on February 28, 2010 8:32 PM
Kind of a mixed bag.
On the positive side, at times I shot like I knew I was capable of. 3 out of 6 stages, I felt like I shot really well. (For me.)
El Presidente was something new, and it threw off my draw a little bit and I never really did a get a good sight picture on the first half of it. I didn't have any misses (I don't think), but my score was like alphabet soup.
The Texas Star continues to be my nemesis. I think it took me 13 shots to finish it. I think my problem is that I don't lead the plates. If you get a sight picture on the plate, by the time you pull the trigger, and get a bullet down range the plate has moved. That's my theory anyway. That and any trigger yanking will make the star that much harder.
On the last stage of the match I put my foot over a boundary. I didn't even realize I had done it. Every shot from that position had a procedural penalty. To top it off, I then ran past 2 targets, so there's more penalties. I was concentrating so hard on not getting any misses on steel that I lost a lot of awareness of the stage. Normally I'm thinking ahead, or at least trying to think ahead of what I'll be doing next, but I really wanted to drop all the steel cleanly on that stage and kind of became engrossed in it. (For what it's worth there were 14 steel targets and I used 16 rounds for steel.)
So, I'm mad at myself for making some stupid mistakes, and I still have some tendencies to not drive the gun well at times.
On the plus side, when I drive the gun well, I am shooting well. I just need to do that consistently.
Update:
Scores went up quick. I placed 5th out of 9 competitors. If not for the procedurals and penalties, I think I would have placed 1 or 2 spots higher, but I admit to being clueless about the scoring.
On the positive side, at times I shot like I knew I was capable of. 3 out of 6 stages, I felt like I shot really well. (For me.)
El Presidente was something new, and it threw off my draw a little bit and I never really did a get a good sight picture on the first half of it. I didn't have any misses (I don't think), but my score was like alphabet soup.
The Texas Star continues to be my nemesis. I think it took me 13 shots to finish it. I think my problem is that I don't lead the plates. If you get a sight picture on the plate, by the time you pull the trigger, and get a bullet down range the plate has moved. That's my theory anyway. That and any trigger yanking will make the star that much harder.
On the last stage of the match I put my foot over a boundary. I didn't even realize I had done it. Every shot from that position had a procedural penalty. To top it off, I then ran past 2 targets, so there's more penalties. I was concentrating so hard on not getting any misses on steel that I lost a lot of awareness of the stage. Normally I'm thinking ahead, or at least trying to think ahead of what I'll be doing next, but I really wanted to drop all the steel cleanly on that stage and kind of became engrossed in it. (For what it's worth there were 14 steel targets and I used 16 rounds for steel.)
So, I'm mad at myself for making some stupid mistakes, and I still have some tendencies to not drive the gun well at times.
On the plus side, when I drive the gun well, I am shooting well. I just need to do that consistently.
Update:
Scores went up quick. I placed 5th out of 9 competitors. If not for the procedurals and penalties, I think I would have placed 1 or 2 spots higher, but I admit to being clueless about the scoring.
You don't lead the plates on the Star to shoot it quickly. Trying to chase them only leads to disaster. #1 reason people have trouble with the star is just basic marksmanship - yanking the trigger because of feeling 'in a hurry' to get the shot off.
Shoot the top plate first while the star is stationary. Then when it starts to move, you want to shoot the plates when the star is in that lull as it reverses direction. That gives you the longest time window and largest space, because the plate velocity is lowest. Setting up on the spot where the plate is going to stall also prevents the problem of "chasing" the plates.
Footwork - in IPSC matches, use your walkthrough time to rehearse the exact number of steps you'll take to get in position. As you leave and enter shooting positions, pay attention to the visual cues. You can get to the point that you will know when to stop based on what you are seeing - without looking down at the ground.