...but the horrible wasn't my fault.
Really.
In the Multigun match, we started on the pistol stage, and there was significant movement, firing over a wall, one reload on a sprint, and then some steel culminating in shots at a severe angle.
Overall, nicely fast---and a little luck. I pulled one shot off a target as I was moving initially (started seated in a chair, so I drew as I stood up and then I shot two targets on the move as I went towards a low wall) --it was the first target I engaged, and I put one shot on target but pulled the next as I moved and transitioned to the next target. In USPSA, that would have been significant, but since the other hit was an "A" and this was multigun, no penalty.
(Can't afford that kind of sloppiness, though.)
Went well---took first out of 44 on that stage.
Second stage was pistol and rifle, with a LOT of movement, both from one pistol shooting position to another, AND from the pistol position to the first rifle position. The first rifle position was offhand at 100 yards (onto large steel rectangles) so it wasn't hard IF you used trigger control. The steel was placed just wide enough to require a step or so between each steel (6 in total) so the trick was to only do one shot per steel, and to make CERTAIN you got the hit so you didn't have to back-step.
After that, move to the last rifle position, and pick a port through which to shoot--I picked a version of kneeling, and it went well. Won first out of 44 on that stage, too.
Then the horrible occurred. On a shotgun/rifle stage (where I had to load them first, so that didn't help--my shotgun loading is still slow) my rifle jammed due to ammo. (As with last month, a primer backed out and locked up the case halfway out the chamber. THEN, when I got that cleared, another primer dropped into the trigger group, so I had to shake the gun around to move THAT enough to pull the trigger.) Needless to say, this killed my time. I ended up around 35 out of 44, and IT WASN'Y MY FAULT. (I didn't reload the ammo!)
It is true that I'm not using ammo from that batch in a match ever again.
Last stage was shotgun only---it was a classifier from 3-gun nation. Six poppers, run, six clays. Shot 6, reloaded on the run (reloading took too long, still had one shell left to load by the time I was in the second shooting box, so I lost about 2 seconds there), shot 6. Total time: 9.84. Second place by 0.86 seconds, which I can live with since it was shotgun.
[sigh] So because of my death stage, I got second. Was actually ahead of Jake (for once!) by 25 points other than that stage--and with my normal runs on stages like that, I probably would have won the match (not by a lot, but at least won). As it was---2nd place, 88%.
Drat.
Things to think about if I want to get better at Multigun: 1) have ammo that works. 2) out of all the skills that are holding me back, loading the shotgun is probably the most significant.
I could of course practice more with AR-15 at short and long range, etc. Work on transitions between guns, and AR reloads. And if I was going to do larger Multigun competitions, I'd devote some time to those. (Particularly shooting LONG distances.) However, I'm not---so, I should probably do some shotgun reloading practice periodically, and that'll be fine for the level I care about.
Things to think about if I want to get better, period: Just because I don't have to get 2 A-hits in multigun matches doesn't mean I should stop aiming. I need to use MG matches to practice trying for A-hits at speed, and if I pull some C or D hits, it'll be okay--and I can learn from it. Just slinging shots, however, won't help me. (And will develop bad habits.)
USPSA match with a classifier this Sunday. We'll see if my SHO and WHO is any better...which it WOULD be if I had dryfired enough, which I haven't. I have done some, however---but not enough.
I've got one week---need to get back on it.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
[sigh] Well, there goes that goal! Shot about 87% of the points possible at this past month's match.
In my defense, there were a LOT of headshot-only targets. And I had 9 B-hits for the match, which since quite a few were A-hits on the head, that tells you how the match was. (If those B-hits had been A-hits, I wool have hit 91%. So the question is, had I taken the extra time to get those A-hits, would it have been worth it? Hmm….)
I'm going to keep trying to meet that goal anyway. It is obvious that I need to keep pushing myself to be more precise about points.
I've been semi-bad (periodically) about my dryfire, too. (Being sick hasn't helped.) I get in a good week of multiple solid practices, and then the next week---not so much. Just getting done with a "not-so-good" week, so I need to get myself moving there.
I KNOW that dryfire helps. And once I get the gear on, I really get into it. But after a full day of work, or work-then-Hapkido, it can really be tough to talk myself into getting geared up. I'm pushing a number of people to do THEIR dryfire--I need someone to push ME do it too.
Apparently my laziness is stronger than my wish to get better, all too often.
Here's the match from earlier this month:
Had some strange equipment issues here and there…
On the first stage---just sluggish movement. Accuracy wasn't too bad except that I pulled a D hit on the swinger, which was ridiculous because it was slow-moving. I just put the sights on the target and pulled twice, which was stupid---A/D hits. You can see me moving slowly, reloading slowly (why am I dropping the gun onto the magazine, instead of the other way around?) and looking back through the port instead of just moving on?
Third on the stage---but I could have added two more points (if not four) easily in 2 seconds less time.
Second stage: Sloppy start, what with missing the far steel, and having to do a slidelock reload on the near steel. It didn't help that I didn't set myself up in a comfortable, reasonable stance for shooting OR moving--it wasn't until after my reload that I had a decent shooting stance and could actually move. (Flubbing the shot through the port didn't help either---I just threw two shots onto that target instead of actually aiming.)
There was an alternate way to shoot that stage that involved being able to do it MUCH faster---however, shooting VERY accurately would (at best) have gotten me only C-hits, and more probably D-hits, with a chance of no-shoot. So, I took the longer route.
In retrospect, the time savings was just too much---I should have gone for it. Would have saved over two seconds, and even if I dropped 8 points (2 D-hits) it still would have resulted in a higher hit factor. I'm so used to Production's "never give up points!" thinking that I didn't actually runs the numbers, and I should have.
Third stage:
Other than a messed up slidelock reload (I need to 1) work on those, and 2) work on remedial action when I have problems with it) it wasn't too bad---if you don't mind entirely too many C and D hits. I dropped 14 points on this stage, and that is out of only 18 shots---one third of my shots weren't A-hits, which is ridiculous. I could have shot that fast and gotten ALL A-hits if I had been actually focusing on the front sight.
Self-discipline, more work needed.
Fourth stage (on bay 2) was just embarrassing! Apparently, I'm not skilled enough to rack the slide correctly the first time, and in racking it again, gave myself a double-feed requiring 6 seconds of time to fix.
The stage took me 21 seconds. It SHOULD have taken me 15. Yeah, that'll make a difference. Plus, I dropped 22 points, which is ridiculous, because only 3 targets had no shoots on them--the rest were wide-open.
Yay for getting flustered. [sigh] The speed (after the screwup at the beginning) was actually quite good---I just need to get that trigger control and grip (stronger grip! STRONGER GRIP!) going all the time.
My last stage was in bay 3, and parts weren't bad. Too cautious on the no-shoot targets. (There is a difference between careful and cautious--careful still has you moving as fast as you can while getting good hits, you are just being precise about your sight pictures, while cautious meant I "slowed down to get good hits" ---and you SHOULDN'T be thinking about speed while shooting. You should be shooting.)
Points were middling ok, so that wasn't bad, and my transitions were good at the end. The no-shoots just made me timid, though, and that isn't good. (Plus, I let myself shoot a C-hit or two when the A-zones were available---again, too timid.)
On the good side---even when screwing up, I didn't make any major mistakes, and didn't blow entire stages. On the bad side--I was being cautious instead of careful and precise, and occasionally I just let myself take a lower-point-zone hit when the points were there to take!
More work needed. Dryfire--and pretty soon, it'll be warm enough to get back out and do some live fire. I need to practice some shots with recoil, so I can work on keeping my eye on the front sight as it moves.
Multigun this Sunday. Wonder if I can hit anything?
In my defense, there were a LOT of headshot-only targets. And I had 9 B-hits for the match, which since quite a few were A-hits on the head, that tells you how the match was. (If those B-hits had been A-hits, I wool have hit 91%. So the question is, had I taken the extra time to get those A-hits, would it have been worth it? Hmm….)
I'm going to keep trying to meet that goal anyway. It is obvious that I need to keep pushing myself to be more precise about points.
I've been semi-bad (periodically) about my dryfire, too. (Being sick hasn't helped.) I get in a good week of multiple solid practices, and then the next week---not so much. Just getting done with a "not-so-good" week, so I need to get myself moving there.
I KNOW that dryfire helps. And once I get the gear on, I really get into it. But after a full day of work, or work-then-Hapkido, it can really be tough to talk myself into getting geared up. I'm pushing a number of people to do THEIR dryfire--I need someone to push ME do it too.
Apparently my laziness is stronger than my wish to get better, all too often.
Here's the match from earlier this month:
Had some strange equipment issues here and there…
On the first stage---just sluggish movement. Accuracy wasn't too bad except that I pulled a D hit on the swinger, which was ridiculous because it was slow-moving. I just put the sights on the target and pulled twice, which was stupid---A/D hits. You can see me moving slowly, reloading slowly (why am I dropping the gun onto the magazine, instead of the other way around?) and looking back through the port instead of just moving on?
Third on the stage---but I could have added two more points (if not four) easily in 2 seconds less time.
Second stage: Sloppy start, what with missing the far steel, and having to do a slidelock reload on the near steel. It didn't help that I didn't set myself up in a comfortable, reasonable stance for shooting OR moving--it wasn't until after my reload that I had a decent shooting stance and could actually move. (Flubbing the shot through the port didn't help either---I just threw two shots onto that target instead of actually aiming.)
There was an alternate way to shoot that stage that involved being able to do it MUCH faster---however, shooting VERY accurately would (at best) have gotten me only C-hits, and more probably D-hits, with a chance of no-shoot. So, I took the longer route.
In retrospect, the time savings was just too much---I should have gone for it. Would have saved over two seconds, and even if I dropped 8 points (2 D-hits) it still would have resulted in a higher hit factor. I'm so used to Production's "never give up points!" thinking that I didn't actually runs the numbers, and I should have.
Third stage:
Other than a messed up slidelock reload (I need to 1) work on those, and 2) work on remedial action when I have problems with it) it wasn't too bad---if you don't mind entirely too many C and D hits. I dropped 14 points on this stage, and that is out of only 18 shots---one third of my shots weren't A-hits, which is ridiculous. I could have shot that fast and gotten ALL A-hits if I had been actually focusing on the front sight.
Self-discipline, more work needed.
Fourth stage (on bay 2) was just embarrassing! Apparently, I'm not skilled enough to rack the slide correctly the first time, and in racking it again, gave myself a double-feed requiring 6 seconds of time to fix.
The stage took me 21 seconds. It SHOULD have taken me 15. Yeah, that'll make a difference. Plus, I dropped 22 points, which is ridiculous, because only 3 targets had no shoots on them--the rest were wide-open.
Yay for getting flustered. [sigh] The speed (after the screwup at the beginning) was actually quite good---I just need to get that trigger control and grip (stronger grip! STRONGER GRIP!) going all the time.
My last stage was in bay 3, and parts weren't bad. Too cautious on the no-shoot targets. (There is a difference between careful and cautious--careful still has you moving as fast as you can while getting good hits, you are just being precise about your sight pictures, while cautious meant I "slowed down to get good hits" ---and you SHOULDN'T be thinking about speed while shooting. You should be shooting.)
Points were middling ok, so that wasn't bad, and my transitions were good at the end. The no-shoots just made me timid, though, and that isn't good. (Plus, I let myself shoot a C-hit or two when the A-zones were available---again, too timid.)
On the good side---even when screwing up, I didn't make any major mistakes, and didn't blow entire stages. On the bad side--I was being cautious instead of careful and precise, and occasionally I just let myself take a lower-point-zone hit when the points were there to take!
More work needed. Dryfire--and pretty soon, it'll be warm enough to get back out and do some live fire. I need to practice some shots with recoil, so I can work on keeping my eye on the front sight as it moves.
Multigun this Sunday. Wonder if I can hit anything?
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Defense
Brief commentary on crime in the U.S.:
Guns are certainly one of the most common tools used in crime, and it is certainly true that those tools are the most effective ones at causing injury and death.
It is certainly true that video games, TV, and movies have become progressively more violent, more permissive, and considerably more gory over time. And more realistic in their visions of death, dismemberment, and injury.
It is also demonstrably true that the number of guns in private hands in the U.S. has grown, grown more, and kept growing. In 2005, one study solidly showed that there were 88 guns for every 100 people in the United States---and another study clearly showed that the gun stock in the U.S. has risen (on average) 3-4 million units every year in the past 10 years. Plus, we know that the past 3-4 years or so have seen the greatest number of background checks for gun purchases EVER---so it is likely that the "3-4 million" number is significantly under-estimating gun purchases in the last several years.
In addition, it is certainly true that more and more people play extremely realistic first-person shooter games, plus go to movies, watch TV, etc.
And yet--the violent crime rate has gone down. The murder rate---down. The number of crazy people who commit mass murders? Stayed the same. (Which says good things about the mental health system, considering we have many more people than we used to have, but no more mass murders than we used to have.)
Guns aren't the problem. And video games, movies, and TV shows aren't the problem. Crazy people are a tiny bit of the problem, though they get the lion's share of the media attention---but the mental health system isn't the problem either.
Quit making it about objects. It is about PEOPLE.
And in an age where violent crime does still happen, and the police cannot and will not be there to save you, quit trying to take away people's ability to defend themselves effectively. You know what? Pepper spray sucks as a defensive tool, and any cop will tell you that. Stun gun? Yeah, get yourself into contact range with a weapon that requires several seconds of close contact to be effective (if it is at all). Rape whistle? No one will react to that. Especially since it'll only make noise for as long as it takes your attacker to slap it out of your mouth. Bare hand self-defense? Maybe---but as a martial arts and self-defense instructor, I know that size and ferocity make a difference. Small, slight female versus a standard-size male attacker? Sure, she can defend herself from that---but there is almost NO margin of error.
You know what? Humans are tool-users.
Don't tell me that guns kill people. That's like saying cars kill people. Both are true statements---and neither have ANYTHING to do with the issue.
REALLY don't tell me that "assault weapons" kill people. Because you know what? Backyard swimming pools kill MANY more children than all types of rifles kill anyone of any age every single year.
You want to argue that you want to save kids? Ban swimming pools. About 10 people died EVERY DAY from 2005 to 2009 by drowning. About two of those ten were age 0 to 14. Every day.
If you want to argue about assault weapons (that you can't even define, don't understand, and don't know ANYTHING about)---then you'd better figure out exactly WHY you want them banned. Because if it is "for the kids" ---then you are a liar.
A liar.
Or you are stupid. Pick one.
Feel free to argue with me on this. Go right ahead---wade right in.
But you'd better back up what you have to say with facts and knowledge, or I'm going to make you look like the biggest idiot your friends have ever seen.
Laws should NOT be made because some idiots have decided to implement a moronic decision based on a lack of logic to stop a tragedy that has already happened which it wouldn't have stopped in the first place, and would make no difference to any future situation that was similar.
Or didn't you know that CT already HAD an assault weapons ban? And it was useless? Or maybe you are just ignoring the fact that the person who murdered children had already broken numerous laws prior to killing them. (Of course, killing his mother counts too. But there were other laws broken.) And you know what? He didn't care. Amazing how that works. A murderous scumbag doesn't care about minor laws. What a shock.
People, QUIT BEING STUPID.
Oh hey:
In other news: I am officially registered for a class to start work on my Criminal Justice degree. That should be amusing.
Guns are certainly one of the most common tools used in crime, and it is certainly true that those tools are the most effective ones at causing injury and death.
It is certainly true that video games, TV, and movies have become progressively more violent, more permissive, and considerably more gory over time. And more realistic in their visions of death, dismemberment, and injury.
It is also demonstrably true that the number of guns in private hands in the U.S. has grown, grown more, and kept growing. In 2005, one study solidly showed that there were 88 guns for every 100 people in the United States---and another study clearly showed that the gun stock in the U.S. has risen (on average) 3-4 million units every year in the past 10 years. Plus, we know that the past 3-4 years or so have seen the greatest number of background checks for gun purchases EVER---so it is likely that the "3-4 million" number is significantly under-estimating gun purchases in the last several years.
In addition, it is certainly true that more and more people play extremely realistic first-person shooter games, plus go to movies, watch TV, etc.
And yet--the violent crime rate has gone down. The murder rate---down. The number of crazy people who commit mass murders? Stayed the same. (Which says good things about the mental health system, considering we have many more people than we used to have, but no more mass murders than we used to have.)
Guns aren't the problem. And video games, movies, and TV shows aren't the problem. Crazy people are a tiny bit of the problem, though they get the lion's share of the media attention---but the mental health system isn't the problem either.
Quit making it about objects. It is about PEOPLE.
And in an age where violent crime does still happen, and the police cannot and will not be there to save you, quit trying to take away people's ability to defend themselves effectively. You know what? Pepper spray sucks as a defensive tool, and any cop will tell you that. Stun gun? Yeah, get yourself into contact range with a weapon that requires several seconds of close contact to be effective (if it is at all). Rape whistle? No one will react to that. Especially since it'll only make noise for as long as it takes your attacker to slap it out of your mouth. Bare hand self-defense? Maybe---but as a martial arts and self-defense instructor, I know that size and ferocity make a difference. Small, slight female versus a standard-size male attacker? Sure, she can defend herself from that---but there is almost NO margin of error.
You know what? Humans are tool-users.
Don't tell me that guns kill people. That's like saying cars kill people. Both are true statements---and neither have ANYTHING to do with the issue.
REALLY don't tell me that "assault weapons" kill people. Because you know what? Backyard swimming pools kill MANY more children than all types of rifles kill anyone of any age every single year.
You want to argue that you want to save kids? Ban swimming pools. About 10 people died EVERY DAY from 2005 to 2009 by drowning. About two of those ten were age 0 to 14. Every day.
If you want to argue about assault weapons (that you can't even define, don't understand, and don't know ANYTHING about)---then you'd better figure out exactly WHY you want them banned. Because if it is "for the kids" ---then you are a liar.
A liar.
Or you are stupid. Pick one.
Feel free to argue with me on this. Go right ahead---wade right in.
But you'd better back up what you have to say with facts and knowledge, or I'm going to make you look like the biggest idiot your friends have ever seen.
Laws should NOT be made because some idiots have decided to implement a moronic decision based on a lack of logic to stop a tragedy that has already happened which it wouldn't have stopped in the first place, and would make no difference to any future situation that was similar.
Or didn't you know that CT already HAD an assault weapons ban? And it was useless? Or maybe you are just ignoring the fact that the person who murdered children had already broken numerous laws prior to killing them. (Of course, killing his mother counts too. But there were other laws broken.) And you know what? He didn't care. Amazing how that works. A murderous scumbag doesn't care about minor laws. What a shock.
People, QUIT BEING STUPID.
Oh hey:
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
2013: New Year, back to work...
2013: Considering that the last post here was from approximately March in 2012, I'm thinking I got a little lazy with regard to keeping on track to get better.
Time to fix that.
Quick recap of the rest of last year:
So---for 2013, some GOALS:
Conceptual:
Measurable:
...which means it should be a pretty busy year.
For the Measurable Goals:
Goal 3: Three years ago, I spent some good focused time doing dryfire--and it made a significant difference. We all know that dryfire works well, and because I'm also running a dryfire practice/feedback program for 5 students, it motivates ME to dryfire practice more also. The goal is to NOT merely go gung-ho for 5 weeks and then quit, but instead consistently practice throughout the entire year.
I've got some different ideas of what I want to practice and how I want to practice, collected from my own methods, Anderson's book, and Stoeger's new book (which really DOES have some seriously good stuff in it). We'll see how it works, and how much I improve.
Goal 2: My fastest S&H so far was 10.20. I KNOW I can get it faster. Just need to drop 0.2 seconds, a mere .05 per run. I can DO that. What I really want, however, is to do it consistently, not merely once by luck. Consistent draw, snappy transitions, and perfect trigger control on the stop plate.
Goal 1: Unfortunately, I have already blown this. [sigh] Our first USPSA match of the year was this past Sunday, and I got a 89.15%---two less D-hits (C-hits instead of D-hits) would have made all the difference. And in BOTH cases I knew they were poor shots when I pulled the trigger.
However, that doesn't change the fact that my goal is to continue to try to get above 90% of the possible points in each match. For most of last year, I stayed at 85-89%, and it really did hurt. If I want to consistently do well in matches, I need to force myself to be more precise in my trigger control, and get points. So---a focus on 90% or above--and since I won't be able to figure the numbers during a match, I need to simply shoot LOTS of A-hits, and make myself control the trigger to not have Ds.
While maintaining my speed.
This is actually possible, with more discipline--about half of my screw-ups can be fixed by consistently keeping my trigger control at the level of capable of, and the other half are about keeping my focus so I don't just let one go here and there without putting it on the spot on the target that I want to hit.
For the Conceptual Goals:
Goal 3: Re-work PRT curriculum---Julie has been telling me that we really need a class between the Intro class, and the Fundamentals class. People go through the Intro class, but then don't necessarily spend lots of time at the range (after buying a gun) and don't work draws or reloads or anything, because they really don't know HOW. The Fundamentals class really expects some basic skills, then we work on expanding and analyzing those skills---so some people aren't ready for that class.
I never was in that position---I taught myself to shoot, so from the beginning, I studied everything I could, and started practicing it all on my own. It hadn't really occurred to me that people who went through the Intro class would WANT to keep learning and shooting, but wouldn't actually do it by themselves.
I think she has a point. So----need to write that new class.
I'm also going to give in to marketing pressure, and change my "Fundamentals of Handgun Shooting" class name to "Handgun Shooting Skills". [sigh] I don't want to, but I KNOW that a number of people haven't taken the Fundamentals class just because that name makes them think that they already know WAY TOO MUCH to ever need that class.
Which is ridiculous, because everyone needs a continuing analysis of their fundamentals. I don't know anyone who doesn't---and every seriously GOOD shooter that I know continually analyzes their fundamentals, and works them.
I don't want to change it, but I'm going to. So, we'll have an "Introduction to Handguns" class, a "Handgun Techniques" class, and a "Shooting Skills" class, in order of increasing expectations and difficulty.
Huh. I should probably add an "Advanced Shooting Skills" class---I bet that several people who really are at about the "Handgun Techniques" level would take it, thinking they were all at high skill levels.
[sigh] I need more time. I'd like to offer the CCW-201 and DT-101 and 201 much more often---but I don't have TIME. And since we are going to be offering the Nebraska State CCW course in the near future, that'll mean even LESS time.
I need to retire from my full-time job, and just do this all the time. :)
Goal 2: In the past 20 years, I've spent a considerable amount of time studying self-defense. In that time, I've collected a lot of data about violence. However, in the past two or three years, I've been busy so I haven't kept up on the latest lethal force trends as much as I have overall violence trends. And while I doubt they have actually changed much in the past 3 years (things have been pretty stable for the previous 5) that doesn't mean I should just assume such. So---adding more time reading and collecting studies about lethal-force-level violence, to understand their circumstances and outcomes, is on my list.
As part of that, I'm going to start taking some classes to pick up and Associate's Degree in Criminal Justice. Don't really need it for anything, but having more information never hurts, and it obviously is an interest of mine. Metro offers a really good (according to national stats) program, particularly since it can be completely online, which will be nice for me. [sigh] I just need to figure out how to get it started, since I'm pretty sure many of my existing credits will transfer so I won't have to take basic gen-ed classes.
Goal 1: Last year, I won 1st Master twice, and 2nd Master once, at the major matches I attended. And yet, I still didn't necessarily shoot at my level. The DoubleTap was okay, but I did blow a stage or two (as did everyone else), A5 I completely blew one stage (horribly embarrassingly badly in front of two squads of people), and A3 went pretty well, but I still did poorly on two stages.
That really isn't acceptable.
Awhile back I did an analysis of shooters at last year's nationals, and one of the things noticable was that in general, GMs had higher speed AND accuracy compared to M-level shooters. M-level shooters had higher speed AND accuracy than A-level shooters. And so on...
So it really wasn't as if M shooters were as accurate but not as fast, or were as fast but not as accurate--there was often a solidly quantifiable difference in both categories. Looking at it, a comment I made at the time was about mistakes: "GMs and Ms tend to both make mistakes. However, Ms tend to make mistakes on stages, while GMs make mistakes on targets."
That really isn't overstating the case very much. When an M loses it, he tends to blow an entire stage. When a GM loses it, he screws up a particular target. That may drop him significantly relative to the other GMs---but that's about it. When an M screws up a stage, that drops him often relative to the Ms, As, and Bs who shot it consistently.
In general, last year I shot solidly M-class for my major matches. (Even Nationals, which was okay if not great.) And yet, it was NOT consistently to my level. At every major match, I blew at LEAST one stage completely badly. And that is just not acceptable. I'm better than that---and I ALSO think on the move really well, so there is NO excuse for having a stage where one mistake cascades into a whole string of them that cause me to screw up overall.
So this year: No blown stages. Yes, I make mistakes. Everyone does, and I'm certainly not a GM, so I'm not going to be perfectly accurate at speed. However, making a mistake on a target, or even a target array (with respect to timing and such) is very different from completely blowing a stage.
Some of the new dryfire (and live fire) sequences I'm planning on using for practice should help with that, too.
Shoot to my level.
And preferably, RAISE that level over the year.
I'm going back to Production Nationals again for one last year (I should have won a slot from my class win at Area 3 in 2012)---so: shoot to my level.
Time to fix that.
Quick recap of the rest of last year:
- Handgun problems seem to be fixed: Got a Gen 4 Glock 34, changed the sights, put the new trigger in, grip plug, and replaced the barrel with a KKM drop-in. This doesn't make it a "competition racegun" by the way---other than the barrel, my carry guns are similar. (Or at least I change out the trigger springs, if not the whole trigger assembly.) My Gen 4 G17 was okay at distance in terms of accuracy. The G34 was---weird. And the distance accuracy was SIGNIFICANTLY upgraded with the KKM barrel.
- Multigun went ok, here and there. Got a Mossberg 930 JM Pro, and I actually like shooting shotgun now. Not enough to actually practice, mind you, but at least it is now fun when actually shooting.
- Got 1st Master at DoubleTap and Area 3, and 2nd Master at Area 5. Our Sectional got canceled, so that was unfortunate. USPSA Nationals went decently well---still didn't shoot up to my capability, but at least somewhat made up for the debacle of the previous year.
- Did a considerable amount of personal practice for CCW, and CQT stuff. Taught significantly more firearms classes than in 2011. (Almost five times as many students.)
- Decided that I was going to go back to actually WORKING ON GETTING BETTER at shooting skills, and competition skills, including dryfire and live fire practice in a coherent, planned fashion.
So---for 2013, some GOALS:
Conceptual:
- Shoot major matches at my capability level
- Spend time studying specifics of firearms self-defense situations, with an emphasis on statistical probabilities with respect to prioritizing skills
- Re-work PRT curriculum for shooting skills, in particular creating an intermediate class for people past the Intro level but not ready for the Fundamentals course.
Measurable:
- Keep my percentage of total points at or above 90% during local matches
- Get my Smoke & Hope time (before adjustment) under 10.00 seconds
- Perform at least 15 minutes of dryfire a minimum of 3 times a week.
...which means it should be a pretty busy year.
For the Measurable Goals:
Goal 3: Three years ago, I spent some good focused time doing dryfire--and it made a significant difference. We all know that dryfire works well, and because I'm also running a dryfire practice/feedback program for 5 students, it motivates ME to dryfire practice more also. The goal is to NOT merely go gung-ho for 5 weeks and then quit, but instead consistently practice throughout the entire year.
I've got some different ideas of what I want to practice and how I want to practice, collected from my own methods, Anderson's book, and Stoeger's new book (which really DOES have some seriously good stuff in it). We'll see how it works, and how much I improve.
Goal 2: My fastest S&H so far was 10.20. I KNOW I can get it faster. Just need to drop 0.2 seconds, a mere .05 per run. I can DO that. What I really want, however, is to do it consistently, not merely once by luck. Consistent draw, snappy transitions, and perfect trigger control on the stop plate.
Goal 1: Unfortunately, I have already blown this. [sigh] Our first USPSA match of the year was this past Sunday, and I got a 89.15%---two less D-hits (C-hits instead of D-hits) would have made all the difference. And in BOTH cases I knew they were poor shots when I pulled the trigger.
However, that doesn't change the fact that my goal is to continue to try to get above 90% of the possible points in each match. For most of last year, I stayed at 85-89%, and it really did hurt. If I want to consistently do well in matches, I need to force myself to be more precise in my trigger control, and get points. So---a focus on 90% or above--and since I won't be able to figure the numbers during a match, I need to simply shoot LOTS of A-hits, and make myself control the trigger to not have Ds.
While maintaining my speed.
This is actually possible, with more discipline--about half of my screw-ups can be fixed by consistently keeping my trigger control at the level of capable of, and the other half are about keeping my focus so I don't just let one go here and there without putting it on the spot on the target that I want to hit.
For the Conceptual Goals:
Goal 3: Re-work PRT curriculum---Julie has been telling me that we really need a class between the Intro class, and the Fundamentals class. People go through the Intro class, but then don't necessarily spend lots of time at the range (after buying a gun) and don't work draws or reloads or anything, because they really don't know HOW. The Fundamentals class really expects some basic skills, then we work on expanding and analyzing those skills---so some people aren't ready for that class.
I never was in that position---I taught myself to shoot, so from the beginning, I studied everything I could, and started practicing it all on my own. It hadn't really occurred to me that people who went through the Intro class would WANT to keep learning and shooting, but wouldn't actually do it by themselves.
I think she has a point. So----need to write that new class.
I'm also going to give in to marketing pressure, and change my "Fundamentals of Handgun Shooting" class name to "Handgun Shooting Skills". [sigh] I don't want to, but I KNOW that a number of people haven't taken the Fundamentals class just because that name makes them think that they already know WAY TOO MUCH to ever need that class.
Which is ridiculous, because everyone needs a continuing analysis of their fundamentals. I don't know anyone who doesn't---and every seriously GOOD shooter that I know continually analyzes their fundamentals, and works them.
I don't want to change it, but I'm going to. So, we'll have an "Introduction to Handguns" class, a "Handgun Techniques" class, and a "Shooting Skills" class, in order of increasing expectations and difficulty.
Huh. I should probably add an "Advanced Shooting Skills" class---I bet that several people who really are at about the "Handgun Techniques" level would take it, thinking they were all at high skill levels.
[sigh] I need more time. I'd like to offer the CCW-201 and DT-101 and 201 much more often---but I don't have TIME. And since we are going to be offering the Nebraska State CCW course in the near future, that'll mean even LESS time.
I need to retire from my full-time job, and just do this all the time. :)
Goal 2: In the past 20 years, I've spent a considerable amount of time studying self-defense. In that time, I've collected a lot of data about violence. However, in the past two or three years, I've been busy so I haven't kept up on the latest lethal force trends as much as I have overall violence trends. And while I doubt they have actually changed much in the past 3 years (things have been pretty stable for the previous 5) that doesn't mean I should just assume such. So---adding more time reading and collecting studies about lethal-force-level violence, to understand their circumstances and outcomes, is on my list.
As part of that, I'm going to start taking some classes to pick up and Associate's Degree in Criminal Justice. Don't really need it for anything, but having more information never hurts, and it obviously is an interest of mine. Metro offers a really good (according to national stats) program, particularly since it can be completely online, which will be nice for me. [sigh] I just need to figure out how to get it started, since I'm pretty sure many of my existing credits will transfer so I won't have to take basic gen-ed classes.
Goal 1: Last year, I won 1st Master twice, and 2nd Master once, at the major matches I attended. And yet, I still didn't necessarily shoot at my level. The DoubleTap was okay, but I did blow a stage or two (as did everyone else), A5 I completely blew one stage (horribly embarrassingly badly in front of two squads of people), and A3 went pretty well, but I still did poorly on two stages.
That really isn't acceptable.
Awhile back I did an analysis of shooters at last year's nationals, and one of the things noticable was that in general, GMs had higher speed AND accuracy compared to M-level shooters. M-level shooters had higher speed AND accuracy than A-level shooters. And so on...
So it really wasn't as if M shooters were as accurate but not as fast, or were as fast but not as accurate--there was often a solidly quantifiable difference in both categories. Looking at it, a comment I made at the time was about mistakes: "GMs and Ms tend to both make mistakes. However, Ms tend to make mistakes on stages, while GMs make mistakes on targets."
That really isn't overstating the case very much. When an M loses it, he tends to blow an entire stage. When a GM loses it, he screws up a particular target. That may drop him significantly relative to the other GMs---but that's about it. When an M screws up a stage, that drops him often relative to the Ms, As, and Bs who shot it consistently.
In general, last year I shot solidly M-class for my major matches. (Even Nationals, which was okay if not great.) And yet, it was NOT consistently to my level. At every major match, I blew at LEAST one stage completely badly. And that is just not acceptable. I'm better than that---and I ALSO think on the move really well, so there is NO excuse for having a stage where one mistake cascades into a whole string of them that cause me to screw up overall.
So this year: No blown stages. Yes, I make mistakes. Everyone does, and I'm certainly not a GM, so I'm not going to be perfectly accurate at speed. However, making a mistake on a target, or even a target array (with respect to timing and such) is very different from completely blowing a stage.
Some of the new dryfire (and live fire) sequences I'm planning on using for practice should help with that, too.
Shoot to my level.
And preferably, RAISE that level over the year.
I'm going back to Production Nationals again for one last year (I should have won a slot from my class win at Area 3 in 2012)---so: shoot to my level.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Practice Week, plus Multigun...
Let's talk about Multigun first...
This past Sunday was our first Multigun match of the year. Four stages: Rifle/Shotgun, Pistol/Rifle, Shotgun/Pistol, and Rifle. Fairly high round count, too. Stages were creative, fun, and challenging.
And my shooting was plagued with issues.
First, on the rifle stage, my right toe touched the ground outside the shooting box while I was prone for five shots, so there were 25 extra seconds of penalty time. Plus, after the first two shots of the stage I had a failure to feed (ah, the joys of Wolf ammo) that took six seconds to clear. Without those two things, I would have had a time of about 121 seconds. As it was, I ended up with 157 seconds. (Ouch.)
With regard to actual SHOOTING, the close-range targets were easy, and I was fast. That's all good. The 100-yard targets were not. Had significant troubles with wind, barricade swaying, and breath control. (Note to self: you can't hold your breath for a full minute after you've just sprinted 30 yards, so remember to breath between shots.) In general, just need practice at 100 yards. Good thing, though---I can GET some practice at that. My gun-and-scope combination will work just fine for it, I just need to do my part. You'll see the 12 (13?) missed shots on that part that I had to make up, and the amount of time it cost me.
Second stage: Rifle/Shotgun (I designed this stage.)
All went well, up until the shotgun. My rifle was good, had all hits, my movement was a little slow and I need practice at mounting the gun faster, but overall not bad. The shotgun shooting was fine, but the gun wouldn't feed correctly, so I lost several seconds making it feed three times. And I missed being first on the stage for my division by 2 seconds.
Third stage: Pistol/Rifle
Actually did quite well on this stage. Guns worked like they should, and I worked like I should. Little slow and jerky on movement, pulled a couple of shots on steel that I should not have, and again, mounting the rifle took too much time and needs practice. That all being said, I'm still happy with the stage.
Fourth stage: Shotgun/Pistol
We were originally told that this stage was going to be thrown out, so we just decided to shoot it for fun. As such, I didn't spend much time thinking about it, other than "Shoot shotgun here, shoot pistol there." ...which was a mistake. I borrowed someone else's shotgun, so there weren't any shotgun problems other than I missed a target once (that I shouldn't have!) necessitating an extra shell load that cost me about 3-5 seconds. However, once I got to the pistol part I hadn't counted the targets, and needed 24 shots to finish---but I only had 22 in the pistol. This is normally not a big deal since I'm used to reloading on the move---but I didn't know about it, so there I was at the end with one target left, performing a standing reload. Probably could have saved several seconds there.
And you know what? The stage was left in. So it counted, and wasn't as good as it could have been.
[sigh] Placed second overall, and second in my division, which is good. However, did not do NEARLY as well as I should have. Some errors were mine, some errors were not, but very few of the errors were actual shooting errors, which actually makes me more annoyed. If I make a shooting mistake, that happens. But STUPID errors set me off.
Anyway, here's the match video:
On to Practice Week:
It is now Tuesday night of Practice week, and thus far, I've put about 700-800 rounds downrange in the past two days. Not quite what I had originally planned, but not too bad considering it has been raining for the past two days.
In the main, I've been getting good practice in. Overdid it a bit today--my concentration was going, and the last 50-60 rounds or so did NOT help. In general, I'm working on trigger prep, and trigger control. From the draw, from transitions, from near targets, from far targets, on splits---it is all about trigger control. I'm not even doing any movement.
The good: I'm getting better at making it reflexive again.
The bad: I'm finding it really difficult to make myself wait and perfect the trigger work when the target is RIGHT THERE and I know my shot will hit even with bad control. [sigh] I've moved the targets out farther (been working with a steel at 40 yards, even) and that helps, plus the fact that I've been shooting at either 2" dots or 3x5 cards. Nonetheless, making myself work "trigger control" instead of "shooting the target" isn't being easy.
More practice coming. Two more days of good solid solo practice this week.
This past Sunday was our first Multigun match of the year. Four stages: Rifle/Shotgun, Pistol/Rifle, Shotgun/Pistol, and Rifle. Fairly high round count, too. Stages were creative, fun, and challenging.
And my shooting was plagued with issues.
First, on the rifle stage, my right toe touched the ground outside the shooting box while I was prone for five shots, so there were 25 extra seconds of penalty time. Plus, after the first two shots of the stage I had a failure to feed (ah, the joys of Wolf ammo) that took six seconds to clear. Without those two things, I would have had a time of about 121 seconds. As it was, I ended up with 157 seconds. (Ouch.)
With regard to actual SHOOTING, the close-range targets were easy, and I was fast. That's all good. The 100-yard targets were not. Had significant troubles with wind, barricade swaying, and breath control. (Note to self: you can't hold your breath for a full minute after you've just sprinted 30 yards, so remember to breath between shots.) In general, just need practice at 100 yards. Good thing, though---I can GET some practice at that. My gun-and-scope combination will work just fine for it, I just need to do my part. You'll see the 12 (13?) missed shots on that part that I had to make up, and the amount of time it cost me.
Second stage: Rifle/Shotgun (I designed this stage.)
All went well, up until the shotgun. My rifle was good, had all hits, my movement was a little slow and I need practice at mounting the gun faster, but overall not bad. The shotgun shooting was fine, but the gun wouldn't feed correctly, so I lost several seconds making it feed three times. And I missed being first on the stage for my division by 2 seconds.
Third stage: Pistol/Rifle
Actually did quite well on this stage. Guns worked like they should, and I worked like I should. Little slow and jerky on movement, pulled a couple of shots on steel that I should not have, and again, mounting the rifle took too much time and needs practice. That all being said, I'm still happy with the stage.
Fourth stage: Shotgun/Pistol
We were originally told that this stage was going to be thrown out, so we just decided to shoot it for fun. As such, I didn't spend much time thinking about it, other than "Shoot shotgun here, shoot pistol there." ...which was a mistake. I borrowed someone else's shotgun, so there weren't any shotgun problems other than I missed a target once (that I shouldn't have!) necessitating an extra shell load that cost me about 3-5 seconds. However, once I got to the pistol part I hadn't counted the targets, and needed 24 shots to finish---but I only had 22 in the pistol. This is normally not a big deal since I'm used to reloading on the move---but I didn't know about it, so there I was at the end with one target left, performing a standing reload. Probably could have saved several seconds there.
And you know what? The stage was left in. So it counted, and wasn't as good as it could have been.
[sigh] Placed second overall, and second in my division, which is good. However, did not do NEARLY as well as I should have. Some errors were mine, some errors were not, but very few of the errors were actual shooting errors, which actually makes me more annoyed. If I make a shooting mistake, that happens. But STUPID errors set me off.
Anyway, here's the match video:
On to Practice Week:
It is now Tuesday night of Practice week, and thus far, I've put about 700-800 rounds downrange in the past two days. Not quite what I had originally planned, but not too bad considering it has been raining for the past two days.
In the main, I've been getting good practice in. Overdid it a bit today--my concentration was going, and the last 50-60 rounds or so did NOT help. In general, I'm working on trigger prep, and trigger control. From the draw, from transitions, from near targets, from far targets, on splits---it is all about trigger control. I'm not even doing any movement.
The good: I'm getting better at making it reflexive again.
The bad: I'm finding it really difficult to make myself wait and perfect the trigger work when the target is RIGHT THERE and I know my shot will hit even with bad control. [sigh] I've moved the targets out farther (been working with a steel at 40 yards, even) and that helps, plus the fact that I've been shooting at either 2" dots or 3x5 cards. Nonetheless, making myself work "trigger control" instead of "shooting the target" isn't being easy.
More practice coming. Two more days of good solid solo practice this week.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Practicing carefully..
Shoulder is better, though not back to 100%. As such, I can shoot, and move. However, any sudden abrupt motion is----contraindicated.
So of course I took my shotgun out and ran 100 shells through it a couple of days ago.
I know, not brilliant. However, it was necessary---the first multigun match of the year is this Sunday, and I hadn't shot it in about 5 months. (And a good thing, too, because it is having feeding issues that I need to fix. Otherwise I have a single-shot for Sunday's match...)
Back to pistol practice: I have done almost no dryfire shooting at all in the past two weeks, which is extremely bad. In my defense, with being hurt plus the fact that Hapkido started back up, it wasn't exactly easy to find time. That being said, it is still unacceptable---dryfire practice is necessary, because my main priority issue is lack of trigger control, and good dryfire practice will solve that. Matter of fact, good dryfire practice is probably more important than live fire practice in terms of volume of practice.
On the good side, I have managed to get to the range a number of times in the past two weeks---between 2 and 3 times a week. Spent around 200-300 rounds each time, with some decent practice. Primarily working on trigger reset and prep, with 3x5 cards as targets. Worked draw, transitions, also put two steel targets out at 15 and 50 (!) yards.
When I used proper trigger control, I could hit them all, and even managed consistent hits on the 50 yard steel popper. When I didn't---well, that went badly. The transition practice in particular seemed to be very useful in terms of working proper trigger control.
My draws---and still hit and miss. (With all too many unfortunate misses.) The good side is that when I say "miss" I mean "an inch or less from the 3x5 card." The bad side is it still means "missing the 3x5 card."
Just started spring break. Going shooting today, tomorrow, match on Sunday---and then it is going to be Range Week for me. I'm planning on spending Monday through Thursday at the range, from about 8:30 to 11:30 in the morning, and about 1:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon, shooting about 300-400 each session. Going to be a fun time!
And the entire point of it is trigger control. No, my movement isn't what it was, my reloads aren't, etc. However, by far the major problem I have is trigger control---and I can work in secondary practice at movement, reloads, etc, while I practice the trigger work.
Several thousand rounds of trigger work repetitions, done well with concentration, over several days SHOULD make a significant difference.
Plus, it'll be fun.
After that---Aim Fast, Hit Fast class next weekend. FAST drill---and a challenge coin.
So of course I took my shotgun out and ran 100 shells through it a couple of days ago.
I know, not brilliant. However, it was necessary---the first multigun match of the year is this Sunday, and I hadn't shot it in about 5 months. (And a good thing, too, because it is having feeding issues that I need to fix. Otherwise I have a single-shot for Sunday's match...)
Back to pistol practice: I have done almost no dryfire shooting at all in the past two weeks, which is extremely bad. In my defense, with being hurt plus the fact that Hapkido started back up, it wasn't exactly easy to find time. That being said, it is still unacceptable---dryfire practice is necessary, because my main priority issue is lack of trigger control, and good dryfire practice will solve that. Matter of fact, good dryfire practice is probably more important than live fire practice in terms of volume of practice.
On the good side, I have managed to get to the range a number of times in the past two weeks---between 2 and 3 times a week. Spent around 200-300 rounds each time, with some decent practice. Primarily working on trigger reset and prep, with 3x5 cards as targets. Worked draw, transitions, also put two steel targets out at 15 and 50 (!) yards.
When I used proper trigger control, I could hit them all, and even managed consistent hits on the 50 yard steel popper. When I didn't---well, that went badly. The transition practice in particular seemed to be very useful in terms of working proper trigger control.
My draws---and still hit and miss. (With all too many unfortunate misses.) The good side is that when I say "miss" I mean "an inch or less from the 3x5 card." The bad side is it still means "missing the 3x5 card."
Just started spring break. Going shooting today, tomorrow, match on Sunday---and then it is going to be Range Week for me. I'm planning on spending Monday through Thursday at the range, from about 8:30 to 11:30 in the morning, and about 1:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon, shooting about 300-400 each session. Going to be a fun time!
And the entire point of it is trigger control. No, my movement isn't what it was, my reloads aren't, etc. However, by far the major problem I have is trigger control---and I can work in secondary practice at movement, reloads, etc, while I practice the trigger work.
Several thousand rounds of trigger work repetitions, done well with concentration, over several days SHOULD make a significant difference.
Plus, it'll be fun.
After that---Aim Fast, Hit Fast class next weekend. FAST drill---and a challenge coin.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Minor Twinges, but able to shoot...
After a week or so injured, my shoulder was finally well enough to at least work some careful dry fire, and I did manage to make it to the range briefly to work a couple of things. (Such as the P-F DoTW 22: http://pistol-forum.com/showthrhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifead.php?3303-DotW-22-SHO-FAST-(or-25yd-SHO-bullseye-practice)&p=56673&viewfull=1#post56673)
That being said, practice wasn't very significant for the last two weeks. That's gonna change...
Today was the March USPSA Pistol match at ENGC, so I had fun shooting that. Some good points, some bad points:
Good points: No problems with the shoulder while I was shooting. Movement went fairly well. Didn't crash on any one particular stage. Times were actually fairly good.
Bad points: Accuracy was low (87% of possible points.) Had a significant mental issue on one stage that cost me 2.5 seconds or so. Reloads were sluggish. Having the gun ready to go at the end of movement didn't happen, so that added extra time.
Things to stress in practice:
Trigger control (Trigger Control! TRIGGER CONTROL!!)
Transitions
Shooting on the move
Still going to work on draw to low% target, emergency reload, and accuracy at distance WITH proper trigger followup/reset/prep---none of this "pin-it-back" stuff.
Things to stress after the AFHF class:
Speed reloads with the competition rig
Draws with the competition rig
Movement to a firing position
...plus the rest from above.
I have my spring break from school the week before I go to Kansas for the AFHF class, so I'm planning on a serious shooting course for myself that week---Monday through Thursday, 3 hours in the morning, 3 hours in the afternoon. Time and reps enough to ingrain a significant increase in my trigger control. (Among other things.) I'm planning about 300-400 rounds per session, so about 800 rounds a day. (Possibly up to 1000.) Have a lot of reloading to do before the class! (Because I'm bringing 1500 to the class, too.)
I'm going back to USPSA Nationals one last time, this year, and I'm going to make up for the debacle that was last year. To do that, I'm going to put in some serious practice. I know that Ardi and Julie will be joining me here and there, but I'm going to be solidly working on my own shooting issues this summer.
We'll see how far I can go.
That being said, practice wasn't very significant for the last two weeks. That's gonna change...
Today was the March USPSA Pistol match at ENGC, so I had fun shooting that. Some good points, some bad points:
Good points: No problems with the shoulder while I was shooting. Movement went fairly well. Didn't crash on any one particular stage. Times were actually fairly good.
Bad points: Accuracy was low (87% of possible points.) Had a significant mental issue on one stage that cost me 2.5 seconds or so. Reloads were sluggish. Having the gun ready to go at the end of movement didn't happen, so that added extra time.
Things to stress in practice:
Trigger control (Trigger Control! TRIGGER CONTROL!!)
Transitions
Shooting on the move
Still going to work on draw to low% target, emergency reload, and accuracy at distance WITH proper trigger followup/reset/prep---none of this "pin-it-back" stuff.
Things to stress after the AFHF class:
Speed reloads with the competition rig
Draws with the competition rig
Movement to a firing position
...plus the rest from above.
I have my spring break from school the week before I go to Kansas for the AFHF class, so I'm planning on a serious shooting course for myself that week---Monday through Thursday, 3 hours in the morning, 3 hours in the afternoon. Time and reps enough to ingrain a significant increase in my trigger control. (Among other things.) I'm planning about 300-400 rounds per session, so about 800 rounds a day. (Possibly up to 1000.) Have a lot of reloading to do before the class! (Because I'm bringing 1500 to the class, too.)
I'm going back to USPSA Nationals one last time, this year, and I'm going to make up for the debacle that was last year. To do that, I'm going to put in some serious practice. I know that Ardi and Julie will be joining me here and there, but I'm going to be solidly working on my own shooting issues this summer.
We'll see how far I can go.
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