Training Plan for February...

Okay, so I've been putting together some thoughts for my training plan for the next month---current idea is every other evening I work on one specific drill only for a solid, focused 5 minutes. The other evenings I will work 20 minutes (approximately) on a set of drills, which will change per week.

Areas I plan on covering for February:

• Draw to first sight picture (from both hands-at-sides, and surrender position)
• Turn and draw to first sight picture (from both hand positions)
• Reloading
• Reloading to first sight picture
• Reloading while moving
• Transition sight focus

In March, I have some movement-and-sight-pictures drills I want to add in, but for February, I think having 8 major fundamental topics should be enough. I realize that other people would work in many many more drill types---but I want slow, fluid practice, speed drills, staggered movement practice, sectioned practice---each drill type will incorporate several different movement (and focus) versions.

Hoping that as we continue into spring, I will be able to get out and do some distance accuracy practice---I realize that I could go whenever I want, but it is really cold, and I don't practice well when I'm cold and doing it on my own.

Last year, I did dry fire practice all winter, and live fire practice all summer, and it showed---my accuracy went up a LOT over the winter, and my speed increased significantly over the summer. I'm hoping that this year I can increase both again, and in addition, increase reloading/draw/transition speed. My reload isn't bad, and my draw isn't either---but neither is nearly as smooth as it could be, and certainly neither are master-level.

In my opinion, will I get an A-card this year? Oddly enough, don't really care. I don't want an A-card until I can consistently shoot A-level. Right now---on most long stages I shoot consistently B-class (where I am rated) but on short stages, I am more erratic than I like. Often I'm B--but just as often, I'm shooting solid C-class on short stages.

Not good! I don't want an A-class card, when I can be beaten by C-class shooters! So, this year the drill is to increase the basics to the point that they are smooth, quick, and most of all precise.

Sometime this weekend I'll finish the actual schedule for my Feb training (let's hear it for spreadsheets) and at the end of February, we'll see if my shooting has improved at all.

Oh---and it seems that indeed, there is a very good chance that I will go to the Chapman Academy this September. I'll be going by myself, but it will be fun even if Julie can't make it this time. Starting to put together the money/ammo/lodging/application and such, and will talk to Mr. Wiles about the day off for next year in the upcoming months...(probably should wait until the school board has signed off on re-hiring me for next year, I suppose, before I ask for time off next year :) ) ...but should be a good time!

Well, drat...

Today's steel challenge match got canceled. Drat. Just because there is snow on the ground, a temperature of 5 degrees F, and a wind chill that brings the apparent temperature into the negative degrees doesn't mean we couldn't have shot!

Of course, i'd have done really really badly (cold is BAD) -- but I would have liked to have gone shooting today.

[sigh]

Ah well---back to dry fire practice.

I really need to create a program of practice for myself. Lately, I've been doing a decent job of practicing basics (reloading, drawing, trigger control, transitions) but it has been fairly haphazard--what I'm doing on any given day depends on how I feel.

While that isn't a bad thing, that doesn't mean that it couldn't be better. As a teacher, I _know_ better. One day of this and one day of that isn't the best way to instill good habits, particularly if "good habits" include increased ability and speed. Yes, I'll get better this way---but not as much as if I organized it a bit better.

So---homework for myself for this week: Create a month-long program of dry fire practice, with at least 5 minutes of practice per day, but in general, at least 20 minutes of practice every other day. I realize this doesn't seem like much, but with a good focus of practice, and an intelligent progression of practice, I should see results. At the end of the month, I'll evaluate, and see what comes next.

Relevant references: Anderson's book (Refinement and Repetition), Brian Enos's site and book, and Matt Burkett's videos.

Hopefully, sometime in my next post I'll make some commentary about what I came up with.

Shooting is fun, and I enjoy it thoroughly---but I also want to get better at it. (Master class--still going for that goal of Master class in Production. That won't be the end, of course---but it is the goal for now. I should also say that merely having a Master class card isn't the goal---being a consistent Master-class shooter is the goal. There are plenty of people who have high-class cards, but lose consistently to lower class shooters. I don't want to be one of those.)

Speaking of training to get better, I really may end up going to the Chapman Academy in September. We'll see---still have plans to make and such---but I may go out there for their 3 day class. It seems more likely now that I've talked to Julie about it, and written them and learned more, and checked on hotel costs and such...

ENPS 2007 Banquet...

Last night we had the Eastern Nebraska Practical Shooters yearly banquet. Each year we keep track of the statistics from our shooting matches, and give awards at the end of the year for placing in the various divisions. In general, the awards are divided by type (USPSA Pistol, Steel Challenge, 3-Gun, and Ironman) and then within each type, by division (Open, Limited, Limited-10, Production, etc) and class (U, D, C, B, A, and so on).

Things applicable to me:

• USPSA Pistol Production Division, B class
  
• Steel Challenge Production Division
  
• 3-Gun Standard Division
  
• ...and everyone is in the Ironman competition, where we total all points earned throughout the year in all matches.
  

Julie participated in the Steel Challenge also, in the Production Division. She was only able to make it to three matches out of the 5, however.

How did it go?


Pretty well! 5th in 3-Gun, 2nd in Steel Challenge, and 1st place in B-class Production for USPSA. (Note: the medals are actually all the same, the lighting just makes them look like different colors.)

But even better:

I won my entire Division in USPSA for the year! (On the local level, that is--we aren't talking any higher than local.)

Plus, when we added up all of the points attained by everyone for the entire year---23 matches worth of USPSA Pistol, Steel Challenge, and 3-Gun...

I won the Ironman, too!

Julie won 5th place in the Steel Challenge (she should be putting a picture of her medal up on her blog at some point in time) --which is excellent for someone who has never done it before, and only made it to three matches out of five!

I also received one of the many gag awards for the evening---remember back at Area 3 when I got booted from Production division to the Open division? I received this welcome mat from the other shooters to "Welcome" me to Open division. [sigh]

It was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to more shooting this year, and hopefully some improvement also.

One of the things that Julie and I have been talking about it attending a pistol class at the Chapman Academy. I really like that it is extremely live-fire oriented, and I have heard from some other shooters around here that it is an excellent class---so perhaps this summer...

I thought I'd separate this...

Shooting has really become one of my favorite hobbies over the last year and a half--and it occurs to me that on my regular pages, continual updates about my shooting matches might get old. Thus, I decided to start a different blog specifically with regard to shooting sports---rather along the lines of a continual training diary/commentary as I work on getting better and better at it.

So here we go. :)

I joined the USPSA (United States Practical Shooting Association) about 1.5 years ago, and was initially classified as "B" class in the Production division of USPSA, which I achieved somewhen about this past July. My goal is to reach Master class sometime within the next 5-8 years. (Perhaps Grandmaster, but that really depends on how much time it takes for Master.) We'll see.

I'll probably move from Production to Limited class after I reach Master in Production, and stay there in Limited for some time. (And when my eyesight starts to go, I'll get into Open division, and use those handy red dot sites.) For an explanation of all of this stuff, go to the USPSA site and take a look around.

Currently, I shoot at the Eastern Nebraska Gun Club as part of the Eastern Nebraska Practical Shooters group. We have USPSA pistol, 3-Gun, and Steel Challenge matches (to the tune of about 23 matches per year) so there is always something to shoot at!

Anyway--more later. But this is where I'm starting!