Club Officer? My Postmortem
Back on October 4th, Tim Meyers gave me a real turd of a Birthday present. (Tim objects to the use of the word turd. In truth he took me to breakfast at Jack Allen's the next day, which was amazing. So take my usage with a grain of salt) Post match at Austin Rifle Club, he nominated me to be Secretary of Austin Lone Star Practical Pistol Club, in part because there were not a whole lot of people jumping at the job, and I'd like to think, in part, because he believed that I'd work hard to get the club going in the direction that it should be. I'm sure that was because he knew that Les was a stand up guy, but I hope it's also because in the short time he knew me, that he felt that way about me too. There were some raised eyebrows, because many in the club who were present for the vote did not know me, they saw me as someone who had just finished shooting his second match with the club, and beyond that, not a whole lot. It was an uncomfortable situation for me, and I probably should have declined, but I channeled my inner "Les Kismartoni", and decided that Les would have jumped in, and worked to make the club better, so if I wanted to pay Les back for all he's done to help me shoot, I figured I would give it my level best effort.
I'd heard a little bit about the state of the club from Tim prior to the election, and he was the outgoing Vice President, so I knew there was work to be done, but once I sat down with the other newly elected officers, I was terrified of what I saw, or more what I did not see. The club's "books" was a word document showing gross receipts, some expenses, and total cash. The heart of the issue was that for the last 5-6 years the club President and Treasurer were husband and wife, and there was no accounting ever done. There was a line item expense of "steel, $1900", although the club had purchased no new steel in the last few years, there were gun giveaways that the club believes the former president sold items he himself won at 3-Gun prize tables. In short, things were a mess, and they were made more so when the officers, using the last couple of matches as a benchmark came up with a revenue projection that was between $3000 and $6000 a year greater than the "books" showed.
Getting in cold, my instant concern was protecting myself, I wanted no liability for what was in the books, and filing a 2014 tax return, and signing it, when I myself did not believe or could not support the numbers given was pretty low on my priority list. Mind you, zero receipts were given, just a sheet of paper. Anyone reading feel comfortable taking that to the IRS? After consulting with the other officers, a few of us proceeded to explore what our options for the club actually were. The number one idea was to protect the club, and it's assets, as well as the officers. To that end, I spoke with a C.P.A., and an attorney. In both cases, the advice was that we needed to "nuke the club from orbit, just to be sure", and form a new entity the right way, with the assets of the old club donated.
Unfortunately, that was not a universal opinion among officers, one of whom wanted to find ways to fix the existing entity, he set the agenda, he sent out e-mails to members painting a rosy picture, and moved at a snail's pace, in essence this officer, who was not the president, was running the club at his pace, and with his inaction. About this time we realized we were going to have a problem with the range, that the Austin Rifle Club wanted to renegotiate the existing contract to be more favorable to them, that they wanted to take away a second Sunday a month we had and ran a steel match, and they wanted to run their own Steel Challenge match, using our equipment, at no charge.
I had two instant thoughts, I wanted us to present a united front, and meet with the ARC board, and find out exactly what changes they wanted, find out what price hike they were looking for, and if we had to form a new entity, would they be willing to work with the new entity on a contract, or were they really looking to absorb the club, the assets, and run the matches themselves. Unfortunately we never got around to do that in the first 30 days. My other thought was that we should explore other venues, we should find out who was capable of hosting the club, what they would charge, and so on. If a deal at ARC was that bad, we'd give ourselves options. We could go to the club with the best information for setting ourselves up for success in the future.
While all this was going on, our one officer who was dragging his feet, was busy wanting to set-up "Mail Chimp" so we could mass e-mail the club, and filling out "Trello" cards for everyone's jobs. The short version, in my mind, was that he was doing the mundane tasks that did little to address the serious issues that the club was facing. Again, it was my belief that he did not want to make any changes, that he thought things were fine, and did not see a need for change.
I had reached out to Les, and connected him with the new club President, Ben Gilman, so they could talk, and Les was able to explain to Ben how M.I.S.S. reorganized a few years ago, how it worked for them, and how we could do the same sorts of things here. Les invested some time, and even gave us the links for forms we'd have to file to become a 501c7 should we choose. Again, Les was coming to the rescue from 1,000 miles away. I'd hoped he and Ben would get along, they both wanted what was best for their respective clubs, and they work towards it.
After about four weeks though, I'd seen little action towards protecting ourselves as officers. No meeting was scheduled with ARC, we had not tracked down the missing paperwork from the old officers, and we had not started a re-organization. On my own, I consulted another attorney, this one who was also a C.P.A., who counseled me that it was critically important that we document our attempts to collect missing papers. The longer we did not try to collect, the greater the liability we as individuals were likely to have. With that in mind, I sat down, wrote a letter, mildly unpleasant, but I asked for the missing documents, tax returns, and receipts, both expense and gate receipts, and after having the club President read it, I sent the registered letter.
I sent the letter out to the rest of the officers, and shortly after that, got this partial response from one of the other officers:
"There is a great chance you just created more liability for all of us.This is a bull shit way to go about business especially given that you don't even come to our matches to help or at least get to know the members of the club that has been successfully holding matches since the 80's."
-Nameless Officer
He had a point, I did miss the October steel match, and the November USPSA match. In both cases, I made the choice to be a parent, and go to Lauren's soccer game. In both cases, I actually asked the Match Director if I was needed to help set-up, or run the event, and had I been needed, I'd have went. I was not aware I was required to ask this guy for permission.
To the other points, ALSPPC has not actually been holding matches since the 80's, ALSPPC was the result of another couple of clubs that were folding, merger. I've got a lot of respect for the club, but the club is not a collection of letters, it's the people behind it. The people who have done the work, come to the matches, they are the reason the club exists, and they honestly deserve the best. They don't deserve a club that has never filed a tax return, or is left open to accounting questions because of lax practices. They don't deserve a club that could face penalties because they never did those things, and the honest truth, is they deserve better than officers who don't acknowledge that. I don't know the members of the club? I respect the club, and the members, I can't say that someone who was not fighting for the club is in the same boat.
I spent the September match R.O.'ing a squad of 10 other people I did not know, I went to lunch with another 7-8 people in the past 30 days to learn more about the club, the people who make it up, and what people want to it. In September and October both, I took time the Friday before the match to go and set-up stages with a couple of other people. That's about 50% of the club that I was able to reach out to in the first 30 days of office. Never once did I question the commitment of other officers, especially captain nameless who was not there to set-up either. In short, I think I did everything that I could have done to work for the interests of the club, and I can sleep knowing that I did that.
The response from the nameless officer was honestly what I was afraid of when I took the job. I never should have thought that I could contribute unless I had been around longer, I could have just set-up, tore down, and shot matches. Those are all things that I can always do. I can't blame Mr. Nameless too much for his reaction, because I am the new guy, it's hard to build trust and respect in a short time with people you don't know at all. I believe that I did the right things, but oviously not for everyone. Now I feel like I let Les down, like I let Tim down, and like I let myself down. The bylaws of ALSPPC prohibit the election of officers who have not been members for at least 6 months, using that as the reason, I submitted my resignation. The truth is, I'm not looking for a fight, but with the serious issues the club does face, I'm honestly not comfortable being a part of an officer team that was not on the same page, and was not committed to the ideal of building the best foundation for club, no matter what.
The last thing I want to do is sound like a bitter bastard, in truth I'm glad to shoot. I spent my time at M.I.S.S. setting up and tearing down, and I was happy, I trusted where the officers had the club going. I do believe that you get out what you put in, but at this point, I'm going to shoot, I can't not help, but I'm definitely a lot more leery to get involved now beyond basic help. I apprenticed more with Terry as part of the "Goon Squad" than I did with Les on the political side, and the club doesn't need the friction. I'm not a politician, I speak plainly, I don't sugar coat things, and I don't have the sense to sometimes just keep my damn mouth shut. I had a couple of officers call me, angry that Mr. Nameless said what he said, and I appreciate it, they aren't responsible what comes out of his mouth.
So that's it, 30 odd days, I won't do this sort of thing again, and I'll find a different way to pay back what I saw the real classy people do for the sport. Those are the people I admire, and want to emulate, and make proud.
Showing posts with label MISS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MISS. Show all posts
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
MISS 5/7/14
MISS 5/7/14
I had a really rough weekend, with minimal practice for a couple of weeks. My mind has been on work which has been high pressure of late, with a lot of people up top suddenly paying attention to me. I've also been exploring a job switch that would require our family to move to Texas, but that's a whole 'nother story. I needed Wednesday night to get back on my game, and just go have fun. On Sunday I about went postal on someone, and I was at a low point where shooting was not fun.
For this match I got to put on the team colors for the first time, and wear my WIILSHOOT jersey. I know it's just a shirt, but it means more than that to me. It's being a part of something bigger than just yourself, it's part of what makes me a better person at the range, because suddenly I care about the impression I give off to people, because it reflects on the team. I spent a good part of the night helping new shooters, encouraging them, making suggestions, making them feel as welcome as people made me feel when I started. The jersey means something, and it was even a little more bittersweet knowing that I was putting on the jersey for the first time, and there is possibility I'll be pulled off to Texas in the near future. Just when I'm a part of something bigger, and really being a better person, not just a better shooter.....
Match started out not so hot. I ran the first stage in a reasonably fast time, but I took two extra shots that I did not need to take. When I'm on my game, I'm confident enough to "call my shot" at least enough to not get in trouble. Here, my make-up shots were completely not needed, and probably added at least .5 seconds to my time. I finished this stage 3rd in Production, but I have better in me.
Stage 2 I had a Mike, and inexplicably I reloaded to take 2 extra shots, which added 7.2 seconds to my time. I finished 7th in Production, but if I had not done the reload for those make-up shots, I'd have been sitting 3rd in Production again.
Stage 3 I ran solidly, time was good, I had a good plan, and I executed it pretty darn well, no complaints.
The last stage was the classifier, and on Sunday I ran it "Full Retard", which was a mistake, especially without the practice. I wanted redemption, and came pretty close to getting it. I needed a 7.85 second run to have another 75% run, and I ran it in 7.99 seconds, for just over a 70% run. I also took 3 make-up shots at 6 steel. Had I focused, and kept my stuff together, I'd have been there easily. Shooting is a perishable skill, practice it or lose it, especially where I'm at, I need the repetitions to keep my skill, not just improve.
Overall I finished 3rd of 12 Production shooters, and 9th of 28, but it really should have been better. It felt good after the disaster on the weekend, but it's good to be critical, and slowly get back to work, and start preparing for the Ohio Sectional in late May, and Area 5 in mid-June, which I suspect might be the last 2 major's for me until the fall, especially if a move is in store.
Having the classifier thrown out on the weekend, and then being able to shoot it again on Wednesday had Linda back out there, and she had a couple of gun issues, but rolled thru about a 47% classifier run, which should earn her the C card she has been working towards. She has a ways to go on her cadence, and adding speed, but she is so effortless, she draws quickly, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind she's going to be a better shooter than I am, sooner rather than later.
I had a really rough weekend, with minimal practice for a couple of weeks. My mind has been on work which has been high pressure of late, with a lot of people up top suddenly paying attention to me. I've also been exploring a job switch that would require our family to move to Texas, but that's a whole 'nother story. I needed Wednesday night to get back on my game, and just go have fun. On Sunday I about went postal on someone, and I was at a low point where shooting was not fun.
 |
| Kozy, Myself, Les, Kerry Dean |
For this match I got to put on the team colors for the first time, and wear my WIILSHOOT jersey. I know it's just a shirt, but it means more than that to me. It's being a part of something bigger than just yourself, it's part of what makes me a better person at the range, because suddenly I care about the impression I give off to people, because it reflects on the team. I spent a good part of the night helping new shooters, encouraging them, making suggestions, making them feel as welcome as people made me feel when I started. The jersey means something, and it was even a little more bittersweet knowing that I was putting on the jersey for the first time, and there is possibility I'll be pulled off to Texas in the near future. Just when I'm a part of something bigger, and really being a better person, not just a better shooter.....
Match started out not so hot. I ran the first stage in a reasonably fast time, but I took two extra shots that I did not need to take. When I'm on my game, I'm confident enough to "call my shot" at least enough to not get in trouble. Here, my make-up shots were completely not needed, and probably added at least .5 seconds to my time. I finished this stage 3rd in Production, but I have better in me.
Stage 2 I had a Mike, and inexplicably I reloaded to take 2 extra shots, which added 7.2 seconds to my time. I finished 7th in Production, but if I had not done the reload for those make-up shots, I'd have been sitting 3rd in Production again.
Stage 3 I ran solidly, time was good, I had a good plan, and I executed it pretty darn well, no complaints.
The last stage was the classifier, and on Sunday I ran it "Full Retard", which was a mistake, especially without the practice. I wanted redemption, and came pretty close to getting it. I needed a 7.85 second run to have another 75% run, and I ran it in 7.99 seconds, for just over a 70% run. I also took 3 make-up shots at 6 steel. Had I focused, and kept my stuff together, I'd have been there easily. Shooting is a perishable skill, practice it or lose it, especially where I'm at, I need the repetitions to keep my skill, not just improve.
 |
| Team mates, Friends |
Having the classifier thrown out on the weekend, and then being able to shoot it again on Wednesday had Linda back out there, and she had a couple of gun issues, but rolled thru about a 47% classifier run, which should earn her the C card she has been working towards. She has a ways to go on her cadence, and adding speed, but she is so effortless, she draws quickly, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind she's going to be a better shooter than I am, sooner rather than later.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
MISS 4/16/14
MISS 4/16/14
After a disappointing weekend, and a hard practice Monday, I did not waste an ounce of time jumping back onto a match. I was a little worn out, but after finding Monday that I was pushing the gun and as a result shooting low, I was anxious to get out, do things right, and get myself moving back in the right direction, especially since I just got my B card on Tuesday.
MATCH SCORES
Stage 1: Whiz Bang (West 1)
The stage got tossed out because the 2nd squad had issues where a a piece of steel would fall and inadvertently cause a clam shell to activate. Our squad had no issue with that, but it made sense. This was my first stage, and honestly my worst stage of the night. I took a mike on the clam shell. This was a 90 point stage potential, and I had 79 points, 10 penalty points for the miss, so I was accurate enough otherwise. I ran it in 17.68 seconds, and my hit factor put me in 8th place for Production, out of 16 Production Shooters for the night. There was a late re-load after the first array, and a few other things, but more than anything, I wanted hits tonight.
Stage 2: Looks Familiar (East 1)
Statistically this was my best stage of the night. 160 possible points and I shot 152 of them in 20.32 seconds. This was good enough for 2nd place in Production, but 6 seconds behind Les. I want to see some video of him running this. I know my cadence slowed down the further along the stage I went, so I need to make sure I can keep a quicker cadence, but I was thrilled to run this with 28 Alpha hits and only 4 Charlie. My time can be quicker to be sure, but the hits made me feel good. Again, work on moving reloads, and hey, for once I shot on the move...kind of...but still better than static positional shooting.
Stage 3: On The Periphery (East 2)
One word, slow. This was another 160 possible point stage, and I shot 146 points, so 25 Alpha and 7 Charlie. Points are good, but after the first array I really slowed down, and then moving into the final position I missed a reload, which is not good. The only good part is that I did not let it phase me, I got the mag inserted, and I finished with good hits. Don't let something derail you, keep rolling! Success! Still a lot of things I can do better, and keeping the cadence up is one of 'em.
Stage 4: CM 99-62 Bang and Clang
No Video.....
It's a shame, because I think this was my best stage. I was 4th in Production, and 5th overall, I ran the 4 steel, and single paper in 3.23 seconds (4th fastest time of anyone) my only point deduction was one Alpha, and one Charlie, and the Charlie was close. Running the hit factor into Classifier Calc, it's right about 75%, so one day after earning my B card, I may have just run my first A classifier. How 'bout them apples?
Summary
There was a little redemption here for me. Combined overall I finished 10th of 28 shooters, and that will actually go up a little when official results are submitted and the first stage (my worst) get's eliminated. I was 7th in Production, about 85.8% of the points that Les had (he won Production) and he had one stage he was just screwing around on, and that much distance between him and everyone else. I won't say it's disheartening, it's actually a little inspiring. The guy is a Grand Master for a reason, and I learn as much watching him shoot as I did in class.
It felt good to get accurate, and roll for a bit, I can get back on my cadence and push my time again going forward, as I'm obviously seeing my sights again. I need to keep grinding my draw, and moving reloads, but starting to shoot on the move is a good thing. I need to feel comfortable and practice. Here I did it, but I did not do it "right". I got away with it.
All in all, good match!
After a disappointing weekend, and a hard practice Monday, I did not waste an ounce of time jumping back onto a match. I was a little worn out, but after finding Monday that I was pushing the gun and as a result shooting low, I was anxious to get out, do things right, and get myself moving back in the right direction, especially since I just got my B card on Tuesday.
MATCH SCORES
Stage 1: Whiz Bang (West 1)
The stage got tossed out because the 2nd squad had issues where a a piece of steel would fall and inadvertently cause a clam shell to activate. Our squad had no issue with that, but it made sense. This was my first stage, and honestly my worst stage of the night. I took a mike on the clam shell. This was a 90 point stage potential, and I had 79 points, 10 penalty points for the miss, so I was accurate enough otherwise. I ran it in 17.68 seconds, and my hit factor put me in 8th place for Production, out of 16 Production Shooters for the night. There was a late re-load after the first array, and a few other things, but more than anything, I wanted hits tonight.
Stage 2: Looks Familiar (East 1)
Statistically this was my best stage of the night. 160 possible points and I shot 152 of them in 20.32 seconds. This was good enough for 2nd place in Production, but 6 seconds behind Les. I want to see some video of him running this. I know my cadence slowed down the further along the stage I went, so I need to make sure I can keep a quicker cadence, but I was thrilled to run this with 28 Alpha hits and only 4 Charlie. My time can be quicker to be sure, but the hits made me feel good. Again, work on moving reloads, and hey, for once I shot on the move...kind of...but still better than static positional shooting.
Stage 3: On The Periphery (East 2)
One word, slow. This was another 160 possible point stage, and I shot 146 points, so 25 Alpha and 7 Charlie. Points are good, but after the first array I really slowed down, and then moving into the final position I missed a reload, which is not good. The only good part is that I did not let it phase me, I got the mag inserted, and I finished with good hits. Don't let something derail you, keep rolling! Success! Still a lot of things I can do better, and keeping the cadence up is one of 'em.
Stage 4: CM 99-62 Bang and Clang
No Video.....
It's a shame, because I think this was my best stage. I was 4th in Production, and 5th overall, I ran the 4 steel, and single paper in 3.23 seconds (4th fastest time of anyone) my only point deduction was one Alpha, and one Charlie, and the Charlie was close. Running the hit factor into Classifier Calc, it's right about 75%, so one day after earning my B card, I may have just run my first A classifier. How 'bout them apples?
Summary
There was a little redemption here for me. Combined overall I finished 10th of 28 shooters, and that will actually go up a little when official results are submitted and the first stage (my worst) get's eliminated. I was 7th in Production, about 85.8% of the points that Les had (he won Production) and he had one stage he was just screwing around on, and that much distance between him and everyone else. I won't say it's disheartening, it's actually a little inspiring. The guy is a Grand Master for a reason, and I learn as much watching him shoot as I did in class.
It felt good to get accurate, and roll for a bit, I can get back on my cadence and push my time again going forward, as I'm obviously seeing my sights again. I need to keep grinding my draw, and moving reloads, but starting to shoot on the move is a good thing. I need to feel comfortable and practice. Here I did it, but I did not do it "right". I got away with it.
All in all, good match!
Sunday, March 16, 2014
3/5 Match Review
3/5 Match Review
I know, out of order, but things are how they are. This was once again, a typical match for me, I had some good, and some awful, although one of the awful ones was of my own manufacture. I could underplay it, or over play the results, but the truth is this had one of my best stages at a MISS Match this year, and possibly this entire season. For some reason (thank you Les) I ended up shooting first on three different stages for the night, an all-time record for me on four total stages.
Stage 1: Longshot
No video for this stage, but it was a 3 position memory stage where you needed to remember what targets you were shooting from each spot. I had a hard time in walk thru, and only figured it out the last couple of runs, but once I had it, I was okay. My time of 23.34 was the third fastest in Production, but my hits were pretty bad, 9 Alpha, 8 Charlie and 7 Delta. I'm not sure in retrospect if I was not seeing my sights or had some other issue, my hunch was that it was sights.
Stage 2: Plate This
This was the stage I was feeling good about. I was keeping score, had just called the first shooter to the line, and was actually last, when Les came in, said he'd score, and put me first and at the top of the order. I had to laugh, but this was good practice, I had to shoot the stage on demand, and bring a good performance. I ran out the 4th fastest Production time, and combined it with 23 Alpha and 7 Charlie, and finished 3rd in Production on the stage. The video showed pretty solid reloads, a passable draw, but an issue with "Kozy Foot", and some other technical improvements to be made. I felt really good about this stage, and I wish I could bottle the way I felt, and saw my sights and pull it out on demand.
Stage 3: Take Your Choice (Classifier)
I knew what I needed, a 50 point, 7 Alpha, 5 Charlie run in 10 seconds. Talk about eminently doable. We'd practiced this, and even if I did not get it in practice, I was confident I could do it live. My "original" time was fine, 9.29, but I did not know that. I kept the squad waiting, and did the math in my head to see where I would have been. I counted up 7 Alpha, 2 Charlie, and 2 Delta, and then realized I threw a mike on my very first shot. Even if the mike had been a Charlie, I would have fallen just a hair short, as the 2 delta's did me in. It took me 12-13 seconds to do the math, and then I iced it by putting three more into the no-shoot to insure I'd zero out the stage.
Stage 4: Quick Shot
After the classifier, I was out in the lobby with Les, going over the video review of Stage 2, and I missed walk-thru, and had to be told twice to enter the range. When I did, every single bastard in my squad was, arms crossed, facing the door, waiting for me, and told me that I had to shoot first. I'll get 'em for that! I made a lot of fundamental mistakes on this stage. I ended up starting off on a head shot only target. This meant I had a slow draw to a tough target, when I could have drawn to an open target, and closed on the head shot. 3 Mikes, and a No-Shoot, 2 Delta did not mesh well with 16 Alpha, 1 Bravo and 6 Charlie. My time was not bad, but the poor hits, and plan doomed me. Notice the almost standing first reload as well. No reason to do it, but I did it....
Summary:
The best part of shooting is that I'll never be 100% satisfied with my performance, there will always be things that I can improve on. For some reason I'm having issues with the front sight, or with planning, and it's all the rough edges that need to be ground off for me to achieve some consistency. I can feel it's not all that far off, but until I grind off these edges it'll be more up and down performances, and that's what I'm trying to avoid. A real commitment to focus on fundamentals for the next couple of weeks in dry fire should go a long way to at least knocking off a few of my issues.
I know, out of order, but things are how they are. This was once again, a typical match for me, I had some good, and some awful, although one of the awful ones was of my own manufacture. I could underplay it, or over play the results, but the truth is this had one of my best stages at a MISS Match this year, and possibly this entire season. For some reason (thank you Les) I ended up shooting first on three different stages for the night, an all-time record for me on four total stages.
Stage 1: Longshot
No video for this stage, but it was a 3 position memory stage where you needed to remember what targets you were shooting from each spot. I had a hard time in walk thru, and only figured it out the last couple of runs, but once I had it, I was okay. My time of 23.34 was the third fastest in Production, but my hits were pretty bad, 9 Alpha, 8 Charlie and 7 Delta. I'm not sure in retrospect if I was not seeing my sights or had some other issue, my hunch was that it was sights.
Stage 2: Plate This
This was the stage I was feeling good about. I was keeping score, had just called the first shooter to the line, and was actually last, when Les came in, said he'd score, and put me first and at the top of the order. I had to laugh, but this was good practice, I had to shoot the stage on demand, and bring a good performance. I ran out the 4th fastest Production time, and combined it with 23 Alpha and 7 Charlie, and finished 3rd in Production on the stage. The video showed pretty solid reloads, a passable draw, but an issue with "Kozy Foot", and some other technical improvements to be made. I felt really good about this stage, and I wish I could bottle the way I felt, and saw my sights and pull it out on demand.
Stage 3: Take Your Choice (Classifier)
I knew what I needed, a 50 point, 7 Alpha, 5 Charlie run in 10 seconds. Talk about eminently doable. We'd practiced this, and even if I did not get it in practice, I was confident I could do it live. My "original" time was fine, 9.29, but I did not know that. I kept the squad waiting, and did the math in my head to see where I would have been. I counted up 7 Alpha, 2 Charlie, and 2 Delta, and then realized I threw a mike on my very first shot. Even if the mike had been a Charlie, I would have fallen just a hair short, as the 2 delta's did me in. It took me 12-13 seconds to do the math, and then I iced it by putting three more into the no-shoot to insure I'd zero out the stage.
Stage 4: Quick Shot
After the classifier, I was out in the lobby with Les, going over the video review of Stage 2, and I missed walk-thru, and had to be told twice to enter the range. When I did, every single bastard in my squad was, arms crossed, facing the door, waiting for me, and told me that I had to shoot first. I'll get 'em for that! I made a lot of fundamental mistakes on this stage. I ended up starting off on a head shot only target. This meant I had a slow draw to a tough target, when I could have drawn to an open target, and closed on the head shot. 3 Mikes, and a No-Shoot, 2 Delta did not mesh well with 16 Alpha, 1 Bravo and 6 Charlie. My time was not bad, but the poor hits, and plan doomed me. Notice the almost standing first reload as well. No reason to do it, but I did it....
Summary:
The best part of shooting is that I'll never be 100% satisfied with my performance, there will always be things that I can improve on. For some reason I'm having issues with the front sight, or with planning, and it's all the rough edges that need to be ground off for me to achieve some consistency. I can feel it's not all that far off, but until I grind off these edges it'll be more up and down performances, and that's what I'm trying to avoid. A real commitment to focus on fundamentals for the next couple of weeks in dry fire should go a long way to at least knocking off a few of my issues.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
MISS Match 2/19/14
MISS Match 2/19/14
I had an exercise in frustration with the match. I had numerous misfires, where the primer was hit, but I had to pull the trigger a second time to get it to fire. I'm 99.9% sure that the reason for the issue was high primers, and not super high, just the nub over the case, where you can barely feel it if you were to rub a finger over it. The Walther would eat this ammo all day long, but the CZ is definitely more finicky and tonight it really cost me. Overall there were a lot of things I did right, and other things that I can do better, so I'm not going to beat myself up, some of this was the result of my week long burnout, the rest some less than perfect execution.
MATCH SCORES
Stage 1: Shoot 'Em Up (East 1)
The short version is that I did not have good hits. I had one miss on a low target, and I had a lot of delta's. My movement felt stilted, and I never felt like I cut loose on this stage. I did have my first misfire on this stage (I had at least one on every stage).
Stage 2: Dan Steely (West 1)
Continuing the theme, I just did not see my front sight and break the shot when I should. I had another mike (on the misfire) but just in general poor hits. My time was actually not horrible when compared to most other shooters, but Les and Jay Carillo were about 9 seconds faster each, so I'd love to see how they shot it (accurately I would guess).
Stage 3: Melody Line CM99-08 (CLASSIFIER)
This did not go the way that I had hoped. Despite practicing my reloads I still bobbled the re-load, and if you notice I had two misfires on the string. Tony was busy trying to give me procedurals, but pulling the trigger twice to make it go bang is not a procedural. My time of 10.80 was slow, and my Hit Factor appears to be about a 58%. I was extremely disappointed by this run. We had some time after we finished the stage, and I re-ran it in 8.63 seconds with 52 points, which would have been a 74% run. This is one I should have crushed, instead I'll just replace a 33% with a 58%. Good I guess, but not what I wanted.
Stage 4: Double Leaner (East 2)
We had run late with the doors staying open early, and the ventilation system shutting down and having to wait to reset and restart. I was the next to last shooter on the last stage, and I had it in my mind to just cut loose, and go out and shoot fast. I did that, and my hits while not great were not horrible either. What got me, was the same thing that had me all night, two mikes, one the result of a misfire again at the very end. I liked the way I ran this, and believe it or not I did feel like I had an acceptable sight picture for the better part of this run. Too often I feel I have to have a perfect sight picture which slows me down. I won't go this speed all the time, but I can pull it out when I need to.
Full Match Video:
Summary
The misfire issue is going to be a non-issue, I'm going to take all my CBC brass and pull it, and the loaded ones make into practice ammo. My "match grade" ammo will not have any of it, it will be brands I know, I trust, and am 100% confident that the primer is seated properly. Sure I was bummed I cant take the easy path with two high B's to earning my B card, but it's okay, this still helps, and I'm going to get my card anyhow. If I can't run off 3 more good classifiers now, then frankly I don't deserve it.
I was big time down about the classifier, but I did get it out of my head and was focused on what I wanted to do on the last stage. I'm looking at this as an opportunity to learn, not a setback. I'm back on the good dry fire regime, and I am going to burn out some of the little mistakes I made here. Being realistic, I need to maintain my focus on my front sight, in hindsight I had very little discipline with that last night, and that is part of the reason I tend to see past my sights to the target, my focus is on the wrong thing.
I had an exercise in frustration with the match. I had numerous misfires, where the primer was hit, but I had to pull the trigger a second time to get it to fire. I'm 99.9% sure that the reason for the issue was high primers, and not super high, just the nub over the case, where you can barely feel it if you were to rub a finger over it. The Walther would eat this ammo all day long, but the CZ is definitely more finicky and tonight it really cost me. Overall there were a lot of things I did right, and other things that I can do better, so I'm not going to beat myself up, some of this was the result of my week long burnout, the rest some less than perfect execution.
MATCH SCORES
Stage 1: Shoot 'Em Up (East 1)
The short version is that I did not have good hits. I had one miss on a low target, and I had a lot of delta's. My movement felt stilted, and I never felt like I cut loose on this stage. I did have my first misfire on this stage (I had at least one on every stage).
Stage 2: Dan Steely (West 1)
Continuing the theme, I just did not see my front sight and break the shot when I should. I had another mike (on the misfire) but just in general poor hits. My time was actually not horrible when compared to most other shooters, but Les and Jay Carillo were about 9 seconds faster each, so I'd love to see how they shot it (accurately I would guess).
Stage 3: Melody Line CM99-08 (CLASSIFIER)
This did not go the way that I had hoped. Despite practicing my reloads I still bobbled the re-load, and if you notice I had two misfires on the string. Tony was busy trying to give me procedurals, but pulling the trigger twice to make it go bang is not a procedural. My time of 10.80 was slow, and my Hit Factor appears to be about a 58%. I was extremely disappointed by this run. We had some time after we finished the stage, and I re-ran it in 8.63 seconds with 52 points, which would have been a 74% run. This is one I should have crushed, instead I'll just replace a 33% with a 58%. Good I guess, but not what I wanted.
Stage 4: Double Leaner (East 2)
We had run late with the doors staying open early, and the ventilation system shutting down and having to wait to reset and restart. I was the next to last shooter on the last stage, and I had it in my mind to just cut loose, and go out and shoot fast. I did that, and my hits while not great were not horrible either. What got me, was the same thing that had me all night, two mikes, one the result of a misfire again at the very end. I liked the way I ran this, and believe it or not I did feel like I had an acceptable sight picture for the better part of this run. Too often I feel I have to have a perfect sight picture which slows me down. I won't go this speed all the time, but I can pull it out when I need to.
Full Match Video:
Summary
The misfire issue is going to be a non-issue, I'm going to take all my CBC brass and pull it, and the loaded ones make into practice ammo. My "match grade" ammo will not have any of it, it will be brands I know, I trust, and am 100% confident that the primer is seated properly. Sure I was bummed I cant take the easy path with two high B's to earning my B card, but it's okay, this still helps, and I'm going to get my card anyhow. If I can't run off 3 more good classifiers now, then frankly I don't deserve it.
I was big time down about the classifier, but I did get it out of my head and was focused on what I wanted to do on the last stage. I'm looking at this as an opportunity to learn, not a setback. I'm back on the good dry fire regime, and I am going to burn out some of the little mistakes I made here. Being realistic, I need to maintain my focus on my front sight, in hindsight I had very little discipline with that last night, and that is part of the reason I tend to see past my sights to the target, my focus is on the wrong thing.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
MISS Match 2/9
MISS Match 2/9
This was a long, morning. I was prepared, but made plenty of mistakes, it was not until the last stage that I shot a stage that felt good, and even that came with 2 mikes. In a way, I'm glad to take a few days off now, just dry fire, do a full Skills and Drills Class on Wednesday, and shoot the next match on the 19th. A ten day break to get back to hard practice is going to be just what the doctor ordered for me. I do have to give a shout out to Linda, who shot a really great match, her first match with her decked out gun from Automatic Accuracy.
MATCH SCORES
Stage 1: Blame Brownie (East 1)
My stage plan was okay, I was just very slow, never found a shooting cadence, and had a mike on my last target, for some reason I took 3 shots at the next to last target, and only one shot at the last target. This could have been worse, but it really should have been a lot better.
Stage 2: Long Range Mind Games (West 1)
Mental mistake started it off, I was supposed to re-engage the far left paper target a 2nd time from inside the box, and I never did that. Not sure what I was thinking, but the truth is that I was just not thinking, and I knew it as soon as I was going to reload, plus I stuck a bad reload in there.
Stage 3: CM 03-11 El Strong & Weak Pres (Classifier)
I was keyed up for this one, I had dry fired, worked my transfer and so on. First string I had a bad reload, I missed the mag release button, and took an extra second to get reloaded, although the 11.38 time was still plenty good. I had all my hits at this point, and felt that with a sub 14 second run on the 2nd string, I would be just fine, and have my 60%. Second string went just fine freestyle, all good hits, but things went downhill fast weak hand, and I had a couple of mikes, and realized I put one thru the no-shoot. In order to zero the stage, I went back freestyle, and put 4-5 thru the no-shoot to the dismay of everyone who thought I had it. It was a bummer to do this. This one will haunt me as one I should have had, but as a result, I will start adding a little weak hand shooting to most live fire sessions, even if it's just a mag.
Stage 4: Still His Fault (East 2)
No real complaints. I did not sprint to the first position, but I got my hits, second position I blazed thru with a very good cadence. Third position I again had good hits, and stayed fast, and in the last position, my cadence slowed down a bit, and did not need to. I was fast enough, but 2 mikes (one into hard cover) cost me. I would not run this one any slower though, my first mike I called as being close.
Summary:
Full Match Video:
I had a great cadence on the last stage, so I know I can shoot fast, and I can do it accurately, I need the confidence to do that all the time though. The rest of the match was a mishmash of errors, not following the front sight, and general mistakes. I'm not going to beat myself up too much though, what's done is done, time to put in some work again, get on the dry fire and kick some butt on the 19th. It's definitely time for a well deserved day off.
As I said before, Linda shot better, I know the overall result is still not what she wanted, but coming out of the match she has a lot more confidence. She knows she can reload, draw, move quickly, and transition well, she had a few instances of not following her front sights, but for her 2nd match with this gun, and first with it back and worked on, she's happy. I'm pretty proud of her as well. Here is her match video:
This was a long, morning. I was prepared, but made plenty of mistakes, it was not until the last stage that I shot a stage that felt good, and even that came with 2 mikes. In a way, I'm glad to take a few days off now, just dry fire, do a full Skills and Drills Class on Wednesday, and shoot the next match on the 19th. A ten day break to get back to hard practice is going to be just what the doctor ordered for me. I do have to give a shout out to Linda, who shot a really great match, her first match with her decked out gun from Automatic Accuracy.
MATCH SCORES
Stage 1: Blame Brownie (East 1)
My stage plan was okay, I was just very slow, never found a shooting cadence, and had a mike on my last target, for some reason I took 3 shots at the next to last target, and only one shot at the last target. This could have been worse, but it really should have been a lot better.
Stage 2: Long Range Mind Games (West 1)
Mental mistake started it off, I was supposed to re-engage the far left paper target a 2nd time from inside the box, and I never did that. Not sure what I was thinking, but the truth is that I was just not thinking, and I knew it as soon as I was going to reload, plus I stuck a bad reload in there.
Stage 3: CM 03-11 El Strong & Weak Pres (Classifier)
I was keyed up for this one, I had dry fired, worked my transfer and so on. First string I had a bad reload, I missed the mag release button, and took an extra second to get reloaded, although the 11.38 time was still plenty good. I had all my hits at this point, and felt that with a sub 14 second run on the 2nd string, I would be just fine, and have my 60%. Second string went just fine freestyle, all good hits, but things went downhill fast weak hand, and I had a couple of mikes, and realized I put one thru the no-shoot. In order to zero the stage, I went back freestyle, and put 4-5 thru the no-shoot to the dismay of everyone who thought I had it. It was a bummer to do this. This one will haunt me as one I should have had, but as a result, I will start adding a little weak hand shooting to most live fire sessions, even if it's just a mag.
Stage 4: Still His Fault (East 2)
No real complaints. I did not sprint to the first position, but I got my hits, second position I blazed thru with a very good cadence. Third position I again had good hits, and stayed fast, and in the last position, my cadence slowed down a bit, and did not need to. I was fast enough, but 2 mikes (one into hard cover) cost me. I would not run this one any slower though, my first mike I called as being close.
Summary:
Full Match Video:
I had a great cadence on the last stage, so I know I can shoot fast, and I can do it accurately, I need the confidence to do that all the time though. The rest of the match was a mishmash of errors, not following the front sight, and general mistakes. I'm not going to beat myself up too much though, what's done is done, time to put in some work again, get on the dry fire and kick some butt on the 19th. It's definitely time for a well deserved day off.
As I said before, Linda shot better, I know the overall result is still not what she wanted, but coming out of the match she has a lot more confidence. She knows she can reload, draw, move quickly, and transition well, she had a few instances of not following her front sights, but for her 2nd match with this gun, and first with it back and worked on, she's happy. I'm pretty proud of her as well. Here is her match video:
Thursday, February 6, 2014
MISS Match 2/5
MISS Match 2/5
This is a pretty busy span of shooting for me. Four matches and a class in 12 days, with another class on day 14, toss in some live fire practice as well, and I have a lot of ammo going down range. Add dry fire, and there has not been a day where I am not doing something to improve.
This is the home stretch, including last night, I make it 9 possible classifier's until the completion of "Plan B". There have been times where I was getting discouraged, and felt like there was no way I could make it, or that we should just start buying Les ammo, but with 9 runs to go, this really has become do or die time, where each classifier matters. I need 6 runs of 60% or better. This is not an unreasonable expectation, although I hear the classifier for this weekend is El Strong And Weak Pres which is not going to be something I'm comfortable doing, and is going to be something I'll struggle with. That does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Match Scores
Stage 1 Holdup:
I started off pretty cold, 3 misses, low points, and kind of slow. In watching the video, I'm seeing some occasional flinch, and I think that is starting to become a problem for me, so I'll have to address that again in practice. It's strange how it comes and goes, but the only thing to do is deal with it. The stage build did not go quite as planned, as I ran past the 2nd position into the 3rd position and was able to clean the 2nd position targets. In general, I think I just had issues seeing my front sights.
Stage 2 Do The Math:
Another poor run, 4 mikes, and you can see some flinch, and very slow plan. At this point I was really struggling to see my front sight. No excuses, but I picked up my front sight much better at Pine Tree, the range there seems brighter than at Alpha. Since I've picked up my front sight at Alpha before, I know I can do it, but I probably need more prep time before the match. This was the first time I had to run people as an R.O. before I shot. I had a lot going on in my head when I ran.
Stage 3: CM 06-03 Can You Count:
With everything that had gone on earlier, I could have completely cracked, and shot this poorly. That's been my history. To me, it was obvious that I did not clear my head between the first two stages, and I was still judging myself, and not keeping clear to just shoot the second stage. I've been begging to run this classifier for a couple of months, so this was my big chance. Les made the comment that "If you want your B card, you don't want to run this." I'm not sure what convinced him to go with this stage, but I suspect Terry had something to do with it. At the short distance, it's all about a fast draw, fast reload, and fast shots, all while being 100% accurate. I got the accurate part down, 20 shots, 20 Alpha. My speed 9.36 seconds was just good enough, and my hit factor of 10.68 according to Classifer Calc is good enough for about a 64%, or "B" run! Challenge conquered! This stage was 4th in Production, and 7th Overall. What the video does not show, is that I almost DQ'd on the stage, between strings, I started to holster with the hammer down, and the RO stopped me, and I de-cocked. Had he not stopped me, instant DQ. Lesson here is safety is the most important thing, and even though I'm shooting, my head was not in the "right" place. That one won't happen ever again.
Stage 4: One Way Or The Other
This ended up being my best longer course of the night. Slower than I would have liked, some extra shots, but no mikes, and no flinches. This is how I should be running more often than not, and the idea is not to make those mistakes in early stages again. After I shot, I grabbed the timer, and ran the rest of the squad to get some more experience on the R.O. side of the game. This is actually the way I'd like to R.O., after I shoot.
Summary:
I think my continued early struggles simply means I need to prep better at home before the match. Get in my 30-40 minutes of dry fire before I leave for the match, get my head wrapped around my sights, know what I'm looking at, and go from there. This is not something new for me, and one of the things that has had me saying that I need to shoot a complete match, and start off well. After The WIIT, I know I am capable of doing just that, but I also know what I did before I left to shoot, and the dry fire practice I put in, so when I got there, I knew exactly what I wanted to see.
I can feel the rounding off of my game I need to do, clean up just a couple of little things and it'll help both my overall accuracy and speed. I need to keep working, no off days for right now, and matches are not practice. This means Sunday will be a match, and 30 minutes of dry fire later in the day. I've got two 60% classifier's on the books, and that does not include the lost 82% run from The WIIT. Problem is one will fall off, so I need to start stringing together more of these. This goal of hitting "B" by the April USPSA classification run is very possible, but now it's entirely up to me.
Challenge accepted.
Full Match Video:
This is a pretty busy span of shooting for me. Four matches and a class in 12 days, with another class on day 14, toss in some live fire practice as well, and I have a lot of ammo going down range. Add dry fire, and there has not been a day where I am not doing something to improve.
This is the home stretch, including last night, I make it 9 possible classifier's until the completion of "Plan B". There have been times where I was getting discouraged, and felt like there was no way I could make it, or that we should just start buying Les ammo, but with 9 runs to go, this really has become do or die time, where each classifier matters. I need 6 runs of 60% or better. This is not an unreasonable expectation, although I hear the classifier for this weekend is El Strong And Weak Pres which is not going to be something I'm comfortable doing, and is going to be something I'll struggle with. That does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Match Scores
Stage 1 Holdup:
I started off pretty cold, 3 misses, low points, and kind of slow. In watching the video, I'm seeing some occasional flinch, and I think that is starting to become a problem for me, so I'll have to address that again in practice. It's strange how it comes and goes, but the only thing to do is deal with it. The stage build did not go quite as planned, as I ran past the 2nd position into the 3rd position and was able to clean the 2nd position targets. In general, I think I just had issues seeing my front sights.
Stage 2 Do The Math:
Another poor run, 4 mikes, and you can see some flinch, and very slow plan. At this point I was really struggling to see my front sight. No excuses, but I picked up my front sight much better at Pine Tree, the range there seems brighter than at Alpha. Since I've picked up my front sight at Alpha before, I know I can do it, but I probably need more prep time before the match. This was the first time I had to run people as an R.O. before I shot. I had a lot going on in my head when I ran.
Stage 3: CM 06-03 Can You Count:
With everything that had gone on earlier, I could have completely cracked, and shot this poorly. That's been my history. To me, it was obvious that I did not clear my head between the first two stages, and I was still judging myself, and not keeping clear to just shoot the second stage. I've been begging to run this classifier for a couple of months, so this was my big chance. Les made the comment that "If you want your B card, you don't want to run this." I'm not sure what convinced him to go with this stage, but I suspect Terry had something to do with it. At the short distance, it's all about a fast draw, fast reload, and fast shots, all while being 100% accurate. I got the accurate part down, 20 shots, 20 Alpha. My speed 9.36 seconds was just good enough, and my hit factor of 10.68 according to Classifer Calc is good enough for about a 64%, or "B" run! Challenge conquered! This stage was 4th in Production, and 7th Overall. What the video does not show, is that I almost DQ'd on the stage, between strings, I started to holster with the hammer down, and the RO stopped me, and I de-cocked. Had he not stopped me, instant DQ. Lesson here is safety is the most important thing, and even though I'm shooting, my head was not in the "right" place. That one won't happen ever again.
Stage 4: One Way Or The Other
This ended up being my best longer course of the night. Slower than I would have liked, some extra shots, but no mikes, and no flinches. This is how I should be running more often than not, and the idea is not to make those mistakes in early stages again. After I shot, I grabbed the timer, and ran the rest of the squad to get some more experience on the R.O. side of the game. This is actually the way I'd like to R.O., after I shoot.
Summary:
I think my continued early struggles simply means I need to prep better at home before the match. Get in my 30-40 minutes of dry fire before I leave for the match, get my head wrapped around my sights, know what I'm looking at, and go from there. This is not something new for me, and one of the things that has had me saying that I need to shoot a complete match, and start off well. After The WIIT, I know I am capable of doing just that, but I also know what I did before I left to shoot, and the dry fire practice I put in, so when I got there, I knew exactly what I wanted to see.
I can feel the rounding off of my game I need to do, clean up just a couple of little things and it'll help both my overall accuracy and speed. I need to keep working, no off days for right now, and matches are not practice. This means Sunday will be a match, and 30 minutes of dry fire later in the day. I've got two 60% classifier's on the books, and that does not include the lost 82% run from The WIIT. Problem is one will fall off, so I need to start stringing together more of these. This goal of hitting "B" by the April USPSA classification run is very possible, but now it's entirely up to me.
Challenge accepted.
Full Match Video:
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Range Officer Class
Range Officer Class
Class complete!
With the snow, and lousy roads it was a little bit of a challenge just getting to and from the class, but it was a worthwhile experience. I came out of the class with a solid understanding of the USPSA Rule book. Not only do I understand the rules better, I know where to go and look up things that I still have questions about.
Saturday was 8+ hours of classroom "book learning", which was good, but even I was on information overload at the end of the day. We had a take home test as homework, where we not only had to answer the questions, but cite the proper rule. Thankfully the ctrl-f function worked with the online .pdf, but it was still a painstaking process to answer everything. The test itself was another hour plus of my time.
Sunday we started out in the classroom for another 3 hours going over the test, looking at Practiscore, and going over the rule changes that go into effect on February 1st. Following the class we drove out to Alpha Range, about a 40 minute ride, and did our range test. Everyone had to score a shooter, and run a shooter using the proper range commands. That was the end of the class, the only thing left to do is complete a 50 question test, again citing each specific rule, and subset, send it in to the instructor and score at least an 85%, and then I'll be a certified USPSA range officer.
To be honest, there is definitely a part of me that does not want to send in the test and get certified, because I really want to concentrate on my shooting. On the other hand I do want to be able to help the club, and think that by not helping out if needed, it's a little selfish. It was a good education, and in the end I'll get the test done, and send it in just because it's the right thing to do.
On a side note, after the class I have a deep appreciation for the crew at MISS. Everyone, range master, range officers, the entire staff does an incredible job, and I had no idea how much I had learned from watching them for the past year. There were people from other clubs who had been shooting for a much longer period of time, the IDPA safety officer types, and I had a better handle on it than most of 'em. Not because I'm all that smart, but just from watching everyone run the MISS matches.
I got absolutely zero practice in on Saturday, and some worthless live fire on Sunday as part of the class, as I write, I realize I'm going to have to head down and get 30 minutes of dry fire in before bed, so that's all I have to say, work to go do.
Class complete!
With the snow, and lousy roads it was a little bit of a challenge just getting to and from the class, but it was a worthwhile experience. I came out of the class with a solid understanding of the USPSA Rule book. Not only do I understand the rules better, I know where to go and look up things that I still have questions about.
Saturday was 8+ hours of classroom "book learning", which was good, but even I was on information overload at the end of the day. We had a take home test as homework, where we not only had to answer the questions, but cite the proper rule. Thankfully the ctrl-f function worked with the online .pdf, but it was still a painstaking process to answer everything. The test itself was another hour plus of my time.
Sunday we started out in the classroom for another 3 hours going over the test, looking at Practiscore, and going over the rule changes that go into effect on February 1st. Following the class we drove out to Alpha Range, about a 40 minute ride, and did our range test. Everyone had to score a shooter, and run a shooter using the proper range commands. That was the end of the class, the only thing left to do is complete a 50 question test, again citing each specific rule, and subset, send it in to the instructor and score at least an 85%, and then I'll be a certified USPSA range officer.
To be honest, there is definitely a part of me that does not want to send in the test and get certified, because I really want to concentrate on my shooting. On the other hand I do want to be able to help the club, and think that by not helping out if needed, it's a little selfish. It was a good education, and in the end I'll get the test done, and send it in just because it's the right thing to do.
On a side note, after the class I have a deep appreciation for the crew at MISS. Everyone, range master, range officers, the entire staff does an incredible job, and I had no idea how much I had learned from watching them for the past year. There were people from other clubs who had been shooting for a much longer period of time, the IDPA safety officer types, and I had a better handle on it than most of 'em. Not because I'm all that smart, but just from watching everyone run the MISS matches.
I got absolutely zero practice in on Saturday, and some worthless live fire on Sunday as part of the class, as I write, I realize I'm going to have to head down and get 30 minutes of dry fire in before bed, so that's all I have to say, work to go do.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Come Back Match
Come Back Match
Okay, it's not like I'm coming back from a season ending knee injury or something like that, but this was my first chance to get some rounds down range post concussion. It killed me to not go on Wednesday, but not going was the right call. I went up to the range with Lauren and Linda last night so they could shoot, and I could make sure I was good enough to go today. I had no issues with the sound, just ear plugs underneath ear muffs, and I was in for today. Thursday I got in about 1.5 hours of dry fire, but it really was more about scraping the rust off than it was getting into top form. I won't say that I started the day with low expectations, but I had no thought that I was going to go out and have my best match. My starting goal was to just shoot all four stages, have no health issues, and re-build a little confidence from a week off.
I guess if you start with low expectations, it's hard to be disappointed, and it's a good thing, because I never really got it going, I made mental mistakes, had a couple of points where I did not have good hits, and if I shot it 100%, I'd have been very frustrated. Right now though, I feel like the rust is off, last stage I made a mental mistake that cost me, and I'm ready to go dry fire, practice, and get my head into the game again.
Match Scores
Stage 1:
The bottom line is that I just did not get the hits that I needed to get, I was on both sides of the tuxedo target, and the RO gave me a generous Alpha, Mike, and I thought it should have been two Mikes. In general, I was just slow and did not get good hits. I also had a low primer that slowed me down to tap, rack, and clear it.
Stage 2:
Again, I had some Mike's downrange, I dropped a mag, and I ran past the table, and grabbed a mag I had already used, and was almost empty so I had to double back and get another mag. Just sloppy.
Stage 3:
The Classifier could have been a good one, I needed a Hit Factor of 4.069 for a 60% run, and an overall time of 19.46 with 80% of the points. My time was 22.67, and I just did not have good hits overall. I did have a Mike, the first shot of the 3rd string, double action pull, weak hand, I was not ready for it, and it hurt. First string I shot the first part well, I was admiring my handiwork when I realize I had to reload and shoot again. Overall I really cost myself some time, and while I got hits, I need to get better hits.
Stage 4:
I had a rough go with the last steel, I had to refocus because I was going well, and was pulling off the target to run to the next array before I completed the pull. It's little, dumb things like that which pull down a score. The video does not show it, but I actually took one more shot, I thought I had a miss, and pushed the mag back in, and took another shot. That cost me about 3.5 seconds. Turns out I had 3 hits on the target, I just did not see one of 'em from where I was at, it was in a torn up area of pasters. Lesson to be learned? Call your shot, and trust yourself
Full Match Video:
Summary:
The little dumb mental stuff, that's correctable, and I'd like to think it's the result of my not being 100%. The truth is, I need to accept that my mental game is off, and I need to get my focus back. Focus is as big a part of the game as shooting, and mine is off. From a shooting point of view, I'm still rushing in some spots and not getting a good sight picture, and I'm going too slow in others. I'm not shooting with my practice cadence in mind, and that's hurting me. Right now, it's as much of a dry fire issue as anything. I need to focus on my dry fire, and really commit to doing it right. Honestly I thought I had been, but maybe I'm cheating myself, so I'll look at that.
I'm happy to have been able to shoot, and I'll take the few good things I did, and work my practice plan to address what I was not happy with, one thing at a time. Next MISS match is the 29th, so I'll have plenty of practice time before that, and it's all build-up for the WIIT.
Okay, it's not like I'm coming back from a season ending knee injury or something like that, but this was my first chance to get some rounds down range post concussion. It killed me to not go on Wednesday, but not going was the right call. I went up to the range with Lauren and Linda last night so they could shoot, and I could make sure I was good enough to go today. I had no issues with the sound, just ear plugs underneath ear muffs, and I was in for today. Thursday I got in about 1.5 hours of dry fire, but it really was more about scraping the rust off than it was getting into top form. I won't say that I started the day with low expectations, but I had no thought that I was going to go out and have my best match. My starting goal was to just shoot all four stages, have no health issues, and re-build a little confidence from a week off.
I guess if you start with low expectations, it's hard to be disappointed, and it's a good thing, because I never really got it going, I made mental mistakes, had a couple of points where I did not have good hits, and if I shot it 100%, I'd have been very frustrated. Right now though, I feel like the rust is off, last stage I made a mental mistake that cost me, and I'm ready to go dry fire, practice, and get my head into the game again.
Match Scores
Stage 1:
The bottom line is that I just did not get the hits that I needed to get, I was on both sides of the tuxedo target, and the RO gave me a generous Alpha, Mike, and I thought it should have been two Mikes. In general, I was just slow and did not get good hits. I also had a low primer that slowed me down to tap, rack, and clear it.
Stage 2:
Again, I had some Mike's downrange, I dropped a mag, and I ran past the table, and grabbed a mag I had already used, and was almost empty so I had to double back and get another mag. Just sloppy.
Stage 3:
The Classifier could have been a good one, I needed a Hit Factor of 4.069 for a 60% run, and an overall time of 19.46 with 80% of the points. My time was 22.67, and I just did not have good hits overall. I did have a Mike, the first shot of the 3rd string, double action pull, weak hand, I was not ready for it, and it hurt. First string I shot the first part well, I was admiring my handiwork when I realize I had to reload and shoot again. Overall I really cost myself some time, and while I got hits, I need to get better hits.
Stage 4:
I had a rough go with the last steel, I had to refocus because I was going well, and was pulling off the target to run to the next array before I completed the pull. It's little, dumb things like that which pull down a score. The video does not show it, but I actually took one more shot, I thought I had a miss, and pushed the mag back in, and took another shot. That cost me about 3.5 seconds. Turns out I had 3 hits on the target, I just did not see one of 'em from where I was at, it was in a torn up area of pasters. Lesson to be learned? Call your shot, and trust yourself
Full Match Video:
Summary:
The little dumb mental stuff, that's correctable, and I'd like to think it's the result of my not being 100%. The truth is, I need to accept that my mental game is off, and I need to get my focus back. Focus is as big a part of the game as shooting, and mine is off. From a shooting point of view, I'm still rushing in some spots and not getting a good sight picture, and I'm going too slow in others. I'm not shooting with my practice cadence in mind, and that's hurting me. Right now, it's as much of a dry fire issue as anything. I need to focus on my dry fire, and really commit to doing it right. Honestly I thought I had been, but maybe I'm cheating myself, so I'll look at that.
I'm happy to have been able to shoot, and I'll take the few good things I did, and work my practice plan to address what I was not happy with, one thing at a time. Next MISS match is the 29th, so I'll have plenty of practice time before that, and it's all build-up for the WIIT.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Weekend Review
Weekend Review
There was a reasonable amount of lead put down range this
weekend! Saturday morning I hit Alpha with Dave to get our weekly practice in,
and we had a decent couple of hours. I had my draw in the 1.50 to 1.6 seconds range
at 10 yards, and about 1.20 seconds from 7 yards. More than anything, my draw
is starting to feel consistent, so the dry fire routine is showing some results
for me. I know it can and will get faster, but being consistent was the first
step towards that.
We ran a few transitions, steel plates, and some El Pres,
and I had times between 6.36 and 6.88 with hits. My struggle was the first
target for some reason, and I’m going to have to work on my draw to a target on
my left. With more practice that will improve as well.
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| HK 416 22 Rimfire |
The family ended up back at Alpha Range
Today we shot the MISS match, and it was a mixed bag. First
video here is of Linda. She came into the match with a few goals, she wanted to
stop re-adjusting her grip during a stage, and she wanted to get all of her
hits. I’m proud to say that she accomplished both goals in stellar fashion. She
knows she wants to get faster, but she got amazing hits. Her hard work in dry
fire is starting to pay some dividends. Right before the match, she added one
other goal, she wanted to beat the other lady shooter there, and she absolutely
got that goal as well. After Pine Tree she has done a great job, and rumor on
the street is that she is the next “shooting project” for Les, he believes that
he’ll turn her into a “B” Class shooter next year as well. If he can do that
for me, it’ll be an easier path for a more naturally talented shooter like
Linda.
My stage breakdown is a little different. I got there,
started on the stage I set-up, and I had the shooting cadence I was looking
for, and at the end of the run I realized I never really saw my front sights,
had a ton of misses, and while I looked fast, I did not hit shit. If I was in a boat, in the middle of the ocean, I'd have missed water falling out, it was that bad. (Okay, there was good stuff, and I'm exaggerating, but I still need to focus more and get my shit together from the start.) That stage
was so bad in terms of points, there was no way I could really recover the
match. Second stage I dialed my cadence down, and I’m unhappy that I did, but I
put in a 10th place overall run. I had forgotten about my first
stage, and this one just felt a lot better, and re-instilled any confidence I
had lost. Third stage was the classifier, and I deliberately tanked it once I
realized I had a hit in “hard cover”. My goal was to shoot a 0% so it would not
count against me when classification is run. Other than annoying the Range
Officer with my antics, I did accomplish that goal. That said, I want this
classifier again, I know I can nail it. Last stage I put together an 8th
overall run, and again, it felt better to me.
One of my issues in the past was that I did better on
accuracy stages, and I was struggling in some of the “field courses” that
require more running. In two of the three longer courses, I did fairly well,
and I believe that improvement is because of the practice and instruction with
Les. I’m seeing sights, I’m drawing, running, and reloading better. None of
those things is perfect, but it’s light years away from where I was eight
months ago, and it’s even better from where I was as little as three or four
months ago.
As always, gotta have video from "Random Dude". This time we grabbed video from Terry, who always amazes me with how fast he goes, and how solid his plan on stages are. This was not one of his better matches though.
This “B” class card is just around the corner, and in way I've
got that in the back of mind, the front of my mind is the little steps, small
improvements I’m making and starting to show. I think a quantum jump in results is
inevitable fairly soon, simply because I’m seeing more and more good points,
and I’m starting to string them together. Breaking the sport down to individual parts like seeing sights, transitions, draw, reload, like Les has so far, make things simple, but allow me to really focus on the fundamentals that the whole damn thing is built on.
Last note? It was strange to shoot a morning match, and go
out for breakfast or an early lunch as opposed to the typical shoot late, and
go out for a 10:30pm “snack” and beer. Not only do I love the sport, I really
like and respect the people.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
MISS Match 11/20/13 Recap
Match Recap
I'm not going to go into detail on the way I shot. We pretty much covered the highlights, and low lights from Wednesday. The DQ was the worst part of the night, that I had a flinch early sucked, and that I shot slow as can be. When I was doing it, I felt like I was going faster, but watching the video, I was slow. The last blog covered that, flinch is now gone, I'm comfortable with my 9mm again, and I turned in some blazing practice. I'm excited to get practicing again, and I want to take my practice attitude, to the match. A club match should not be about pressure, it's about validating what I'm doing in practice, so I need to shoot with the same relaxed feeling I had in practice, and not like I'm terrified that I might miss something. Believe, trust, get to where I can call my shot.
Amici gave me a piece of advice, he told me to think about the DQ until I'm ready to throw up, and keep that with me, so it won't happen again. He's got a good point, we know what I attribute this DQ to, and exactly what I'm going to do to make sure that does not happen ever again. Sure, I'm embarrassed I did it, and I'm glad nobody got hurt, and I'm pissed I put people in a spot the could have gotten hurt. I'll chew on, and do the right thing going forward.
On to some video:
My two plus a hair stages:
Here is Emil running thru the match and doing pretty darn well:
Here is Kozy going out and tearing things up as usual:
Last but not least, here is Les. I'm glad I got the video for his match, and especially his classifier run, which should give him his bump up to GM which he richly deserves. Nobody I know works harder, cares more, and gives back to the sport as a whole than Les. I'm lucky to call him a friend, and proud to call him my teacher. A guy who shoots this well? I gotta make him proud come March!
Thanks guys!
I'm not going to go into detail on the way I shot. We pretty much covered the highlights, and low lights from Wednesday. The DQ was the worst part of the night, that I had a flinch early sucked, and that I shot slow as can be. When I was doing it, I felt like I was going faster, but watching the video, I was slow. The last blog covered that, flinch is now gone, I'm comfortable with my 9mm again, and I turned in some blazing practice. I'm excited to get practicing again, and I want to take my practice attitude, to the match. A club match should not be about pressure, it's about validating what I'm doing in practice, so I need to shoot with the same relaxed feeling I had in practice, and not like I'm terrified that I might miss something. Believe, trust, get to where I can call my shot.
Amici gave me a piece of advice, he told me to think about the DQ until I'm ready to throw up, and keep that with me, so it won't happen again. He's got a good point, we know what I attribute this DQ to, and exactly what I'm going to do to make sure that does not happen ever again. Sure, I'm embarrassed I did it, and I'm glad nobody got hurt, and I'm pissed I put people in a spot the could have gotten hurt. I'll chew on, and do the right thing going forward.
On to some video:
My two plus a hair stages:
Here is Emil running thru the match and doing pretty darn well:
Here is Kozy going out and tearing things up as usual:
Last but not least, here is Les. I'm glad I got the video for his match, and especially his classifier run, which should give him his bump up to GM which he richly deserves. Nobody I know works harder, cares more, and gives back to the sport as a whole than Les. I'm lucky to call him a friend, and proud to call him my teacher. A guy who shoots this well? I gotta make him proud come March!
Thanks guys!
Thursday, November 7, 2013
MISS Match Re-Cap
MISS Match Re-Cap
Safety, the number one thing that we pay attention to when
we are out at the range, and last night I ran into my own safety problem.
During a stage I was looking at the Kindle and had my head turned, and got
caught in the corner of my eye with a piece of steel. It’s not uncommon to
catch a little steel when a lot of steel targets are up, but it’s almost
amazing that I got a little piece beneath my shooting glasses. I spent some
time looking at them today, and I realize they are too big, and they don’t
touch my face in a few spots which is what made yesterday possible. I rinsed it
out, and eventually got it, but my eye itched, and hurt, and only today feels
okay. Safety is not something to screw around with, so I’ll take steps about
getting some proper eye wear.
The match itself was a disappointment for me, but as usual,
I learned a few things. First stage I shot, I went out and blazed, I had a very
good time, I had a great cadence, and other than the first few targets, I did
not hit a thing. Very simply, I lost my front sight, and I was trying to keep
my practice cadence into the first stage. My cadence in practice is great, but
in practice there is no recoil, no muzzle flip, and so on, and I never let
myself get ahead of it. I had a grin on my face after shooting the stage,
thinking I shot a baller round, only to be in shock when I realized what I did
actually do.
Second stage I got a little more accurate, but I forgot a
piece of steel. I meant to take it from the first port, not the outside,
because I could take it, and be in a position to back out of the port easily.
This is a case of me not walking it properly, and committing it to memory. My
time again was pretty solid, but that was a crucial mistake that really was
embarrassing.
My third stage was a little slower, but I got on my game,
and had pretty solid hits, nothing I did not like, I’m sure I could have gone a
little faster, but I found a spot where speed and hits were where they should
be.
Last stage was the classifier which is a new one. Many folks felt that sitting to shoot it was
ideal, save some time standing up. Before the match we were watching the “Super
Squad” shoot it on liveshots, and only Matt Mink shot it sitting, the rest
of the people stood up. I get that sitting may be some extra support, but I
figured that if standing is good enough for Eric Grauffel, it’s good enough for
me. My time at 7.96 was not great, but I had, almost, my best accuracy run of
the night with 7 Alpha’s, however on my first shot on the last paper target, I
transitioned over into the white “no shoot”, and broke my shot. I knew it when
I did it, and I got the “head” of the target. If there was not a no-shoot, it
would have been another Alpha. Instead, I had a meager hit factor, and essentially
blew the stage. Disappointing a little, but I was happy the rest of the stage
was solid.
I've got some work to do, Thursday has been a “rest” day,
and tomorrow I’ll do some dry fire before heading up to Alpha for an evening
practice session with Dave. I’ll leave this blog with a video of Les at
Nationals, the smoothness with which he shot it, it what I’m striving for,
that’s a great cadence.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
M.I.S.S. Match 10/16/13
M.I.S.S. Match 10/16/13
It’s an advantage to help set-up the night before a match.
One of the better lessons I learned this summer is to be prepared for each and
every stage, walk it, memorize it, and execute your plan. One of the earlier criticisms someone made,
when I suspect they had too many easy to point our flaws that might hurt my
feelings was that I rarely had a plan, and I needed to work on my prep. When I
was getting started, I admit, that was 100% accurate, my thoughts were to be
safe, and just “shoot stuff”, I ate standing reloads, I took horrible paths,
and I did most of it on the fly. If there is a recipe to not succeed, that
definitely is it.
In my video’s, I can see where I started to transition to an
analytical mode, and how my stage approach started to change. These days, I
feel like I walk thru enough to have my plan in place, and I go with it, it’s
almost memory when I’m shooting. There is no “alternate plan in case I miss”.
Sure, I can plot better ways to approach arrays, and to leave an array, and
sometimes I still need help finding the best way to approach a stage, but this
is a part of my game that is evolving.
The Wisconsin Sectional Match (which video is conspicuously
absent) was a case in point of why it’s important to go early, walk stages, and
be prepared. If you are going to spend time and money on a major match, it
really does behoove you to arrive early, walk stages, and get a preliminary
game plan in place. Make sure what you saw on paper looks the same, and that
there are no surprises to be had. In the last six months, no match set me back
more than the Wisconsin Sectional. I’m
just going to say that there were a lot of things that went wrong for me, but
one thing that was in my power to have go right, I blew by not being as
prepared as I should have been.
Last night at M.I.S.S. I opened on a pretty fun stage, and
while setting up the night before, I had two or three ideas on how I could
shoot the stage. Kozy made a suggestion, and I was all over it, it was
different than I had come up with, but it helped save me a reload. Because I
was deliberately slow from draw to first shot, my time was nowhere near what it
could have been, so my one less reload advantage was negated. I did however
learn an important lesson, and that’s that sometimes I need to take a step back
to really see the whole picture. When I finished my round, it was apparent to
the Range Officer that I’d been talking to Kozy, because he even commented on
what a good plan that was, and that is how he was going to shoot it. Too much feedback can be bad, but not seeing
the whole picture can also not be a negative.
I had two real goals last night, and with Les busy at
Production Nationals, the scores won’t be uploaded until next week, so I won’t
know until then how many points I shot. I do know that I had zero mikes, zero
deltas, 15 C’s, 2 B’s, and all the rest Alpha’s. That’s still not the accuracy
that I want, I’d like to cut the C’s in half, but zero mikes and deltas is
progress.
The other goal that I had was running a “B” level
classifier, and I thought it would be a gimmie, and it was not. My first run I
ended up around a 48% score, but since we had time waiting for the other squad
to flip stages, a couple of us paid our extra money for submission, and did a re-shoot.
This time I ended up with a hit-factor of 5.062, which was a 59.737% run, or
about .26 short of a “B” run. Don’t
misunderstand me, that’s progress, but during that run I had 3 misses on steel,
and if I had one less miss, I’d have had my 60%, if I had run it clean, I’d
have been in around a 70%, which is what I was aiming for. Consider a little confidence built.
As a side note, not naming any names, I had a conversation
today with a friend, and I mentioned how since this was the 2nd
match of the fall season, it was nice to see some old faces I had not seen all
summer at matches. I also noted that last spring I thought quite a few of them
were excellent shooters, and shot at a classification lower than their ability.
Oh, how a summer has changed me. Today I noted that as I watched last night, I
realized that they were not as good as I’d thought; I was able to be objective,
and see things that they were doing wrong. It’s not a sense of cockiness, but
it’s a sense of objectiveness, and perhaps that I’m finally starting to see,
and more importantly gain some understanding of the sport, which can only help
me learn and improve my own game.
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