I have no idea why but today, I've had this image of what my reloads should look like in my head. I found myself walking down the hall at home doing an "air reload". Linda and Lauren had to stop me when we went to see Santa today, because I was air reloading in the line. I think they could have tolerated that, until I said "hey, look, I got it!" Really, I had this perfect slow motion visions of what I want my reload to look like, and I could break it down in my mind, step by step, and just see myself doing it perfectly, that I got obsessed with not just imagining it, but doing it. In the midst of our outing, I had to stop at On Target, to pick up an SP-01, and reload, so I could see if what I was visualizing and practicing was perfect.
I hate to admit it, but my reloads were smooth as can be with the SP-01. There is a little beveled groove on the inside of the grip that acts like a mini-magwell, and if I just hit that, the mag would still slam home. On my PPQ it's flat, and tight, meaning I need to be absolutely perfect when I reload, and why I tend to watch it all the way home, and decelerate just as the mag is getting into the magwell. In less than 10 reloads with the SP-01, I was re-loading faster and easier than I ever have with the PPQ. I'm happy I did that with zero practice on that gun, but it doesn't change the fact overall my reloads are improving.
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| SP-01 Felt That Easy To Reload |
When I got home I got into a couple of practice sessions, late afternoon, and night, and really worked my reload on the PPQ. I set the par timer at 1.30 seconds, and mags were flying, I was hitting 1 in 3, the other 2 were going flying into the Christmas Tree. I eased off the par time to 1.40 seconds, and was hitting about 50% of the time, I really have to decelerate to get it into the magwell, but when I do, and get rolling, I can do it. My form as a whole is getting more consistent, elbow to chest, cant the gun to where the mag is coming from and watch it home. I still think the biggest obstacle besides the decelerating, is a tendency to see it almost seat, and start looking at the target. I end up missing, or moving the gun, gotta complete one step before the next. Tonight I set the par timer to 1.50 seconds, and did 75 mag changes, and I hit the time on most of them, there were a few slower, but things felt functional. I was reloading the way I saw myself doing it in my imagination earlier.
I did some draw work, and at short, 3, 5, and 7 yards feel like I can get my shot off and an A zone hit in 1.2 seconds or less consistently. I had the par at 1.5 seconds, and kept moving it lower until I felt like I was pushing myself. At 10 yards, I did better about rushing to the gun, and decelerating slower to my sight. I'm probably in the 1.40 to 1.50 range there, and I know I can get that down to that 1.30 mark I wanted a few weeks ago. This has taken some time, but again, the practice is giving me so many reps that I can measure my improvement in a couple of weeks.
Finally, I kept up my 2/2/2 drills, and worked on two things, getting my elbows up, and driving the gun to each target, not just swinging thru the middle target to get to the outside target. My accuracy was much better back in September when I kept that elbow up, and my arms can better absorb recoil, it allows me to stay on my sights easier, and control the gun. I asked Les about it in practice, and he wants to beat me over the head, because I keep dipping my elbows. Ultimately he said that for now I can let it ride because my accuracy is enough. I'm going to work on the elbow thing though because if I can get it right, instead of passable, I think it'll have an impact on everything. More control, less muzzle flip means better sight picture on follow-up's, and transitions, which means faster and more accurate.
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| It was the only logo I could find.... |
Despite being sick, had a great weekend, tremendous shindig at the Brown's on Saturday, and I also had a chance to have a seasonal "warm" and fuzzy feeling when I saw what Les's wife did for him, but that's a story for another blog. Got signed up for the Winter Indoor IPSC Tournament at Pine Tree in February, that looks like a great match. I'm excited to do well there, and in a way, I'm hoping it will be a coming out party for me, where I'm going to surprise some folks that I have not shot with in awhile. Between now and then though, steady progress, and much improved classifiers are on the agenda.
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