What are bad habits that you see shooters doing?

[joecichlid]

I have (working on making it HAD) a bad habbit of shooting too fast. Knowing I can rip 0.15 to 0.17 splits is one thing that gets me all the time because I have had too many mikes and D hits thanks to that finger. Last night I just slowed down some and had soem smooth stages (well when I reshot for fun). lol

Joe W.

[G-ManBart]

Making "unload, show clear" a muscle memory habit, so that you can do it faster. So fast that you can't even see it.

I guess I always miss the part of the scoresheet where you write down how long it took a person to clear their gun.

Man, that's a pet peeve of mine. I try really hard to make it a slow, deliberate event....safety on, take a breath, mag out and in back pocket, safety off, slide to the rear, watch the round come out, look in the chamber, let the RO look and THEN slide forward, hammer down and holster (add lock holster when it's from the Open/Lim rig). In club matches it bothers me when I say "if you're done" and they've already got the gun back in the holster!

[JThompson]

Making "unload, show clear" a muscle memory habit, so that you can do it faster. So fast that you can't even see it.

I guess I always miss the part of the scoresheet where you write down how long it took a person to clear their gun.

That pisses me off too. I think I'm going to start telling them to do it again more slowly. Some shooters treat you like a ghost.

I always hold mine and move it so the RO can see and then I hammer down and wait for hte holster command. There are also ROs that go to fast as well... they make it all one command with no breaks. ifclearhammerdownholster. They need to take the extra couple of seconds and put the pauses where they are meant to be.

Edited March 30, 2008 by JThompson

[North]

Staying up till after midnight drinking beer and then logging on to the forum thinking they will learn something in the alcohol induced state they are in.

[Bigbadaboom]

Standing around shooting the breeze with their buddies while the rest of the squad is pasting and re-setting the stage.

[Johann the Horrible]

Standing around shooting the breeze with their buddies while the rest of the squad is pasting and re-setting the stage.

Thank you sir, I am not the only one aggrieved by that. Strangely they are normally the guys that THINK they are the greatest shooters ever. The "super squad" during our Nationals a couple of weeks ago were all resetting and patching like they were being paid for it. ( I was not in the squad but walked by while they were resetting a range)

[kevin c]

Reloading like they're shooting on an indoor range - waist high, eyes down, standing still (OK, the last might be alright, since we tell new folks to go slow at the start).

[Resjudicata]

Standing around shooting the breeze with their buddies while the rest of the squad is pasting and re-setting the stage.

This is a common one I see too. Add to that the ones who instead of pasting and resetting are in the shooting area airgunning the stage when they are not the shooter on deck.

[drivingit]

but how will we ever change this? Is common sense and courtesy gone?

[kevin c]

Can't say that it's been an unqualified success, but it does help at our range that:

Start new shooters off on the right foot by telling them what is expected from all squad members as far as squad duties during our intro class, reinforcing it by running the weekly practice stage the same way (order called: shooter, on deck, in the hole, first and second tape, steel, mags, and pushing folks to stick to that).

That we do not, under most circumstances, have open squadding.

We try to have an experienced RO on each squad to call the duties and set the example.

Helps occasionally to call the worse offenders on it directly (confrontational, it's true, and only effective if the rest of the squad is not slacking also).

[Bigpops]

very interesting...as a a new guy I am not sure how to take some of these comments.

When it comes to Safety - then by all means everyone is held to the same level. Some of the other gripes ...well lets just say new guys may not be getting all of the correct information and some of you seasoned pro's should ensure we lowley newbies know the proper information.

BP

[steel1212]

Making "unload, show clear" a muscle memory habit, so that you can do it faster. So fast that you can't even see it.

I guess I always miss the part of the scoresheet where you write down how long it took a person to clear their gun.

+ a bunch!

I make them do it again, I sure won't feel sorry for them when they get DQ because they didn't take the time to SHOW clear.

I had a RO the other day fumbling through the range commands. He got "if finished unload and show clear" So I'm sitting there showing clear and he couldn't remember the rest...I helped him along lol.

Chatting up the peanut gallery drives me nuts. When me and the score keeper and the shooter are scoring the targets and we get done and me, the score keeper and the shooter are the only ones pasting targets doesn't make me real happy.

[earplug]

I'm always thinking a moon clipped revolver shooter should get points for neatness.

Making "unload, show clear" a muscle memory habit, so that you can do it faster. So fast that you can't even see it.

I guess I always miss the part of the scoresheet where you write down how long it took a person to clear their gun.

[38superman]

The number one bad habit I see from other shooters is,......... beating me.

Tls

[boo radley]

Making "unload, show clear" a muscle memory habit, so that you can do it faster. So fast that you can't even see it.

I guess I always miss the part of the scoresheet where you write down how long it took a person to clear their gun.

+ a bunch!

I make them do it again, I sure won't feel sorry for them when they get DQ because they didn't take the time to SHOW clear.

I had a RO the other day fumbling through the range commands. He got "if finished unload and show clear" So I'm sitting there showing clear and he couldn't remember the rest...I helped him along lol.

Chatting up the peanut gallery drives me nuts. When me and the score keeper and the shooter are scoring the targets and we get done and me, the score keeper and the shooter are the only ones pasting targets doesn't make me real happy.

Yup. Other bad habits are talking extremely loudly while the shooter is at "stand-by" or loudly commenting on stage performance while he or she is shooting. Electronic ears are a mixed blessing, and some folks are as loud as mules.

Also - my personal pet peeve - not giving the on-deck shooter the stage. Even at major matches, I can't count the number of times I've been on deck, and bumped into a shooter farther down the order, who's squatting in front of a port as I'm doing my run-thru, or playing with the starting position props, or whatever.

Other bad habits -- not being a sportsman. Yeah, so you got screwed with a procedural, or your gun broke, or you came up minor at the chrono, and are going to burn the MD's house down, you're so angry. Take a minute, vent, but then MOVE ON AND AT LEAST PRETEND TO BE CHEERFUL. I mean, what -- you might not get a pack of Shokbuff's and a $12 plaque? Please.

[Matt Griffin]

I don't get people who would rush through the show clear. Maybe it's just a lifetime of being VERY safe with guns, but I have a lot of curiousity about the state of any firearm I can see. When I'm done I lock the slide back, OBSERVE the round leaving the barrel, and move my hand over so that the RO can see. Then I watch the RO and wait for him to give me a nod.

If I had to guess, it's a subliminal power trip thing, the experienced shooter passive/aggressively demonstrating that he's the one in control, not the RO. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

H.

Edited April 17, 2008 by Houngan

[L9X25]

I wish someone in authority would officially declare the ULSC "flip" un-cool and end that nasty practice. It was once VERY popular in our area and a few well publicized KB"s have locally made the act much less prevalent, but it is still around.

If you want to expose yourself to needless danger go ahead, but please don't point the ejection port in my general direction while doing it.

[JThompson]

I wish someone in authority would officially declare the ULSC "flip" un-cool and end that nasty practice. It was once VERY popular in our area and a few well publicized KB"s have locally made the act much less prevalent, but it is still around.

If you want to expose yourself to needless danger go ahead, but please don't point the ejection port in my general direction while doing it.

I have a bad habit of that one in practice, but don't do it during matches. If I want to take the chance fine, but I see no need to expose an RO to it. I rack it slow and let the round fall and then make an effort to show it to the RO instead of the flip-click-holster thing.

[tgibson]

Copenhagen and Coors!! Wonderfully terrible habits that are very hard to quit!

Adios,

TG

[kitestir]

My biggest bad habit was going to fast. I tell myself now to take my time before I start a stage.

The biggest pet peeve I have is people not pasting targets. I don't think people do it on purpose, but they just start chit chatting and not paying attention. Someone usually gets ticked off and says something and then people are better for the rest of the match.......

[dstroyed]

How about when the squad behind is finished and moves in on your stage. Drop their bags and chairs in the 10 sqf of shade and stand in the way.

[DocBall]

A shooter that knows better going for a reload and flicking more than one mag on the ground. Yeah this happened to me and yes I did run out of bullets before the end of the stage. And then went back for the nearest mag it had enough to put one round on one the remaining targets. And yes I had to go and talk to myself for a few minutes.

[Paul Burtchell]

At "unload & show clear" dropping the mag on the ground and then bending over to pick it up before clearing the chamber & allowing the muzzle to travel uprange.

Edited April 23, 2008 by baerburtchell

[shred]

Doing reloads too low. It's an almost universal bad habit that is glaringly clear in slo-mo video It's a tough habit to break.

[got glock]

I like the new shooters that show up and must think to themselves "I got this" and won't listen to a word of helpful advise. They usually help tape, sometimes, when they are not busy "gaming" out the stage. They pull the the most awesome 4 sec standing reload you have ever seen, and perform the tacticool UASC in record time. Most of the time they come back and are all ears when they realize that last month they got smoked by a girl. .

My pet peeve is the same people seem to always set up a match, RO the match and tear down the match. I emphasize the importance of helping out with the non-shooting aspects of the game with the new shooters. Most of the time I will invite whoever is there until the end of tear down to the house for beers and some food.