Ben Stoeger Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 I have some IPSC nats vids for you: Mine and SMONEY makes a comeback! I had an equipment issue at the match, my first issue in years. A worn out mag sprng did not feed a bullet up. The gun didn't jam, it just didn't pick up a round because the mag spring didnt have it there. I will have to change ALL of mine to make sure that doesnt happen again. I will post more info once I get my new training plan up, but I really suck at hosing. Well, I don't suck, but I am certainly not fast at it. The stages were not the stages for me, thats for sure. I will be doing my training a little bit differently next year to compensate. More to come later. As it stands now, its training time for next year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted November 11, 2011 Author Share Posted November 11, 2011 After learning the lessons of the 2011 season, it is time for me to put together a training plan for 2012. First, we should take a look back at what I posted last year about my training for 2011. I have basically cranked the difficulty of my dryfire WAY up. Everything is a test of position, partial targets.... and other such things. I have fault lines in my apartment that I am moving around to create tough leans. I like it! The new rule of thumb for live fire practice drills is this: If the drill is difficult for me to shoot without a penalty, it is hard enough. This has made my practice... frustrating... to say the least, but I really think that its the only thing for me to do. Well.. I have to say that last years training had the desired effect. The harder the stage is, the better I do. I have gotten my accuracy and consistency up to an extremely high level. About 80% of my practice was at the 25 yard line (at least) at partial targets. I just worked simple sorts of drills at that distance. As far as what I didn’t do in the last year.. I have to say I made almost zero progress on being faster through a stage. As far as speed on gun handling and standing and shooting, I am pretty sure I moved backwards. I just didn’t practice those things a whole lot. The World Shoot also showed me how much more practice I need to do while off balance. So much time was spend at that match shooting from a position that wasn’t comfortable. I guess the best way to sum it up is to say that I have made big strides in the single most important skill. Accuracy is far and away the biggest determining factor of who wins a match, especially a hard match like the US Nationals. I just need to have a training plan that works some other elements a little bit more, so I can push forward in those areas as well. I have decided to organize my training into 4 categories, or “blocks”. The idea is that I work on each block in equal proportion to all the other blocks. I am not going to draw a distinction between dry fire and live fire. It really doesn’t matter. I am going to practice each block in equal proportion no matter if I am using ammo or not. Block 1: Extreme Accuracy This block is where I want to set up distant or difficult targets. Using the rule of thumb from last year, I want to make it just hard enough that it is difficult to shoot without a miss penalty or a no shoot penalty. Right now that is about a 30 yard partial. I would like to push that back to about 40 yards over the course of the next year. Also in the accuracy block, I want to shoot strong hand only and weak hand only at the same partial targets, to improve my accuracy there. Finally, I like the “dot torture” drill from Pistol-training.com and will continue to use it. Accuracy is the most important element of shooting, and it is what swings matches. There really is no forgetting that. Block 2: Classifiers/Hosing One area that I pretty much did not practice last year was the sort of practice that makes up most people training almost exclusively. I am talking about draws, reloads, and transitions on target that are set at about 10 yards. Drills like El Prezidente and Bill Drills are included here. I simply did not push these skill sets higher at all in the last year, so they fell back some. When shooting classifiers or hosing drills I want to put my focus primarily on the speed at which I can perform them. Accuracy will have to take a back seat during this block. Block 3: Short Course/Specialized Skills This block encompasses shooting while off balance, picking the gun up off stuff, swingers, bobbers, prone shooting, and so forth. I am thinking of short and simple drills that isolate a couple skills at a time. For example, load the gun then go prone then shoot a couple targets. The training focus in this block is on smooth execution of specialized skills and accuracy. Block 4: Run and Gun/Field Courses The fourth and final block is to focus on my training for getting stage times lowered on big field courses. In this block I will set up movement drills and focus on getting the time between positions lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonovanM Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Great post! How do you plan on breaking down your practice sessions with these blocks? Would you dedicate one or several range sessions in a row purely to one block, then move on to the next? Or would you practice more than one block in a single training session? Or just play it by ear and do whatever you want, and record how long you spent on each block? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 Great post! How do you plan on breaking down your practice sessions with these blocks? Would you dedicate one or several range sessions in a row purely to one block, then move on to the next? Or would you practice more than one block in a single training session? Or just play it by ear and do whatever you want, and record how long you spent on each block? Oh I forgot to mention that! I want to do the blocks in rotation. Depending on how much time I have on the range, I want to do one or perhaps two blocks per session. Once I am practicing hardcore again (in the spring) I will do 4 blocks a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 Training and ammo loading is going quite well! I am feeing good about the upcoming year. My schedule is going to be a bit tight with all the classes I think I will end up doing, but it doesn't really matter. I don't mind having lots to do. I was invited to join the group ACES today as well (I don't know if many people have heard about this yet). I am not really an exclusive club kind of guy, so I said no. But it is still cool to be picked. Thats all for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 I am messing around with conventional pouches (bullet nose forward, not sideways). I really really do not like this setup at all... but I am going to keep practicing with them to see what I figure out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha-charlie Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 (edited) At this point in the game, what benefit do you think changing mag positions will produce?? Or are you just screwing off to see what happens?? Edited December 13, 2011 by alpha-charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 Just screwing off... you know how I play it man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 I am having trouble getting freaking Moly bullets... irritating! I need to get some ammo made up for the upcoming season. I switched my dryfire gun to have a SUPER heavy trigger.. I mean like 12lbs for the DA pull.. I feel like my finger is quite a bit stronger already. You guys making your dryfire tough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibern Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I am having trouble getting freaking Moly bullets... irritating! I need to get some ammo made up for the upcoming season. I switched my dryfire gun to have a SUPER heavy trigger.. I mean like 12lbs for the DA pull.. I feel like my finger is quite a bit stronger already. You guys making your dryfire tough? Any insight as to what's going on with BBI? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimgabelbauer Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Ben, this along with your website/dryfire routine has been a great resource for me. The past month I've been working on dryfire with partial targets at further distances and wide transitions, and it has helped a lot! Transitions are smoother, match accuracy has gotten better..still have a long way to go though. Question..how much time do you spend per day dryfiring? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 I am having trouble getting freaking Moly bullets... irritating! I need to get some ammo made up for the upcoming season. I switched my dryfire gun to have a SUPER heavy trigger.. I mean like 12lbs for the DA pull.. I feel like my finger is quite a bit stronger already. You guys making your dryfire tough? Any insight as to what's going on with BBI? Your guess is nearly as good as mine... I really don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 Ben, this along with your website/dryfire routine has been a great resource for me. The past month I've been working on dryfire with partial targets at further distances and wide transitions, and it has helped a lot! Transitions are smoother, match accuracy has gotten better..still have a long way to go though. Question..how much time do you spend per day dryfiring? Glad you like it! Lately I am doing about an hour a day... I am in that winter funk where I just cant wait for things to warm up so I can go back out to the range and press forward a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torogi Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I switched my dryfire gun to have a SUPER heavy trigger.. I mean like 12lbs for the DA pull.. I feel like my finger is quite a bit stronger already. You guys making your dryfire tough? Ben, this is very interesting. I have my CZ run 5lb DA, and of course when dry firing everything is DA. But to run it heavier than usual, won't this have any negative effect? What would be the positive outcome? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 I switched my dryfire gun to have a SUPER heavy trigger.. I mean like 12lbs for the DA pull.. I feel like my finger is quite a bit stronger already. You guys making your dryfire tough? Ben, this is very interesting. I have my CZ run 5lb DA, and of course when dry firing everything is DA. But to run it heavier than usual, won't this have any negative effect? What would be the positive outcome? I am thinking that working with a heavy trigger will improve my trigger control skill... I hope so anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 When you go back to your regular trigger it may take a little to adjust... and might have some premature discharges while prepping the trigger! Love to see how it works for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Knight Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I am thinking that working with a heavy trigger will improve my trigger control skill... I hope so anyway. Worked for me when I switched to revolver for a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Antichrome Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I am thinking that working with a heavy trigger will improve my trigger control skill... I hope so anyway. Thinking along the same lines...I've toyed with the idea of converting a CZ (da/sa) into a DAO for practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 My hands hurt from loading ammo and doing so much dryfire. I am thinking it will be an early spring and then it will be time to hit it really hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 There is one issue that seems to come up at every Nationals (if only among the super squads) and it is cheating. Everyone that has shot USPSA for awhile has heard stories of people trying to get “doubles” or “reshoots” or other such nonsense. I thought I would share of few examples of behavior I have witnessed and provide my take on it. I have seen some truly amazing conduct from USPSA shooters. Some of it is good, and some of it is bad. I have learned from it and I try to behave ethically. The most common ethical issue is that of the “double”. It is not completely uncommon at major matches for some shooters to claim that two bullets passed through one hole in the target. Now, this does occasionally actually happen. I have only ever had it happen to me on VERY close targets. Also, the holes have always looked very odd. I have never shot a truly “perfect” double. In 2008, I shot a stage and was surprised to see a very close target scored an Alpha/Mike. I call my shots pretty well usually and had not recalled missing this target. The hole looked funny and I was sure at that point that I had a “double”. The RO did not agree. I was not an a_-hole about it but I requested the target be pulled. I of course was denied the double. I wasn’t happy about this… but I wasn’t really mad. I saw that no matter if I hit the target or not, I was looking like a dickhead having the target pulled. I learned at that time the proper procedure is to never, under any circumstances, argue for a double. I have had it happen on one other occasion since then where I was sure I had two hits in one hole. It was a funny shaped hole on a close target that had not been changed for about 30 shooters. I asked the RO to take a second look at it and that was it. I did not have the target pulled. I just walked away and left it at that. I really think that is the proper procedure. Usually though, the targets are not at arms length when people ask for a double. I saw one guy on the Production super squad try to get a double on a 12 yard head shot! Now, a shooter at that level knows that he did not hit the target. Clearly that person is just trying to better their match standing. That kind of thing is annoying as hell. Luckily, it is not common in the US. The worst I have ever seen it was at the World Shoot. It is standard practice for many shooters to try and get doubles. I saw a few guys have 25 yard swinging targets pulled! I saw these guys argue until they were red in face for the double. It was a joke. Apparently it is totally ok to be a dick in international competition. I don’t like that at all. Another common situation is guys trying to get a reshoot when they have a bad stage. Usually, a shooter will argue that they could not see a target that was already scored and taped. I saw one guy at the world shoot argue for a double when he had a miss, then after he lost that argument he said he did not see a “D” that had been scored so he wanted a reshoot! He got the reshoot. One guy at the World Shoot had a bad run on a stage. He then filed an arbitration and had the stage tossed. Now, the Arbitration was likely totally legitimate. The bothersome thing about filing an arbitration is that this individual would not have done so if he had a good run, would he? So the issue was not that there was something wrong with the stage, but that he had a crappy run. This shooter did not arbitrate and of the other stages that were run improperly or were not consistent (there were many). The most painful thing I saw this whole year was a junior shooter (in the presence of his parents) take a score that he knew was wrong. He got a time about 3 seconds too fast on a stage. He informed the RO and they didn’t see a problem, so he left it at that. I was bothered to see this kid’s dad telling him essentially that this was not an issue. It made me sick. I think the bottom line with all this stuff is that in USPSA you have the opportunity to do the wrong thing, like you do in any sport. You also have the opportunity to be a stand up guy. I remember at one Nationals, Vogel went to the stats shack and argued with them to have a miss ADDED to his score. He didn’t care that he had already signed his card. He didn’t care that it dropped him in the rankings to have a miss added. He made them give him the right score, rules be damned. I will never forget Bob’s example of doing what is right. I will not forget the many times I have seen people do the wrong thing either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty whiteboy Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) Ever notice when a target gets pulled for the range master to look for a double,they(RM) will ask "who's the shooter" before they even look at the target. I think the range master should look at the target, the shooter should remain anonymous. and it reminds me of this quote: Success without honor is like an unseasoned dish, it will satisfy the hunger but it won't taste good. Edited February 4, 2012 by dirty whiteboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 I talked to a friend of mine that got pressured by a top shooter into handing out a double this year. He wont forget it. He even admitted that if it had just been a regular dude, he wouldn't have scored it a hit. I think some top dawgs throw their weight around. I don't like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhop Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I talked to a friend of mine that got pressured by a top shooter into handing out a double this year. He wont forget it. He even admitted that if it had just been a regular dude, he wouldn't have scored it a hit. I think some top dawgs throw their weight around. I don't like it. is have seen this and its bullshit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Moneypenny Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I totally agree! I've stood there and seen both sides of it. Character is not something that comes lightly. I feel that in many cases there should be only one round per target because of the double calling BS that goes on. I've had a few, had a few called that probably weren't there. if i KNEW it wasn't there i would speak up, you may have even heard me walk by an RO this year at IPSC nats and say... it's not there as i walked off sulking. I've seen shooters have a friend paste a target to get a reshoot after a bad stage, shooters paste a target after another shooter had a stellar run. If i didn't shoot it, i don't want it. the "who was the shooter" i've seen work both ways. some people have a name for being "doubles shooters' others have a name for claiming to be. lol. maybe we should do stages like SCCA does autocross... best of 5 runs? lol or average best 3 of 5? (this is a joke ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Knight Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I would shoot every stage 5 times... Now if I only had that much ammo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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