Matt B.'s Dvd

[PaulW]

Ok so I get my new blaster in and as I start to do some dry fire practice I throw in Matt B.'s dvd "How to Shoot faster". I watched it several times before but this time there were two things I picked up on that I would like to get other's opion on a couple of things.

First was when Matt was talking about entering a box from the left lead with the right foot, and vice versa....? Why would you cross over like this?? I do just the opposite and I know to each there own and whatever works for one may not work for all but I would like some feedback on this.

Second was when He would move from box to box he keep the gun up high, good thing, but it looked like he never dismounted the gun gun. To me you loose valuable momentum this way, IMHO. I like to keep the gun high but also swing the arms hard, just like a sprint. No granted the distance you have to travel will dictate if you should dismount the gun or not.

What you guys think??

[Loves2Shoot]

If you get your heart rate up too hard it is much harder to shoot. Swinging your arms gets your heart rate up fast. This game is about shooting, not running, and like Matt I would rather be ready to shoot as soon as I can. At short distances pumping your arms won't get you there faster, take out your timer and try it.

[TDean]

I've watched Matts tapes and have noticed from watching videos of myself, I do the same thing with the opposite foot when entering a box. I don't know if I picked it up from the tape, or learned it myself.

Running to the right and entering a box with your left foot first (right foot first if running to the left).

I think the advantages are:

-Shooting earlier

-Controlled braking

By shooting earlier I mean, your left foot is naturally on the left side of the box.

The sooner you get into you shooting position, the sooner you can shoot.

Step into the box left foot first--begin to slow down while getting sight alignment--step softly with right foot to get final stablization as shot breaks.

If you plant your right foot first, you've passed the optimum spot to break. You are now breaking too late (far side of box, rather than closer side) and jolting to a stop.

[eerw]

For me the distance will dictate if I dismount the gun and use both arms..for most courses it is possible to keep the gun mounted high and get there as quickly..or at least for me it does..at the most I will lower the gun, but keep both hands on...

as to entering boxes..I find that entering from the left..if I lead with my left foot, my upper body is still doing quite a bit of moving laterally as I am entering the box..If I lead with my right..my upper body is has less movement and I don;t disrupt my dot as much when doing my aquisition..

anyway my thoughts..and what works for me..

[PaulW]

Good insight guys.....

Not sure if I buy the whole heart rate idea, I'm sure most peoples heart rates are up there anyways. And yes distance will dictate the dismount or not. My personal dismount is 4 steps or more I dismount and remount, shorter distances I stay mounted.

I'll have to work with the timer a bite on which foot is faster entering a box.

[Loves2Shoot]

Not sure if I buy the whole heart rate idea, I'm sure most peoples heart rates are up there anyways.

That may be true for you, but for me the calmer I can stay, the better I shoot. If I "try" to hard, ie, dismounting and pumping my arms like hell, it is hard to relax and start shooting, and I shoot the fastest/best when I am relaxed. There are so many benefits I get from moving smooth versus running that I don't have the time to explain them all. If you shoot better all wound up then do that. It does not work for me. My times are so much faster not trying to run, just trying to get there smoothly that it is hard to even comprehend for me.

My last match shooting with Yong Lee (10th overall at 2002 limited nats) and his crew, they all run around looking fast and shooting blazing fast, I tried to shoot like that on the first day and screwed myself. The second day I shot relaxed and accurately (no trying to run around fast) and my scores jumped back to where they usually are.

As a percent of Yong score (he won the match handily) on the 4 stages we shot the second day they were as follows

1. 99.9914%

2. 91.9537%

3. 80.8717% 1 miss in the black tape

4. 92.7817%

So trying to keep your heart rate down might not make sense to you yet, but for me it works awesome.

[Flexmoney]

So trying to keep your heart rate down might not make sense to you yet, but for me it works awesome.

Keeping the heart rate down makes sense. I don't know how much un-mounting the gun would effect this, however?

[Loves2Shoot]

Flex,

I can't keep calm if I am pumping my arms to try to gain some speed, so staying mounted helps me stay focused. If it is a looonnnngggg way of course I un-mount, but otherwise I prefer staying mounted so I can stay in the "get to the next target and shoot it in the A-zone" mode.

[ErikW]

Moving left to right, I end up with my right foot just outside the box or fault line as I'm decelerating. Then plant the left foot as I'm mounting the gun and the right foot just plants itself while I'm getting the sight picture or firing the shot.

[wide45]

I was taught to mount the gun as the first foot enters the box. You can be ready to shoot as soon as the outside foot leaves the ground.

We don't see that many boxes anymore. It will still work if you have to run, then stop, and shoot.

[B.J. Norris]

About heart rates.

I guess I'm weird. Because I find that if I get my heart rate up before I start the stage, my shooting is always better, as my heart is already pumping, instead of having a spike when I take off running the first time. Sometimes, my hands are shaking a little after a stage, most of the time after a long run on the stage. So, don't totally discount having an elevated heart rate going into a stage. Try it at a club match and see and feel what happens.

[TDean]

I absolutely agree with you 34.

I like to warm up with a little jumping, arm swings, deep knee bends and torso swings before certain stages. It gets the heart up to speed and the butterflies under control.

[Duane Thomas]

Travis Tomasie, when instructing me on movement skills, said that when moving from one shooting position to another (we'll use left to right as an example) - and we were using boxes at the time - the first thing you do after you break the last shot at the old position, as you're exiting the box, is to snap your head over and look right at the place on the ground you want your right foot to land, just outside the next box. As soon as you've done that, look at the A-zone on the first target you'll engage once you get to the box, the entire time you're moving, if your view of it's not blocked by a wall or something. A few steps from the box, get the gun up into your line of sight. You should have the sights aligned in the A-box, and have had them there for quite awhile, by the time you enter the box. Begin decelerating a few steps from the box, hit that spot with your right foot, then cross over and place the left foot into the box first. Then the right comes in and lands, as well.

The advantage to entering on the left foot, I find, is that if I go in right foot first I have a tendency to sway back and forth as I come to rest, which means either missing the A-zone or having to wait for the movement to stabilize. If I go in on the left foot I tend to enter much more upright with less "swing" to my body, and can shoot accurately much sooner. Travis - who has some of the best movement skills in the game - is such a fan of the advantages of going in left foot first he says it's even worth taking a little half-step, just before the box, if you realize that otherwise you'd be going in right foot first.

I'm not as good at this as I should and will be. At the moment - how shall I put this - my intellectual understanding of the technique exceeds my ability to actually execute it.

[Loves2Shoot]

TT is da man when it comes to fast and smooth movement

[PaulW]

Man_o_man...I must just be really rusty. Went out in the backyard and acted like I was moving from box to box and I enter just as described on the DVD and how Duane explains. I do think getting the gun up in my lone of sight a little earlier will help though. Weird how sometimes you do something and you have no idea how or why, you just do.