2017 Cowtown Classic Scores
So where should I start with this match? I know early on I wanted to score 70% of the overall winner, but dry fire and live fire had me realistically thinking that 60% would be a reasonable finish, and I ended up at 59.47%, with a couple of issues that had me feeling reasonably good. It's funny, I always seem to find a ton of things that I'm doing wrong, and places I can improve, but it's been a long time since I've walked away from a match feeling like I did okay. This was my highest ever Major match finish. (82/187 and 29/44 in Open.)
I'm not going to kid myself and say it was "great", it wasn't, but it was not bad, especially since it's been 11 months since I've shot a USPSA match (okay, one classifier in there.) I knew I'd be rusty, I knew that there would be some struggles, and honestly, last time I walked away from the range feeling good about a match I shot was June of 2014, the last Oak Park match we shot before moving, that's a long time.
So let's begin:
Stage 1:
So keyed up that after the reload I forgot to go strong hand only, talk about a lousy way to start. The procedural hurt, but it also served as a reminder that I really needed to focus, so if it was going to happen, better to happen early, and on a low point stage.
Stage 9:
I finished 19th in Open on this stage, my second best finish for the match. My time was not outstanding, nor were my hits. I got stuck in the 2nd position longer than I wanted, and for some reason I kept looking left after the turn, and I knew the target was to my right, and that cost me having to post up in that spot. 16/9 Alpha to Charlie ratio was not too hot, but it felt good to get my first stage out of the way. 24 second time was 8 seconds slower than the top, and 2-3 seconds slower than I hoped to be.
Stage 10:
Multiple mistakes here. 41 second time was slow, and I was near the bottom of Open. Right off the bat, I screwed up my draw by not drawing straight out of the holster. My plan with the lean was a little risky, and I think I wasted more time by being slow in that first position. Then, for the first time, I lost the dot headed into the 2nd position, and while my hits were okay on the stage, I never got that sense of urgency back, and I took a lot of time making my way thru the stage.
Stage 11:
My time of just under 26 seconds was not bad, about 5 seconds off the top, but my 11/10 Alpha to Charlie hit ratio really cost me a ton of points. I also threw a mike, first target, 2nd position on the obstructed steel. It sure looks like I started to transition away from the target before I broke that second shot. I also felt fairly slow into, and out of my positions. I think I lost a few seconds, but the reality is my points, not speed are what hurt me here.
Stage 2:
Sub 25 second time on this stage was really not bad, it would have been in the Top 16 or so in Open, and I lost time by being slow off the first target, and taking the head shots on the following two targets probably slower than I needed. Much better ratio 19/4 Alpha to Charlie, so what got me? Two delta's, and one Mike. The mike was on the hardcover target in the last spot, I just buried my 2nd shot in the hard cover. Maybe a second or two I could have picked up here, but eliminate the Delta's, and the Mike, and I would have had a really solid stage.
Stage 3:
Uninspiring 27 second time, about 10 seconds off the top times hurt, and I had a target with 2 Alpha and a Mike, since the shot broke the perf, and that was on my last position, as I came into the paper. Here is a stage where both got me, buy in general, by this time I was starting to pick up my dot better, and felt confident it was going to be where I expected it to be. Just listening to it, my cadence seems a lot slower than it was on earlier stages as well.
Stage 4:
I took 20 seconds, top times were just about 15 seconds, and I see a few places I could have picked up a second or two. Namely, I need to get moving as soon as I hear the beep start, and a slow reload, and when I posted up in the next to last position I lost maybe a second or so in there that I did not need, if you listen, it sounded far slower there. 20/6 Alpha to Charlie Split (toss in 2 Deltas) but by this time I felt like I was really starting to see the dot, and know where it was.
Stage 5:
25 second time put me about 6-7 seconds behind the top, but what got me was the mike/no-shoot coming into the obstructed target after the run down range. What's worse is that I thought about that in walk thru, and wanted to make sure I had the gun up high enough and dot up so that would not happen. It did though. In terms of time? Cadence slowed down on the 3rd target on the right hand side, I stopped downrange coming into the far target before jumping into the last 2 positions, and I think I could have moved faster in there. In all? I'm not talking a ton of time, maybe a couple of seconds tops, but it's there.
Stage 6:
This is the stage that just went wrong. Top times were 15-16 seconds, and I was 39 seconds, and being honest, I thought I was going to finish around 24-25 seconds with my plan. What got me was that dot went out after the first array. I thought I lost it, spent time trying to get the dot on, to find it, and it was just out, so my remaining 24 rounds were shot with me just pointing the target in the general direction and hoping to hit something. That explains a 12/8 Alpha to Charlie Split, with 5 deltas and 2 mikes. I guess now I'm officially an open shooter!
Based on a suggestion from a squad mate, I put some electrical tape in the battery compartment and changed the battery, but that seemed to keep the contact, and I was fine the rest of the match. I'm not worried yet, but I will keep an eye on the RTS-2, because I've seen that as a common issue.
Stage 7:
Let's see...yes, I did go all gangster style on the last couple of targets, it was the fastest way for me to finish. I did throw a mike coming across the stage onto the first target, 2nd shot I did not commit to, and I pulled it. 26.46 second time, top times were around 18.5 seconds. I think that I could shave a couple seconds early on where I'm taking a long time on transitions, however the top C shooter on this stage was a half second slower than me, but had 30 Alpha, 1 Charlie, and 1 Delta, which tells me that, as always, if you get hits, you'll have a good finish.
Stage 8:
Smart call to not worry about the activator, and take the two no-penalty mikes. It saved me some movement, and I hoped to finish the stage in about 10 seconds. Instead I finished it in 12.5 seconds, and I ended up 16th in Open, and 26th Overall, which was my best finish on a stage for the match. 10 Alpha and 4 Charlie, I think I would have taken 8/6 and saved the 2.5 seconds, but I wanted a speed where I knew I would get good hits, this was just a little slower than I thought I would be, but no complaints. Top times were 8.5-9.25 for skipping the activator, and 11.31 while taking the activator. Good way to end the day, solid stage.
Summary
This really was the most fun I've had a match, any match, USPSA or 3-Gun in years. I came home excited, physically I was not worn out, tired, but not beat. Mentally I kept it together, I did not let my issues carry from stage to stage, and more than anything I woke up on Sunday morning wanting to dry fire and start to practice. I'm not going to say it was the greatest match ever, but it has me back in the game again, really wanting to get out there and compete.
My match got better thru the course of the day, and I know more dry fire, and trigger time will really help me feel confident that the dot is always going to be where I expect it to be. There is a ton of movement improvement that I can see helping me but the biggest, and fastest thing I think is going to come from getting more Alpha's.
It's not work anymore, it's fun, and while I know you can overdose on it if you push it too hard, I'm having no issue sticking with my schedule on dry fire. I finished here 4th in "C" class about 12% behind the winner. I finished 4 points behind the 3rd place guy, which is eliminating some of the 22 Delta's that I had. I honestly think if I did not have the 2 stages with dot issues, I probably could have picked up about 5%, which would have put me second place in "C". Double Tap is the first weekend in June, which means I've got plenty of practice time, and early goal is going to be single digit combined deltas and mikes. I do that, and it'll take care of the other stuff on it's own.
Really can't stress enough how good it felt to shoot this match, and how excited I am to get out and improve. Shooting is fun again, and I can't tell you how much I have missed that feeling.
No comments:
Post a Comment