Jump starting your game

[j1b]

I have a *friend* - he's thinking about doing something and needs a little advice.

So, the production nationals are in a couple of months. Said *friend* recognizes that the match is in 2 months (reality) and that he hasn't shot in a couple of years. His last match was the AR state champs where he was fortunate to win the Lim-10 division.

My *friend* does have some experience at big matches. He's been to several area matches and even a nationals or two. However, said *friend* hasn't shot a national match in . . . oh . . . call it ten years. Regardless of time, my *friend* has seen decent success when he was shooting more actively.

My *friend* is asking me for advice - were he to try and jump on the waiting list (because really the match is only a two hour drive away) how should he prepare in terms of building back a long lost skill set and getting ready for a high level match like what he used to years ago.

What should he do? Should he shoot at all? if so - what should he practice? He probably only has the ability to get to two local matches prior to nationals - is that enough?

My *friend* is trying to figure this whole thing out - he's feeling a little juju after reading about the lim-10 nats. While he doesn't expect to win - he would want to do well in the match. His only question is - how do I best prepare?

I have my own thoughts for my *friend* but am curious for all (serious) thoughts on how my *friend* could best prepare.

J

[G-ManBart]

Hey Jack,

While I haven't gotten to the level that your *friend* was at, I just came back from a long layoff and have been pretty happy with the results I've gotten so far....A in Limited, and a couple decent classifiers away from M after about 7 matches or so.

First thing I did was get the gun up and running 100%. After that I spent a lot of time dry firing, dry drawing and added in a little bit of videotape action to smooth things out. I then just got to work on the basics, draws, transitions, moving into and out of positions etc. Do that for a couple of months and throw in a couple of local matches and your *friend* should come away with a solid finish.

Look at it this way, the biggest part of being good or really good isn't the mechanics of sight alignment and trigger press....it's learning how to avoid mistakes, learning how to read a stage and learning the competition mindset. Your *friend* has all of that stored away in his head and just needs to knock the rust off the mechanics so he should get after it and have fun.

Edited June 24, 2007 by G-ManBart

[foxtrotuniformlima]

You crack me up :lol:

Reloads, weak hand, strong hand and know where the gun shoots from 1 - 35yds for those pesky head shots and tight no-shoots that seem to be so popular these days.

BTW, what platform ( Glock, XD, CZ ) does your "friend" plan on shooting ?

[Catfish]

Hey Jack, I'd tell your "friend" to come out and have fun! At the very least, there is beer to be had!

[38superman]

I don't understand all this angst.

Stop worrying about it and just shoot the match.

Let the chips fall where they may.

Even if he doesn't do well it's a big step toward getting back to a high level.

Every time I enter a match I know I'm not going to win.

I don't have the skills to do that just yet.

I still jump in there and scratch and claw and fight for every point.

Wherever your *friend* is in his shooting career he won't get better sitting at home on the couch.

Tls

Edited June 25, 2007 by 38superman

[carinab]

You know what to tell your friend, Jack.... tell him to do his dryfire, practice his reloads and movements, and his visualizations. If he can only shoot two local matches before the big show, then that's all he can do...However, if he spends 10-20 minutes visualizing his best stages "from the old days" in his head, it'll be the same as if he were actually shooting those stages. If the memories are a bit faded, watch some video of the current top dogs, then shoot those same stages in your head. Just from watching the vids, your subconscious will pick up cues and re-awaken sleeping skills.

I took lots of time off with my pregnancy and the only way that I could manage anything remotely close to shooting was to visualize. I've always made it a point to run a stage or two before I fall asleep each nite. I firmly believe it helps the skills "reboot" faster.

[Caspian_45]

Come on out an play Jack. You'll do just fine.

[Flexmoney]

I think you ought to take that candy-assed friend of yours out back and kick his ass.

I have a friend like that. He needs his butt kicked too. Maybe an ass kicking would get my friend to practice...

Here is what I'd tell those punks that we call friends:

- Forget about placement. The match will be full of talent. And, at the very top, I predict that talent will be focused this year. The CZ guys (Matt and Angus) are always in the hunt. Sevigny and Vogel are studs. The next tier of shooters are solid too. Let your placement take care of itself.

- Focus on executing fundamentals.

- Production is Minor pf. Shooting a Delta is like a no-penalty Mike. 5 Charlies on a stage...is like a Mike. A Charlie hit that is only half an inch from the Alpha...is still only collecting 60% of the points. The Minor game is played right in the middle of the A-zone.

- Work on reloading on the move. Expect to go 4 or 5 mags deep on your belt (have plenty on the belt to start with too). Standing reloads don't mean much.

- Be comfortable making any shot on the range. Going off last year at Tulsa, expect shooting guarded targets at 40y through a port. Know your zero at every 5y increment out to at least 50y or better.

- Put a little change in your purse. Shoot around 140+pf. It's freakin minor. Why risk the chrono or steel?

- Don't get too fancy on the gun. If you are shooting an XD...take a spare. If you are shooting anything else...take a spare. If your gun wears out parts, replace them NOW and get them shot in a bit.

- Gauge, then box, your match ammo.

- Focus on your center of gravity...getting into and out of positions. Tulsa had some choppy stages last year.

Have fun with it. Get out and dance...

[sfinney]

"he would want to do well in the match."

First off, define your goal (sorry, "friends goal"). What is "well" to you, right now? Shooting the match clean? A Class Win? Division win? Set a realistic goal, based on performance, not placement, and then prepare to do the best that you can do in the match; let the results sort them selves out.

I suspect that you will do better than you might expect, if you show up with no set "anticipations" as to how you should do.

+1 to all the practice advice above. And reread Brian's book in your down time.

Go shoot, you'll be fine.

Edited June 24, 2007 by sfinney

[Bryan W]

Jack, I think Flex framed it up pretty nice. I would add to go ahead and get your name on the wait list. It may be a long shot by now - I'm not sure how deep the list goes but I'd guess pretty deep. Slots for that match are due in by July 02nd - then the wait list starts moving again. It would be really cool to see old friends back at the show

[j1b]

Flex - that summary should be saved for all to read. A great synopsis.

Bryan - I - wait - my *friend* took your suggestion and put his name on the waiting list. 200 people in front of him right now so not overly optimistic. We'll see. Conventiently enough for me (or my friend as it were) - this match is not far away. If people start passing because of travel, expense etc. etc. then I might sneak in.

I've got to figure out holster, mag pouches and all that crap. I don't have anything for production.

We'll see what happens.

J

[Skywalker]

Jack,

I think what your *friend* is trying to tell you is that he has a burning desire to go shooting a match, but is really scared by the possibility of making a fool out of himself due to expectations (maybe both from himself and people knowing how good he was) and lack of training in the past years.

If your *friend* can forget the past, and just show up for the fun of it and for meeting old friends (and possibly making new ones), attending the match will be a blast (pardon the pun).

OTOH, if he doesn't want to see his image of old (winning) competitor accosted to what is his actual level, then I might suggest not to attend the match.

Please forgive me if I dare to suggest such things, given the fact we don't even know each other, but your post was really "yelling" the above dilemma.

Edited June 25, 2007 by Skywalker

[j1b]

I'm with ya senior Skywalker.

Still, I'll start prepping and see what happens. It all works out - no matter which way it goes.

I would say though that I'm not offended by the suggestion but I do wish it had come from Han Solo . I just always liked Han a little better. That whole Luke having the hots for the girl he didn't know was his sister thing kind of threw me off. Plus - Han cut open a Tan Tan for Luke - what a friend!

Thx

J

[Caspian_45]

Jack the if the match really is only 2 hours for you. Pack your stuff and show up early and wait for a no show slot. They almost always lose 8-10% to no shows.

Oh yeah..........what Flex said +1.

[Ben Stoeger]

Jack,

Saying you would kick ass on me if you decided to shoot production was NOT an invitation to do so!

Ah well.. I guess thats one place lower I will finish.

[j1b]

Ben,

I think you're safe. The rust in my shooting has fossilized!

J

[Micah]

2 hours away from the nationals? You'd be nuts not to go! At a worse case scenario, you are going to have a ton of fun, get some excellent experience, and interact with your other shooting friends that live 1000 miles away.

Until then, if you wanna sharpen up, spend an hour a day dryfiring (feel free to pm me, aka "SA Jr. or Steve Anderson on that topic). As was said earlier, get to the range when you can and see what needs to be seen to hit a popper at 35 yards away.

Above all else, get out there, shoot the damn thing like it's you VS the COF, and have a blast

[j1b]

Ok - I've reached my limit with technology and trying to figure out how to search for what I'm looking for. Honestly, I e-mailed Rob the other day just to find out what holster he's using in production so I could buy the damn thing and get it over with. Haven't heard from him so . . . in the interest of time I'm asking you all.

I looked on Safariland.com and didn't see anything production specific. The gun is a 5" XD tactical. What is the recommendation for holsters legal in production? I tried search options for the forum and for whatever reason wasn't getting the results right. Even hit the holster's FAQ thread. Safariland is preferred but at this stage I'm open to best options.

Any help on that would be really appreciated.

J

[Ben Stoeger]

Jack,

A lot of guys in production really like the Blade Tech DOH. I use a wilson combat Tactical Assault holster with a dropped offset "female" adapter. (I know.. I know). I don't think that Wilson has one of those for the XD.. but I am pretty sure that the wilson tactical assault holster is made by safariland (and just renamed by wilson). I just don't know the model number. 5187 maybe? I dunno....

Either way.. I think most guys will recommend the Blade Tech DOH for ya.

[Flexmoney]

If I were to buy a holster, it would be the Blade-tech dropped and off-set.

Just about anything will do, however (I do fine with uncle mike's).

[Bryan W]

Ok - I've reached my limit with technology and trying to figure out how to search for what I'm looking for. Honestly, I e-mailed Rob the other day just to find out what holster he's using in production so I could buy the damn thing and get it over with. Haven't heard from him so . . . in the interest of time I'm asking you all.

I looked on Safariland.com and didn't see anything production specific. The gun is a 5" XD tactical. What is the recommendation for holsters legal in production? I tried search options for the forum and for whatever reason wasn't getting the results right. Even hit the holster's FAQ thread. Safariland is preferred but at this stage I'm open to best options.

Any help on that would be really appreciated.

J

Jack,

I think Rob is using one of these:

Safariland 560 and the 5182 models

Lots of folks are using the Bladetech DOH -

[j1b]

Just like that and I'm out. Or, as is appropriate with the original post - my friend is out.

I guess I should check the calendar more often. I have a meeting in Dallas that ties up the exact days that Nationals takes place. Which really pisses me off.

I'll probably still stay on the waiting list - still hold out hope. If the meeting dates change I'll be there. Otherwise I gotta pay the bills.

It's depressing though. I was really looking forward to getting back in the saddle.

J

[Jasonub]

Jetro dionisio shot a few matches a few months ago, probably won 90% of the matches he shot.

The skill will be there, just a week of practice and its back.

Btw,

he used a single stack 40 and beat us using a standard pistol