Other Match Thoughts

Other Match Thoughts


Yesterday I was excited about reaching my goal, although I will not be satisfied until USPSA runs the numbers, and I see a B card with my name on it in the mail. Not to be out done, Linda really had a good match yesterday, I'm really impressed that her hard work is slowly starting to pay off. Coming in to the match, she was right about a 21%, but she cleaned up yesterday, and even with a little Practicscore inflation, she should be right around 38%, meaning she is getting close to earning her C card. With less practice, less matches, she's going to be where I was last November. In fact, last night she was trying to figure out ways to go out, and get a couple more classifiers in, so she can earn her card now, and it would be nice to get my B card at the same time she earns hers.

More concerned with shooting than video yesterday, we missed more than a few stages, but here are a couple of her runs, and I laugh saying this, but these were her two worst stages, wish I had managed to get the video for her 3 outstanding runs.


CM 99-48 Tight Squeeze

CM 99-46 Close Quarter Standards:

Pretty proud of her, and gotta make mention of her progress here as well! Here is what she is looking at right now:

49.19% (C Run) **
47.77% (C Run) **
45.51% (C Run) **
37.86% (D Run) **
21.49% (D Run) **
16.66% *
13.96% *
27.95%

* Denotes lowest 2 of current 8, do not count in the calculation
** Denotes shot yesterday, and are not official USPSA scores.

Her 8 round average would be about 38.29%


Kozy has one video of me from yesterday, which I'll get later on, here is my Tight Squeeze Video:

This was actually my worst run of the day, I had a miss on the 2nd target, and I called it. I did not let the tuxedo target phase me, and I was fast.  I was nearly a half second faster than any other Production shooter, and I was 4th fastest overall. Being honest, I actually saw my front sight, and other than trying to make sure I stayed away from the no-shoot, I felt this run was just the right speed. That's good confidence, but the bad part is that I over compensated by staying too far away from the meat of the A zone, and did not get the hits I wanted. Next time......

It was nice yesterday to savor the good match, but I got my dry fire practice in already today, and I'm already starting to work to become more competitive in my new class, and do it as fast as possible, and then beyond that towards taking the next step by the end of the year. 24 hour break was more than enough!

B Card Incoming

B Card Incoming

I came, I saw, and I kicked some ass today. I knew what was on the line today, and I knew that I had just over 5 months of work invested into reaching this goal. I did not want to let down my friends, my family, or myself. I knew I had absolutely all of them pulling for me, so I admit I felt the pressure, but not in a bad way, I did not let things paralyze me, I rose to the occasion. Wednesday the 19th, I let a dumb mistake beat me, and I did let the pressure get to me, and it was me imposing a non-existent pressure that day. I could have imploded, but I did not.

Les Rewards Me With "My" Patch For the Effort!

Match Scores

Today I came in looking to shoot only 4 of the 6 classifiers that we were going to run, because that would keep my best scores still on my sheet. For a quick run down, here are the scores that I shot today:

Steely Speed VII: 4.85 Hit Factor (57.18%)
El Presidente: 7.349 Hit Factor (71.62%)
Tight Squeeze: 3.338 Hit Factor (33.95% Below Classification, will not count...whew....)
Madness: 5.8939 Hit Factor (67.27%)

So, when the next run is done in April, here are the last 8 classifiers that I will have, bottom will be the oldest, top the newest:

57.18**
71.62**
67.27**
45.25 *
72.27
57.45
71.62
42.92 *


* Denotes the lowest 2 in my current 8, so they will not count.
** Denotes Practiscore estimate, not an official USPSA number.

That equates to about a 66.24%.

Not only will I have my card, but I'll have earned it with a little room to spare. This won't be me just squeaking into "B" class. Even with a "Practicscore adjustment" I should be just fine. I'd also caught a little flack from a couple of people that I "gamed" the system, by throwing my bad classifiers, and zeroing them out. However, the 71.62, is from 2/5/14, and since then I have zeroed one classifier, so those are 7 of my last 8 classifiers, with the 42.92 from January. This was a non-gamed, true earned "B" card. Straight up, I did it!

I'll be proud to get my "B" card, and I know that I've done a good job with classifiers, and it was only this week that I really put together a full match. I still have a lot of rough edges to grind, and consistency to build. I'm going to have good  matches, and I'll stumble at times, but I've got the foundation, and the confidence to build on where I am at. I'm at the bottom of the "B" heap, and I have plenty of hard work if I want to be competitive here (which I absolutely do). I'd like to push and get competitive by this summer, and look to earn my "A" card by the end of the year. The fastest jump in level I can make, I've done, it's easy to learn fundamentals, and the road is going to be a lot harder and slower, but I'm committed to doing it.

I owe huge thanks to a lot of people, and I'll save the big thanks for the day my card is in hand, but I'll touch a few people right now, today. Linda and Lauren who stood by me, encouraged me, and let me do it, even when it was time away from them. My training partner Dave, who pushed me hard, who stood by, and was a voice of reason and encouragement from day 1. I only wish I could have done as well by him as he has done by me. I hope he knows I'll always be his fan! Terry for really introducing a newbie to the sport, but also providing the swift kick in the ass that I need from time to time. From "Mah' biscuits are burning", to dubbing me "turtle" he's been an amazing friend. Yeah, he was a voice of reason and encouragement, and I know I'm better because I've shot in his squad and listened to his feedback all season. Kozy who has come over countless times to fix my press, or to cheer me up, or to give me a little "off the record" training, or perspective, plus he was the guy who came a running when I hit my head, to watch Lauren, and get me into an ambulance. His wise counsel, intensity, and drive are all things I admire, and could not have done without. Finally, the mentor, the Zen Master, Les. I don't know where to start, he started with a lump of poo for a shooter, and he taught me fundamentals, he put up with my bullshit. He did not give me too much flack when I switched from the PPQ to the CZ, even though I know that had to test his patience. Les gave me a lot of tools to improve, he did not just work on my shooting, he taught me, and worked into the mental game, and God knows, I had all sorts of stubborn issues there. The man is an amazing teacher, and a great friend.

With friends like that, people who I'd give the shirt off my back for, any of them, I hope that they know, and can celebrate this little win for themselves too, and know that not only I'm grateful, but that it would have been impossible without them.

No time to rest on the accomplishment, but I will enjoy it for today at least. Tomorrow I'll be back in the basement dry firing, Tuesday I'll be practicing at Alpha, and the march will go on.

Tonight we relax

-Honey Jack

Get It Done Eve

Get It Done Eve


Tomorrow is the big day for me, it's the MISS Classifier match. Six great classifiers in one day, time for me to earn my "B" card. Doing the math, I will shoot 4 of the 6 classifiers, so I don't start to drop 70's, and maybe 2-3 will count. I could earn my "B" card with a three runs of 53%. That's 3 runs that are 7% lower than the 60% I need for my card. That means a couple of things, it means I've done a good job of earning some higher classifiers to give myself some breathing room, and it means that I can just shoot. No pressure, no stress, just go and get it done. I'm not looking to squeak by, let's do it right.


Today we went to Alpha, and it was a big crew doing some shooting for four hours. Kozy was up there already working, so he shot at the beginning, Les was up for a hour plus, Linda, Dave, Herb and even Tom Palmer and his wife worked into the session. I had hoped to see all 6 classifiers, but we only shot 4, two of which I suspect I will not even shoot tomorrow, so I'll have to shoot two completely cold. Sure, that could intimidate me a bit, but earning my "B" card to me, means that I should be able to deliver a solid classifier without practice. I should be able to trust my skills and ability to deliver.

Here were my El Pres runs:

5 Alpha
6 Charlie
1 Delta
44 Points
1.82 Draw
2.17 Reload
7.50 Total Time
5.87 Hit Factor
57% (C Run)


9 Alpha
3 Charlie
54 Points
1.76 Draw
1.93 Reload
7.35 Total Time
7.35 Hit Factor
71.6% (B Run)


6 Alpha
5 Charlie
1 Delta
46 Points
1.94 Draw
1.90 Reload
7.13 Total Time
6.45 Hit Factor
62.9% (B Run)

All of those are going to be acceptable, but I know what I can do. They key, as always, will be no misses, no deltas, all Alpha's, and Charlies. My draw is fast enough, my reload is fast enough, and I shoot fast enough, so just see my front sight, get hits, and kick some ass.

My Steely Speed VII runs were not what I expected. Last time I did this, I had a 61%, that has since fallen off my record, so I know I can hit the 5.89 second time I need, but I only did it one time today in seven runs. All runs had at least one miss, and no run was worse than a 55%. To me, this means that I really need to be fundamentally sound, and not lose that front sight, acceptable sight picture is not good enough. Linda actually had some outstanding runs on this classifier, consistently lowering her times to where she shot a couple of "B" level runs, and six of her seven runs were above her "C" mark. She's going to do just fine with this one.

So, here are the classifiers, and the mark's that I need for tomorrow:
(All scoring assumes 90% of possible points)

El Presidente  (60% 6.156 Hit Factor in 8.77 Seconds)
Steely Speed VII (60% 5.09 Hit Factor in 5.89 Seconds)
Close Quarter Standards (60% 5.72 Hit Factor in 18.89 Seconds) ***
High Standards (60% 4.79 Hit Factor in 22.55 Seconds) ***
Tight Squeeze (60% 5.90 Hit Factor in 9.15 Seconds)
Madness (60% 5.26 Hit Factor in 11.98 Seconds)

For that those that don't know, Hit Factor is simply points shot divided by time. Alphas are worth 5 points, Bravo 3 points, Charlie 3 points, and Delta 1 Point. A Mike is -10, and a no shoot is -10. That's the Production "Minor" scoring.

So, tonight? I'm going to do my dry fire routine of about 45 minutes, load some ammo, and enjoy the night with the family. I'm not going to over pressure myself, or work myself into a tizzy, if I get too tight, then I'll shoot poorly. I'm going to relax, and trust that all the practice and work I've done in the past 5 months will pay off tomorrow. Dry fire tonight is going to just keep me sharp.

I will get up early tomorrow, and do 30 minutes of dry fire before we leave for the match, and that's just going to focus on my front sight. I keep an eye on that tomorrow, I'm going to reach this goal of a "B" card. It's funny though, Kozy posted something on Facebook the other day, it was a picture that said "Work hard so one day your mentor's become your rivals." I was watching Les today, and I want to be that good. I'm not saying I'll ever be a rival, or that I'll be able to commit to the work it would take to reach that level, but this "B" card is just a step, it's not a destination. I love this sport, I'm glad I'm able to do it and compete, and that my friends and family support me. One step at a time, and tomorrow I'm going to get one goal completed, and then enjoy it for a little bit, before I jump back onto the treadmill, and set some goals worth working even harder for.

Mixed Blessings

Mixed Blessings


You know, I seem to find new and different ways to screw up classifiers. While I'm disappointed about that, it's not end of the world, and I'll go get done on Sunday what I need to do. I'm not worried, I realize I actually realize I just need to relax and shoot my game. So there, that's the bad part of this weeks match. The good part is that I finished 6th overall, my highest ever match finish, granted no Les, and no Kozy, so it would have been 8th. That said, I can't shoot against people who are not there, and I'll take 6th place when I know I had a bad classifier stage.


Match Scores


Stage 1 (West 1: Scooter)          

Stage went pretty well, 2nd place in Production. I had good solid hits, I was not happy with some of my transitions in the first position, and I took too long with some in the second position. Draw and reloads were solid, and I made sure that I was leaning in the last position, instead of having "Kozy foot".


Stage 2: (East 1: Crickets)

I had a mike on the 4th target. Second shot I started to pull back to reload and move to the next position before I completed the shot. This is an old issue, but with the movement, I just did not complete the shot, and I realized it, I thought it was either a mike or a low left delta. 7th place in Production, and the 10 penalty points did cost me a couple of spots.


Stage 3: (East 2: Chirp)

Can't complain too much, the run was good enough for 2nd place in Production, but there are some things that I could have done better. In the second position, I thought I had a good game plan, but I took way too long waiting for the swinger to come "open", I could, and should have taken it sooner, I took 3 shots, and all were Alpha's. My transitions in the final position were a little slower than I would have liked.

Stage 4: (West 2: CM 13-06 Too Close For Comfort)

Okay, new mistake here. I put the reload mag backwards into my mag holder, so on the reload I tried to insert it, and it was backwards, so I had to flip it. That and a misfire on my 4th shot really cost me. 9 Alpha 2 Bravo and a Charlie meant I had the hits, but the time cost me, and it's around a 45% run, which kind of hurts my run towards "C". It's done and over with, and lesson for Sunday is just be relaxed, don't get all tensed up, and shoot. Terry told me I was tense after I shot, and I denied it, but in hindsight, he was right, I was. For once instead of hosing it, I shot thru it.


Full Match Video:

Overall:

I could sit here and harp on the bad things, but what good would that do? The truth is there is an awful lot of good in this match, as my finish proved. Twelve months ago was the first time I ever shot more than one match in a month, I was still drawing lines on my hands to line up my grip. In October I was still a "D" class shooter who was struggling with fundamentals. Here we are five months of training with Les, breaking me down, and building me up fundamentally, this is big time progress. I'm not close to the same shooter I was a short time ago. So I'm pretty proud of my finish, but it's definitely made me hungry to continue to grind off rough spots and get better. I'm not even close to satisfied.

Tuesday Practice

Tuesday Practice

It's also my 100th blog, which I'm happy to say I've enjoyed writing! So, Dave and I worked on the same two classifiers as we did last Friday, we had to make tonight quick, so we focused on the standard El Presidente, and the classifier we will see on Wednesday, Too Close for Comfort. The idea this time is that we really need to nail both of these.


CM 13-06 Too Close for Comfort

4 Alpha
4 Bravo
2 Charlie
38 Points
1.95 Draw
1.75 Reload
8.73 Total Time
4.35 Hit Factor
52.5% (C Run)


4 Alpha
1 Bravo
4 Charlie
1 Mike
30 Points
1.89 Draw
2.06 Reload
7.95 Total Time
3.77 Hit Factor
45.5% (C Run)

5 Alpha
2 Bravo
3 Charlie
40 Points
1.95 Draw
2.30 Reload
8.68 Total Time
4.60 Hit Factor
55.5% (C Run)

8 Alpha
1 Bravo
1 Charlie
46 Points
1.54 Draw
1.67 Reload
7.60 Total Time
6.05 Hit Factor
72.97% (B Run)

5 Alpha
2 Bravo
2 Charlie
1 Delta
38 Points
1.86 Draw
2.27 Reload
8.35 Total Time
4.55 Hit Factor
54.9% (C Run)

7 Alpha
2 Bravo
1 Charlie
44 Points
1.78 Draw
1.89 Reload
8.05 Total Time
5.46 Hit Factor
65.86% (B Run)


El Presidente CM 99-11

7 Alpha
4 Charlie
1 Mike
42 Points
2.03 Draw
1.82 Reload
7.44 Total Time
5.64 Hit Factor
54.96% (C Run)

4 Alpha
6 Charlie
2 Delta
40 Points
1.88 Draw
1.87 Reload
7.51 Total Time
5.32 Hit Factor
51.85% (C Run)

9 Alpha
3 Charlie
54 Points
2.30 Draw
1.89 Reload
7.92 Total Time
6.81 Hit Factor
66.4% (B Run)


7 Alpha
5 Charlie
50 Points
1.84 Draw
2.03 Reload
7.26 Total Time
6.88 Hit Factor
67.1% (B Run)


Analysis

I'm showing some progress, but I really do need to do better. The botched and slow reload has definitely cost me a few times, but I'm feeling that my turn and draw should be in the 1.8 range for El Pres comfortably, and my reload should be 1.6 to 1.8 every single time. If I am missing then it's on me, I'm not looking something in, my next to last El Pres run, I did not see the front sight at all, and I ran it in 7.92, with a 2.30 draw, that that down .3 seconds, and a 7.62 looks respectable. I've got the match tomorrow and Too Close For Comfort, and then the last class with Les on Saturday, followed by two hours of range work with Dave and Linda, and then it's show time.

While I like my chances to get it done, I want to shoot my best, I don't want to shoot worrying about where I am, I want to go all out, and give each classifier my best. Looking forward to this!

Friday Practice

Friday Practice

With the game on the line, Dave and I decided we're going to work on Classifiers thru the 22nd, and then after that, we'll go back to standard practice sessions trying to break down certain parts of our game, and focusing all our work to improve those parts. Short term, working these classifiers will help us improve our scores, and give us some direction for dry fire. One week only!

We started off with CM 13-06 Too Close for Comfort which is a 10 round, 50 point stage, which will be run on Thursday. We did two runs each at "accurate speed", two runs "hair on fire", and finally "match speed".


Accurate

7 Alpha
2 Bravo
1 Charlie
44 Points
1.97 Draw
2.32 Reload
10.78 Total Time
4.08 Hit Factor
49.2% (C Run)

7 Alpha
2 Bravo
1 Charlie
44 Points
1.67 Draw
2.07 Reload
8.94 Total Time
4.92 Hit Factor
59.3% (C Run)


Hair On Fire

10 Alpha
2 Bravo
44 Points
1.44 Draw
2.05 Reload
7.61 Total Time
5.78 Hit Factor
69.7% (B Run)

5 Alpha
1 Bravo
2 Charlie
2 Mike
24 Points
1.66 Draw
? Reload
6.81 Total Time
3.52 Hit Factor
42.4% (C Run)

Match Speed

5 Alpha
2 Bravo
3 Charlie
35 Points
1.55 Draw
1.94 Reload
8.06 Total Time
4.34 Hit Factor
52.4% (C Run)

5 Alpha
1 Bravo
4 Charlie
35 Points
1.55 Draw
2.05 Reload
8.64 Total time
4.05 Hit Factor
48.8% (C Run)

Everyone's favorite, El Presidente was the second one we worked. It is of course a 12 round round, 60 point stage. Run the same way.

Accurate

7 Alpha
3 Charlie
2 Delta
47 Points
1.79 Draw
2.06 Reload
8.38 Total Time
5.61 Hit Factor
54.7% (C Run)


11 Alpha
1 Charlie
58 Points
2.09 Draw
2.18 Reload
10.98 Total Time
5.28 Hit Factor
51.5% (C Run)


Hair on Fire

1 Alpha
5 Charlie
3 Delta
3 Mike
8 Points
1.61 Draw
1.65 Reload
5.66 Total Time
1.41 Hit Factor
13.7% (D Run)


3 Alpha
6 Charlie
3 Delta
36 Points
1.69 Draw
1.59 Reload
6.09 Total Time
5.91 Hit Factor
57.6% (C Run)

Match Speed

8 Alpha
4 Charlie
52 Points
1.99 Draw
1.85 Reload
7.43 Total Time
7.00 Hit Factor
68.2% (B Run)


7 Alpha
5 Charlie
50 Points
2.02 Draw
2.00 Reload
8.45 Total Time
5.92 Hit Factor
57.7% (C Run)


Linda came up in time to run the El Presidente section with us, so here are her results:

Accurate

6 Alpha
2 Bravo
2 Charlie
1 Delta
1 Mike
38 Points
2.58 Draw
3.46 Reload
10.25 Total Time
3.71 Hit Factor
36.2% (D Run)


8 Alpha
3 Charlie
1 Mike
44 Points
2.46 Draw
3.59 Reload
13.33 Total Time
3.30 Hit Factor
32.1% (D Run)


Hair on Fire

5 Alpha
3 Charlie
4 Delta
38 Points
1.74 Draw
2.45 Reload
7.60 Total Time
5.00 Hit Factor
48.7% (C Run)

3 Alpha
5 Charlie
2 Delta
2 Mike
22 Points
1.73 Draw
2.02 Reload
6.87 Total Time
3.20 Hit Factor
31.2% (D Run)

Match Speed

9 Alpha
3 Charlie
54 Points
2.54 Draw
3.37 Reload
10.95 Total Time
4.93 Hit Factor
48% (C Run)

4 Alpha
5 Charlie
2 Delta
1 Mike
32 Points
2.63 Draw
2.36 Reload
10.62 Total Time
3.01 Hit Factor
29.3% (D Run)

Analysis

If it is not one thing, it's something else for sure. Friday, I was having problems with my trigger, I was not letting go of the trigger back to the reset, and I'd try to pull, and obviously nothing was happening. Not sure why I picked up that habit, because it was a frequent occurrence. I suspect it's a dry fire pick-up, where I don't release the trigger all the way out so I don't have every shot double action. I'll have to take a look at this, because it really was an issue.

My hair on fire runs on El Pres were better, I think, than the scoring. For one of the first times that I've moved from the PPQ to the CZ, I've really been able to just cut loose. Prior to tonight, my best times ever were with the PPQ, and around a 6.36, and I had rarely, if ever gone below 7 seconds with the CZ. A 5.66 and a 6.09 was a major improvement, and to be honest, I saw my sights. No, not perfectly, as my score indicates, but I did see them, and I was too lenient with an "acceptable" sight picture. I'm more than a few months off from running sub six second El Presidente's, but I believe that goal is reachable.

Accuracy still can be better, but reloads and draw's for the most part were more than acceptable. I'm going to aggressively dry fire this week, and put myself in the best position possible to get this done in 7 days time.

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.