Stage breakdown - LH vs RH shooter approach

[matt2ace]

I have been reading a number of threads on stage breakdown, strategy, etc. and I noticed a few comments on left vs right hand shooters approaching stage breakdown differently.

I have only started to focus on stage breakdown in the past couple of years. Since I shoot (C-open) with very few LH shooters (any division) and none above C-level, I have always discussed stage breakdown with RH shooters. I only realized this year that I was putting myself at a disadvantage by running some stages just like the RH shooters. There are many stages where LH/RH approach makes no difference, but there are also plenty of stages where you can take advantage of being LH. One example would a stage where you have the option of moving left to right or right to left......I found many cases where approaching from the right (lead with left side) is better for a LH shooter while most RH shooters will approach from the left (lead with right side). Again, it is very dependent on stage layout.

I was looking for comments from other LH shooters (no insult to RH shooters. It's just that you hold your gun in the wrong hand and have it holstered on the wrong side ) on how you learned to 'shoot lefty'. What other things have you learned that are unique to shooting lefty? If you took an IPSC training course, was there a lefty instructor? If not, was there any comments on LH vs RH approach to stage breakdown or other IPSC skills?

[edwin garcia]

If a stage presents a left or right option, I would look at both options. I might shoot it like a

right hand shooter would if it satisfies several criteria:

Safety

Number of Shooting positions.

Target presentation

I'm sure there are other considerations but these are the ones on top of my mind.

I maybe left hand shooter but i try to be an ambi thinker.

[baa]

+1

I am a A-class limited shooter, so put my thoughts in the context of my ability level.

I try very hard to not shoot stages based on the fact I am left handed and would rather move right to left across a stage. We, as lefties, have to be comfortable moving, shooting, reloading, etc while moving left to right across the stage, as we often have no choice. Given this, there should be no real advantage/disadvantage to shooting a stage either "lefty" or "righty."

Look at the stage and find the most effective way to shoot it. Handedness should not be a factor. At the major matches I have shot, there usually is not a whole lot of choice on where you start a stage or how you move, or the stage is setup to largely mirror the positions no matter which side you start shooting first. Occasionally you get a stage that rewards going one direction over the other. Rarely, you get screwed- Stage 12 of the 2008 FL Open was setup in such a way that left handed shooters were at a big disadvantage and had not way of shooting the stage as fast as a right hander of the same skill level. Out of a dozen or so large matches I have shot in the past couple years, that was the only stage that really out and out screwed the southpaw. Taken as a whole, I would say that 95% of large match stages which I have shot were fairly neutral as far as handedness.

Or the really short answer- Which hand you are should not matter. Shoot the stage in the most efficient possible manner.

Edited October 16, 2008 by baa

[shred]

I used to micro-manage it, but now I just shoot the stage in a comfortable manner. Every so often the lefties really get hosed, but most of the time the bias is slight.

I used to hear all the time 'you should shoot this array right to left because you're left-handed'. I don't know where that gem originated, but I think it was a righty-- I've tested it a lot and I'm nearly always a tick faster and almost always more accurate shooting an open array left to right (except SHO/WHO-- that's different)... guess which way our eyes work all day long, acquiring "targets", then moving on to the next one as soon as the first is comprehended? Unless there's a real advantage to doing it the other way, shoot arrays left-to-right.

I'll sometimes approach a position differently or choose to finish somewhere different -- Bianchi Barricades and hard edges like that you don't want to have to get back out of are particularly noticeable, and sometimes my draw target is different due to holster position, but for pure shooting, there's not a lot of difference between an ISO righty stance and a lefty ISO stance.

[matt2ace]

I used to hear all the time 'you should shoot this array right to left because you're left-handed'. I don't know where that gem originated, but I think it was a righty.

That is exactly what I hear from some A-level open shooters. I got me thinking about lefty vs righty approaches to stage breakdown. I could be that my mind is just opening more to seeing all options on a stage. I have encountered a number of stages where lefties were put at severe disadvantage to righty shooters. I believe this is more about bad stage design where a righty does not 'see' that the design makes is hard or even impossible for a lefty. In my experience, it generally involves poor placement of a barrier that allows engagement of the same array from either right or left side. I don't try to run stages 'lefty' just because I am, it is about the best solution and training yourself to shoot from any approach/position/location.

[redwoods]

I think there are some approaches to shooting a stage where you need to shoot it differently to keep the same advantage as a right handed shooter. ie. when shooting 6 targets on the move that are in front of you. Moving to the left allows you to keep your left hand shooting arm straighter, especially when you lower body is facing left, you are moving left, yet your upper torso is facing downrange towards the targets.

Everyone is born right handed, yet only the greatest can overcome it.

Randy