you didn't do a real booboo on your trap. It's tough when you want to train, and you have an injury that needs rest. Better tone it down, and see what's happening with it.

Got a question for you, Do you guys do live fire somewhere on tuesdays? I'm gonna be visiting a lady friend of mine in Dallas on tuesday the 24th. She is a new shooter, and I wanted to introduce her to some local people that could steer her in the right direction.

You and me both, Mark! I'm gonna hit my arms day today here shortly and just see how it goes. Will probably come off heavy wieght the rest of the week and try to let my shoulder get some rest.

Yeah, sometimes on Tuesdays we try to sneak in some range time at Elm Fork in the PM. I'll send you a message with some contact info.

[Catfish]

Hit arms today at the gym as scheduled. Took about 20% off my regular starting weight and while my trap was sore, it was doable. Spent about 10 minutes just streching it out, and that seemed to help. It's to the point now that it just feels like I have a 'crik' on the right side of my neck....

Also did my normal ab work for a Tuesday.

Board meeting kept me quite late at work, didn't get home till about 10:15 or so. Broke out the gun belt and gear and did a minimum of about 15 minutes of work. Draws at surrender, hands at sides, and moving forwards/backwards. Reloads stationary. About 1/4 to 1/2 speed. Was really watching the sight while moving forwards and backwards, and how it makes circles on the target while I'm moving. I strove to make the circles smaller without slowing down my movement, which is going to take some more work.

Not quite ready for Space City, but I think it's gonna work out just fine.

I move smooth and fast

I attack each shot and each stage agressively

I focus on every shot, every stage

I train and shoot like a champion

[Catfish]

Since I got to shoot tonight, took my optional day off at the gym and went home to let the dogs out.

Loaded up about 100 rounds of 40 and took the Limited gun to the range for some quick practice before the IDPA match. Ran 100 rounds of Bill Drills, stationary, moving forward, backwards, and side to side. Was REALLY seeing the sights and it felt good to just crank the sh!t out of some rounds at a rapid pace, and ON TARGET!

To steal Anderson's post from PB's range diary, this is exactly what I did:

"Get thee to thine berm and proceedeth to empty thine mags in quadrants of six, lest you behold the speed at which thy pistola will discharge.

Verily, let thine eyes behold such velocity and bear witness to thine front sight.

Henceforth, thou shalt believe that thine heater may crush close targets with heretofore unknown velocity and precision.

For speed begat awakening, and observation begat believing and believing begat doing.

I typed all that real fancy-like so you'd think I know what I'm talking about.

SA"

Is that not the greatest damn thing!!!

Put up my USPSA gear and straped on the single stack gear. Shot for the first time the Spartan that I picked up today from Enos member eerw. Wouldn't feed my 230g Precision bullets for nothin', but luckily a buddy loaned me some 230g hardball and the gun ran like a clock. Got home and checked and the precisions were a tad long; shortened them and they fed just fine. Easy fix.

Very impressed with the Spartan! Needs a new front sight and an ambi safety and that pistol is going to rock. Frame to slide fit very very smooth and a heckuva deal!!

Probably the best match as far as focus goes as I've shot in some time. Came down to the last stage and I knew it was between my buddy Dan and I. He shot well, very very smooth. I shot right after him and just let my desire to win take over. For the first time I've ever seen it happen, we shot EXACTLY the same time. But he was 2 pts down and I was clean. I think I mighta edged him out for the overal by a hair; but it felt good to know that the match was riding on how well I shot the last stage and that I delivered.

We'll see how the scores come out, but it was a good night nonetheless.

Almost ready for Space City. Gotta pack, make bullets, clean my gun. THEN I'll be ready, because the shootin' part is covered.

Edited for fat fingers...

Edited April 19, 2007 by Catfish

[Catfish]

Last workout of the week before Space City this weekend. Rows, shrugs, pull ups and the gym jones routine of 10 deadlifts, 25 box jumps X 3. Shoulder/trap felt good overall, not sore at all before I started but now that I'm done it's a little tender. I expect it to be 90% or better at Space City, which is going to be just fine.

Took 37 seconds off the deadlift routine!

Will get in some, but not much, gun handling tonight, will spend most of the time packing, loading/checking ammo, etc.

Looking forward very much to this weekend.

I move smooth and fast

I attack each shot and each stage agressively

I focus on every shot, every stage

I train and shoot like a champion

[Catfish]

Gun's clean, ammo's made, and I'm almost packed - the rest will happen tomorrow.

Head out in the AM with Sgtsvi and we'll be ready to rock!

Some minor gun fondling tonight, reloads and trigger pulls. I'm ready!

I move smooth and fast

I attack each shot of each stage agressively

I focus on every shot, every stage

I train and shoot like a champion

[hopalong]

Go Get EM fish !!!!

Hop

Oh and use all that good luck and carma up before you come get your butt whippin in ARKANSAS !!!!

[Catfish]

Yes, whatever you say, Hop!! Keep in mind Space City is just tuning me up!!

Are YOU practicing today?!

See you soon, bud.

Updates as they happen....

[Airic]

Good Luck!!

[Catfish]

thanks Eric!

Got down here and set up with no problems. Checked out the stages - 7 will require at least some movement, one looks to be a stand and deliver. Several low ports; glad I've been doing those squats!! A few 180 traps, everyone will have to be careful.

Match looks pretty straightforward, with some technical/tight shots. Weather looks to be good, for Houston it's not too humid.

Looking forward to it; it promises to be a good day tomorrow!!

I move smooth and fast

I attack each shot of each stage agressively

I focus on every shot, every stage

I train and shoot like a champion

[Catfish]

Got home safe and sound; got out of the match about what I put into it. As it sits right now, before the Sunday squad's times are posted, I'm the 9th Limited shooter overall. Considering all my D's and the 4 mikes I threw, I'll take it!

Overall, a good, fun, and challenging match. Lots of speed traps to get you in trouble, and hard cover or no-shoots in the wrong places at the wrong time... Learning lesson #1 from the match was that I need to work on my accuracy; or maybe I should say work on my visual patience.

Will do a complete stage by stage breakdown as soon as I see some of the video, later today. However, the yard needs mowin' now and if I don't do it soon, I'm going to be asleep!

[Al Capizzo]

Lots of speed traps to get you in trouble, and hard cover or no-shoots in the wrong places at the wrong time... Learning lesson #1 from the match was that I need to work on my accuracy; or maybe I should say work on my visual patience.

Oh boy, that was certainly my problem today. No shoots when leaving a port, etc.

I enjoyed the match, but only shot well on about half the stages.

Glad to hear you had a good match Derrick, you're certainly putting a lot of effort into it.

I talked to Xre before I left and he said he shot well today also.

Good to see everybody again.

[Catfish]

Thanks Al! Didn't necessarily say I had a good day, but rather, for the thought and effort I put into specific prep for this match, I'm pleased.

Match review:

Stage 7

Decent draw, and good movement off first target. Trigger issue on 2nd target (still getting used to my new trigger group which has a shorter take up and a harder wall than the previous 900,000 trigger pulls ) Good movement off first array and set into position with the activator for the bear trap in the second array. Was deathly afraid of slipping and busting my ass on the activator because it was slick with dew and I was wearing cleats... Got the activator going with my big toe and, in a hurry to get to the beartrap, I threw a mike into hard cover. Reload and moved into postion for the last array; probably could have been a bit more aggressive into the 3rd and final position.

Stage 8

Chose to shoot this one a bit different than the others. Most folks were running all the way to the left and then came all the way back to the right. I opted to go straight to the first port to the left, and not the second, like the others. Got on T1 good, but I couldn't hit the first small piece of steel to save my life. Once I got past the first steel, I shot the rest of the stage very well. Good, crisp movement and good target aquisition. I really tore the second half of the stage up.

Stage 1

Good start, and good crisp transition to the first zebra target. My feet got ahead of my trigger finger (and was still getting used to the new trigger). I threw one round into the first zebra target and my momentum carried me past the target. Had to stop and back up to pop two good rounds on and then continued on my merry way. Again, after that mis-step, I tore the rest of the stage up. I would not have any more trigger probs the rest of the day - a good thing!

Stage 2

Decent stage. Bascially a stand and deliver. I saw two things to work on: 1. I was taking 20 yard sight pictures on the second array of close targets, and 5 yard sight pictures on the far targets.

Stage 3

Probably the most complex stage of the match. There was a drop turner, which dissapeard. I elected to not shoot it because from watching the squad before, you were either waiting on it to fall if you went straight to the DT or had to hurry off the paper target before it - I didn't want to wait on the DT or hurry the shot so I figured I'd blaze right by it. I made the first two arrays, including the DT, according to plan, only having to take one extra shot on the small plate. Subconsciously, I *knew* I had to reload becuase that extra shot put me in jeopardy of a SLR in the middle port. Consciously, I over-ruled and didn't reload when I had plenty of time. I was able to make it through the last port without a standing SLR, but the gun went to SLR, and with no tension on the follower, it took a second to get the mag out, which just frazzled the hell out of me. I totally winged the last two arrays and about the only positive that I could find was that I couldn't knock down the final steel plate - but hit the metal in front of it. I heard the ring and got off the target but noticed periphially that it was still up. Finished the last array, crisply swung over to the little plate - now a loooong way away, and with the last shot in my mag knocked it over...

Stage 4

One of my better stages. Good movement on the first 3 arrays, reloaded and took the next array on the move, called a hard cover mike as I was transitioning to the other side of the bay; took care of bizness there and re-engaged the mike'd target on the right. Cost me a little time, but not as much as -10 would have. Finished strong.

Stage 5

Probably my ugliest stage, finish wise. But to break it down, there was some good and some bad. The good was that I picked up the gun well off the table, and moved between, and shot in each port strong. Things to work on were accuracy, accuracy, accuracy. Again, I couldn't hit a steel plate to save my life, and it cost me a flat footed SLR on a swinging target. In addition, threw two mikeys here and an ugly stage just got uglier. Largely I think what caused me the most grief was getting in a hurry, and completely losing visual patience with the sight. I am going to have to work on that one!

Stage 6

One of my better stages. After a collapse on 5, came back strong here. Actually showed some zing in my movement to the gun, got too good of a grip on the pistol and prematurely popped a round into the D zone of T1. Flowed fairly well through the rest of the stage and shot the appropriate speed on the remaining targets.

All in all, I REALLY have to do some more accuracy work, and some work on learning patience on the front sight. I felt in a hurry on several of the stages, which led to me shooting faster than I was ready to shoot, which resulted in a lot of D's and 4 mikes.

As an experience, I was glad to go, and it was well worth the price paid.

A quick check has me sitting at 14th ovl in Limited, which put me inside my goal of a top 16 finish. Hopefully the few scores left to post won't push me past the top 16...

Also added to the learning curve is that I did not physically peak or taper for this match and it showed. I was flat out tired in the legs by Stage 5. Everything was pretty much sore, arms, shoulders, legs, etc. The good news is that I WILL taper off before the next key match of the year - A4 and will have plenty of energy to spare. For the matches along the way - Arkansas and NM Sectional, I'll cut back a bit, but won't do a full taper.

I'm overall very pleased because I had a decent finish for a match that I really really struggled at in places; and on both of my toughest stages, the following stages were very strong and I didn't fall into the trap of beating myself up. I let those stages go and just worked at the job at hand.

Next up, Arkansas! Get ready Hop!

[BNorth]

Quick question on your training. Do you have a trainer who helps you out with schedule (ie heavy days vs light days) or is that something you do on your own?

My PT consists of running 2 to 3 miles, push ups and sit ups. Looking to get more in the weights but I'm not real knowledgeable on which muscles groups to work together (ie chest and tri's on one day vs back and bi's on another).

[Catfish]

Hey Bob - I have someone who worked up a schedule for me. As a general rule of thumb, you want to do exercises that you "push" on the same day and then exercises that you "pull" on the same day.

For example, push would be bench press and triceps and pull would be back exercises and biceps. Start slow and with light weight and work on form first. We can chat next time I see you at the range and I'll fill you in with more details that are easier to show than type up.

[hopalong]

Whiskers,

congratulations on 80% of a VERY GOOD Master(soon to be GM?)

Getting ready for you at Arkansas,(about as ready as I'll get) I actually got some shooting in on Saturday. I shot my 646 for the first time in a long 2 years in the IDPA Classifier and missed Master by a few points (shot the times needed but was a little off on accuracy).

Did I tell you that a K frame revolver with a titanium cylinder shoots exactly like a precision made Benny Hill Limited gun? ......in other words, if the sights aren't where they need to be when you pull the trigger a hole will not majicly appear where you want it to.

Get the home duties taken care of so you can get the kitchen pass for two weeks, see you there and good shooting this weekend.

Hop

[Catfish]

Thanks Hop, see you soon.

[Catfish]

Not too bad of a workout at the gym today at lunch. Squats and bench. Skipped over any OHP entirely as my trap is still sore. Squats and the incline bench didn't hurt it a bit, decline kicked my ass so I switched from decline to a flat bench and it was fine. Glad to see I could lift some wieght without hurting my collarbone area - which means the pain dance at lunch continues!!

I'm thinking at the very least I'll skip any OHP lifts until after the Arkansas sectional; and reasses then.

Need to make bullets tonight and a light dry fire session later.

[Catfish]

Good arms and abs at the gym today at lunch. Shoulder not much of a bother at all, just did a bit of stretching with it and nothing more. Fortuntately it's not bothering me during other exercises.

Dry fire tonight, if I ever get home. Weather has been sucking here today pretty bad.

[Catfish]

Damn it's raining!!!!

Must be global warming, melting the ice caps and then sucking all the melted ice up into the atmosphere and then dumping it on those of us who cause the most warming!! Thank God we've started rationing toilette paper like Sheryl Crow suggests, looks like we could soon be floating off and I'd hate to run out of TP!!

Ok, we now return you to your regularly scheduled program....

Reloads, reloads, and more reloads tonight. Working on hitting the same index after the reload and largely being successful.

Going through the stages from the Arkansas match, it's going to be another great effort from the CASA bunch and David Hyden. Will start incorporating start positions into my dry fire routine tomorrow night.

In the meantime, I'm going to go start building that ark.