I regularly troll the Internet for shooting tip videos and other ways to improve Brian’s and my shooting. Going forward I’ll try to remember to post them here, for all to enjoy and learn from.
If you want to see all the Tips just click on the Category “Tips” on the right side of the website. And please send me any links you have so we can build up a decent resource.
Personal Shooting Coach offers online, home based IPSC/USPSA training. That is an interesting concept. Rob Leatham also offers his “Drillmasters Club” training in a similar fashion.
Video examples from PSC can be found here:
http://www.personalshootingcoach.com/videos/
The videos include help for building a grip, improving timer reaction speed, finding your natural point of aim (very important to learn), how to shoot the sights not cadence, and the four basic rules of safety.
Here is how you can use the Palm scoring software (StageScore) to randomize your shoot order each stage.
After locking the stage you are about to shoot, choose Enter Scores from the main menu. You will see the list of shooters in the squad you are scoring:
Now, Click on the arrow next to the word “Sort” and you will get a menu:
Choose “Random” and it lists the shooters in a random order:
Random is random – the same shooter could shoot first again. If you don’t like the order you get, pull it down, choose “Name”, and then choose Random again. Repeat until you like the order.
Brian & I shot a USPSA match in Las Vegas this Sunday. As we fought our way south against hefty winds, we were wondering “is this a good idea???”…. but it turned out okay.
Yes, the wind howled early on, but the Vegas match director, Keith Wright, called an excellent audible and designed a fun, steel only, unsanctioned and FREE match on a piece of scratch paper in the equipment conex.
Steel only runs quicker and doesn’t blow over in the wind. Good call Keith!
We did have one paper stage, the shoot house. You started in the middle of the house, shot forward, then had to move backwards, exit the front door and work up the right side of the house. The stage had about 5 opportunities for 180s. I ran 5 shooters through it and most came really close. One, though, spun the wrong way to back out of the house and the muzzle hit about 210. I had him stop, unload and show clear, and our squad leader DQ’d him.
And then the story gets good…
Mark, an airman at Nellis AFB, grabbed the clipboard and scored the rest of our match. Way to go Mark – that is the right attitude!
BTW: If shooting doesn’t take up your weekends, Mark has a hobby to consider. AutoCross. I’d never heard of it, but it sounds fun.
Adam Mann won Stage 1 this weekend (and the match as well). Ad hoc analysis of videos from the stages show that the biggest factor was his shot splits – very fast. Those of us shooting uncompensated guns probably can’t hope to accurately match his shot splits, but there are a few things I learned from watching Adam (& John Allen) on video that any of us can use to finish stages faster.
Let’s go to the tape!
The start position was “holding a rifle”… Here is a series of other shooters:
and here is Adam:
Lesson… don’t succumb to “normal”, always do what is faster and within the rules. There was no requirement to hold the rifle at port arms. Why not hold it next to your pistol? Advantage… small – maybe 1/2 a second. But… multiply that kind of stage planning by 8 stages and that is a 4 second advantage – before any shot is fired.
Next “schooling”…. Same stage, a few second later…
Here is Adam:
Things to note… Look at the drop targets – they are down, he shot the activating popper on the way to this position. When he is done shooting the bank of poppers, he does not have to shoot the activator and wait a second for the targets to appear. Adam was the only person in the match to NOT have to wait for the drop targets, they were waiting on him.
Second thing to note… he only went as far as he had to shoot the left IPSC target. No further. Movement is slow – shooting fast.
Just to pick on myself a bit…. check out where I am at the same part of the stage:
I’m 7 feet farther. The activator is still up. And I moved while shooting the poppers, causing a couple of misses. “Tactical looking”, and a heritage of my initial IDPA “have to move while shooting”, but not effective for the sport I was playing at the time!
So thanks Adam for an excellent lesson!
