dsb45acp

[dsb45acp]

7/1/07

Match at Jackson, Ms.

Well the title says it all and I had really high aspirations for this match. Positive thinking leads to miscalculation.

Problems:

Stage 1 - Bad grip on the draw and a fumbled re-load.

Stage 2 - Not focusing on the front sight. I'm have a really bad habit of this; I get almost "tunnel vision" on the targets.

Stage 3 - Called a miss on a target, and made it up on the WRONG target in the array! Major Brain Fart.

Stage 4 - Slow from the start position on the beep. Could have been because it was the last stage and it was HOT! I was starting to get tired and maybe a little dehydrated.

Solutions:

1 - Dry Fire! My routine has been sporadic to say the least. I need to plan time at least 4 days a week for dry fire sessions. Need to plan a "Session A" for classifier skills and a "Session B" for match skills using Steve Andersons book.

2 - Live fire! My favorite; but, due to my work/family schedule, I think I can realistically only do one session a week. I would like to plan about 10 x 25 round drills to work on core needs when actually shooting. I see these as target accusition, accuracy, and transitions. Any suggestions or input gladly accecpted!

3 - Physical - My lack of fitness is really begining to show now that I'm the big 40! I will remedy this by making time each morning for between 30 and 45 minutes of exercise. I have a home work out program and weights; I just need to apply myself.

My plan is to use this board as a means of holding myself accountable. I will post my accomplishments or lack thereof each day until I acheive my goals.

My goals:

- Move up to at least "B" class by the end of this year.

- Place in the top 3 of my class at the La. Gator Classic this fall.

- Successfully complete 90 days of my Solutions as described above

Thanks in advance for everyones help and support. The people here make this the best forum on the net bar none!

[Catfish]

I'd bet you did something good at that match - let's spend some time enjoying that too, instead of just picking on things you did wrong. I gaurantee you that every shooter on this forum screws up in some way at nearly every match they shoot.

The better ones find something positive to think about, make the correction and move on.

Sounds like you've got a good plan, now all you've got to do is follow it.

[dsb45acp]

7/2/07

Dry Fire x 30 minutes. Times as follows:

Hands at side draw = 1.0 sec

Surrender draw = 1.1

Strong hand draw = 1.1

Weak hand draw = 1.6

Turning draw from surrender = 1.4 to 1.5

"Burkett" re-loads = 1.0

Front Sight forward = 2.8 seconds

I noticed that I tend to do two things I need to consciously work on. First I resort to a Weaver stance/grip the faster I try to go. I don't want to be fast, I want to be smooth! Secondly, I grip harder with my right hand then with my left and I need to work on gripping more firmly with my left and try to cam my left hand forward.

[dsb45acp]

7/3/07

Well, I started to dry fire today...

Ran into a problem. I was doing drill# 15 from Steve Anderson's book; 2 reload 2 with a par of 3.5 seconds. During a relaod felt a "snap" in the pistol and the mag wouldn't drop free. Pulled the mag and took a look at the mag catch and sure enough the pin sheared. The local gunsmith will be closed tomrrow (the 4th) so I won't be able to fix it until Thursday. I'll use my Kimber to practice Single Stack until I get the Ltd up and running again.

[dsb45acp]

Hey Catfish,

I didn't mean to snub you by not replying.. You're right, I do need to focus on the positives I have in a match, too. It's a really bad habit I have; I'm very critical of myself and don't cut myself very much slack. I can think of one thing I did well on stage 3: mag change between arrays. It was smooth and fast and I rememberthinking to myself "That was good". I'll try to focus on the positive more in my sessions.

[Catfish]

No worries here!

The reason you want to think more of your postives is that you will do what you are thinking of.

Think of how you just tanked a stage, and guess what? Next stage ain't gonna be that good either and then it just starts to snowball.

Think of things that you do well while you're shooting and guess what? You continue to do those things well.

I'd just be blowing smoke up your arse if I said this line of thought completely eliminates mistakes. It doesn't. What it does do is minimize mistakes and keeps them from turning into match killers.

Can't recommend Lanny Bassham's mental management books enough.

[IronEqualizer]

Think of all your mistakes as learning what you need to work on.

[dsb45acp]

Well, no dry fire or workouts for the last 2 days due to sick kid in the hospital. He's out and much better now. I plan to work out when I get home in the morning and dry fire in the afternoon before I go to work. Dry fire will be with the Single Stack until my LTD is fixed.

[dsb45acp]

7/17/07

Dry fire x 30 minutes this afternoon. No improvement on times, but no backsliding either. Two positives I noticed: I am improving on my Weaver stance problem markedly. Also, my sight pictures improved markedly and were textbook focused. I will dryfire more to ingrain this focus.

[dsb45acp]

Late Entry; dryfire 7/18 & 21/07

Dry fire on the 18th using Steve Anderson's Classifier drills. Good session even though my sight pictures didn't seem as crisp tonight. Times are remaining constant.

Dry fire on the 21st using the Match Skill drills. I seemed to be having a problem with my grip tonight. I slowed down and focused on getting my hands to "clap" together earlier in the presentation and "drive" the gun to the target. This improved by the end of my session tonight.

I went back and looked at some old match scores today. If I kept my times the same as what they actually were on the stage and had actually gotten all my points my results would have markedly improved. DUH! Misses and penalties are killing me. If the weather cooperates, I'll go to the range for accuracy drills in the morning. Two new goals:1 - ACCURACY!!! Need to work on sight alignment, picture and trigger control. 2 - Shoot a penalty free match!

[dsb45acp]

Haven't posted in a while, so here's the update:

- I had to take about a week off due to a cellulitis infection in my lower legs. WTF?!? Where did that come from?

- I am now officially "B" class now. By the skin of my teeth (60.005%) but I'm perfectly willing to take yes for an answer.

-Dry firing about 4 times a week, no live fire sessions due to these little things called "children" that keep gettin in the way

-Times are slowly improving; Draw @ about 0.9 to 1.0 sec, Surrender @ about 1.0 to 1.1. Turn and draw about 1.3. Strong/weak hand about 1.0/1.2 - 1.3. Mag changes about 0.9 and Front Sight forward at about 2.3 sec.

Good things: I'm starting to "call my shots" better on dry fire and my transitions are begining to smooth out some.

Improve on: Get to Live fire/matches more often! I really need to start on my PT program, I believe that I'm at a point where it will make an impact on my perfromance.

One goal down two to go!

[dsb45acp]

OK, so haven't posted in a while due to :

Wife got preggers (again)

Wife then had gestitational diabetes, then PIH, finally, making a special apperance, pre-eclampsia

Oldest son was suspended from school twice in 1 week (that boy has a serious impulse control problem)

Wife had pre-term labor and was hospitalized twice then put on complete bed rest

With out wife's income, I've been working approx 50 - 60 hrs a week to make up lost money

Baby girl made an unscheduled arrival approx 5 weeks early and spent 2 weeks in the NICU

I feel like the mobster in "Analyze This"; "Doc, I got stress!"

I've only shot one match so far this year. but was able to place 3rd B class. I had one really good stage where I shot 85% of our local GM's score. That the best stage I ever had against him and it was a personal best for me. Of course Mr. Murphy, of Murphy's Law fame, decided to help me out on the classifier stage and I really stubbed my toe on that one. Although I haven't been able to shoot much, I have been dry firing with noticeable improvement. My transitions have smoothed out and I'm practicing accuracy by improving my trigger control and working on prepping the trigger. Front Sight Forward drill is down to 2 seconds. Hands at side and surrender draws are at 0.9 sec comfortably, Burkett reloads at 0.9 sec comfortably. My single stack times are running about 0.1 to 0.2 sec slower then my Limited times. My grip is improving as my right hand is more relaxed and I'm gripping more firmly with my left and camming my left thumb forward. Now that the family is all better and home I will start posting regularly and get back to the shooting!

[Al Capizzo]

After what you've gone through its a wonder you're still standing, let alone dryfiring or shooting! Hang in there, maybe it will get better!

[dsb45acp]

Hey Al, I think I met you at Area 4 a couple of years ago. How are you doing? I'm trying to get back to schedule and just started a work out program yesterday (Day1/90). I did the circut wt training part yesterday and swam 5 laps and played with the kids in the pool yesterday evening. Dry fired for about 30 minutes this afternoon and felt pretty good. Times are pretty stable and I'm working on prepping the trigger during each draw and pinning v. slapping the trigger with mulpt shots. I got on the trigger too early once during my strong hand only draws. I'm also working on the "empty mind" prior to the buzzer, no thought, no expectation, just focus on the A zone, visualize the skill I'm about to do and wait for the beep. It really seems to help. Heres the numbers:

WT = 291#; 6 ft 0 in.

Draws:

Hand @ side = 0.9

Surrender = 0.9

Strong hand = 0.9

Weak hand = 1.2

Relaods:

From belt = 0.9

2 relaod 2 = 3.0

Transitions:

Front Sight Foward = 1.9

3 on 3 = 3.5

[dsb45acp]

Dry fire for 6/4 and 6/5/08

6/4 practiced Single Stack, same drills as above just add about 0.1 to 0.2 sec to each par time. I really need to work on Single Stack mag changes, consider a Tech Well or other SS mag well to help smooth out the process. The other issue is since I use my "carry" pistol I might want to get a fiber optic front sight for competition use. The low profile tritium front is a little harder to pick up, but this is only dry fire so far and I want to try it out live fire on the range (it hasn't been a problem before so if it aint broke don't fix it).

6/5/08 Limited practice for approx 45 min. Added some new drills so here are the par times:

Step forward into position = 1.0 sec

Weak hand draw = 1.3 sec

Pivot turns (90 degree turn to either Rt or Lt) = 1.1 sec Rt turns seem to go more smoothly, need to watch the 180 when turning lt.

180 degree turning draw = 1.4 sec.

Table pick up and load = 1.5 sec

For some reason I have a lot of tension in my shoulders when I shoot, when I work on relaxing my transition times get faster and my "shot calling' is more accurate. The down side is it seems to change my grip, I need to work on really camming my left hand forward to help level out the pistol and firm up my grip. Need to experiment with this in live fire.

[dsb45acp]

6/9 & 10/08

Continuing to dry fire, haven't had any live fire yet, but will try for this coming Sunday or Monday. Times continue to improve and sight pictures and shot calling are getting more consistient. I'm working on trigger prep and relaxing my shoulders. I am trying to develope a mental program but I'm having problems on exactly what to put in it. I need to decide and write it down so that I can run it by memory when I get my cue. I talked with the local Sherriff's today and they agreed to let me have use of the local range to start a new USPSA club ! Now I need to get it organized and I can shoot two matches a month!

[dsb45acp]

6/11/08

Single stack dry fire for 30 min, walked a mile tonight and half way through did 7 yd wind sprints x 6. Time are improving , I'm using a Wilson Tactical holster (TA 11 I think). I need to switch to a Kydex or Blade Tech holster that holds the pistol vertical without the forward cant.

[dsb45acp]

No practice or work out today due to a 102 temp.

[dsb45acp]

6/15/08

LIVE FIRE!!!

250 rds live fire with the Limited pistol, ran out of time before I could get to SS. Out of 250 rds I threw 18 "D" hits. Thats approx 7%. It's still 7% too many but better. My accuracy is improving and my weak hand shots were vastly improved. Weak hand head shots at 10 + yds without a problem. I was able to do Front Sight Forward in 2.6 - 2.8 sec with good hits, draws were around 1.2 to 1.3, splits about 0.20 to 0.25. I noticied I still grip harder with my right hand and forget to cam my left hand in live fire; I also tense my sholders and I need to work on relaxation. I am having difficulty seein the front sight lift. I will see it lift for the first shot but have problems picking it up for follow up shots. I think I'm getting distracted by the smoke from the ammo. My re-loads were about 1.3 sec. My shooting wile moving was much better and this is usually a major mental stumbling block for me at matches. I did have a few malfunctions, very unusual for my Brazos SC. The last round in the mag would lock the slide open. The pistol is dirty ( just put 1000 rds through it without cleaning) and I wasn't using my usual ammo (I was using UMC 180 gr. 40 cal). I'll clean it throughly in the AM and see how it goes. Not a bad session since this is only my second time to shoot this year!

[dsb45acp]

Dry Fire for 6/17/08

First, a major accomplishment for me: I completely stripped and reassembled the top end of my pistol. No laughing from the peanut gallery. First time I've done this and I'm definetely NOT mechanically inclined so I'm proud of myself. Next I'll try the lower but if any one needs help I strongly suggest Bob's articles on his website or in Front Sight. Dry fire went well tonight (approx 45 min) with few distractions since the kids were at VBS. I've noticied that I've reached a plateau on my speed for now, if I try to push too fast ny shot calling goes to pot. Flip side is when I force myself to go at what feels like a slower, smoother pace I find that I'm keeping my par times easily and calling better shots. This is something I feel that I need to work on: smooth out and increase my accuracy and I'm going to concentrate on this over the next few weeks.

[dsb45acp]

Dry Fire for 6/18/08

20 minutes with the SS, seemed to be missing some grips tonight, was gripping very high with the strong hand and not depressing the grip safety a couple of times. Maybe because I was in a rush to get the session in prior to work. I'm seeing the front sight better but still not as well as my FO sight. re-loads improving even without the mag well.

[dsb45acp]

6/19/2008

Dry Fire

20 minutes with the Limited tonight. Good session, I still feel tension in my shoulders, but not as much. Started working on reloads while moving. Pick up empty gun, load and accquire sight picture about 1.7 sec, I need to work on this skill. I'm trying to visualize myself doing well and shooting an error and penalty free match for the Special Classifier match in Little Rock next month.

[dsb45acp]

6/22/08

Dry Fire 30 minutes

Good dry fire session tonight without interuptions. I'm starting to improve on the "empty mind" concept. There is just the sights the target and the trigger; nothing else matters. I'm also working on attatching mental triggers or programs to my shooting. This seems a little more difficult for me since I'm having trouble deciding what exactly I should be telling myself. I did experiment with Jake DiVitta's "Drop Step - Push" method of begining movement and it felt really good. I think this has a lot of potential to help my movement and I need to investigate and practice this more.

[dsb45acp]

No dry fire last night due to very fussy children. I have already done my circut training PT for today. I really need to get in the habit of PT every AM, I know that my body responds well to PT and that it helps my self image so just do it! I'll dry fire SS tonight and post my thoughts later tonight. I will do the Shooting-Performance standards test and forward the results to Mike after the Special Classifer next month. I want to keep my focus on that match and classify at least "B" in SS.

ETA: Did about 15 min dry with the SS this afternoon. Practice felt very disjointed and awkward; there were a lot of distractions and I was having trouble focusing, bad "hits" and sight pictures, etc. Maybe I should've toughed it out and just worked through it but I didn't want to ingrain bad habits or poor self image. I'll practice again tomorrow. If anybody reads this, let me know your thoughts or experience with working through v just stopping a bad practice session.

Edited June 25, 2008 by dsb45acp

[dsb45acp]

30 min dry fire with the Ltd. Felt better today but still kind of rough around the edges. Will do circut PT in the AM and take a 1 day break from dry fire tomorrow.