ENPS June 2009 USPSA Pistol Match...

In my last post, one of the things I said was "when I tried to rush, it didn't work out." Well, I didn't rush this match. Matter of fact, I just relaxed and shot nice and consistently for the entire match. I had one or two extremely good stages, and the rest were all good solid runs---no bad stages in the match.

And not only did I win Production division, but I won 1st Overall, too!

Here's what it looked like:



So, watching this, what should I work on?

First stage I shot (stage 3), the draw was okay, the accuracy was good, and the shooting went smoothly. I did get lucky, however, because taking the time for that third shot on the swinger almost gave me a miss on the disappearing target. I managed the A-hit, but it was really close.

Stage 4 had me getting out of the chair--and my reaction was just slow. I've noticed that on stages where I start with movement (bodily movement, as opposed to a draw) I don't react until after the beep is finished---but when I draw, I normally start my draw at the beginning of the beep. It isn't much of a difference, but it is something to work on. I also should have drawn the minute I was upright, instead of waiting--moving with my hand on my hip isn't normal, and slows me down, plus then when I'm done moving I have to wait to get the gun up and on target.

* Note to self: practice bringing the gun up earlier so that at the end of the movement, it is on target, as opposed to bringing it up after the movement is finished.

I also am dropping the gun to my middle as I reload---this takes time, my reloads aren't as good as when the gun is higher, and it takes longer to get back on target. I wonder why I'm doing this? I don't practice it that way!

*2nd Note to self: practice reloading, keeping the gun in the plane of the eye/target. Also practice reloading during the first step of the move, instead of during the entire movement.

On stage 5, the whole thing went fairly smoothly---what lost me places was my accuracy on the move. Too many C hits for this stage. No misses, and no D hits---but too many C hits, and you can't afford that in Production.

*3rd note to self: practice shooting on the move

On stage one, we can see that bad reloading technique again---it wasn't incredibly slow, but it is certainly slower than I am consistently capable of, which in this short of a stage (and particularly on a classifier) has a large effect. (And too many C hits there, also.)

For stage two, it went decently well, other than occasional aiming problems (missed three times on steel plates, and once on a popper). Overall, though, not too bad.

So---practice for this month: In addition to normal practice (draw/first shot, box-to-box movement, accuracy) add drills for shooting on the move, having the firearm ready when I reach the next shooting position, and reloading correctly.

A good match, overall. This week I have the Advanced Defensive Pistol class, but next week I'll be in Minnesota for their Sectional Match. Hopefully I'll get in some good, effective practice before then to increase my skills, and decrease the time I'm losing due to these deficiencies.