SA Friday

[SA Friday]

Well, I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but I haven't been really sure on what I wanted to do with it. I can see putting in when you practice and match stuff. I'm not sure I could use this to document every time I worked out or dry fired, but then again, I can understand why one would want to do that. What I've seen that finally made me decide to start a diary is the feedback others are receiving from BE'rs. I miss the feedback I would get from a lot of the CO shooters at matches, especially EZ Bagger. It's the whole 'can't see the forest because of the trees' thing. The one thing that has rang true throughout my shooting is that every failure I have had, every stage I have tanked, every mistake I've made, has been nothing more than a learning experience. Sometimes, you just need someone there to point out why what you thought was a good idea was not. There are other potential uses for a diary, but his is what I think the true benefit will come from this.

[SA Friday]

The Beginning

I've always loved guns and shooting. I started shooting when I was 11, and shot trap and skeet competitively as a teenager. Then there was the military and LE training over the last 19 years. Throughout all of that, I can truely say I never received professional training .

So, back in Jan 06 I heard about a Fed LE shooting match that was being put together in CO by the Fed Air Marshals. I was in charge of the weapons training for the OSI at Buckley AFB at the time and decided to see if we could put together a team for the match. So, I called the Marshal who was putting the match together to find out what the rules were. I had no pistol competition experience, so had not basis for what the rules might be. It turned out that the Marshal was Dean Williams (I didn't know it, but Dean was ranked the 6th best GM Production shooter in USPSA at the time). We talked for a while about the various competition rules and the different types of pistol competitions in the US. He suggested I attend a USPSA match, and their just happened to be one that weekend less than a mile from Buckley AFB. I went out and watched my first match at Aurora Gun Club. I bugged the hell out of everyone asking questions and getting my head around the rules and such, mostly Bob Waltzer (Lizard) and Bonnie Rider. They and the rest of the squad they were with were awesome. I helped tape and paint and tear-down. I was introduced to EZ Bagger that day, and he's been babysitting me ever since. It was exhilarating and overwhelming all at the same time. I HAD to give this a try. I rounded out my gear and shot my first match in March 2006 in Pueblo, CO.

First matches are like child-birth, they are disgusting and beautiful all at the same time. Since then I joined a range, got voted on to the USPSA club board, designed stages for the matches, set-up/tear-down, RO certification, asst RMed a Level II match, and won some wood along the way. It's been a learning experience the whole time.

Edited January 2, 2008 by SA Friday

[SA Friday]

Physical Exercise

Contrary to popular belief, the US Air Force is pretty strict on being in shape now. It wasn't always so, but in about 2005, an AF General got his panties in a wad after being ridiculed by an Army General about all the hungry-hungry hippos in the AF (so goes the story) . Although in pretty decent shape before, I've been running ever since the change in testing procedures. I try to stick to a simple plan; run 5k three times a week and lift weights for about an hour three times a week. When I'm separated from the family like I am now, I usually end up doing more because I have extra time to kill. I take basic protein and fruits after a workout, and avoid fast food and sodas. For a while I was taking Aikido and Aiado too, but I had a rash of injuries that I just could not get to stop or heal. It was too much on the knees, back and then I tore my shoulder at a monster bokken session. I had to give them up. I will probably go back to Aikido and Aiado when I move back to CO, but for now it will have to wait. That's pretty much it, nothing fancy but it keeps me in good shape.

Here are some of the things I've learned about running. Everyone who runs regularly likes to run, and everyone who doesn't run regularly doesn't like to run. Why? Because running hurts, and will continue to hurt until you have ran for a couple of months. Half of the pain of running is crappy shoes or shoes that are not right for the runner. I had a terrible time with running until I went to a running store and had someone explain to me what kind of shoes I needed. I ended up buying a cheaper pair of shoes than I regularly bought and they were heaven to run in after getting shin splints from running in shoes that were just not made for my foot type. Lastly, if you stop running for more than a week, you start losing what you have gained. If you stop for a month, you start all over again. It gets worse (you lose it faster and it's harder to get back) the older you get. So, I run.

[Front Man]

Interesting read Sean.

I know we don't know each other very well but I do think you shoot your first match before March 2007?

How do you feel about substituting cycling for running?

FM

[SA Friday]

Goals

So, this has been a huge topic of discussion in other diaries. I have weighed in a little into others diaries, but I think I need to explain what my goals are thoroughly here. When I started shooting USPSA, I made a decision that I wanted to be able to shoot like the M's and GM's I was so mesmerized by. It was just so sureal to see these guys shooting the way they were, the speeds and accuracy combined. Seeing myself shooting like that was like trying to distinguish a person's face while they were on a 14,000 ft peak and I was at sea level. It was just too much.

I was being beat regularly by a super senior in production. Pretty humbling beginnings... Mr bad-ass Fed Agent getting his butt handed to him by a guy that retired from the military before I was ever born. OK, I'm not really a bad-ass, but a guys gotta dream right. Anyway, I decided this would not do, and set a goal to beat him. Then, after I beat him, to get good enough I consistantly beat him. This was a good standard to choose at the time. He is a rock solid upper B class production shooter. He never makes mistakes and is as consistant as the sun rising every morning. It drove me to learn. It gave me something to estimate my performances against. It worked. (On a side note, I respect the hell out of the guy too.)

OK, I can beat this guy at every match now. What do I do now? Hmmmm. It worked before, lets do it again. So, I set my next goal on an upper A class production shooter. I beat him once. He had a bad match and I had a good one. Goal accomplished, but I hadn't completed the second part of it and that was to be able to consistantly beat him at matches. Then, I had to move to MD. This kinda upset the whole cart of apples. But no, wait, there just happened to be a M class shooter here I could gauge my shooting on. And the cycle continued.

There are variances in gauging performace this way, but isn't there always in sports where one individual is competing against another individual? No matter how you measure it, almost every major long-term goal in this sport will have to be measured against an opponent. As soon as you put a % in a goal, it becomes a measurement of other shooters performances. So, why not use other better and consistant shooters to determine if I am getting better. It just makes sense to me. The key for me is to strive to consistantly beat that better shooter. Initially, beating them once is good sight picture, but you know you've improved when you beat them regularly.

For me, setting goals like shooting a clean match, or shooting 95% of available points are erroneous measurements. They are indicators of progress, but they are not something I would set as a goal. A goal has to be a long term commitment and encompassing enough to drive everything else in the right direction. A goal is there to drive the dedication to dry-fire, PT, reload, live-fire, etc etc. Many would point out that making a goal to make the next class in a division would do the same thing. It might, but for me that would be too detached from the acutal competiton. It's too easy to detach from not meeting the goal of not making that next class if you don't make it. It's tough to continually take a whoopin from your goal every weekend. But, that's the point of it for me, it adds extra drive.

Interestingly enough, every person I have ever set as one of my goals had been someone to admire and emulate. I don't think this would work if otherwise.

[SA Friday]

Interesting read Sean.

I know we don't know each other very well but I do think you shoot your first match before March 2007?

How do you feel about substituting cycling for running?

FM

Oops, yep you're right. It was a typo. I'll fix that. Thanks.

[SA Friday]

Interesting read Sean.

I know we don't know each other very well but I do think you shoot your first match before March 2007?

How do you feel about substituting cycling for running?

FM

When I was stationed in Spain in 1989-91, I cycled a lot. It's very popular there. To get the same cardio workout as running, I was biking 30+ miles of hills. Cycling is good, but you really have to push the cycle hard and far to get the same cardio. It was odd too. We once convinced an avid runner to come out with us on a 45 mile ride. He ran 5 miles every other day at the time. We thought we were going to have to tow him back. It impacted his muscles differently. He stuck with it though, and picked up the longer distances really fast after he got used to it. Conversely, I had trouble with running until I just went at it for 2 months straight.

I have used the elliptical machines off and on, and am really impressed with them. When I was tore up a couple of months ago, I stopped running and went strictly to the ellipticals. They are great for the cardio without the impact. The other thing I've noticed is using the ellipticals and treadmills when starting out or after a long stint of not running is easier on body, and gets me back to the level I want to be faster than just pounding it out on the road or track.

[EZ Bagger]

Hey, haven't read anything yet, but you will probably find you enjoy the diary more that you think.

C-ya

[eerw]

great place to compile some thoughts..and get some feedback..also great read to go back and see where you were..thinking and doing..

come back soon

[SA Friday]

Last October, I took a couple of weeks leave and went back home to CO. I had the opportunity during the leave to go to my home range and practice with EZ Bagger for a day. We didn't get overly complicated with the practice. I mostly remember the one drill we were doing; two boxes about 15 feet apart, 3 targets to each box, reload on the transition. I kept losing about half a second from EZ's runs. I was doing the reload and then taking off for the second box. He was leaving the box, reloading during the movement.

It was one of those moments where a little bit of info seemed to spark a whole new line of thought about my shooting. Before, it was always the basics of shooting where I was gaining points or time. Understanding the fastest way to shoot a course, reloads, transitions, splits, accuracy... But this. It wasn't about the shooting, it was about the way I was moving. It wasn't huge time differences, but it WAS a difference.

Then, after my leave, I got beck to MD and bought the MB videos. Yes, this was the first time I had ever seen them. I was very interested in the movement parts of the video. They were little things, but the were all along the line of this new place to save time, engage faster. I don't think I would have seen these parts as beneficial a year ago, though. I was still very much into the basics of shooting then and just couldn't see the subtleties within the different movements.

I shot the last match for the year at Fredricksburg, VA in Nov. I had the opportunity to watch TJ shoot a stage after I had already shot it. The biggest difference I could see in his shooting vs my shooting was not the splits and transitions, but the way he moved throught the course. Once again, it was subtle, and smoother flow.

I got two things out of all of this. First, I need to shift my focus to get better to how I move through a course of fire. When I get those movements to an efficient and smooth flow, I will start finding the time I lose on stages. The second thing was how a shooter matures and evolves with their shooting. For two years, I just didn't understand where the time difference came from between an A shooter and a GM shooter. I thought it was all about the basic shooting skills. But that really just hides another whole skill set that a newer shooter cannot fully see until they are ready.

When does one start seeing all these subtle differences in movement? I don't really think it's the same for every shooter. For me, it happened when I stopped worrying about my basic shooting skills and just let them happen. It freed my mind to realize other aspects of the shooting that were occuring. Ironically, I recently started reading BE's book, and guess what I found in there. Pretty much the last two sentences . There are some aspects of saving time while moving through a course of fire that every shooter picks up on, the basic flow, but the smaller aspects that save .2 or .3 seconds here or there that seem to be a secondary skill set.

It makes me wonder if there is another level that I cannot see just yet. Or maybe, I have seen aspects of it, but haven't realized it.

[SA Friday]

Road Trip to Sir Walter Gun Club, NC 5 Jan 07

Three of us from MD/VA did a road trip down to NC to shoot a match. This area is currently in 'off season', and I haven't shot a full match since early Nov 07. The match is a very good one, and I can see me doing another trip down there in the future to shoot. 7 stages, lots of long shots, quite a few white targets, and almost all the steel was new. Good stuff. There were 96 shooters at the match.

There were no M's or GM's in Production at this match. I came in 3rd overall production and 3rd in A class. There definately was some grit in the grease. I made a lot of minor mistakes and a couple of major ones. Two stages really hurt me in my over all finish. On my very first target of the very first stage, I tagged a no-shoot and then called the bad shot with a makeup on the wrong target. Ugh, down points AND wasted time.... The second stage I had problems with, I went to war on a USP 20+ yds out and for the life of me could not hit the damn thing. instead of cutting my losses, I burnt a lot of time for a hit. 5+ seconds on a 5 point target on a 32 round stage is just not worth it. But in the heat of the moment, is can be hard to see the light.

The minor things I can see needed work were many. Rusty reloads, accuracy was an issue (No misses but the no-shoot, but I just cannot have the D's), and I was just not happy with my movement as a whole. There is video of my shooting, but I don't have it yet. When I get it, I will post it for critiquing. There will be plenty to flame away on for sure. I was way too deliberate when shooting the classifier, 08-04. I just took way too much time.

This was my first match shooting Precision bullets with the Ramshot Comp powder. The smoke was an issue. I really want to see the vid of the smoke. I know the stand-shoots got difficult to see through the haze after about 6 shots. More work to do in that area... I have to admit using a new reload at the match was in the back of my mind during the match. I just have so much confidence in my reloads with the Zero 147 HP's. They were really accurate and soft and no smoke at all with the TG. I can get used to the Precisions and a little smoke, but I think I still have some tinkering around to do until I will be happy.

Ok results and a good time, but I am not currently happy with my shooting. I have work to do.

[SA Friday]

Trigger Prep During the Draw

I've decided to really focus on my draws and reloads during dry firing for the next couple of months and see if I can shave some of the time off. I feel like they are hurting me on my classifiers and occasionally on other stages too.

During my relaxed as sides draws, I put away the timer and focused on the basic movements. I realized I was bring up the gun finding the right sight picture and then preping the trigger and finally breaking the shot. It kinda hit me as I was going through the slow form drills that I could prep the trigger immediately after rotating the gun horizontal and during the rise to my sight picture. Then I could break the first shot upon recognition of a good sight picture.

I speeded up the drill and could see the danger of wanting to break the shot too early and miss, but I think with more focused dry fire practice in this area I could get to where the first two shots on target within 10 yards would would be completed at the end of acquiring my normal arm extension. Is this right? Is this where people are getting their sub 1 second draws? Or am I heading down a dangerous path.

[SA Friday]

Getting a Ticket for the Short Bus

I earned myself a ticket on the short bus this morning. Someone pass me a hockey helmet, please. Got up grabbed my stuff, jumped in the truck, stopped and grabbed bfast for the road and drove an hour and 45 minutes up to York, PA to shoot a match. The whole time I just had this feeling of not being whole, something was just not there.

So I get there and go to put on another long sleeved shirt and realized I forgot the tight fleece shirt I usually wear on cold shooting days. Ah! That's was it. OK, no big deal, I carry an extra long sleeved shirt in the truck. I'll throw that on. No big deal. OK, gotta get the holster rig on so I can go help with targets. Um, hey, uhhh, Where's my holster rig? Oh ya, its in the cabinet back in my apartment just about 2 hours away.... (insert appropriate profanity here.) Thank god I carry that back up Kytac in the range bag and a couple of Kytac mag carriers. Um, no wait, I didn't need those anymore so I took them out a couple of weeks ago, didn't I. (safely strap on the hockey helmet, cuz we goin fo a ride ) I borrowed someone's spare holster thank god, and had some mag pouches for my work gun in the truck that I made work. I wore my Galco belt, once again I got lucky there.

After shooting the first two stages, I can safely say that your equipment DOES make a difference. My shooting stunk like the dead body in the Unicorn Killer's closet. Once you are accustomed to your gear, changing it is a killer. I settled down and shot the 3rd and 4th stages fairly well though. Interestingly enough, the gear problems made me not want to go for a 3rd reload on any of the stages. The first two mag pouches worked OK, but the second two were very tight leather and really hard to reload from. This made me really take a close look at the stages and try to get rid of mag changes if I could. I think it saved me time on one stage in peticular.

I'm still very rusty. This off-season stuff is eroding my ability to efficiently kill paper. Back to dry firing.

[driver8M3]

how could anyone forget their rig????

if you do it 4 more times, i'll personally welcome you to the idiot club....

[SA Friday]

how could anyone forget their rig????

if you do it 4 more times, i'll personally welcome you to the idiot club....

For some reason, your name kept coming up today during the conversations about me forgetting my holster rig . Greg was there today, BTW, and kicked the snot out of me.... That dude is just flat out gifted. If he ever dedicates himself to being the best, he'll be pushing GM's around at major matches within a couple of years if not sooner.

[SA Friday]

Nose Dive

So, I was burning some ammo off at the indoor range tonight. I was practicing my splits mostly. I have had issues with speeding up my splits on targets at intermediate range. I can pull a .2 split and am seeing my sights, but in order to get the right second shot, I have to wait on the gun. If I don't, the round is always going low. The nose is diving when the slide locks forward and I have to wait for the front sight to rise back to target. I've been playing around with my grip a little here and there to try to get this to go away. On a whim, I switched the tungsten guiderod out with a G17 SS noncaptured guiderod and lightened the nose of the G34 to see what would come of it. Wow, what a difference. I immediately started seeing the sight come to rest on target and the nose stopped diving down. It's interesting, the more I shoot the more my glock's are resembling the set-ups of the to end glock shooters.

[eerw]

if for some reason you like the weight the tungsten gives you..try a lighter recoil spring ..sometimes that will change the timing of the gun..and bring the sight to the same place..

[Hoofy]

Nose Dive

It's interesting, the more I shoot the more my glock's are resembling the set-ups of the top end glock shooters.

The journey continues.

EZ and I had that same discussion a month or so ago. Return of the gun is more important than recoil forces once a certain speed is achieved. You should feel how lightly sprung Glenn's guns are.

We could have used you Sat, 2 degrees when we started setup. Put away the last prop as it was getting muddy.

[SA Friday]

if for some reason you like the weight the tungsten gives you..try a lighter recoil spring ..sometimes that will change the timing of the gun..and bring the sight to the same place..

When I first started shooting USPSA, the tungsten did make a difference in perceived recoil. Yesterday, it had no impact on the perceived recoil at all. It simply changed how the gun came to rest at the end of the firing sequence. I think it's really as simple as my grip improved to where the I don't need the tungsten to compensate anymore, so the weight was just causing problems now. I just find it interesting how things seem to change the more I shoot. Is it 'trick of the day' or is it advancement? It's hard to tell. Regardless, I just accept what works and try to move forward.

I've really started pushing my draws and reloads in dry-fire. I absolutely cannot afford to lose time in either of these areas anymore. I'll write more on this tonight.

[eerw]

great observation on the trick of the day..

over time..and if your technique is continuously evolving..what once was a viable solution..has now become a hinderance.

example..weight on guns..yes it can help dampen felt recoil and muzzle rise..but as time goes..it can hinder.. as you are experiencing..

sights are another example..

interesting enough this past Pueblo match..I was watching a few of the GM and M shooters shoot..and it was interesting in how slow their draw seemed..from the beep to the first shot..it just seemed slow..and yet at the end..the time was smoking fast..so I kept watching...and as they shot...they shot smooth, consistent and it seemed effortless..

I am working through the same things as you..in my dryfire..I am pushing reloads and draws and transitions..and at the indoor match..I am pushing my sight alignment and time on trigger..

but when I shoot the bigger outdoor matches..I am pushing my focus back to sights on target and good called shots..the times that I pushed in practice..seem to creeping into the match shooting..

good stuff..

[SA Friday]

We could have used you Sat, 2 degrees when we started setup. Put away the last prop as it was getting muddy.

I'm trying to get back home as fast as I can. We will see in the next couple of months how it plays out. It will either be Jul/Aug 08 or Mar/Apr 09. It will be no later than Apr/May 09 unless I get stop-lossed. If the AF does me like that... well... God, I don't even want to think about that.

[SA Friday]

Trigger Prep During the Draw, Part II

So, I've really been focusing on the basic parts of my draws and reloads. While dry firing, I have started focusing on one certain aspect of the action. It all started with preping the trigger on my draws. I was watching some video of me shooting and it struck me just how long it appeared I was focusing on the target before my first shot. I could hear Todd in my head, "what were you thinking about just standing there looking down your sights?" I don't know if it's really a good or bad thing to hear EZ Bagger in my head , but it did get me thinking. What the hell was I doing that was taking so much time? I was preping the trigger.

It's really hard to see what the GM's are doing with their trigger finger during their draws in the videos. It's just too fast. I started thinking about Anderson's video of his bill drill, and his second shot seemed to be happening at his full extension of his arms. So, the only way to do that is to start prepping the trigger after the gun has been drawn and is horizontal but as it's being extended. I posted that question here in the diary. No feedback, so I started trying it out. It'f fairly easy to prep the trigger and pop the first round off with a solid A zone hit and not AD. I've been practicing it for a couple of weeks now. I have also started applying this to my reloads, but I am still hesitant to push getting the trigger finger in there uber fast. I think this could be bad ju-ju, better to dump a little time instead of AD. I found it was simply to easy to let my finger float near the trigger during the reload if I pushed this. It still helps a little though.

Somewhere in playing around with the trigger prep consept, I found it was really my left hand that was slowing my reload. I could see I was waiting on it to get back and forth from the mag pouch. So, I have started working on just the first part of the reload and trying to dial in that part.

It seems like if I focus on one aspect of the basic skill while I'm executing, I can see and feel what needs to be changed or modified to make the skill as a whole happen faster.

[EZ Bagger]

Anybody home? helloooooo....

[SA Friday]

Focal Planes and Reloads

I dry-fired for about an hour today. I was really missing my reloads. So, I slowed down and worked on redialing in the basics. Then I speeded up again and started missing the magwell again. Screw it, sometimes you just have to do it until you figure out what the hell is wrong. Stay in it for the long haul.

During one of the reloads, I consiously shifted my focus from the very close target to my front sight, and then completed the reload. Bam, nice and smooth. I placed my focus on the target for the next one and missed the magwell again. Why? After doing it a couple more times, I figured it out. I THOUGH I was adjusting my sight to the magwell from the target, but I really wasn't. Starting with my eyes on the front sight was leaving my eyes closer to the magwell and I wasn't missing. I consiously worked the next 10-12 reloads on refocusing to the magwell from the target. Then started to let everything just happen after that. Nice and smooth and fast. I was having issues with my left hand slowing my reloads, and have worked on that issue a lot the last couple of dry-fire sessions. Doesn't seem to be an issue anymore. I can feel the speed getting faster.

Been practicing my stand and shoot skills a lot lately, more focus on the basic skills. I can see my shooting getting really sloppy with the 'off-season'. Is it March yet?

[EZ Bagger]

Others have told me that one of the ways to speed up a reload is to not waste time watching the entire mag seating process. Yes, transfer the vision to the magwell, but the instant the tip of the mag is in and committed the vision should go back to the target.

Wish I could do it all that fast, but a passed along tip that's probably apropos to you.