lugnut Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 (edited) I've come to an interesting realization... maybe not terribly interesting but I am a little concerned. It may be that I am just a pussy or maybe more is going on. I am not a morning person so getting up early on my "off" days is sometimes a challenge. Then driving an hour or more to a match that takes many hours to shoot maybe 100-150 rounds tops. In my mind I often think- hell I can just drive 1/2 hour to the range tomorrow and shoot several hundred rounds in a couple hours. I guess I just like to SHOOT. I love the competition... and hanging around with good friends... but I like shooting more rounds too. I like trying different things at practice. I like trying to get better. Of course I will shoot matches as that's the real way to measure the skills I work on. A bit of a dilemma. Oh well. I shot a classifier match today. It went ok. I felt smooth but I managed to make a mistake on some of the stages. I was able to hook up on a couple which was great. I think some classifiers definitely have HHFs that are varied- sometimes significantly IMO. Can You Count is a ball buster just to get to 75%.... whereas Lightning and Thunder seems more manageable to get a decent percentage. I think I got an 84% on that one... and I know I could do better with some work on that one. PAR time stages are tricky for sure. My 84% came with about a 4s run on the 1st and 3rd string... 2nd string was under 5s but a little tighter... a solid draw/reload here is critical. One classifier I really hate is Eye of the Tiger. Why? Because if you get "lucky" and nail all A's in the head you can have a kick ass run whereas if you get mostly Bs you are porked- at least shooting minor. My turn and draw was good I think. I had a practice with Supermoto after work last week too. Need to get out more. Longer days and warmer weather is a good thing! Edited April 21, 2013 by lugnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepswithdogs Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 (edited) This has nothing to do with being a "pussy." It's about competition, it's about what interests you. Some are driven to compete. Need competition like they need air. Others are not. It's like Yoda said, "do or do not..." Neither is good nor bad, just different. Do what you enjoy. Sleep in... get up early... compete... read the paper and have some coffee. Do both, compete sometimes, sleep in sometimes. Not being attached to the results, just enjoying the process provides the freedom to do what you wish. There is no good or bad here, only what you enjoy. Tar Edited April 21, 2013 by Sleepswithdogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poopshooter Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 This has nothing to do with being a "pussy." It's about competition, it's about what interests you. Some are driven to compete. Need competition like they need air. Others are not. It's like Yoda said, "do or do not..." Neither is good nor bad, just different. Do what you enjoy. Sleep in... get up early... compete... read the paper and have some coffee. Do both, compete sometimes, sleep in sometimes. Not being attached to the results, just enjoying the process provides the freedom to do what you wish. There is no good or bad here, only what you enjoy. Tar ya that, or your a pussy. one of the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepswithdogs Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 (edited) Edited April 21, 2013 by Sleepswithdogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 Two matches this week end. Amazing good weather... mid 60s is ideal for me. IDPA match Saturday. Two stages with lots of long targets and I did real well. Another stage with tight partials all over the place was good too. I can shoot well and accurate on long shots - stand and shoot stuff for sure. I felt like I was managing recoil well and calling good hits... until I got to a stage with fast double swingers. I didn't really anticipate how hard they were going to be, I was chasing the targets and it didn't go good. That cost me the match. Got 2nd overall. USPSA today was a little bit frustrating. This shooting stuff can make me bipolar. Sometimes I love it and sometimes I hate it. I come home and thing about it all night. Had some good runs and a couple errant shots hurt today. I think I know what I have to do to train better for matches and I have to do it. I might be able to do it in dry fire too. We'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted May 5, 2013 Author Share Posted May 5, 2013 It's just a matter of time when my live fire reloads will catch up to my dry fire reloads- which are getting better. I think I get in trouble when I don't cant the mag opening enough and try to stuff the mag in at an odd angle. If I work on dropping the mag and canting the gun correctly the mags seems to find the hole better. I've been working on some different drills that have been tough. Blake drill for transitions- along with El Pres which incorporates a lot of stuff. Those will take some work to smooth out and get more consistent. I can see some good sub 6 sec El Pres runs with good hits once I get everything together. I'm getting some high 5 sec runs even with a bad reload or slow draw. I'd like to get it under 6 secs consistently with a couple C's max. That's my short term goal. El Pres is one drill that happens to be a classifier too... even though it's an older one.. seems like the HHF is still low as I'm getting 85% runs on a regular basis. Just gotta be able to run them on demand! I did a few bill drills too- partly because they're just so much fun and partly so I can tell how well I'm managing recoil. The other day I got a little to aggressive though and was getting fast runs but not so good hits. I was getting splits in the mid teens (one was a .13 which I've never done before). Even with slow draws I was easily beating 2 secs. But once you start going too fast on this drill it's a bitch to slow down.. at least for me. I was doing some shooting at 25 yards and was getting darn good groups. I wasn't pulling shots low at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermoto Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 I was doing some shooting at 25 yards and was getting darn good groups. I wasn't pulling shots low at all. Awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill o Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Nice work Dave. I'm finding the group size on my Bill drills is mostly determined by how hard I grip the gun. Try to really clamp down and you might see an immediate change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted May 12, 2013 Author Share Posted May 12, 2013 (edited) Hmmm. Had a tough match yesterday. I missed a match today- just didn't want to shoot in the rain. We had a great squad with lots of good production shooters which was cool. Many of us talked a bit about stage breakdown,etc. I was 1st up on a stage that included two regular plate racks and a polish plate rack. Wow... I couldn't hit the plates. No idea what was going on. At one point I recall thinking that something must be wrong with my sights! I just was off. Fortunately the RO's timer was broke and I got a reshoot later that wasn't quite so bad. But that first run got in my head a bit. The next two stages were large field courses. A mix of far targets, poppers and a swinger and clam shell, etc. with lots of movement. I did just ok on these... had a couple of problems including grabbing my loose shirt with my mags several times- that sucked. I'll be damn sure to keep my inner belt tight from now on. Mostly good hits but a couple glitches. One close array when I was shooting pretty quick- I short stroked the trigger on the last shot and started to leave- had to go back for a shot. Little things like that made me feel a little choppy. Damn missed a shot on Times Two classifier. I wasn't really ripping my shots either but all day my gun seemed to be more snappy than usual. It was just one of those days where I just didn't feel smooth for most of the match. Sometime the damn gun feels so calm and sweet... but today it felt terrible. No idea why or what was going on. Definitely a downer of a match but after feeling bad about it for a bit I'll just step it up. Unfortunately I'm on a business trip for the week. I'll catch up when I get back. EDIT: trying to see some positive things. On poppers I did really well. I tend to string my shots vertically so poppers seem to be fine for me. Plates I'll work on more. My shots on the swinger/clam shell were great too. Many good reloads... when my shirt didn't get caught up with my mags. lol Edited May 12, 2013 by lugnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted May 20, 2013 Author Share Posted May 20, 2013 Had a chance to shoot with Biil o yesterday. We ran the accelerator drill a bunch of times. Bill was consistently in the 6s range which was quite impressive as his dry fire runs where in the mid 5s range. I was slower mostly in the high 6s range, some in the low 7s if I recall. As much as this kills me, I lost most of the time on reloading. Too slow and too inconsistent for sure. He gave me some ideas of things to try during dry fire that I'll work on. I was getting mostly decent hits with an occasional D here and there- usually on the 25 yard target. I was getting good draws on the 25 yard target too- I seem to recall them being in the 1.4s range. I really think that my better runs on this drill are drawing/reloading onto the 25 yard target. Once you finish the 25 yard target the transitions/splits to the 15/y yard target seem to be pretty quick. Working that draw/DA pull on the 25 yard target is good practice by itself! We got to play around with a couple other guns too. Bill tried my G34 and CZ75 Shadow T. He too was surprised how well the G34 did with recoil compared to the CZ. He's not the only one that has said the CZ is jumpier that one would expect from a steel gun. I guess I need to find an SP01!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill o Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 The 25 yard target was humbling on that drill, and I was surprised that far to near is definitely the way to go, after trying it both ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthshine402 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 The 25 yard target was humbling on that drill, and I was surprised that far to near is definitely the way to go, after trying it both ways. I recently watched a video, maybe by the powerfactor show, about trap shooting. The person said before starting, to focus far away, so that when the clay launches you can easily focus on a closer distance. It had to to with relaxing a muscle. when you are focusing far away, your eye muscle is tense, and changing focus to a closer distance is quicker than changing your focus from near to far. I wonder if this has anything to do with it? I know you are supposed to be watching the sights and not the target, but maybe it could be part of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted May 20, 2013 Author Share Posted May 20, 2013 Hmm... I just think it's easier to speed up than to slow down? Not sure about the eye tension. When I draw on the far target (or close for that matter) I focus on the target then bring the sights into view as quickly as I can. On the 25 yard target you definitely need a sharper front sight than at 7 yards that's for sure. An Bill- the only reason I wouldn't draw on the tough target first is because of the DA trigger... but mine is so smooth I really don't have an excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 (edited) Weird weather this weekend for sure. Saturday was in the low 40s and drizzling ALL day for our club's IDPA match. Turn out was a little light due to the weather. I was shooting fairly well but the cold slowed me down. On my last stage of the day I was having a little fun with a pair of bobbers.... I got a little carried away and managed to follow the last target into a Nonthreat. Ouch. Did well on the indoor stage and a stage with a lot of shooting on the move. No misses on the match. I squeaked out high overall which was a complete shock. I think we all struggled that day. Today was a USPSA match in cool weather but it managed to stay dry out. I started on a couple short speed stages. Was very deliberate for sure but I got good hits. I was too slow on Fluffy's Revenge too but it wasn't many points. Did pretty good on most of the field courses. I think my stage planning/execution was good... although I could have been a little smoother. I just felt choppy all day. I'm still searching for that run the just flows well and smooth. Shot mostly good hits- no MIkes but 2 Delta. On my last stage which included 10 far mini poppers and 12 shots on paper from prone was going real well, hitting the poppers with good authority, but I just clipped the top of 2 no shoots(between paper targets) which hurt- but at least I got the As! Came in 2nd production but I was pretty far behind the winner who shot a good, clean match. All in all I'd say my confidence in shot making is fine, I just need to be smoother and faster running the COFs. Not sure how I can work on this in practice but I'll have to figure it out. Edited May 27, 2013 by lugnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 (edited) Huh! Shooting can be a ball buster for sure. In my last post I said "All in all I'd say my confidence in shot making is fine, I just need to be smoother and faster running the COFs". I think I've done about as much of a 180 on this as I can imagine. Took a class with Ben Stoeger up in VT with a great group of guys this weekend. My consistency in making shots was no where to be found. I was struggling to make tight shots on steel/paper and Ben saw that my trigger control is not where I need it to be. I guess I was lining up my sights ok and then wrecking everything with a nasty trigger pull. Now whether or not it was my slapping the trigger back or tensing up doesn't matter- I need to get it right. I still need to find a way to grip more with my weak hand too. I'm not sure if I was just really bad this weekend but I'm sure it's something I've been doing for a while to some degree. So for me.. it's going to be some dot drills, distance change ups and some steel work for sure. I think recently I've been spending too much time on close drills and not enough on long/tight shots. I've noticed my long range accuracy has been an issue lately and this could explain it. Working on bill drills or 7/10 yard drills without long range stuff isn't cutting it. Funny how it keeps coming back to the fundamentals.... duh Humility is painful. Edited June 10, 2013 by lugnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Dave, Long ago, in a galaxy far away, standard excercises were a part of almost every local match, and definately a part of major matches. Alas, they were boring, so they seemed to have gone the way of the 7 round .45 ACP mag. Boring they were, but skills were built by them. It was even more interesting at The Miller Invitational where turning targets were used rather than a buzzer. You actually had to watch the targets rather than your holstered pistol, or you had lost precious time to engage targets. A simple set up, is 3 or 4 targets, start at 50 yards, 2 on each, then 2 on each, reload, and 2 on each. A mat for prone will put some extra skill work in. 25 yards, pretty much a repeat, no prone. 10 yards, 2 on each, reload, 2 on each strong hand only, reload, 2 on each weak hand. 5 yards, 2 on each, heads only to score. You can do them par time, or Virginia Count. Mix these in, and your overall game will improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 Dan that's some good shit right there... thanks. It's always a challenge to find the right balance of the wide range of skills needed to compete well in USPSA... that is what makes it so addictive and painful at the same time. It's clear to me more than ever that I need a better blend of skills. Doing drills that are mostly at 10 yards is good... but my accuracy on tighter shots has suffered for sure. In the past I have done ok on these longer distance drills- I did pretty good on the Golden Bullet Classifier at the last Sig match... but I need more of that stuff for sure. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 I've had a lot of focus on what has been going wrong... but some stuff is going good too. My draws are dramatically better. I can generally do sub one sec draws at 7 yards... and my times on longer targets is respectable. My shooting is getting better within 10 yards as well. Reloads need more work but are generally better. And I KNOW I am very capable of shooting very accurate at distance... I just need to clean some stuff up a bit. I have been able to hook up with some good classifier runs at matches. At the VT match on Bang and Clang on my match run I just missed the last popper... took the gun down and had to pull it up to hit the steel again (~60% run) but the next attempt at this yielded a a 2.79s- 86%, with a 1.15s draw. More work.... but I need to stay positive somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 Only had one night this week to live fire practice and it was tonight. I was able to hook up with a good friend at Sig Arms for a couple hours. It was a blast. I learned a couple things that confirmed what was happening at the class last weekend- when I'm in a rush or under pressure- I clearly get a good sight picture and ruin it with the trigger pull. This was confirmed on a 12 yard plate rack. I was able to work it out a bit but it will take more work for sure. We were doing distance change ups- paper at 7 yards, plate at 12 yards. First paper with 2 shots with draws in the 1s range followed by a quick transition to a plate. My best run was a .88draw, .13s split on the paper/USPSA target with a .32s transition to steel for a 1.33s total. My buddy beat me with a 1.32 run!!! Great time. I only wish I had more time for live fire. Grrrrr! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted June 14, 2013 Author Share Posted June 14, 2013 It's tough when you are traveling and reading about your friends' training. Such a helpless feeling. Bill- stop it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill o Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 Can't help it, Dave. This month's classification % has made me ANGRY and motivated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted June 16, 2013 Author Share Posted June 16, 2013 (edited) Shot a local match at Sig yesterday. Weather was perfect and the stages were pretty good. Figures- on a fairly straight forward skills stage that I designed- I managed to start my day with 2 NS and a Mike! Ouch. The stage involved movement with many reloads... something I can use work on for sure. Ironically my times were ok and my reloads seemed to be fine.... but my shooting was not what I had wanted. There were 4 targets with NSs lining up the A zone. I figured at 15 and 10 yards I would do fine... however I made a mistake or misjudgment. On my first stage I aimed for the center of the A zone on these partials... not leaving my room for error. Not terribly difficult but considering the movement into positions I should have been a little more conservative on those shots. Unfortunately I managed to get a NS/A and a NS/Mike. The Mike was just inside the perf of the NS but clearly a Mike. This had me down a bit as that's never a good way to start the match! I did pretty well on my next stage which was basically a hoser stage. I recall mashing my trigger pretty good but had mostly good hits. It was all up close shooting but most of the targets had softcover over them. The stage started off with a large popper and 3 targets with NSs on all sides. I managed to get great hits on all 3 while shooting on the move... although the distance wasn't too difficult. Won the Close Standards stage which only came out to about 74% run... I was shooting it fairly conservatively because I figured I needed points and couldn't afford to get sloppy again! You always need point though right? lol Next 2 stages were really cool field courses. I did very well on both although I had a Mike on my last stage that was just barely into the hardcover on tough partial target. On these stages I was very pleased with my shooting for the most part. One for one on all poppers for the entire match as well. I think my stage breakdown on the field courses was right on the money. I worked on getting into all positions ready to shoot and most of my fundamentals were good. I felt my trigger control was much better than is has been. For example I didn't have any low shots on the classifier or most of the targets. whereas last week I was pushing everything down! More importantly I didn't lose my composure after a terrible start and was within 5% of the Production winner. I still need to find a way to eliminate penalty points as giving up that many points in a 5 stage match is a killer. The 1st place shooter had no penalties, 2nd place had one, 3rd place had none. It's funny how the winner is usually the cleanest... at least locally. We're all about the same speed give or take a little... so it's all the points! Easy fix right? lol Edited June 16, 2013 by lugnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_P Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Its always those stupid points.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted June 17, 2013 Author Share Posted June 17, 2013 "I cannot stress the importance of accuracy enough. Although it might be difficult for you to make the connections initially, learning to shoot accurately is directly related to most everything you'll need to do to become a successful practical shooter. I execute the same fundamentals of precision shooting as do shooters in other sports— the time limits are just radically shortened." Enos, Brian. Practical Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals I need to keep making myself aware of this. Awesome quote!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 I was guessing you learned about accuracy on the road to becoming a 5 gun master. Was this not the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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