Yeah. I mean, I know that I'll get better if I keep practicing all of the basics, I'm just trying to find the best way to determine what needs the most work.
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TennJeep's Training Journal
- Thread starter TennJeep1618
- Start date
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I just bought Shot Coach and used on a few stages from Gator, it is pretty interesting stuff! Looking at my splits versus the top guys (grabbed some GM video from YT) on "hoser" stuff I'm doing okay - highly surprising! My issues is in all forms of movement; transitions, position to position, etc.
My plan going forward to to set up a baseline target array (El Prez or some classifier stage) and break down all of the elements. I want to see draw to first shot, splits, transitions, reloads, etc. and use that as measuring stick.
Shot Coach is only $6 and allows you to really see where you stand against GM's. I'll try to post my videos for reference.
My plan going forward to to set up a baseline target array (El Prez or some classifier stage) and break down all of the elements. I want to see draw to first shot, splits, transitions, reloads, etc. and use that as measuring stick.
Shot Coach is only $6 and allows you to really see where you stand against GM's. I'll try to post my videos for reference.
I'm tempted to try and find a cheap ipad just so I can use Shot Coach. I would have bought it many months ago if I had any apple devices.
I just looked again and didn't see it on android.
Absolutely. Guess I'll keep my eye out for a cheap ipad because I really think the app could be helpful.
High round count match at MPSA on Saturday. I skipped the IDPA match today due to the weather and the desire to sleep in this morning.
Decent match. I did some things well, some other things poorly. My back is still giving me some trouble, so I wasn't able to move as well as I would have liked and my footwork suffered.
I'm proud of myself for not going crazy on stage 2 after the malfunction (I'm still not sure exactly what happened. The slide looked like it wasn't quite going into battery, but ejected rounds case gauged fine.). Once I got the gun running, I just continued to shoot the stage as normal.
I've dry fired a few times since the last MPSA match, including about an hour last night.
I spent about 5 minutes on a draw to sight picture. Par time was .7s and I've been hitting that 90+% of the time lately. I think I've mentioned this before, but one of the biggest improvements I've seen came from keeping my shoulders up and not letting them sag before the draw. My arms are still hanging relaxed, but my shoulders are more square than their natural resting point.
After warming up with draws, I worked on speeding up my (wide) transitions, trying to make sure I whip my head/eyes over to the next target and let the gun follow. I setup my gopro on 120fps and filmed some of my dry fire, then slowed it down in my editing software, but it took hours to render last night so I haven't watched it yet.
Then I combined the draw, transitions, and a reload by using 3 widely spaced targets. Draw, 2 on each, reload, 2 on each. I went back on forth, sometimes starting from left to right, then starting from right to left. My typical shooting pattern is to shoot left to right, reload, then shoot left to right again. I typically don't have a problem twisting my body around while I'm doing the reload to shoot the left target again, but it was a little difficult for me to do the same while going right to left. I found myself doing the reload, then twisting my body to face the target, which wastes time. I also noticed that my gun needs to be a little higher for quicker reloads. I sometimes dropped it down around my chest, which takes more time to get back on target and also makes it more difficult to see into the magwell for a smooth reload.
After that, I spent some time on drawing, transitioning the gun to my weak hand, then getting a sight picture. I have been working on this most every dry fire session for the last month or so, but I was disappointed in my performance when doing this exact thing in the last match. For some reason I didn't index the gun correctly and didn't see the dot on my first two targets of the array. That tells me I need to spend more time on it so it will become subconscious.
I finished up with about 5 minutes of match mode practice, shooting my entire 14(?) target dry fire array for 10 seconds at a time, leaving only acceptable shots. For anyone wondering, that's a great way to wear yourself out at the end of a dry fire session. Draw the gun quickly, squeeze the gun like it owes you a million bucks, drive the gun hard (yet controlled) between every target, watching your sights closely to make sure you're only putting good shots on target, making up shots when needed.
Even though I'm fighting some sort of sinus/throat/ear thing, I'm fed up with not being as active as I want to be (fighting my back problems previously). I was completely drained by the end of the session, but I felt good. I need to keep chipping away at those areas that need work, but the only way to do that is to keep practicing.
I spent about 5 minutes on a draw to sight picture. Par time was .7s and I've been hitting that 90+% of the time lately. I think I've mentioned this before, but one of the biggest improvements I've seen came from keeping my shoulders up and not letting them sag before the draw. My arms are still hanging relaxed, but my shoulders are more square than their natural resting point.
After warming up with draws, I worked on speeding up my (wide) transitions, trying to make sure I whip my head/eyes over to the next target and let the gun follow. I setup my gopro on 120fps and filmed some of my dry fire, then slowed it down in my editing software, but it took hours to render last night so I haven't watched it yet.
Then I combined the draw, transitions, and a reload by using 3 widely spaced targets. Draw, 2 on each, reload, 2 on each. I went back on forth, sometimes starting from left to right, then starting from right to left. My typical shooting pattern is to shoot left to right, reload, then shoot left to right again. I typically don't have a problem twisting my body around while I'm doing the reload to shoot the left target again, but it was a little difficult for me to do the same while going right to left. I found myself doing the reload, then twisting my body to face the target, which wastes time. I also noticed that my gun needs to be a little higher for quicker reloads. I sometimes dropped it down around my chest, which takes more time to get back on target and also makes it more difficult to see into the magwell for a smooth reload.
After that, I spent some time on drawing, transitioning the gun to my weak hand, then getting a sight picture. I have been working on this most every dry fire session for the last month or so, but I was disappointed in my performance when doing this exact thing in the last match. For some reason I didn't index the gun correctly and didn't see the dot on my first two targets of the array. That tells me I need to spend more time on it so it will become subconscious.
I finished up with about 5 minutes of match mode practice, shooting my entire 14(?) target dry fire array for 10 seconds at a time, leaving only acceptable shots. For anyone wondering, that's a great way to wear yourself out at the end of a dry fire session. Draw the gun quickly, squeeze the gun like it owes you a million bucks, drive the gun hard (yet controlled) between every target, watching your sights closely to make sure you're only putting good shots on target, making up shots when needed.
Even though I'm fighting some sort of sinus/throat/ear thing, I'm fed up with not being as active as I want to be (fighting my back problems previously). I was completely drained by the end of the session, but I felt good. I need to keep chipping away at those areas that need work, but the only way to do that is to keep practicing.
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The MPSA match this past Saturday was cancelled due to bridges in the area freezing overnight. It was rescheduled for this coming weekend, when the weather should be much more pleasant.
After all but convincing myself to take a few weeks off, I went 180 degrees and have been training pretty hard the last few days. I've dry fired the last four days straight, and this may be the first time I've ever done any real dry fire during the weekend. I finally got my gun room cleaned out enough that I'm able to get a simulated 8-9 yards with 1/3 scale targets, so I've been doing a lot of El Prez and other 3-reload-3 drills.
I also got out to the range for a little live fire yesterday. I had about 15 or 20 minutes alone at the range, so I did the Call It and Leave It drill until my lungs started burning and I had to shed some clothes. Once some other folks arrived, I pulled my steel target and put up 3 paper for some El Prez, Bill Drills, SHO, WHO, and a few shooting on the move drills. I just wasn't really feeling the live fire, so I got home and hit the dry fire really hard for about 30 minutes and felt much better afterwards.
I've been hearing a lot of people talk about goals for 2017, so I started thinking about what my goals should be. So far, I'm thinking:
* Shoot fewer major matches. I shot 7 or 8 majors in 2016. While I really enjoyed them, I feel like my time would be better spent shooting locals and practicing. Plus all of those majors took a toll on my vacation days (not to mention my wallet). I'm currently signed up for the AL Sectional, Area 6, and the Jabs Steel match in March, April, and May, respectively. I'll probably try to shoot another major or two later in the year, but I'm not sure which matches yet.
* Keep practicing and get better. I'm not making a specific goal about making A or M class, but I want to be able to compete with the A's by the AL sectional in 2 months. I'm not terribly far from that, I just need to keep up the practice and let it work.
* Take some time off from shooting. I shot a lot in 2016 and didn't take a break. When I started to get burned out in Production, I switched to Open. While that's been a lot of fun and has reinvigorated my dedication, I'm going to need to take some time off this coming year. I may take a month or so off during the heat of the summer, as long as it doesn't interfere with any major matches.
After all but convincing myself to take a few weeks off, I went 180 degrees and have been training pretty hard the last few days. I've dry fired the last four days straight, and this may be the first time I've ever done any real dry fire during the weekend. I finally got my gun room cleaned out enough that I'm able to get a simulated 8-9 yards with 1/3 scale targets, so I've been doing a lot of El Prez and other 3-reload-3 drills.
I also got out to the range for a little live fire yesterday. I had about 15 or 20 minutes alone at the range, so I did the Call It and Leave It drill until my lungs started burning and I had to shed some clothes. Once some other folks arrived, I pulled my steel target and put up 3 paper for some El Prez, Bill Drills, SHO, WHO, and a few shooting on the move drills. I just wasn't really feeling the live fire, so I got home and hit the dry fire really hard for about 30 minutes and felt much better afterwards.
I've been hearing a lot of people talk about goals for 2017, so I started thinking about what my goals should be. So far, I'm thinking:
* Shoot fewer major matches. I shot 7 or 8 majors in 2016. While I really enjoyed them, I feel like my time would be better spent shooting locals and practicing. Plus all of those majors took a toll on my vacation days (not to mention my wallet). I'm currently signed up for the AL Sectional, Area 6, and the Jabs Steel match in March, April, and May, respectively. I'll probably try to shoot another major or two later in the year, but I'm not sure which matches yet.
* Keep practicing and get better. I'm not making a specific goal about making A or M class, but I want to be able to compete with the A's by the AL sectional in 2 months. I'm not terribly far from that, I just need to keep up the practice and let it work.
* Take some time off from shooting. I shot a lot in 2016 and didn't take a break. When I started to get burned out in Production, I switched to Open. While that's been a lot of fun and has reinvigorated my dedication, I'm going to need to take some time off this coming year. I may take a month or so off during the heat of the summer, as long as it doesn't interfere with any major matches.
Good job!
What time of day are you dry firing? I find that early morning ~5am really requires metal effort to move quickly, later in the day things come easier.
I've found with setting goals that working in smaller increments has brought me more success. For instance, what will make you competitive with A's at the Sectional? Break down the small bits, run those drills to achieve the goal; be it time or points.
What time of day are you dry firing? I find that early morning ~5am really requires metal effort to move quickly, later in the day things come easier.
I've found with setting goals that working in smaller increments has brought me more success. For instance, what will make you competitive with A's at the Sectional? Break down the small bits, run those drills to achieve the goal; be it time or points.
I dry fire in the afternoon/evenings. I leave my house by 5:15am to go to work, so morning dry fire isn't going to happen.
The biggest thing that will make me more competitive (with the A's) is speed. Especially target transition and movement speed. I work on my target transition speed every day in dry fire, but I don't do a lot for movement speed (and staying low). I may start doing some burst drills in my backyard to help with that.
I like things like this.
This magwell was about 6 weeks old when the photo was taken:
And this dummy round was in the top of my reloading mag for 2 weeks of dry fire:
This magwell was about 6 weeks old when the photo was taken:
And this dummy round was in the top of my reloading mag for 2 weeks of dry fire:
I ran 2.6 miles yesterday afternoon. It was really slow, but felt good once I loosened up. My goal is to start running every 2-3 days in an effort to get back in better shape.
I also dry fired yesterday, which makes 7 days in a row. That's the longest streak ever for me. I'm doing a lot of 3-reload-3 drills in speed mode, but I feel like I'm learning the most (or maybe just seeing improvement) when finishing up in match mode. I'm starting to automatically make up errant shots, before I can even consciously process what happened. I'm hoping this transfers over to live fire. I think shooting an array of steel in match mode would be a good indicator.
I also dry fired yesterday, which makes 7 days in a row. That's the longest streak ever for me. I'm doing a lot of 3-reload-3 drills in speed mode, but I feel like I'm learning the most (or maybe just seeing improvement) when finishing up in match mode. I'm starting to automatically make up errant shots, before I can even consciously process what happened. I'm hoping this transfers over to live fire. I think shooting an array of steel in match mode would be a good indicator.
I shot the MPSA USPSA match on Saturday. The weather was nice/hot (79 degrees - tied the record high).
POV Video (minus stage 1)
3rd Person Video
Not a bad match. I noticed a few improvements and some bad habits I have fallen back into after lack of practice. My movement was slow while reloading (much like in the Gator Classic). I need to make a conscious effort to stay low when I’m practicing, so I can get it ingrained in my subconscious.
I let myself get loose and flow through stage 4. My hits got a little sloppy and I pulled a Mike on the first paper target (my second shot went wide left, but I didn’t call it). I'm going to look at the numbers and run a few different scenarios to see how different hits/time would have affected the HF.
My classifier was going well until I bumped the safety on after my first WHO shot. My high grip prevents me from using an ambi safety (I end up bumping it on when shooting freestyle and SHO), but that has never been a problem in the past. From my estimation, that mistake knocked my classifier down from an 84.6% to a 67.2%.
As far as practice/training, I've either dry fired or live fired (or both) for the past 11 days straight. I also ran 3.2 miles yesterday at a faster pace than the 2.6 miles last Wednesday. I think I'm going to pick up some of those agility cones to work on explosive movement and staying low.
POV Video (minus stage 1)
3rd Person Video
Not a bad match. I noticed a few improvements and some bad habits I have fallen back into after lack of practice. My movement was slow while reloading (much like in the Gator Classic). I need to make a conscious effort to stay low when I’m practicing, so I can get it ingrained in my subconscious.
I let myself get loose and flow through stage 4. My hits got a little sloppy and I pulled a Mike on the first paper target (my second shot went wide left, but I didn’t call it). I'm going to look at the numbers and run a few different scenarios to see how different hits/time would have affected the HF.
My classifier was going well until I bumped the safety on after my first WHO shot. My high grip prevents me from using an ambi safety (I end up bumping it on when shooting freestyle and SHO), but that has never been a problem in the past. From my estimation, that mistake knocked my classifier down from an 84.6% to a 67.2%.
As far as practice/training, I've either dry fired or live fired (or both) for the past 11 days straight. I also ran 3.2 miles yesterday at a faster pace than the 2.6 miles last Wednesday. I think I'm going to pick up some of those agility cones to work on explosive movement and staying low.
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Yesterday ended my streak of 12 days straight of live- and/or dry fire, but that's ok because I ran 4.1 miles. I decided to run the Spring Fever Chase 10K in mid March, so I'm working up to that. I feel like I could have run the full 10K last night, but I didn't want to push myself too hard, too fast. The only time I've ever run that far was in 2010 and I think my time was around 55 minutes. I'd like to beat that time this year.
I'll get back into dry fire this afternoon, and probably run again tomorrow. This weekend will be hit-and-miss since it's my wife's birthday. I'll see if I can sneak in some dry fire and maybe a run when I can.
I'll get back into dry fire this afternoon, and probably run again tomorrow. This weekend will be hit-and-miss since it's my wife's birthday. I'll see if I can sneak in some dry fire and maybe a run when I can.
I ran just over 3 miles in the driving rain last night before lightning cut my run short. I love running in the rain, even though I hate having to dry out my shoes and I risk frying my ipod.
I dry fired Wednesday night and I noticed a weird hitch occasionally in my reloads. I need to film one of my dry fire sessions soon to be sure of the problem, but I think it's caused by me waiting for the spent mag to fall completely out of the gun. I noticed that they were much smoother and faster when I just got the new mag into the gun as quickly as possible, not waiting to see an empty gun first. If that is actually the case, I may need to start doing most of my practice with an empty gun to start, so I don't unconsciously wait on the mag to fall out and get back into that habit.
I dry fired Wednesday night and I noticed a weird hitch occasionally in my reloads. I need to film one of my dry fire sessions soon to be sure of the problem, but I think it's caused by me waiting for the spent mag to fall completely out of the gun. I noticed that they were much smoother and faster when I just got the new mag into the gun as quickly as possible, not waiting to see an empty gun first. If that is actually the case, I may need to start doing most of my practice with an empty gun to start, so I don't unconsciously wait on the mag to fall out and get back into that habit.
I skipped dry fire on Friday, because it was my wife's birthday. I woke up early Saturday morning before we went out of town, so I was able to sneak in a short dry fire session then and another once we got back home yesterday afternoon.
I filmed some of my El Prez runs from yesterday's practice:
3.5 second par time, simulated 8 yards, speed mode.
I haven't had a chance to analyze the video yet, but I hope to get time today. I felt like I was doing a pretty good job of getting my head around to the target early, but I think my reloads were hit and miss. At first glance, it looks like I'm bringing the gun way in to my body for the reloads, which I believe wastes time.
It's supposed to be around 60-62 degrees this afternoon with a chilly breeze about 15mph when I get home. It hurts my lungs to run in cool air, but I'm going to tough it out and get in at least 3 miles.
My plan is to shoot in the BNA USPSA match in Hattiesburg this Saturday, if they are still going to have it after all of the storms/tornado that went through the last few days. If that match is cancelled, then I'll probably shoot IDPA in Cantonment.
I filmed some of my El Prez runs from yesterday's practice:
3.5 second par time, simulated 8 yards, speed mode.
I haven't had a chance to analyze the video yet, but I hope to get time today. I felt like I was doing a pretty good job of getting my head around to the target early, but I think my reloads were hit and miss. At first glance, it looks like I'm bringing the gun way in to my body for the reloads, which I believe wastes time.
It's supposed to be around 60-62 degrees this afternoon with a chilly breeze about 15mph when I get home. It hurts my lungs to run in cool air, but I'm going to tough it out and get in at least 3 miles.
My plan is to shoot in the BNA USPSA match in Hattiesburg this Saturday, if they are still going to have it after all of the storms/tornado that went through the last few days. If that match is cancelled, then I'll probably shoot IDPA in Cantonment.
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