Texas Open Part 2
Scores are in, and while I can say I know I have better in me, this was my best Major Match finish ever. Being honest, I've had nothing but struggles in major matches, and one of my goals for this year was to really show some improvement. The last two major's that I shot, hell, the last 3 I shot, I think I had double digit mikes, 17 in Florida Open, and 17 at the Ohio Sectional last year. Reality is that's just not acceptable for any match, Florida Open may have been the most challenging match I have have seen, but still can't do that. So without a doubt, I'm moving in the right direction, and that's a huge positive in my mind.
The Texas Open was definitely a more hoser friendly match, on par with Battle In The Bluegrass last year. I had 8 misses at the Texas Open, 2 of which were on the FTF stage that cost me 25 seconds trying to clear the jam, and one of the mikes was the disputed call that I'm still confident was a double. That takes it down to a legit 5 mikes over 12 stages, all of which I either called, or at the very least knew I was moving, or breaking a shot while sweeping off a target, short version, those mistakes were mine, and I own them.
Here's the hit breakdown:
175 Alpha
67 Charlie
9 Delta
8 Mike
I placed 26th of 55 (Oddly I was 23rd on Sunday afternoon, but I lost points somehow by Sunday night.)
Stage 1, I had 2 mikes on, and I still managed to finish 18th in division. Stage 6, the disputed Alpha cost me 12 places on the stage, and it would have been an 11th place stage finish instead it was a 23rd place finish. The reason I mention it is not sour grapes, it's really because it illustrated to me how much a single mike can mean in the scheme of things. Shoot the match with 1 mike instead of 8, and I probably move up 6-7 places in the overall even if I was not any faster. Hits matter. Stage 10, the second stage I shot was good enough for 16th in Division, and 55th overall. When I see the video I was not aggressive, and lost a lot of time on transitions, but I had a good plan, I was aggressive to my positions, and I looked confident. The last position I ran the gun like I can run it.
Bits and pieces of the match had it going on, but I did not have "it" all the way thru, but I did have it more together than any match I've shot in probably 10 months. I felt like my plans were generally solid, I ran the gun well only part of the time, a lot of time I was not aggressive enough on wide open targets, and I left an awful lot of time on the table that way.
I can build on what happened here, seeing progress is a major relief, and it's a sign that I am capable of doing something right, which I had doubts about over the past weekend. My gun is at Hayes Custom Gun's for a new trigger, which is the only mechanical issue that I have really had with the switch to Limited. The 2011 trigger was just too short, compared to the CZ trigger, and I had a tendency to get too much finger in, and push shots, which has led to more than a few mikes. I'm getting a longer, flat trigger put in, and next Friday I should have it back, and can get back to work. No matter how it comes back, and I'm sure it'll be amazing, I'm going to have to get used to it, and not let it be an excuse. Dry fire, learn it, master it, and make it my own.
I think I nailed a lot of my issues over the last weekend. Now I need to keep the dry fire, and once a week live fire, and we'll be moving the right direction. I may shoot the Texas Riveria end of May, but most likely next major will be Double Tap in about 45 days, so I need a 6 week plan and commitment, if I want to keep trending the right way. Goal there will be sub 5 mikes, and it should be a much more challenging match, so if I can do that, I'm working the right way. Excited for it, and for building towards bringing the best match I have to Limited Nationals in October.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Friday, April 24, 2015
Texas Open 4-24-15
Texas Open 4-24-15
Texas Open was a lesson in how not aggressive I've become on stages. Scores are not in, but I achieved a goal of single digit mikes, and it was made worse by one lousy call (a paster, not enough ammo to re-shoot) and a magazine feed issue that cost me 2 mikes and got me a FTE. All that said, I had some solid stages in the middle, but I'm just not running the gun all that hard, and it shows. I went back and looked at match video from when I was shooting Production, and I was more aggressive on stages, I had good splits, and solid transitions. Today I had points, but my transitions were not very good, my splits were not good, and my cadence really needs work. Look, massive improvement from where I was at the Florida Open, but still not even touching the surface of what I know I can do. Maybe it's a lack of confidence, I'm not sure, but I do know that I've got to find out, and deal with it quickly.
I missed 6 stages worth of video, so here is what I have:
Stage 11:
As I predicted, the steel plates at my lunch. I've always had an issue where I have to aim almost upwards at something, and on this stage it kicked my ass.
Stage 8:
Okay, what went wrong? I did not go to my 2nd target, and lost time hunting and pecking, but I picked up a little speed from there. Once I moved to the 2nd position, I have no idea why I did not shoot faster, I went way too slow. Then post reload I had a feed issue, and ended up taking 2 mikes and an FTE on the long target when I spent 25 seconds trying to clear the jam. I thought that was a better play that finally taking the shots.
Stage 7:
I had a pretty sound plan, and I did execute it, but once again, transitions and splits are slow, I just did not have the urgency needed to make this an outstanding stage. I think it was actually the best run in the squad, but I left some time on the table here.
Stage 2:
Name of the game was speed, and I did not have it. Run was solid, good hits, good plan for Limited, but not running the gun all that hard.
Stage 10:
Running the gun? Got my hits, but had big gaps in some transitions, like I was not decisive, despite knowing where I wanted to go. The make up on the 2nd position really hurt, I thought I clipped barrel on my first shot, but turns out I did not. I also dropped a mag on the reload, which added to the time. Three mag drops in three matches, I think it's time to really work on my index.
Stage 9:
Got hits, but I'm a little disappointed that I had wide open, on the move targets out of the first position, and I went really slow getting to them. Hits yes! Speed no.
Stage 6:
Arguably my best stage of the day. Good hits (disputed call on one, cost me, especially since someone pasted it, and I did not have enough ammo for the re-shoot) This is the cadence that I was looking for, I did respect and take more time on the shots thru the port, but I'm fine with that. I felt really confident on this stage, and this is what I'm looking to carry forward.
Summary
Look, getting hits is a big step from where I was a couple of months ago, but I'm really not feeling the aggressive pace, confidence, and speed in running the gun. I think some of that is the change from minor to major, and I'm going to have to improve my grip along with the other items that I listed. I know I'm harping on the speed, but I really am a lot happier with the way I shot today than I was last weekend, I mean night and day in terms of hits. Obviously there are things that I'm going to have to fix, but one thing I probably missed is that I need to find that cadence, and really work on it. I know I can do it, I just need to execute the way I know I can.
Had some solid progress this week.
Texas Open was a lesson in how not aggressive I've become on stages. Scores are not in, but I achieved a goal of single digit mikes, and it was made worse by one lousy call (a paster, not enough ammo to re-shoot) and a magazine feed issue that cost me 2 mikes and got me a FTE. All that said, I had some solid stages in the middle, but I'm just not running the gun all that hard, and it shows. I went back and looked at match video from when I was shooting Production, and I was more aggressive on stages, I had good splits, and solid transitions. Today I had points, but my transitions were not very good, my splits were not good, and my cadence really needs work. Look, massive improvement from where I was at the Florida Open, but still not even touching the surface of what I know I can do. Maybe it's a lack of confidence, I'm not sure, but I do know that I've got to find out, and deal with it quickly.
I missed 6 stages worth of video, so here is what I have:
Stage 11:
As I predicted, the steel plates at my lunch. I've always had an issue where I have to aim almost upwards at something, and on this stage it kicked my ass.
Stage 8:
Okay, what went wrong? I did not go to my 2nd target, and lost time hunting and pecking, but I picked up a little speed from there. Once I moved to the 2nd position, I have no idea why I did not shoot faster, I went way too slow. Then post reload I had a feed issue, and ended up taking 2 mikes and an FTE on the long target when I spent 25 seconds trying to clear the jam. I thought that was a better play that finally taking the shots.
Stage 7:
I had a pretty sound plan, and I did execute it, but once again, transitions and splits are slow, I just did not have the urgency needed to make this an outstanding stage. I think it was actually the best run in the squad, but I left some time on the table here.
Stage 2:
Name of the game was speed, and I did not have it. Run was solid, good hits, good plan for Limited, but not running the gun all that hard.
Stage 10:
Running the gun? Got my hits, but had big gaps in some transitions, like I was not decisive, despite knowing where I wanted to go. The make up on the 2nd position really hurt, I thought I clipped barrel on my first shot, but turns out I did not. I also dropped a mag on the reload, which added to the time. Three mag drops in three matches, I think it's time to really work on my index.
Stage 9:
Got hits, but I'm a little disappointed that I had wide open, on the move targets out of the first position, and I went really slow getting to them. Hits yes! Speed no.
Stage 6:
Arguably my best stage of the day. Good hits (disputed call on one, cost me, especially since someone pasted it, and I did not have enough ammo for the re-shoot) This is the cadence that I was looking for, I did respect and take more time on the shots thru the port, but I'm fine with that. I felt really confident on this stage, and this is what I'm looking to carry forward.
Summary
Look, getting hits is a big step from where I was a couple of months ago, but I'm really not feeling the aggressive pace, confidence, and speed in running the gun. I think some of that is the change from minor to major, and I'm going to have to improve my grip along with the other items that I listed. I know I'm harping on the speed, but I really am a lot happier with the way I shot today than I was last weekend, I mean night and day in terms of hits. Obviously there are things that I'm going to have to fix, but one thing I probably missed is that I need to find that cadence, and really work on it. I know I can do it, I just need to execute the way I know I can.
Had some solid progress this week.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Linda Temple Match 4/19
Temple Match 4/19
I went into the match not setting incredibly high expectations, I knew I had not dry fired nearly enough, but wanted to make sure I still did the basics correct. My last showing at Temple was not pretty all, so I wanted redemption.
Started on Stage 4:
I shot 96 out of 112 points. My time was 24.76. I forgot to load to 11 on the start for the first array so I wouldn't have to go to slide lock. On my last array I saw hesitation about my plan. I think the draw and the reload from what I can see looked ok.
Stage 5:
Classifier: 99-28
The last time I shot this classifier, I was so excited to get roughly 11 seconds on. On Sunday I rolled out 7.83 time, I shot for only 48 points out of 60. I had the lowest points in my squad, but if I had the hits, I would have finished much higher. I need to have better accuracy and reload faster from last shot to my belt for the reload.
Stage 6:
I shot for 90 out of 132 points. My time was 22.36. I saw that my grip needed to be better. My first reload was slow, I have to urgency to complete it. My second reload was just plan ugly. I had a good plan, but had a FTE for missing the target
Stage 1:
I had 77 out of the 94 points. My time was 28.03 I really need to show more urgency on these types stages. I can not let the barrels get to me. My plan was ok, needed to execute it better.
Stage 2:
I had 95 out of 135 points. My time was 43.69. My draw was ok, I had an ok plan. With my plan I know I needed to end up going into the last array with 11 rounds. Somehow that messes up my head. Texas Star....you'd would think living here I would like with it . It messes with my head. I stopped to engage the STAR when it first comes visible. I should have tried to shoot it on the other side of the barrel the last plates in stead of giving up. Last array I see and hear like I was shooting left and hitting the wall divider.
Stage 3:
I had 131 out of 143 points. My time was 33.17 My draw was good. My transitions seem decent. I slowed down on the steel I was missing. Noticed I reloaded after 4 shots for no reason. My grip was not ok on some targets On my last reload, I say myself watch the mag go into the gun.
Summary:
As a whole great match. Les was in town, so it felt like past times. My times were pretty decent, but I don't shoot accurately. Not that it was a ton of mikes. I need more alphas. So need some live fire practice to help with accuracy, maybe shooting groups with the .22?
I went into the match not setting incredibly high expectations, I knew I had not dry fired nearly enough, but wanted to make sure I still did the basics correct. My last showing at Temple was not pretty all, so I wanted redemption.
Started on Stage 4:
I shot 96 out of 112 points. My time was 24.76. I forgot to load to 11 on the start for the first array so I wouldn't have to go to slide lock. On my last array I saw hesitation about my plan. I think the draw and the reload from what I can see looked ok.
Stage 5:
Classifier: 99-28
The last time I shot this classifier, I was so excited to get roughly 11 seconds on. On Sunday I rolled out 7.83 time, I shot for only 48 points out of 60. I had the lowest points in my squad, but if I had the hits, I would have finished much higher. I need to have better accuracy and reload faster from last shot to my belt for the reload.
Stage 6:
I shot for 90 out of 132 points. My time was 22.36. I saw that my grip needed to be better. My first reload was slow, I have to urgency to complete it. My second reload was just plan ugly. I had a good plan, but had a FTE for missing the target
Stage 1:
I had 77 out of the 94 points. My time was 28.03 I really need to show more urgency on these types stages. I can not let the barrels get to me. My plan was ok, needed to execute it better.
Stage 2:
I had 95 out of 135 points. My time was 43.69. My draw was ok, I had an ok plan. With my plan I know I needed to end up going into the last array with 11 rounds. Somehow that messes up my head. Texas Star....you'd would think living here I would like with it . It messes with my head. I stopped to engage the STAR when it first comes visible. I should have tried to shoot it on the other side of the barrel the last plates in stead of giving up. Last array I see and hear like I was shooting left and hitting the wall divider.
Stage 3:
I had 131 out of 143 points. My time was 33.17 My draw was good. My transitions seem decent. I slowed down on the steel I was missing. Noticed I reloaded after 4 shots for no reason. My grip was not ok on some targets On my last reload, I say myself watch the mag go into the gun.
Summary:
As a whole great match. Les was in town, so it felt like past times. My times were pretty decent, but I don't shoot accurately. Not that it was a ton of mikes. I need more alphas. So need some live fire practice to help with accuracy, maybe shooting groups with the .22?
Weekend in Review
Weekend in Review
An awful lot to think about after the two matches this weekend. Sure, I enjoyed having Les here, and it was great running with him again, but I really wanted him to enjoy himself at the matches, and not have him babysitting me, especially when I was starting to struggle. Kozy gave me a mission to sit down and list out everything that went wrong, and take it a step further and plan how I'm going to fix it. My fear was that I was going to watch the video's, take notes, and see an absolute shit show, but putting things in perspective, I watched a match I shot in September of '13, and I realize then that I was doing damn near everything wrong, there was no consistency.
I'm not in that place today, and what I actually saw was repetition of the same mistakes over and over, and honestly that makes me happy because it means that if I fix a few issues, I'm going to see a lot more consistency, and I can improve. It would have been a little disheartening to say that absolutely everything I'm doing is wrong. So let's start the list out.
1) My Draw
I was fairly slow to my first shot, the gun is getting up and out, but I'm not finding my sight, and that's something that repetition in dry fire can iron out. I suspect I'm not getting the support hand on early enough, and I'm thinking about my trigger finger, and how I've managed to get too much finger on the trigger and pushed shots. I see I'm doing it when scoring a stage when I have an Alpha, and one shot low and left, always the follow-up. With that, it's stop bitching, and spend the $30 and buy the longer flat trigger. Gear the right way, and then work with what you have. The other thing I need to go back to, is varying the dry fire, don't just go from the holster, do table start's, unloaded starts, that sort of thing. It cost me on one stage when I forgot to rack the gun.
In the grand scheme of things though, this is not my big killer, and while it's easy to spot, and easy to work on, I don't need to devote endless time to it, get my draw back in the 1.5 range and I'm not going to get killed. This is something I need to do weekly, and spend time on, but not focus.
2) Reloads
In standing dry fire, I always grab the mag on the center of my belt, in live fire I go for the hip, this proves that muscle memory training works, but it's not exactly helping me right now. I consistently was going to the hip all weekend long, and that tells me I need to vary my dry fire, and instead of standing and Burkett reloads, I need to add movement. Reload going right, going left, shoot 4, reload 4. Things that make me do other things, and train what I need to be doing.
Like the draw, this is not going to be a huge focus. My reloads from the hip were not time wise okay, call it 1.6-1.8 seconds, instead of a live 1.2 second reload. At my level a .4 to .6 second time saving is not going to deliver the biggest bang for the buck. I reload once per stage, so working on it is great, making it a focus is not a good time investment.
All that said, indexing the mag is going to be something I spend a little time with, because I dropped mags twice this weekend as the result of a poor index. That's just something I simply cannot afford to have happen in a match.
3) Stage Planning
My plans were not awful this weekend, but I made the D class mistake of changing a set plan just before going to the line. I know better. Once a plan is set in walk thru, it should not change, I'm not good enough to make adjustments. Sticking with a plan usually does not kill you, changing a plan can result in a much higher disaster factor, and that's not worth it. Rookie mistake can end your match pretty early on.
In addition, make sure that I'm coming in on targets and leaving on targets the right way. A couple of stages left me with back and forth transitions that I did not need. I also posted up in the wrong place a couple of times, and had to shuffle step to see a second target, where if I had hit my mark, it would not have required that adjustment.
I need to make sure that I'm not doing dumb things. On one stage on Sunday I forced myself into multiple long and challenging shots thinking the plan would save me time. Problem was that I struggled with hits as a result and took longer to get my sights respecting that the targets were harder. In the end, I would have been far better off had I kept to my original plan, I suspect I would have done far better on that stage.
4) Movement
Yeah, my foot speed needs to get better, but where I can make some gains is with foot work. I overran some targets, did not come in cleanly, I touched on missing my mark in Stage Planning, but it all goes together. The big one that bit me a couple of times was not getting down lower thru a port. Looking down on your gun or your sights means you don't align your sights. That's sheer laziness on my part, I know better, and have no excuse to let that sort of thing happen.
5) Accuracy/Cadence
When I'm on with my new gun, I'm on all the way. There were a couple of stages with 28+ Alpha's out of 32 rounds, I know I can do this, and I'm more accurate in Limited than I was in Production. Go figure that one.....
That said, I made mistakes out of sloppiness, I dragged the gun across targets, I did not see my sights, and in a few cases I was hunting for targets, I did not decisively go for the targets I needed to hit. Transitions, especially wide ones need some work, and I think the biggest difference in my accuracy is that the CZ was lighter, and easier for me to drive between targets, the Edge is heavy and my transitions are slower, but it forces me to better see my sights. When I get all hot and bothered, that's where I start breaking shots early, but I think this is more the next issue than a shooting issue. Shooting some groups is on the agenda as well.
In Production I loved seeing steel on a stage, and in Limited I'm struggling again. I am however focused on paper, something I struggled with in Production, again a head scratcher moment for me. I need to add steel to both dry fire, and to live fire.
6) Mentality
In a squad of 8 members, 7 of whom are GM's and Masters, it's stupid to try to match them or compete with them. I know my limits, so shoot my own game. The more I shoot, the more the sport because instinctive, and the less thinking I have to do, the easier it is for me to focus on my sights. Mental toughness is not just carrying mistakes from stage to stage, it's also recovering while on the same stage. Don't let a mistake become a train wreck. At the Alpha Mike match last month, I made a mistake, knew it, and kept on going full speed, and tried to fix it by shooting well, on Sunday I made one mistake, made another, and then sank myself. While I'm not carrying stuff from stage to stage as much as I used to, if I'm honest with myself, I can still do better.
Coupled with that, I need to realize that you can't go faster to fix mistakes, what you end up doing is making more. Accept a mistake and keep going. Several times over the weekend I made one mistake, and tried to rush to "make it up", and I made more mistakes. From dragging and shooting into hard cover, (not seeing my sights) over running targets, to sinking myself after a steel struggle. All of those mistakes would not have been made worse, just keep to my game, and I'm okay.
I had some good moments, but I'm not ready for Limited Nationals, not even close. I have just over 5 months, and 4 more majors to get my game in gear. The reality is all the items on the list are fixable, with a little work, the fact they are issues is an indication that I'm cheating in my dry fire, and that I'm not putting in the work that I need to be successful. If I don't start putting in the effort, then my lack of performance will be on my own head. I'm owning it, because by Area 4 in September, I'm going to roll out a solid match from beginning to end when I'm with Kozy and Les again.
An awful lot to think about after the two matches this weekend. Sure, I enjoyed having Les here, and it was great running with him again, but I really wanted him to enjoy himself at the matches, and not have him babysitting me, especially when I was starting to struggle. Kozy gave me a mission to sit down and list out everything that went wrong, and take it a step further and plan how I'm going to fix it. My fear was that I was going to watch the video's, take notes, and see an absolute shit show, but putting things in perspective, I watched a match I shot in September of '13, and I realize then that I was doing damn near everything wrong, there was no consistency.
I'm not in that place today, and what I actually saw was repetition of the same mistakes over and over, and honestly that makes me happy because it means that if I fix a few issues, I'm going to see a lot more consistency, and I can improve. It would have been a little disheartening to say that absolutely everything I'm doing is wrong. So let's start the list out.
1) My Draw
I was fairly slow to my first shot, the gun is getting up and out, but I'm not finding my sight, and that's something that repetition in dry fire can iron out. I suspect I'm not getting the support hand on early enough, and I'm thinking about my trigger finger, and how I've managed to get too much finger on the trigger and pushed shots. I see I'm doing it when scoring a stage when I have an Alpha, and one shot low and left, always the follow-up. With that, it's stop bitching, and spend the $30 and buy the longer flat trigger. Gear the right way, and then work with what you have. The other thing I need to go back to, is varying the dry fire, don't just go from the holster, do table start's, unloaded starts, that sort of thing. It cost me on one stage when I forgot to rack the gun.
In the grand scheme of things though, this is not my big killer, and while it's easy to spot, and easy to work on, I don't need to devote endless time to it, get my draw back in the 1.5 range and I'm not going to get killed. This is something I need to do weekly, and spend time on, but not focus.
2) Reloads
In standing dry fire, I always grab the mag on the center of my belt, in live fire I go for the hip, this proves that muscle memory training works, but it's not exactly helping me right now. I consistently was going to the hip all weekend long, and that tells me I need to vary my dry fire, and instead of standing and Burkett reloads, I need to add movement. Reload going right, going left, shoot 4, reload 4. Things that make me do other things, and train what I need to be doing.
Like the draw, this is not going to be a huge focus. My reloads from the hip were not time wise okay, call it 1.6-1.8 seconds, instead of a live 1.2 second reload. At my level a .4 to .6 second time saving is not going to deliver the biggest bang for the buck. I reload once per stage, so working on it is great, making it a focus is not a good time investment.
All that said, indexing the mag is going to be something I spend a little time with, because I dropped mags twice this weekend as the result of a poor index. That's just something I simply cannot afford to have happen in a match.
3) Stage Planning
My plans were not awful this weekend, but I made the D class mistake of changing a set plan just before going to the line. I know better. Once a plan is set in walk thru, it should not change, I'm not good enough to make adjustments. Sticking with a plan usually does not kill you, changing a plan can result in a much higher disaster factor, and that's not worth it. Rookie mistake can end your match pretty early on.
In addition, make sure that I'm coming in on targets and leaving on targets the right way. A couple of stages left me with back and forth transitions that I did not need. I also posted up in the wrong place a couple of times, and had to shuffle step to see a second target, where if I had hit my mark, it would not have required that adjustment.
I need to make sure that I'm not doing dumb things. On one stage on Sunday I forced myself into multiple long and challenging shots thinking the plan would save me time. Problem was that I struggled with hits as a result and took longer to get my sights respecting that the targets were harder. In the end, I would have been far better off had I kept to my original plan, I suspect I would have done far better on that stage.
4) Movement
Yeah, my foot speed needs to get better, but where I can make some gains is with foot work. I overran some targets, did not come in cleanly, I touched on missing my mark in Stage Planning, but it all goes together. The big one that bit me a couple of times was not getting down lower thru a port. Looking down on your gun or your sights means you don't align your sights. That's sheer laziness on my part, I know better, and have no excuse to let that sort of thing happen.
5) Accuracy/Cadence
When I'm on with my new gun, I'm on all the way. There were a couple of stages with 28+ Alpha's out of 32 rounds, I know I can do this, and I'm more accurate in Limited than I was in Production. Go figure that one.....
That said, I made mistakes out of sloppiness, I dragged the gun across targets, I did not see my sights, and in a few cases I was hunting for targets, I did not decisively go for the targets I needed to hit. Transitions, especially wide ones need some work, and I think the biggest difference in my accuracy is that the CZ was lighter, and easier for me to drive between targets, the Edge is heavy and my transitions are slower, but it forces me to better see my sights. When I get all hot and bothered, that's where I start breaking shots early, but I think this is more the next issue than a shooting issue. Shooting some groups is on the agenda as well.
In Production I loved seeing steel on a stage, and in Limited I'm struggling again. I am however focused on paper, something I struggled with in Production, again a head scratcher moment for me. I need to add steel to both dry fire, and to live fire.
6) Mentality
In a squad of 8 members, 7 of whom are GM's and Masters, it's stupid to try to match them or compete with them. I know my limits, so shoot my own game. The more I shoot, the more the sport because instinctive, and the less thinking I have to do, the easier it is for me to focus on my sights. Mental toughness is not just carrying mistakes from stage to stage, it's also recovering while on the same stage. Don't let a mistake become a train wreck. At the Alpha Mike match last month, I made a mistake, knew it, and kept on going full speed, and tried to fix it by shooting well, on Sunday I made one mistake, made another, and then sank myself. While I'm not carrying stuff from stage to stage as much as I used to, if I'm honest with myself, I can still do better.
Coupled with that, I need to realize that you can't go faster to fix mistakes, what you end up doing is making more. Accept a mistake and keep going. Several times over the weekend I made one mistake, and tried to rush to "make it up", and I made more mistakes. From dragging and shooting into hard cover, (not seeing my sights) over running targets, to sinking myself after a steel struggle. All of those mistakes would not have been made worse, just keep to my game, and I'm okay.
I had some good moments, but I'm not ready for Limited Nationals, not even close. I have just over 5 months, and 4 more majors to get my game in gear. The reality is all the items on the list are fixable, with a little work, the fact they are issues is an indication that I'm cheating in my dry fire, and that I'm not putting in the work that I need to be successful. If I don't start putting in the effort, then my lack of performance will be on my own head. I'm owning it, because by Area 4 in September, I'm going to roll out a solid match from beginning to end when I'm with Kozy and Les again.
Temple Gun Club 4-20-15
Temple Gun Club 4-20-15
Day 2 of the weekend adventure was supposed to be a better match for me, I was ready to roll, I had a decent night of sleep, and I thought I was prepared. There were big storms the night before, and the skies were grey when we rolled out, despite some standing water and mud early on the day turned out great, even if my shooting did not. Second day of shooting with Les and Linda was great, felt like old times all over again. My overall match was not what I wanted, and again there are things that I can clean up with practice, but the mental errors and dumb, D class mistakes I made are what left me feeling upset with my performance.
TGC 4-20-15 Results
Video in the order I shot them, not the match order.
Stage 4: The Saloon
I finished 11th of 13th in Limited, but my time was actually 1.7 seconds faster than anyone in Limited. What got me was 70 points of penalties. In the port I did not see my sights on the far targets, and that's a result of not getting lower and keeping my head at gun level. I also threw one into a no-shoot on the left hand side because I broke the shot while dragging. These are the kinds of stages that I usually do well at, limited movement, and I can get into a cadence with no hunting for targets. It was disappointing to shoot this poorly to start the day.
Stage 5: Hillbilton Drill CM 99-28
I had a 7.38 Hit Factor, good enough for a 75.7% run (another A class run), I was 2nd place in Limited, and I had the 2nd faster time despite the slow draw, almost missed reload, and single steel make up. I'm not griping at any of those things, my point is that I left some time on the table that I can clean up, when I was done I thought it was a 55% run, but only dropping a single charlie really made it work. I can do this stuff, and on a stand and deliver stages like Stage 4, this is the performance that I kind of expect. I think with practice I can drop another second, (which still would not have "won" the stage) but it's in me. This was good for 11th overall among the 43 shooters there.
Stage 6: Stage 6
12th place in Limited, with the 3rd best Limited time. What went wrong? Rookie mistake. I had a plan in mind, and I'm going to post the video of Les, because my plan looked a lot like it. I was more movement, but would have put me in better position to get clean shots, and easier shots. I took tougher shots, had poor hits, took 70 penalty points, and one target I engaged twice, and I left one target un-engaged. This is the "D" class mistake, I saw some Open shooters run it this way, and I made a last second decision to try it that way, and it cost me big. I should be so beyond that kind of mistake, some of it I attribute again to my overestimating my abilities. The "safe" Les plan, actually won Production, and was faster than most production shooters. Even if I added 3 seconds, and eliminated the 70 points in penalty, I'd have been far better off.
How Les did it:
He had more movement, but it was a smart plan that kept him getting points and not having to take longer or harder shots. His splits and transitions are lightening fast, not that I was trying to equal that, but longer and harder shots lead to slower splits and transitions, something I did not think about.
Stage 1: Chaos
4th Place in Limited, 4 seconds off the top time. What cost me a place was a mike on the first target. If you notice, I load the mag, and start to shoot without racking the gun, it almost left me out of position, but having to go back and rack made me rush that first shot, and I put it into hard cover. One shot per target is different to me, but it was a fun stage, and I know I lost some time on the long targets, I was very happy with my hitting the long steel. Fundamentally other than the reason for the mike, I don't have complaints about this stage, I was satisfied. Sure, I see things to clean up, but this was solid.
Stage 2: Junk Yard
9th in Limited, 30 penalty points and about 17 seconds slower than I should have been. (And I still had the 6th best Limited time......that says more about the other shooters than me.) So, I lined up that popper in the first position, took forever to take the shot, and if you'll notice, I left without hitting it. Not entirely sure what happened. Before the Texas Star my hits were outstanding, mostly all Alpha, but when I struggled on the star it changed the stage, and I unraveled. Besides not being accurate on the star, I took a plate out of order that caused the star to be out of balance and swing like crazy super fast, so I figured I would take a mike on one steel, keep going, and save time. I killed it from there though by dropping my magazine on the reload, and having to pick it up because it was my last mag, and then putting two shots into hard cover. I think mentally I was roughed up, and unfortunately I let it get the best of me.
Stage 3: Cactus Jack
6th place in Limited, 3rd fastest time (.2 behind the 2nd fastest time) and 4 seconds behind the best time. What got me? 20 points in penalties. First position, there is a small steel plate that you can clearly seen, I saw it in walk thru, I was had it in my plan, and I out and out forgot it when the buzzed went off. I left that plate standing, but I was fine thru position 2, the reload and into position 3. I took another mike on the 2nd target into the final position, Les, Roy, and everyone else told me I never stopped the gun, and swept right past the far target because I was in a hurry to get to the steel and the other outside targets I was finishing on. Short version, did not see my sights.
Summary:
As has been the norm, I can't string together a whole match, I have some really good highs, usually on the stages that let me focus on gun handling, but I struggle on the field courses. I'm still not reloading from the front mag pouch consistently, and it's time to either move it back, or commit to fixing it via dry fire. Mentally, I honestly think I have a tendency to over think, when I have a "shoot by the numbers" mentality, that I must do A, B, C, D in order I lose my focus when something goes wrong. When I'm at my best, I feel like I let my instincts take over, and I just focus on the sight. I'm not sure how to bring that to every stage, but I think I lack confidence in many skills, and deservedly so. When I can become more consistent with my dry fire, then I'll see more consistency in matches, I have to think about certain things, I'll be able to shoot.
It feels like I have a long way to go, but I honestly believe that 30 days of dry fire, and weekly live fire practice and I'll be able to smooth out a lot of rough edges. If I haven't, I suspect it will be because I did not put in the work needed to make it happen. Up to me!
Day 2 of the weekend adventure was supposed to be a better match for me, I was ready to roll, I had a decent night of sleep, and I thought I was prepared. There were big storms the night before, and the skies were grey when we rolled out, despite some standing water and mud early on the day turned out great, even if my shooting did not. Second day of shooting with Les and Linda was great, felt like old times all over again. My overall match was not what I wanted, and again there are things that I can clean up with practice, but the mental errors and dumb, D class mistakes I made are what left me feeling upset with my performance.
TGC 4-20-15 Results
Video in the order I shot them, not the match order.
Stage 4: The Saloon
I finished 11th of 13th in Limited, but my time was actually 1.7 seconds faster than anyone in Limited. What got me was 70 points of penalties. In the port I did not see my sights on the far targets, and that's a result of not getting lower and keeping my head at gun level. I also threw one into a no-shoot on the left hand side because I broke the shot while dragging. These are the kinds of stages that I usually do well at, limited movement, and I can get into a cadence with no hunting for targets. It was disappointing to shoot this poorly to start the day.
Stage 5: Hillbilton Drill CM 99-28
I had a 7.38 Hit Factor, good enough for a 75.7% run (another A class run), I was 2nd place in Limited, and I had the 2nd faster time despite the slow draw, almost missed reload, and single steel make up. I'm not griping at any of those things, my point is that I left some time on the table that I can clean up, when I was done I thought it was a 55% run, but only dropping a single charlie really made it work. I can do this stuff, and on a stand and deliver stages like Stage 4, this is the performance that I kind of expect. I think with practice I can drop another second, (which still would not have "won" the stage) but it's in me. This was good for 11th overall among the 43 shooters there.
Stage 6: Stage 6
12th place in Limited, with the 3rd best Limited time. What went wrong? Rookie mistake. I had a plan in mind, and I'm going to post the video of Les, because my plan looked a lot like it. I was more movement, but would have put me in better position to get clean shots, and easier shots. I took tougher shots, had poor hits, took 70 penalty points, and one target I engaged twice, and I left one target un-engaged. This is the "D" class mistake, I saw some Open shooters run it this way, and I made a last second decision to try it that way, and it cost me big. I should be so beyond that kind of mistake, some of it I attribute again to my overestimating my abilities. The "safe" Les plan, actually won Production, and was faster than most production shooters. Even if I added 3 seconds, and eliminated the 70 points in penalty, I'd have been far better off.
How Les did it:
He had more movement, but it was a smart plan that kept him getting points and not having to take longer or harder shots. His splits and transitions are lightening fast, not that I was trying to equal that, but longer and harder shots lead to slower splits and transitions, something I did not think about.
Stage 1: Chaos
4th Place in Limited, 4 seconds off the top time. What cost me a place was a mike on the first target. If you notice, I load the mag, and start to shoot without racking the gun, it almost left me out of position, but having to go back and rack made me rush that first shot, and I put it into hard cover. One shot per target is different to me, but it was a fun stage, and I know I lost some time on the long targets, I was very happy with my hitting the long steel. Fundamentally other than the reason for the mike, I don't have complaints about this stage, I was satisfied. Sure, I see things to clean up, but this was solid.
Stage 2: Junk Yard
9th in Limited, 30 penalty points and about 17 seconds slower than I should have been. (And I still had the 6th best Limited time......that says more about the other shooters than me.) So, I lined up that popper in the first position, took forever to take the shot, and if you'll notice, I left without hitting it. Not entirely sure what happened. Before the Texas Star my hits were outstanding, mostly all Alpha, but when I struggled on the star it changed the stage, and I unraveled. Besides not being accurate on the star, I took a plate out of order that caused the star to be out of balance and swing like crazy super fast, so I figured I would take a mike on one steel, keep going, and save time. I killed it from there though by dropping my magazine on the reload, and having to pick it up because it was my last mag, and then putting two shots into hard cover. I think mentally I was roughed up, and unfortunately I let it get the best of me.
Stage 3: Cactus Jack
6th place in Limited, 3rd fastest time (.2 behind the 2nd fastest time) and 4 seconds behind the best time. What got me? 20 points in penalties. First position, there is a small steel plate that you can clearly seen, I saw it in walk thru, I was had it in my plan, and I out and out forgot it when the buzzed went off. I left that plate standing, but I was fine thru position 2, the reload and into position 3. I took another mike on the 2nd target into the final position, Les, Roy, and everyone else told me I never stopped the gun, and swept right past the far target because I was in a hurry to get to the steel and the other outside targets I was finishing on. Short version, did not see my sights.
Summary:
As has been the norm, I can't string together a whole match, I have some really good highs, usually on the stages that let me focus on gun handling, but I struggle on the field courses. I'm still not reloading from the front mag pouch consistently, and it's time to either move it back, or commit to fixing it via dry fire. Mentally, I honestly think I have a tendency to over think, when I have a "shoot by the numbers" mentality, that I must do A, B, C, D in order I lose my focus when something goes wrong. When I'm at my best, I feel like I let my instincts take over, and I just focus on the sight. I'm not sure how to bring that to every stage, but I think I lack confidence in many skills, and deservedly so. When I can become more consistent with my dry fire, then I'll see more consistency in matches, I have to think about certain things, I'll be able to shoot.
It feels like I have a long way to go, but I honestly believe that 30 days of dry fire, and weekly live fire practice and I'll be able to smooth out a lot of rough edges. If I haven't, I suspect it will be because I did not put in the work needed to make it happen. Up to me!
Central Texas Match 4-18-15
Central Texas Match 4-18-15
I was excited to have Les down for the weekend to do some shooting, in the last 10 months, I've shot the Florida Open with him, and that's it. For someone I shot darn near weekly with, and in some cases a couple of times a week with before that, it's been a rough go. I also was hoping he'd see a couple of outstanding matches this weekend, and he'd enjoy his time here. His plan was to hopefully shoot with Kale Garretson, but Kale bailed on the match because of the potential for bad weather, which I can't blame him for, because 6 hours for a couple of club matches is an awful lot. That said, bad weather the night before left the match in doubt, and only 18 shooters came. Of the 18 shooters, 8 of the shooters hold a Grand Master or Master class certification in a division, which meant that the match was going to be very competitive, and personally, I did not have a hopes of placing well, I just wanted to shoot well. Of the 8 shooters on the squad, 7 were GM/M, I was the only one not classed that highly.
CTRP Scores
Video in the order that I shot stages:
Stage 3: Ken '40 Alvardo Stage
15th of 18th overall on the first stage of the day does not help me build confidence, nor did the numerous errors that were unforced. I knew my count, and should have reloaded out of the 2nd position, but I did not for some reason, I dropped the mag on the reload, went down the "left" corridor not the right one like I had planned, and I was trying to make up time, and I dragged a shot into hard cover really hurt. I had 28 Alpha out of 32 shots, and that's solid, but the miss, and the mental errors hurt. I did not lose 13 seconds with those mistakes so overall speed in everything is a must.
Stage 4: Poppers Plates & Swingers
Let's see, I started off with a poor first step backwards, I should have taken two quick steps rather than trying to take one long one. The long first step left me too close to the wall to get the gun out during movement, and that cost me some time. With no shoots behind the activators I wanted to respect those shots, and while I did respect them, I again cost myself some time. My trouble with steel since switching to Limited made me cautious. The inaccuracy cost me extra shots, and time, and I finished 14th of 18, with a Mike on the left swinger.
Stage 5: CM 13-01 Disaster Factor
6.9106 run that is about a 68% in Limited. That was good enough for 2nd in Limited and 5th overall, but I think most of the GM/M types were trying to hundo it, so there were some errors. I was a second slower than the top Limited shooter, and I think some of that was that I just plain shot slowly on the top row of targets while I was trying to insure that I was putting hits on paper, and not on the no-shoots. B class is where I belong, I'm happy with the run, but as always I see room for improvement.
Stage 6: Classic of It's Own
The wheels fell off the bus on this stage, 17th of 18 shooters, 50 penalty points. I learned a lesson though, I was running the other guys, and kept saying "I can do that." The thing is, I can't. When I focus on my game, at my ability level, as I demonstrated on the previous stage, I can shoot solidly, when I try to get too aggressive, or do things I don't practice, I get hurt. I struggled on the long steel plate in position 1, and then I shot to slide lock of all things, and the taped targets went badly because I really did not aim, I got 3 on one, some in the tape, and only 1 on the next. I closed thru the port and did not get down or see my sights and did the same thing. Okay, a lot of shooting errors because of one big mental mistake, I did not shoot my game at my pace. Lesson learned.
Stage 1: Stage 1
Another stage where I was 14th of 18 overall. My time was 6 seconds off the top Limited shooters, and I don't think it was just movement, general inaccuracy hurt and slowed me down, as well as a poor cadence. What was the real killer was I dragged the gun and did not break shots cleanly, so I ended up again with 3 shots on a couple of targets, and only 1 on the other, one in the center array, one on the last array.
Stage 2: Holes in Hardcover
This was probably my best field stage of the day. 9th overall 3rd in Limited, 156 points, and a 5.87 Hit Factor. I wanted to close strong, and I felt like I started with a decent cadence, I got very good hits, and I proved to myself that I can do this, my time was 3 seconds off the two Limited shooters who beat me, and there was some time lost in movement. I was 6 seconds off the M/GM Open and Production shooters, so obviously there is a lot to clean up, but I'm pretty happy with this stage, and I think with dry fire, I can clean some up naturally.
Summary:
Look, I can't complain. If I had been working as hard as I should have, and as much as I wanted this would not have happened. I'm still doing a lot of things right, and the things that have gone wrong, have really been issues that I can fix in dry fire. Why haven't I? I can make all sorts of excuses but they would be excuses, if I'm going to get to the level I want to get to, then I need to work at it. Go time.
I was excited to have Les down for the weekend to do some shooting, in the last 10 months, I've shot the Florida Open with him, and that's it. For someone I shot darn near weekly with, and in some cases a couple of times a week with before that, it's been a rough go. I also was hoping he'd see a couple of outstanding matches this weekend, and he'd enjoy his time here. His plan was to hopefully shoot with Kale Garretson, but Kale bailed on the match because of the potential for bad weather, which I can't blame him for, because 6 hours for a couple of club matches is an awful lot. That said, bad weather the night before left the match in doubt, and only 18 shooters came. Of the 18 shooters, 8 of the shooters hold a Grand Master or Master class certification in a division, which meant that the match was going to be very competitive, and personally, I did not have a hopes of placing well, I just wanted to shoot well. Of the 8 shooters on the squad, 7 were GM/M, I was the only one not classed that highly.
CTRP Scores
Video in the order that I shot stages:
Stage 3: Ken '40 Alvardo Stage
15th of 18th overall on the first stage of the day does not help me build confidence, nor did the numerous errors that were unforced. I knew my count, and should have reloaded out of the 2nd position, but I did not for some reason, I dropped the mag on the reload, went down the "left" corridor not the right one like I had planned, and I was trying to make up time, and I dragged a shot into hard cover really hurt. I had 28 Alpha out of 32 shots, and that's solid, but the miss, and the mental errors hurt. I did not lose 13 seconds with those mistakes so overall speed in everything is a must.
Stage 4: Poppers Plates & Swingers
Let's see, I started off with a poor first step backwards, I should have taken two quick steps rather than trying to take one long one. The long first step left me too close to the wall to get the gun out during movement, and that cost me some time. With no shoots behind the activators I wanted to respect those shots, and while I did respect them, I again cost myself some time. My trouble with steel since switching to Limited made me cautious. The inaccuracy cost me extra shots, and time, and I finished 14th of 18, with a Mike on the left swinger.
Stage 5: CM 13-01 Disaster Factor
6.9106 run that is about a 68% in Limited. That was good enough for 2nd in Limited and 5th overall, but I think most of the GM/M types were trying to hundo it, so there were some errors. I was a second slower than the top Limited shooter, and I think some of that was that I just plain shot slowly on the top row of targets while I was trying to insure that I was putting hits on paper, and not on the no-shoots. B class is where I belong, I'm happy with the run, but as always I see room for improvement.
Stage 6: Classic of It's Own
The wheels fell off the bus on this stage, 17th of 18 shooters, 50 penalty points. I learned a lesson though, I was running the other guys, and kept saying "I can do that." The thing is, I can't. When I focus on my game, at my ability level, as I demonstrated on the previous stage, I can shoot solidly, when I try to get too aggressive, or do things I don't practice, I get hurt. I struggled on the long steel plate in position 1, and then I shot to slide lock of all things, and the taped targets went badly because I really did not aim, I got 3 on one, some in the tape, and only 1 on the next. I closed thru the port and did not get down or see my sights and did the same thing. Okay, a lot of shooting errors because of one big mental mistake, I did not shoot my game at my pace. Lesson learned.
Stage 1: Stage 1
Another stage where I was 14th of 18 overall. My time was 6 seconds off the top Limited shooters, and I don't think it was just movement, general inaccuracy hurt and slowed me down, as well as a poor cadence. What was the real killer was I dragged the gun and did not break shots cleanly, so I ended up again with 3 shots on a couple of targets, and only 1 on the other, one in the center array, one on the last array.
Stage 2: Holes in Hardcover
This was probably my best field stage of the day. 9th overall 3rd in Limited, 156 points, and a 5.87 Hit Factor. I wanted to close strong, and I felt like I started with a decent cadence, I got very good hits, and I proved to myself that I can do this, my time was 3 seconds off the two Limited shooters who beat me, and there was some time lost in movement. I was 6 seconds off the M/GM Open and Production shooters, so obviously there is a lot to clean up, but I'm pretty happy with this stage, and I think with dry fire, I can clean some up naturally.
Summary:
Look, I can't complain. If I had been working as hard as I should have, and as much as I wanted this would not have happened. I'm still doing a lot of things right, and the things that have gone wrong, have really been issues that I can fix in dry fire. Why haven't I? I can make all sorts of excuses but they would be excuses, if I'm going to get to the level I want to get to, then I need to work at it. Go time.
Some Updates
Some Updates
I've been really lax writing the past month or so, and unfortunately I have to admit I got lax in some practice habits, I'd say it was travel, or visiting with friends, but those are convenient, and if I'm honest with myself I could have done more, and did not, so it's on me.
I got my initial classification in Limited, I was fully expecting a "C", one step down from my Production classification, but I actually had my best ever classifier, a 75.702% on CM 99-62 Bang & Clang, which is actually my first A class run in any division. That's somewhat surprising since in Production, I'm at 71.29%, but I've never hit above a 75%. With that classifier, and couple of other solid B class runs, I actually ended up in B class.
I had thought that C was where I belonged, and I was alternately unhappy I earned the B, and then happy, when I realized that B is where I belong, and that what I need to do is work harder to perform. No reason to be in C for me at all, B means work, and why try to avoid that?
I've been really lax writing the past month or so, and unfortunately I have to admit I got lax in some practice habits, I'd say it was travel, or visiting with friends, but those are convenient, and if I'm honest with myself I could have done more, and did not, so it's on me.
I got my initial classification in Limited, I was fully expecting a "C", one step down from my Production classification, but I actually had my best ever classifier, a 75.702% on CM 99-62 Bang & Clang, which is actually my first A class run in any division. That's somewhat surprising since in Production, I'm at 71.29%, but I've never hit above a 75%. With that classifier, and couple of other solid B class runs, I actually ended up in B class.
I had thought that C was where I belonged, and I was alternately unhappy I earned the B, and then happy, when I realized that B is where I belong, and that what I need to do is work harder to perform. No reason to be in C for me at all, B means work, and why try to avoid that?
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