Lugnut's journey

[Dan Sierpina]

That sounds about normal. Now, toss in arthritis on top of it.

[lugnut]

So the good news is the "toe" was feeling better at Area 8... the bad news is I think I've aggravated it again. And I'm spending much of this upcoming week at the NER IDPA match so it's not going to have much rest. Stinks really.

Area 8 was a pretty weak performance honestly. I can't get myself to get into a lot of stage details other than every time I "think" I've learned something... I seem to have to keep relearning it over and over again. There were some moments of goodness but more moments of not good. I definitely run into problems running and gunning on hoser stuff. Not only do I pull off targets too quick but if my grip isn't solid and I'm pushing too hard my follow up shots go high. I've been able to see this in videos quick clearly. Several problems to work on just there alone. Grip, shot calling, visual patience, etc. All basic stuff. My left elbow is still bugging me so working the grip is going to be a challenge. Maybe I can bend my elbows more to help... I don't know. Ughh. Hitting 50 sucks.

Funny though... none of the stages were technically challenging from a shooting perspective other than Stage 4 which had WHO and SHO shots on partials. Ironically there were many more misses at this match from many shooters- that surprised me.

Edited August 12, 2013 by lugnut

[seanc]

So the good news is the "toe" was feeling better at Area 8... the bad news is I think I've aggravated it again. And I'm spending much of this upcoming week at the NER IDPA match so it's not going to have much rest. Stinks really.

Area 8 was a pretty weak performance honestly. I can't get myself to get into a lot of stage details other than every time I "think" I've learned something... I seem to have to keep relearning it over and over again. There were some moments of goodness but more moments of not good. I definitely run into problems running and gunning on hoser stuff. Not only do I pull off targets too quick but if my grip isn't solid and I'm pushing too hard my follow up shots go high. I've been able to see this in videos quick clearly. Several problems to work on just there alone. Grip, shot calling, visual patience, etc. All basic stuff. My left elbow is still bugging me so working the grip is going to be a challenge. Maybe I can bend my elbows more to help... I don't know. Ughh. Hitting 50 sucks.

Funny though... none of the stages were technically challenging from a shooting perspective other than Stage 4 which had WHO and SHO shots on partials. Ironically there were many more misses at this match from many shooters- that surprised me.

pffft, you only had 7 mikes, that's nothing dude.

I had 11.

It was the worst match performance of the year for me.

[lugnut]

Ditto Sean. I think I only had 6 but maybe I lost count. . My mind and body clearly were out of sync. We just gotta pick up the pieces and move on. We'll do better at A7!

[seanc]

Ditto Sean. I think I only had 6 but maybe I lost count. . My mind and body clearly were out of sync. We just gotta pick up the pieces and move on. We'll do better at A7!

Yeah man. I will be more ready when A7 gets here.

[lugnut]

Kinda chilling a bit after A8. In retrospect my performance was something that really bothered me. I generally like to stay positive and not "reveal" when I'm feeling down but that match got me good. Haven't done much practice since and that's not a bad thing for me right now.

I did shoot the NorthEast regional IDPA match last weekend.... but my expectations were low as I hadn't shot IDPA in a couple months, I was working the match and I had spent a couple days setting up stages. The days were long and for the most part I enjoyed shooting and running the match. I had some great stages including a 1st place on a stage. I had some stages that were not so good so I didn't place as well as I'd have liked... but like I said... my expectations were low.

Foot is good but I'm still seeing a specialist about it in a few weeks.

This weekend is a USPSA club match that I plan on hitting. I'm looking forward to this one.

Lastly... I'm getting to the age where I need to start paying better attention to my diet, etc. or I won't be able to be competitive. Need to step up the dieting too. Damn it's so hard. I was just talking to a buddy of mine about how when I was a teenager I used to go to DQ every single night during the summer and not put on a pound.... those days are long gone. I so much as look at a frappe and I put on weight!

Edited August 23, 2013 by lugnut

[lugnut]

Well... really haven't spent a ton of time practicing lately. I've got out a couple times for live fire and was focusing on running stages or parts of stages vs. lots of drills. I've realized I've been spending too much time on mini drills and when I go to matches I feel choppy.

Today I did get to the range and spent a fair amount of time getting into shooting positions and long shots. I think I had one Mike all day and I called it.... hell if I miss a target it's not so bad as long as I knew it, at least at practice. I was in a good lean around a barricade and got a little wobbly on the last shot... thought it might have been a D but no go. I was really focused on shooting well, waiting for the sights and not mashing the trigger... and then MOVE!

Some say I might over analyze what I do when I shoot... but I think I'm just trying to pay attention to what's going on so I can improve. I wish I had a personal coach to help but that's not happening.

As part of the work today- I was trying to really get a strong grip and pull the trigger without Fing up the sights before the shot breaks.... Duh. Fundamentals, fundamentals. What you might get away with at 10 yards can cause big problems at 25 yards- that's for sure. A little tensing up at 10 yards is nothing, but at 30 yards tensing up before the shot breaks could mean a low D. I drew for head shots at 12 yards. When I got a good weak hand grip my head shots were in the head. When I neglected the grip... they went into the body. Simple stuff....

[lugnut]

Shot a local USPSA match this weekend and had a great time. Weather was in the 70s and just a beautiful day.

I did ok for most of the match. On one COF I get sloppy and pushed for speed too much... and we know what happens when you do that.

Funny thing is the classifier was 3V. I looked at the stage and said to myself there is no need to push it here... I can only lose more match points if I get messy there. I was very calm and focused on getting a good sight picture and trigger pull on EVERY shot. Run didn't seem fast but I got only 3Cs and it came out to about 83%. If I could only reprogram my mind permanently to do this on all COFs.

Didn't manage a win, got beat by another Master that managed the field course I bombed much better than I... that was the difference.

One other thing- I seem to be calling shots a little better these days. I can't call them perfectly at all... but I can usually tell when they are bad hits vs good ones. Now I need to train the mind to quickly "fix" the bad ones- reengage.

Edited September 9, 2013 by lugnut

[lugnut]

So as usual I got a pretty crappy night's sleep before Area 7. Sad thing is Area 7 isn't much different from other matches for me- with regard to not sleeping well anyway. I'm not stressed out or overly excited but I just don't sleep well. Area 7 was little bit different this time though. I had spent a couple hours at the range before my shooting day. The stages weren't terribly complex which was good. A couple of friends helped out and for the most part- I had a solid plan for every stage. Damn that night before the match I kept waking up thinking about stages that weren't even in this match. It was nutty.

Now this season has been a mixed bag for me, and locally there are only a couple matches left. Sure I recently made Master but honestly I wasn't even shooting like an A at some matches- at least how I define it.

So at this match, as in others- I made a commitment to myself to NOT push for shooting fast. I realize that there isn't much I can do to prepare for Area 7 that I already haven't done- but I needed the mental discipline to do well. My first stage went fairly smooth- I literally saw a good sight pic for EVERY shot and got lots of As. I made an emphasis to shoot only WITH a solid sight pic and to haul ass everywhere else. It worked pretty good. I over stepped a fault line on one position and had to come back in... my momentum was too much. LOL

One the very next stage we had 35yd poppers- my first 3 shots were misses. I could feel myself getting stressed but I got them after that and it wasn't too bad. Got into my next position where I engaged a activator, static paper and swinger. I wasn't disciplined there and threw a Mike on the static.... even though I had to wait for the swinger... I had rushed a shot. The good thing is I was one for one all the remaining shots, swinger/steel and made up for some time and finished the stage good. Managed somehow to come in 12th still even with all the time on the steel and the Mike.

I was able to stay sharp on the sights for most of the remaining match. I was as I usually say- very deliberate, but I'm not sure what it was really. I was getting confidence in my sights and trigger pull. I wasn't tensing up as much when shooting. I had one head shot where I called my first hit as good, got a 2nd sight pic but pulled away on while the 2nd shot was breaking. I didn't see that target but didn't feel good so even though I had broke my grip to get to the next position. I quickly made it up, and indeed I called that miss. That felt good. There were a couple shaky moments and not getting set up into position perfectly but overall I felt my shooting was as disciplined as it has been lately. It wasn't a hoser match so there wasn't really a temptation to go too fast and reckless like I sometimes do in those situations... something I still need to figure out.

I managed to get 3 top 10 finishes on the stages and did ok overall. But honestly that wasn't the important part for me. It was the way I controlled most of my shooting that was the most rewarding. I hope I can keep tapping into that mode going forward.

[lugnut]

Well... shot an IDPA match yesterday. First time shooting since A7. Just haven't had too much time to get to the range.... maybe that's me copping out. Anyway- I felt like my match went pretty good- came in HOA and I spent the day running the squad too.

I was a little deliberate but I felt that things were overall very smooth. We had lots of opportunity to shoot on the move and I felt I was pretty good there. Most of my shots were good as well... only once or twice did I feel like I was doing a little "mashing" of the trigger. I don't know how to explain it but when I'm shooting well... it just feels like I'm seeing the sights and with no tension at all the gun goes off with a nice trigger pull. I wish it was always easy.

Funny... a new shooter in my squad was struggling with some steel. He emptied a mag on a couple. He was frustrated as hell... he was saying that his sights were on target perfectly. I said yeah but you likely ruined that sight picture with a bad trigger pull and didn't notice it. I felt his pain. Even for me I have to be real careful not to wreck that sight picture with my grip/trigger pull/tension.

Production Nats is coming up quick. I'll be hitting the range with some dry fire thrown in as well!

Edited September 30, 2013 by lugnut

[Steve_P]

You aren't kidding about nats coming up quick.

Hopefully we can get in a good practice session this week.

[lugnut]

You aren't kidding about nats coming up quick.

Hopefully we can get in a good practice session this week.

Hopefully? We have to!

[Steve_P]

You aren't kidding about nats coming up quick.

Hopefully we can get in a good practice session this week.

Hopefully? We have to!

Its settled then

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk 2

[lugnut]

Went to the range today on an absolutely beautiful afternoon. I was very sad to run out of ammo. It seemed like it went so quick. It's unlike me to only bring a couple hundo rounds.

It was incredibly fun I must say. I wasn't really working the training session like I usually do, but instead I set up some mini stage like sections. Did some occasional drills and just had a good time shooting.

Ben would say... "you aren't training... you're just shooting!" Yes, yes sir I was.

[Ben Stoeger]

Ben would say... "you aren't training... you're just shooting!" Yes, yes sir I was.

I would probably have some choice words for you that include insulting you on various topics from your age to your physical appearance. After that I would get around to your "shooting".

[lugnut]

In retrospect I will say this regarding Benjamin: I had struggled for a fair amount of time in B class. I squeaked into A class just before taking Ben's class. Now I will say that for me his training process helped me get to Master with no doubt. I worked and worked on the drills and did a fair amount of dry fire. My gun handling and shooting speed increased for sure. My only problem was I wasn't blending the "micro drills" with mini stages in practice. I wasn't getting enough time on real stages. My skills were "incomplete". Now that may be just something I struggled with... it just didn't come together right away at matches. I think it's happening now. This will certainly effect how I train for next year after nationals.

Ben is still a dick... but he's been instrumental in my next steps as a shooter. I will say this to anyone that is reading this. You need to do what works for you. Be honest and open minded. You need to set your goals and find ways that you can achieve them.

Here is a new quote a buddy found for me that I love!

"What feels like struggle and frustration is often skill development and growth. " - James Clear

[lugnut]

Here's what I'm going to work my ass off on next year:

Focus on hits at matches... speed will be there as a result of good practice. Every damn time I focus on going fast I blow up.... well most of the time anyway. Why the F is this incredibly simple concept so difficult for me?

Work on the speed at practice.

[lugnut]

My first USPSA Nationals is in the books. I had an amazing trip with some great friends that made a weak performance manageable.

The match was not overly challenging for the most part. This wasn't a hoser match but most of the targets were full targets at medium distances.

I felt I was managing my shooting pretty well for the most part... but a handful of screw ups really hurt. I really didn't push "speed" at this match but there were several stages with activators followed by manageable static shots and then movers. I rushed more than I needed to on a few stages and it hurt... there was plenty of time to make the hits that I should have. I was reckless on swingers... got a couple misses on them- instead of taking a couple of well placed shots I felt like I was rushing 3 shots on many of the swingers.... lame. A couple of other bad shots were due to visual impatience and I pulled off targets too early. Most of my stage plans went well and as planned with a few exceptions. Other than swingers- I didn't get any Mikes on the tight targets... although I plugged a no shoot but called (not seeing it) it and made it up. Had a couple of them actually so that felt good.

In summary I have some work to do. This is the last major match of the year with a couple local matches till 2014.

Working on some plans for 2014 but my primary goal is to reduce stupid Mikes! I KNOW I can make tough shots and do what I need to do... I just need more visual focus and patience. In addition to working on shooting better... as I'm past the half decade mark- I'm going to work on fitness during the light off season. Eat better and get in shape. Going to the gym shortly as a matter of fact...

[lugnut]

Was MD of a Friends of Revolver IDPA match today. Haven't shot revo in a LONG time but it felt pretty good right away. Brought out the 625 and did good until I got too aggressive on a stage with lots of activators.... my reloads were faster in my mind than in reality. lol. Shot 3 targets (one activator) and tried to get a reload in before the max trap NS popped up.... I brought my gun up as the NS was starting to move!! Yikes. Managed to pop off a head shot but didn't get the last shot off. Dumped too many points on that stage. Who knows... not much IDPA coming up until Indoor Nats..... maybe I'll give Jerry Miculek some hell in ESR! LOL

In general I can see that I'm calling shots much better. I hope that trend continues.

I'm pretty beat right now.... was hoping to get my ass up tomorrow to play USPA but a 2 hour ride isn't appealing to me right now.

[eisenhow]

I'm pretty beat right now.... was hoping to get my ass up tomorrow to play USPA but a 2 hour ride isn't appealing to me right now.

Go South instead of West and bring a shotgun instead of a handgun

[lugnut]

Got up in plenty of time but didn't want to drive for 1.5hr south or 2.0hr west. Season is just about over with a handful of handgun matches left over the winter which always is depressing for me.

I'll work on my 2014 goals (which I document), one of which is to lose some weight and get in shape. I've already hit a low weight that I haven't seen for years but it's not enough! I was at a high of just over 200 pounds. Gulp. Truth hurts.

[Dan Sierpina]

Pull out your AR for the match on the 10th!

[lugnut]

Ahh Dan. Donna is doing Mystic Valley the same day and I'm in.... Hope the smoke levels are ok there.

[lugnut]

Had a great match yesterday. My shooting was mostly exactly what I wanted... no "real" misses... I say that because I passed and didn't engage a mini popper on my first stage. I'll blame that on my not ready mind.... no excuses just what happened. That kind of mistake is fortunately rare for me so I'm not going to dwell on it.

Otherwise I think I shot the match well... saw sights good, managed trigger on most shots and had no other PEs that day.... including a crazy 35 yard partial target with a no shoot above and below. I'm seeing more these days too as I really think my shot calling is getting better. Didn't go full hose mode... I'll save that for practices. I need to work on more control in matches and have no bad hits. I'm on my way to that goal.

Did the new Tik Tok classifier. Didn't go all out but got mostly As. Who knows where the HHF for this one is... I'm guessing a high 70 or low 80.

[lugnut]

Well... no practice at all since last week's match. Shot a quick 4 stage indoor match today. Fun time too. Another good Master friend edged me out by 1/2%. I had two stage wins and two 2nd place. First stage was a little weak. Had a miss on steel and a couple weak hits. On the ULSC I saw a Mike on a partial after I just dropped my mag... wasn't going to have a MIKE! So i popped one down range. Didn't get a Mike but it probably cost me 3-4 secs. Oh well. I'd do it again.

Finished the match with Zero PEs and got 90% of the points. Other stages went pretty well. Shot another new classifier- 13-08. Got good hits but was a tad slow... HF was 7.003. It's kinda funny not knowing that my % is on classifiers!

Overall shot well.. but with no dry fire, my gun handling is off where it should be. Movement and shooting was pretty good I think other than some jitters on stage 1. Oh well, end of season for the most part.

Edited November 10, 2013 by lugnut