118 replies to this topic

[alpha-charlie]

Local match

Match at my home range, North Porter County Conservation Club and the turnout was fantastic. We usually average 40 shooters but today we had 65. Since joining the club I've been active in the set-up every week and for today's match I stepped up and designed a stage for the first time. It's a lot harder than you would think. Being part of the set-up crew and now designing and setting up my own stage really makes you appreciate the people who constantly do this week after week, month after month, and so on...

Match went well, I felt good at the end with a few hiccups, nothing major, but not as perfect as I always want to be. The 2 classifiers went ok, but not nearly as well as they should have. One of them was paper poppers that I shot a month ago so I had nothing to lose since I previously shot that at Master class %. I went all out on it and ended up shooting it a tad slower and less accurate than I did before. On both classifiers my trigger safety hung up on me and caused me to reposition my finger and throw my focus out of whack. I also fumbled my grip a little bit on the draw and that really freaked me out before taking my first shot.

And of course, the stage where I had a Mike and didn't stick to my game plan........the one I designed. It actually happened because I shot the targets out of sequence, due to moving and shooting faster than I had anticipated. So I guess it was a good thing? I had planned to shoot three targets on my right while moving forward and then transition to the left for a target and then move forward for another target on the left. I started shooting on the right and was moving so fast that I had passed the target on the left by about 6 inches. I had to stop and back up a half step to take the shot which threw everything off. Reloaded when I shouldn't have which lead to an additional reload that I shouldn't have needed to finish the stage. Somewhere in there I had a mike but I didn't get to see it due to the scoring and pasting being done as the shooter was moving down range. I wasn't thrilled about that but it was a busy day and we had to keep the squads moving. Results up later tonight.

First overall in production and took all of the stages. I feel good about it, but I know there's a lot of room for improvement.

Edited by alpha-charlie, 05 June 2011 - 06:09 PM.

[alpha-charlie]

Been having mixed feelings lately about my skill level and reached out to a fellow shooter here on the forums for some advice. His advice was fantastic and instantly changed my attitude. Basically, even though I know I've improved, it's come so fast this year that it's been hard to accept that sometimes I'm the best in my class and sometimes my division at matches. It sounds cocky but the score board doesn't lie. It's a lot to take in after being a C at this time last year and about to shoot my first Major ever, Area 5. So, I spent the morning looking back at my videos which started with my first recorded match ever, Area 5. Holy crap was I slow. I remember thinking at Area 5 that I shot well and was moving really fast. That's good I guess because that's where my skill level was at the time. It's been a fast year and I'm on the brink of making Master. I'm not concerned about that at this point. My complete focus is on Area 5 and walking into PASA Park prepared for battle. There is much to do before the match and not a lot of time to do it. Mentally I must KNOW what kind of match I'm going to shoot before the buzzer even goes off. Shooting wise I've got to push it as fast as I can while still shooting clean. I'm shooting with my regular shooting squad which is made up of some great shooters, especially junior shooter Alex who will be classified at 94.5% after the updates are run. Focus, concentration and positive vibes baby!!

[Micah]

You're the bomb baby! Now go get that plaque!

[alpha-charlie]

You're the bomb baby! Now go get that plaque!

Thanks Micah, I'm gonna give it everything I got and if I come up short then that's what was meant to be. But I'll keep coming back stronger and stronger until it is meant to be.

Now it's less than a week away and my 147's finally arrived after being backordered for over a month. I was really not looking forward to having to shoot my back-up 125's considering I've never really worked a load up on them. It's time to load some ammo up, double check with the chrono and continue to work the fundmentals in dry fire practice. With such little time left there's nothing groundbreaking that's going to be learned so it's just keeping the fundamentals fine tuned and smooth.

[alpha-charlie]

Less than a week away from Area 5 and I started changing around my grip today. Do I dare change it up, even though it's just a very minor adjustment to help me hit the mag release easier? I know not to ever change anything before a match, but it couldn't hurt could it? If anything I'll just revert back to my old way as soon as the buzzer goes off. I'll see how it plays out the next few days of dryfire.

Edited by alpha-charlie, 11 June 2011 - 04:58 PM.

[alpha-charlie]

Dryfire

Messed around with my grip tonight. Kind of a late night session to sort some things out. I've found that it's not really how I grip the gun, it's how I grip the gun out of the holster that screws everything up. I never really get as good of a grip on the gun out of the holster that I'd like and I always had issue with that. I found a simple solution that has been in front of me all along. When I make ready I follow the basic steps to get ready: 1) I draw and rack the slide a few times to reassure myself and the R/O that the gun is unloaded, also to reset the trigger 2)I get a sight picture on my first target if available 3) I press the trigger 4) I load and reholster.

I've never really been one to waste a lot of time after that point, usually just some fidgiting and kicking rocks or gravel from my starting position and then taking a deep breath. Sometimes I keep my hand on the gun to take one last look at the targets and play out my stage breakdown one last time. Regular stuff right?? Well, not entirely. When I keep my hand on the gun to look around one last time I'm not really gripping the gun like I will be on my draw. I'm kind of just holding it to let the R/O know I'm not ready yet. Tonight I decided to take my sight picture, trigger press, load and then reholster while maintaing the grip that I need to have while shooting. Then, instead of just holding the hand on the gun, maintain that grip for as long as I'm going over the stage one more time. I remeber Stoeger telling me to take as much time as they're going to give you on your stage to prepare. It might seem selfish with everyone waiting but screw it, it's your time to shoot and you only get one chance at it.

Anyways, I found that the longer I maintain my shooting grip on the gun while holstered and then only letting go for about 5 seconds for Are you ready, standby, beep, I draw everytime with the grip I need. So it turns out I don't have to necessarily change my grip, I just have to remind my brain that "THIS IS HOW TO GRAB THE GUN WHEN THE BEEP GOES OFF!!"

[twodownzero]

You and Alex sure are tearing it up out there.

[alpha-charlie]

You and Alex sure are tearing it up out there.

Alex is a machine. He'll be a competing GM in no time. And he's only 17.

[alpha-charlie]

Area 5............let's do this.

[alpha-charlie]

Area 5............whoa

What else can be said. The long drive home gave me a lot to think about. I know that I trained properly and as much as I could so I wasn't mad about that. I did everything to mentally prepare and was confident going in. I felt ready, confident and was calm. I arrived the day before and met up with my squad and walked the stages for about 2 hours. We had the stages broken down perfectly for each of our skill levels and I wasn't really worried about having trouble with any of them.

On Saturday, match day, I woke up to a thunderstorm. The range was crappy but everyone else was shooting in the rain so it didn't really bother me. We started on what I thought was one of the tougher stages to break down. Here's a breakdown on the stages:

Stage 12: I went a little too far into the first port but it was nothing major. I didn't realize how tricky the drop out target was and instead of letting it settle leaving a static head shot, while taking care of the rest of the targets, I tried to thread the needle and pop the small part of the A zone when it tipped out. I hit the no-shoot and didn't pick it up. Stage execution was great and it ran smooth. The last shooting position had a close up partial straight ahead that I somehow completely missed on both shots. I was moving fast and just blasted at it trying to finsh fast. Bad start to the match and completely messed my head up.

This match was all about partials and tight shots and I didn't respect them in the beginning. I wasn't on my front sight and was shooting like it was a hose fest.

Stage 13: Again, a wide open target right in front of me, probably 10 feet away, and I threw a mike. I was so worried about the max trap that I shot fast and was moving the gun off the target before I broke the second shot. Then, missed another wide open target while I started to move to another position. These were gimme shots and I didn't focus on them and paid the price.

Stage 14: Now I'm nervous and overly cautious. Every shot I'm taking the only thing I'm thinking about is missing. I pop another no-shoot on a partial in the first array. At this point I feel completely defeated. The wind is out of my sails and I have no faith in my accuracy.

I need a break to regroup.

Stage 1: Dark House Wide open targets close up and a no shoot partial target at the end. I'm still worried about missing so I lay back and shoot it slower than I could have. No mikes tho, and the rain has stopped.

Stage 2: Steel & wheels A fantastic time but I drop points with 2 C's. 3rd fastest time in Production but the points hurt me. I shot like I did at the Ohio Sectional. I was smooth and relaxed and was focused on my front sight. I shot the steel fantastic.
My confidence is now back.

It was at this point that I started to come around. I was still shooting fast but I was more aware of how tight the shots really were. I was on my front sight now for every shot and felt good. The rest of the stages went good. I shot all the steel well and was now calling my misses and making them up, especially on the swingers.

By the last 2 stages I was pretty well spent. The sun came out and it was a hot, muggy mess. I lost focus on stage 10 when I missed a steel target and couldn't get to the disappearing drop turner in time. 2 NPM's so I wasn't all that upset about it. Execution of the stage wasn't my greatest as I was moving in directions that I had no reason to do. It's like I was in a daze for that stage.

Stage 12 was a fast hoser stage that I was looking forward to. My small fingers sometimes hit the trigger safety on my 34 in a weird way which wedges it to one side of the trigger. When this happens I have to take my finger off and let it reset in the middle and then press. It locked up and then unexpectingly released when I pressed the trigger. Luckily I was pointed at the first target otherwise it would have been Dairy Queen time. This threw off my round count and put me into slide lock. I needed 10 rounds for the next array and missed a steel. Another slide lock, make up the shot, leaving me 9 for the next array which was 10 shots. I didn't realize that and I went trucking along. Last target of the day and I go into slide lock on the last shot. At that point I knew I was done and called it quits. Looking back now I should have reloaded and took the last shot for good measure.

I know I could have shot that match clean. I can "what if" all day but I know I had every single one of those shots. A very hard lesson learned but I'll be back next year and even better. I know I shoot accurate but have to realize that even if a shot looks easy you can't lay back on it and not give it your full attention. Every shot counts and every shot needs to have the sights on it no matter how easy it appears.





The road to redemption has begun....................

Edited by alpha-charlie, 20 June 2011 - 10:02 AM.

[alpha-charlie]

[alpha-charlie]

Thoughts........
It's funny how things come together sometimes. With a new hunger for improving (redemption) things at work have also changed. I'm changing to a new team that works primarily at night (5pm - 1am-ish). I've wanted to work these hours for a while now and what's even better is that I'll be in a set day off group each week, either off Fri/Sat or Sun/Mon. Either way I can get to a Saturday set-up/match or a Sunday match without having to take a day off. What's really good is that by starting work later I have the morning/afternoon to hit the range whenever I want. And with being there during the day on weekdays I'll pretty much have the whole range to myself. Things are aligning, and now is the time to take advantage of it. Now or never......no excuses.

Edited by alpha-charlie, 23 June 2011 - 08:37 AM.

[alpha-charlie]

Review from a GM

Ben Stoeger used my Area 5 video on his website, www.benstoeger.com under his video review section. Feel free to stop by his website as it has a ton of great tips and info. (And it's free too!!) Here's his review of my Area 5 performance:

Matt, 2011 Area 5
Thursday, 23 June 2011 19:17 Time for another video review!

The shooter is Matt… The match is the 2011 Area 5 Match held in Barry Illinois. I also shot the same match… so this review will be more helpful than normal.

HERE is the video of Matt shooting the stages. I will review the stages in the order they appear on the video, not the acutal stage number
HERE is my video of the match, for comparisons sake. An observant viewer will notice I don't really shoot any faster than Matt. I think there is a lesson in that.

Stage 1:
The big thing I am seeing on this stage is the sheer amount of time it is taking Matt to get started shooting when he gets to a new position. Some of his setups are on targets that are 3 to 5 yards in front of his face. These are not difficult shots. You see that Matt has his gun aimed at these targets for quite awhile before he gets started shooting. There is definitely some time to gain here.

Stage 2:
You can see in the doorway (the second position) Matt drags his gun off that wide open target trying to get to the target that is closing up, causing a miss. Of course Matt is fast enough to make it without rushing, but he didn’t have the confidence here and it caused a mistake. Following through on targets on the way to catch a moving target is a matter of knowing you have enough time. Matt didn’t have that confidence here and it cost him 15 points.

Stage 3:
The stage plan Matt shot here didn’t really make sense to me. In each of the first two positions you see Matt going back and forth between targets. The plan was confusing, and all that back and forth costs a lot of time. I really prefer simpler plans in these sorts of situations. The third position on this stage is actually a head box that can be taken on the move. You see Matt come to a stop here. In production division, the shooter has extra rounds in this position, and I wouldn’t forget that here. I think it would have been best for Matt to keep moving, but not be shy about an extra shot if he is unsure of his hits.

Stage 4 and Stage 5:
These stages are all about a fast draw. Matt missed his draw on one of these stages, and that costs points. Be sure to practice drawing for awkward positions like that.

Stage 6:
Matt stayed back from that first position in an effort to save steps. Saving steps is overrated in situations like this. It is ok to charge up a couple steps to avoid having to shuffle around. Also, Matt is waiting on both of his reloads to get done on this stage to get back to shooting. A stage like this really shows you why you need to be able to get your reload done in one or two steps to be a really competitive production shooter.

Stage 7:
Matt missed an opportunity here to take a couple steps to the right as he picked up his gun. It wouldn’t have cost any time, but it would have put him closer to where he wanted to be later on. In the last position, you can see Matt stumble a bit as he sets up on the inside target. It would have been easier to setup on the far outside target. It doesn’t have a no shoot on it and it can be taken a bit early. Also, there are plenty of extra rounds in the gun if additional shooting is needed.

Stage 8:
In this stage it really jumps out at me that Matt is up waiting on the swinging target when it activates, but he isn’t able to get a shot off at it on the first pass. Be sure you know which side of the wall the target will appear from, and then be waiting in a position to be able to engage it. Wasting a pass on it costs you points.

Stage 9:
Not a bad looking run on this one. Matt got a little bit confused in the last position with 2 swinging targets and 2 mini poppers. Instead of jumping around, it may have been easier just to shoot it left to right. It may seem like you are waiting on the swingers, but in that situation it is better then trying to shoot everything at once and getting lost.

Stage 10:
Matt had some trouble with that drop turner on this stage. It is important to remember that after you shoot an activator target, you shoot any other targets you are planning to shoot, you then you proceed to the target you activated. You only come back to shoot extras after you shoot the moving target. That saves missing out on the points on the drop turner.

Stage 11:
Matt made the best of a bad situation on this stage when he ran out of rounds. It really goes to show you that you have to aim extra hard on stages where you know you wont have extra shots available without a standing reload.

Overall:
Matt is a damn good shooter. He really shines on the short courses. Matt is just a little bit too slow to get set up in a new position to get shooting. He is not getting the gun reloaded quickly enough either. Also, his lack of major match experience shows on how he deals with all the moving targets. The key to them is to shoot them like any other target, but you can see that Matt is rushing on them, and that is causing mistakes.

Edited by alpha-charlie, 23 June 2011 - 09:27 PM.

[Chris iliff]

Ben's video loads fine. Matt's will not load for me, here or on Ben's page. Thought I'd mention it if there was a glitch.

[alpha-charlie]

Local Match.......Porter County Poppers

Great day to be out shooting. Small match today, 4 stages only 3 on video. I kind of fell off after Area 5 but it felt good to be back out on the range. With my schedule settling down I fell like I'm ready to get get back on it. Indiana is creeping up and I know that will be a tough match. I see alot of my same old problems on today's video which is obviously a work in progress. It seems like I never get moving quick enough. My reloads into a new position need to be done as I'm setting up a new shooting position. Instead I seem to be slowing down while reloading and then settling into a new postion. It has to be one smooth movement. Also, getting the gun up and running is still killing me on time. Another time killer is when I miss a piece of steel. On the 2nd stage after I move from the starting position I engage a static target, pepper popper and then 3 static targets. I missed the popper and came back to it at the end. I knew I missed it but continued on because the gun was already moving to the next target. Time killer there.

Also, I need to be able to leave steel standing when I have moving targets already activated. I did this at Area 5 and missed the drop turner for 2 NPM's and did it again today on the 3rd stage. I missed the fourth steel and shot the first dt once, then paused as I went to shoot the 4th steel, decided that wasn't a good idea and shot the first dt a second time. At this point the 2nd dt had disappeared and I was left with taking two more shots at the 4th steel. I have to train my brain to leave steel standing if the activator has already been engaged. This will only come from more experience with these type of scenarios.

Or, I could just hit the targets the first time like I'm supposed to...............

[alpha-charlie]

Ben's video loads fine. Matt's will not load for me, here or on Ben's page. Thought I'd mention it if there was a glitch.

Thanks for trying to take a look at it. Don't worry, you ain't missin' much.

[alpha-charlie]

Results are in:

I was able to take 2 out of the 4 stages with a 2nd and 4th place finish in the remainder. I was the highest classed shooter in my division and the results are interesting. On the stages that have a more wide open run n gun design I notice that this is where lower classed shooters are coming very close to my times and in today's case, beating me when I make dumb mistakes. However, on the harder stage that had more hidden targets with tight shots and needed some solid stage breakdown, I smoked just about everyone. So what does that mean?? I beieve there's both positives and negatives to this. My focus and training this year has really been on thinking logically and breaking down stages effectively, as well as taking tighter shots. (Area 5 obviously proved that my accuracy still needs work, but nonetheless it has improved). The hardest of the stages was one that I felt the best about all day. While the majority of shooters were walking through it shaking their heads and joking about how difficult it was, I felt very confident about. I know I could've saved 3 seconds or so if I would've got my ass in gear and got my gun up and running like I should. Which is what seems to be holding me back the most. I've really got to get moving and shooting sooner, not faster.

[Chris iliff]

Vid looked good. My Dad was ROing you on the last stage in your video. I had a full weekend and didn't go up there to shoot. Looks like I missed a good match. Good job on you finish!

[alpha-charlie]

Dryfire........
Got back into my dryfire routine lately. It seriously has an effect on things as I'm discovering little time savers with each session. One thing I've noticed is that I get complacent with my shooting. If I'm shooting good I seem to stay at that level until things fall apart and I have to start all over.

Yesterday I worked on moving into positions better and reloading while moving only a very short distance. I recorded my dryfire session for the first time ever. Nothing worth posting as it's just drill after drill after drill. But, one major flaw when I move short distances with both hands on the gun is that I keep the gun at the high ready position. This comes from firearms training in the Academy. For IPSC I need to keep it higher up in my field of vision to shorten the time that it takes to set up on the next target. It's a hard habit to break but with practice it shouldn't be too difficult.

I was messing around today in dryfire to see how fast I was at shooting from the hip. I set the timer at .5 and found myself drawing faster than ever. It was a great motivator. I left it there and used it for draws at 7 yds in a dimly lit basement. Surprisingly my draws were faster and my sight picture was clearer than when I was doing 1 second draws earlier. I was averaging draws at about .85 with very clear A zone hits. The best I've ever done is .83 shooting into the berm. This is a good step considering one of my major drawbacks is getting the gun up and running. Now I just need to focus on continuing to train like this and then build my first shot confidence in live fire and especially at matches when drawing and shooting at that speed. Wisconsin Sectional this weekend.

Edited by alpha-charlie, 12 July 2011 - 03:41 PM.

[alpha-charlie]

Wisconsin Sectional

HOT!!!! Heat index easily over 100 today for the match. I shot well though. I didn't do anything amazing but I shot consistent. Some positives: My draws were better and for the most part my first shots were faster. Also, my reloads were a definite improvement compared to Area 5. Some negatives: Still having confidence issues when taking partial targets in tight locations. This is very evident in some of the stages, especially the last stage. I should have engaged the targets around the walls from far to near due to the far target being wide open and easier to set up on. Instead I set up on the close target which was a hard lean and caused me to lose a lot of time. I decided to take the first two targets at the starting point instead of gaming the stage and circumventing the activator. (Going under the cross bar). I wanted to test my skills and I need to know that I can shoot accurately at 26 yards. My hits were 2 alpha and alpha charlie. The dark house (not shown for obvious reasons) was a disaster as I couldn't find my front sight using the light. I fought with it on every shot and paid the price. Finished 4th overall out of 35 and 1st in A class.

Edited by alpha-charlie, 17 July 2011 - 09:43 PM.

[alpha-charlie]

Local Match.........

Edited by alpha-charlie, 25 July 2011 - 01:44 PM.

[Ben Stoeger]

Local Match.........


http://s1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb452/md12393/?action=view&current=NISA.mp4

Best shooting I have seen from you.

[alpha-charlie]

Best shooting I have seen from you.

Thanks Ben. The accuracy wasn't there as I had quite a few mikes but I did notice something. On the longer courses where there was hard cover or no-shoots I shot clean. I also didn't sit there and take almost a full second to get a sight picture before firing. As you have pointed out before, this has been something that's holding me back. On the blazing wide open targets is where I would pull off too early and miss. This came from just wanting to let it rip today. A little off the throttle and more on the sight and it shouldn't be a problem. Something positive out of it is that I saw as much of my sights that I needed to see on the harder targets and shot sooner and more confident. As for the wide open targets, I shot them very fast but not recklessly. I saw my sights for those targets as well but "match tested" how much of them I needed to see. I've shot fast in practice but never really let loose in a match. Obviously I needed to see just a little bit more to not miss but now I have some concrete experience of fast I can go before the wheels fall off. I didn't really worry about how I was going to place today during the match, I was paying more attention to how much sooner can I start shooting and keep shooting. Hard to explain but I see it as performance until failure. I think it's good to know how far you can go.


Edited for clarity after thinking about it for awhile.

Edited by alpha-charlie, 25 July 2011 - 01:56 PM.

[alpha-charlie]

Indiana Section......

Not the greatest showing today but not the worst. Some tough stages with some high ports, not too easy for me on those. Some ugly stages in there where I just had to make the best of a bad situation. The Texas Star where I went into slide lock twice really hurt. Hurts to watch also. Ended up with a mike there as I thought I hit the last plate but actually hit the post just to the left of it. Had 2 mikes on the laying down start stage due to pulling off the targets too quickly. I also got WAY out of position for the swingers as I had a dumb idea come into my head when I saw the left swinger was slower. Thought I could try and take both swingers first and that was completely stupid. This thought happened in about .10 seconds in my head when I stepped on the stomp plate. Both stages with mikes were ones that I changed my game plan just before shooting. WRONG. The other mags on barrel stage, not recorded, I changed also. I opted to load up my mag pouches which was really dumb. I again was talked out of my plan, but at the time I thought it was a good idea. WRONG. Stage breakdown could have been a little better overall also. I'm just glad I didn't get stuck on the saddle, that would've been a bad ending to a long hot day. Finished 12th overall, 1st A. Mixed feelings about that. I believe it's referred to as an ugly victory.

Edited by alpha-charlie, 02 August 2011 - 06:13 PM.

[alpha-charlie]

Scoring change from the Indiana match. Of course it directly affected my placing. I now am 13th in Production and 2nd A.
Since I'm not a huge rules guy I could be totally wrong, but once the score sheet is signed and results posted with the alloted time period for arbritration doesn't that mean it's a wrap?? Scores changing 2 days after official results are posted?? Really?

Edited by alpha-charlie, 04 August 2011 - 05:23 PM.