CTRP (Waco) Match 7-18-15
Ever have a day where nothing is quite right, where you can compound a mistake into something that makes it look even worse? That was today, I made one mistake pretty often (transitioning too fast and pulling my sights) that really hurt. I did not transition off into oblivion, just enough to put a shot into hard cover, or worse, onto a no-shoot. There are times and places when I need to slow down just a bit to make sure of a hit, and I'm not doing it.
Now, other than that? (Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?) I can't complain too much, I see definite things to work on, and more hallmarks of consistency (draw, reload) but I think I did do a few things pretty well.
Stage 2:
Do I have to say that on a tight target on the first array I popped one into hard cover, and again a little later on? My cadence was way too fast for the tight shots, I did not respect them the way that I should. So why did I push it? That long draw was because I did not engage the grip safety, and I had to re-grip, and when I had to do that, I started trying to go faster. My time was about 3 seconds off the top Limited times today, and I can see a few places where I could have picked it up. My other real gripe was that my hits were not great, I had a lot of A/C's and considering the distance on a few of them, I know I can do better.
Until I got to the last array, I was decisive, I knew my plan, and I attacked the stage. I think I had much better splits, and I attribute some of the poor hits (C's) to my other practice key point, making sure I have a much stronger grip than I did in Production.
Stage 3:
No mikes, and better hits, those are big pluses. I had to take a make-up shot on the 2nd array that cost me some time, and once again I show exactly why I need some work on steel. I struggled taking the steel. However, if you listen closely, the last steel I hit and it did not go over, and I came back for at least a couple more shots at it. I did not realize it until I watched the video, but this happened to a few people. The issue was that it was not getting set-up properly, people were just leaning it back, and not setting it on the hook. The R.O. caught it on the other folks, and told them not to shoot again. I was 5-6 seconds off the top Limited times, and I honestly think I could have shaved off at least 3-4 seconds had I hit the steel. Let's mark that down to work on!
Stage 4:
Okay, let's start with time, I was 8 seconds off the top Limited time, but I was within 2 seconds of the next 5 fastest times (actually I was faster than one of those) Better accuracy on the plate rack would have helped, what killed me was on the first array, I had an Alpha, Mike, No Shoot. Take the penalties out, I would have moved up a couple of spots. I thought I had a solid plan, the only "position" I would have changed, was running an extra 2 steps back rather than shuffling back once for two targets, and then again for the final target. Had I ran, I would have been faster, and an extra step or two would have allowed me to run the remaining 3 targets from one spot.
Stage 5:
One shot buried in hard cover, 2nd string, first target, I put one in the black. Other than that, I shot it clean, and I'm pretty happy that I did that, I paid proper respect to the center target, and I buried 3 shots dead center that you could cover with a single paster. That said, I was 4.5 seconds slower than the top times, and it's pretty easy to see that I could have saved at least a second on each run. I need some more confidence that I can run the gun a little harder, but having buried a few no shoots and hard cover earlier, I backed off the gas. That's a mistake. I know I can do it..
Stage 6:
Okay, once again a slow reaction on the draw cost me a little bit, but I felt like I ran the gun pretty well until the last shot of the first position, just a little trigger freeze. Missed on both sides and had to clean up the steel plates. (Seeing a theme here for practice?) My "tactical error" was after I opened the door, I thought I had time to get the target to the left and then get the max trap target. I blew that, I buried another shot in the hard cover to the left, and had to take 2 head shots on the max trap because it had closed. I nailed 'em, and if you listen, my splits were definitely slower, but I can live with that because I had to clean up a mistake. I'll do it differently next time, but I did not lose my focus, and I did what I had to do.
Stage 1:
Three seconds off the top time, and I shot this stage way too slow. Want to know how I know that? I had one charlie, everything else was an Alpha, so I dropped 1 point for the stage. That helped me to a 3rd in Limited finish on this stage, but considering it was a low degree of difficulty on the paper, that's again what I needed to do. So, where can I pick up time? I was slow to the reload, and walked it in, I had one make-up shot on steel (4 shots for 3 steel, still a better job than earlier) and I had some slow transitions on the targets that were behind the barrels, I wanted to make sure I did not clip a barrel.
That said, last stage was the best stage of the match for me, and I did a lot of things right here. Sure, I could have maybe picked up a second? Two seconds tops? Not enough to win the stage, but repetition in practice of those little things means that I can knock off those little things. There are definitely bigger gains to be made, but fixing the simple little things will make me more consistent, and let me focus on some of the bigger things.
Full Match:
I was a little over 80% of the top score, with a couple of Master Class shooters there. Time and points did me in, but I finished the right way, and I really did do an awful lot of other things right. My mistakes were punishing, but I really do believe it's just a matter of some hard work to eliminate an awful lot of the little stuff. I'm just in my 4th month of shooting Limited, with darn near 2 months of being unable to get live fire in because of the rains, and ranges being closed. I'm still at 70% in Limited, so I don't want to make it sound bleak. The only way I'm going to fix the little stuff is by grinding it out, because I have bigger things I need to work on if I'm going to be successful in Limited, like shooting on the move, something I'm still struggling on.
Okay, despite the bad, enough here I can build on, and can find to focus on in practice.
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