Texas Open Part 2

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.