Posted: 7/28/2011 11:42:51 AM EDT
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So I enjoy going to pistol competitions, but I tend to be very slow but accurate. Main reason is I do not get into that "mode" or concentration where when I bring up the pistol to run through a stage all I see is a target and muzzle flash then next target. I was wondering what you guys do to get into that "mode" or how do you feel when you are shooting? Do you think about anything or do you "just do it"? I know when I played baseball, if I was thinking when I batted, I was defeated already. But when I didn't and just went to get the job done, I had a higher avg.
I use a SA 1911A1, I first thought maybe it is my sights/gun being that the gun is very slim and bringing it up, I am not always aligned right away (Which is normal), idk what I am tryign to say but being in teh comfort/ confident zone when bringing up the pistol. |
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I've been shooting a long time, but I'm a rookie at competitive shooting. I've been to a handful of pistol competitions, maybe four or five, two of which were USPSA. The others were just stationary PPC shoots.
I'm kind of similar, in that I have kind of slow times but usually my shots are better placed. But, honestly being where I'm at, I don't worry much about pushing the limits. I go entirely for fun, I don't worry about my scores much. I figure the speed will come with practice. Other shooters always seemed surprised at how well I do considering I don't typically do that kind of shooting. |
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So I enjoy going to pistol competitions, but I tend to be very slow but accurate. Main reason is I do not get into that "mode" or concentration where when I bring up the pistol to run through a stage all I see is a target and muzzle flash then next target. I was wondering what you guys do to get into that "mode" or how do you feel when you are shooting? Do you think about anything or do you "just do it"? I know when I played baseball, if I was thinking when I batted, I was defeated already. But when I didn't and just went to get the job done, I had a higher avg. I use a SA 1911A1, I first thought maybe it is my sights/gun being that the gun is very slim and bringing it up, I am not always aligned right away (Which is normal), idk what I am tryign to say but being in teh comfort/ confident zone when bringing up the pistol. When you draw, bring the gun straight up towards your armpit, rotate the gun forward, and then punch it out towards the target. That way, you can pick your sights up as you're extending your arms. When your arms get into shooting position, you'll have your sight picture so you can go ahead and break the shot. |
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So I enjoy going to pistol competitions, but I tend to be very slow but accurate. Main reason is I do not get into that "mode" or concentration where when I bring up the pistol to run through a stage all I see is a target and muzzle flash then next target. I was wondering what you guys do to get into that "mode" or how do you feel when you are shooting? Do you think about anything or do you "just do it"? I know when I played baseball, if I was thinking when I batted, I was defeated already. But when I didn't and just went to get the job done, I had a higher avg. I use a SA 1911A1, I first thought maybe it is my sights/gun being that the gun is very slim and bringing it up, I am not always aligned right away (Which is normal), idk what I am tryign to say but being in teh comfort/ confident zone when bringing up the pistol. Through much dry and live fire practice, gun handling has become pretty much a subconscious action. When it's time to draw, the gun pretty much appears and is already indexed on the target. When the sights are on target, the the trigger get's pressed. When it's time to reload, the gun get's reloaded without me stopping to decide how to do it. When those actions are being done at the subconscious level, my mind is freed up to think ahead to what is coming up on the stage. Like your baseball swing, if I had to think about every step, it would be slower and less smooth. Instead of "Draw, finger on trigger as the gun's pressed out, get sights lined up, 2 shots on T1, transition, 2 shots on T2, transition, 2 shots on T3, move to cover, etc", it's more like, "Draw, deal with that group of 3, on the way to cover set the gun up to engage as soon as new targets are visible, etc". The only way to get to that subconscious gun handling level is to do lots of reps. It also helps that you have one and ONLY one way of doing gun handling techniques. Use the slide release or rack the slide during reloads but pick one and do that all the time. It's a lot more efficient to to train doing 100 reloads using the slide release than it is to do 50 slide releases and 50 rack the slides. When you're shooting, every time you have choose between 2 paths, you slow yourself down. Make sure you have a default behavior for every skill. So to answer your question, for me, it's not a "zone" or "mode" but more of a change of focus being put on things that need it. A target at 5 yards doesn't need much attention but a 10" plate at 18 yards is going to get a harder focus. Let the subconscious handle the easy stuff. Gringop |
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Get the Brian Enos book, Practical Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals. Shooting should be like driving a car. All those thoughts and calculations you make when youre driving but you dont have to "think" about doing? Thats how you should be shooting, nothing but focusing on the front sight. Watching it rise and come back onto target. |
| Have you ever shot skeet or sporting clays? If you calculate each shot purposely, you are going to miss a bunch. I am by no means good enough to instruct anyone on practical shooting but I can tell you it is like when I shoot skeet. I cannot recall seeing the sights at all after I move to another target. However the majority of my hits are in the A zone so I am aligning the sights before pulling the trigger. It has to become "instinctive". Not shooting without sights but proper drawing, aligning sights, reloading, muzzle control, and trigger control without conscious thinking. |
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So I enjoy going to pistol competitions, but I tend to be very slow but accurate. Main reason is I do not get into that "mode" or concentration where when I bring up the pistol to run through a stage all I see is a target and muzzle flash then next target. I was wondering what you guys do to get into that "mode" or how do you feel when you are shooting? Do you think about anything or do you "just do it"? I know when I played baseball, if I was thinking when I batted, I was defeated already. But when I didn't and just went to get the job done, I had a higher avg. I use a SA 1911A1, I first thought maybe it is my sights/gun being that the gun is very slim and bringing it up, I am not always aligned right away (Which is normal), idk what I am tryign to say but being in teh comfort/ confident zone when bringing up the pistol. When you draw, bring the gun straight up towards your armpit, rotate the gun forward, and then punch it out towards the target. That way, you can pick your sights up as you're extending your arms. When your arms get into shooting position, you'll have your sight picture so you can go ahead and break the shot. Exactly what I was taught. Also, you can prep the trigger as you're extending your arms. The idea is to raise the gun to eye level, as you punch it out, so you can see your see your sights, and put your finger on the trigger. |
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What matches are you shooting? I see you are in AZ. I shoot up at Rio weekly and would be happy to shoot through some stages with you. Yeah I go to Rio when I have the time. I work nights now so I don't go to many matches now. When I did go I went with Couch-Cammando and Reservist. I may go this Thursday if ya like to meet up! Yeah I should prob practice at home this kinda stuff. Repetition is a good thing to have when doing this. That way I do not get my mind stuck behind my action questioning what I am doing while i am shooting. Thank you for the info! |
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What matches are you shooting? I see you are in AZ. I shoot up at Rio weekly and would be happy to shoot through some stages with you. Yeah I go to Rio when I have the time. I work nights now so I don't go to many matches now. When I did go I went with Couch-Cammando and Reservist. I may go this Thursday if ya like to meet up! Yeah I should prob practice at home this kinda stuff. Repetition is a good thing to have when doing this. That way I do not get my mind stuck behind my action questioning what I am doing while i am shooting. Thank you for the info! Is there a match there Thursday? I will be at Tuesday Night Steel for sure. |
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What matches are you shooting? I see you are in AZ. I shoot up at Rio weekly and would be happy to shoot through some stages with you. Yeah I go to Rio when I have the time. I work nights now so I don't go to many matches now. When I did go I went with Couch-Cammando and Reservist. I may go this Thursday if ya like to meet up! Yeah I should prob practice at home this kinda stuff. Repetition is a good thing to have when doing this. That way I do not get my mind stuck behind my action questioning what I am doing while i am shooting. Thank you for the info! Is there a match there Thursday? I will be at Tuesday Night Steel for sure. Oops Tuesday is Rio, Thursday is Pima and Ben Avery. Sorry my mistake |
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Practice, practice, practice. You can take off a lot of time in USPSA/IPSC/IDPA matches if you run instead of walk to shooting positions, that just takes time getting comfortable with. When I shoot I focus on my front sight, the entire time. This is the most important thing when shooting, obviously. Just keep your focus on the front sight. Also, prior to the match look at all the stages so you don't see it for the first time when you come to it during the match. Always, always, plan out how you are going to shoot a stage then shoot it exactly like that. Do not deviate from your plan, it will just throw you off. It will take some time but you have find your speed/accuracy balance and the only way you can do that is to actually shoot. |
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What matches are you shooting? I see you are in AZ. I shoot up at Rio weekly and would be happy to shoot through some stages with you. Yeah I go to Rio when I have the time. I work nights now so I don't go to many matches now. When I did go I went with Couch-Cammando and Reservist. I may go this Thursday if ya like to meet up! Yeah I should prob practice at home this kinda stuff. Repetition is a good thing to have when doing this. That way I do not get my mind stuck behind my action questioning what I am doing while i am shooting. Thank you for the info! Is there a match there Thursday? I will be at Tuesday Night Steel for sure. Oops Tuesday is Rio, Thursday is Pima and Ben Avery. Sorry my mistake The heat was horrible tonight. 32nd out of 149 overall but I managed to win SingleStack though... PlaceNameTotalPercentStage1Stage2Stage3Stage4 1Musa, Tim101.64100.00%17.6825.3433.6624.96 2Ashcroft, Robb103.9297.81%19.4828.8927.2128.34 3Fletcher, Kelly10894.11%20.5930.1631.3425.91 4Harris, Rich109.9892.42%21.2233.2431.2824.24 5Ortiz, Joey112.5390.32%22.826.0231.1132.6 6Yost, Rick122.5482.94%24.2628.3634.2135.71 7Heffelfinger, Jim130.2878.02%23.4434.638.3433.9 8Lehfeldt, Drew136.0574.71%23.9131.4938.0242.63 9Tindle, John143.3270.92%23.8138.2236.444.89 10Wegener, Jeff144.9170.14%23.4335.7149.7536.02 11Lake, Ryan147.8568.75%24.4735.9846.5140.89 12Harris, Rand150.1467.70%35.5244.4739.4830.67 13Gilmour, Alex154.665.74%26.2931.9552.3743.99 14Beda, Ron160.7263.24%28.5141.9148.7441.56 15Snook, Jeff162.7862.44%31.1247.8545.8337.98 16Mcdonald, Ben180.8356.21%37.6453.247.4742.52 17Collins, Chris182.0255.84%33.945.8457.0245.26 18Delatorre, Bob183.3655.43%37.850.0649.3146.19 19Mcgregor, Scott203.2350.01%35.7781.2342.443.83 20Henderson, Vicki273.7737.13%85.4260.6875.751.97 21Azmann, Nick296.6934.26%91.0472.0960.3573.21 22Freitas, Joshua314.2832.34%39.0473.45138.0863.71 23Schrock, Brian323.3231.44%63.4479.3995.5684.93 24Hartsock, Seth331.2830.68%43.1961.21143.6983.19 25Speyer, Dave337.9130.08%52.3976.32111.8697.34 26Peterson, Arthur339.2929.96%68.38110.5383.8976.49 |
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What matches are you shooting? I see you are in AZ. I shoot up at Rio weekly and would be happy to shoot through some stages with you. Yeah I go to Rio when I have the time. I work nights now so I don't go to many matches now. When I did go I went with Couch-Cammando and Reservist. I may go this Thursday if ya like to meet up! Yeah I should prob practice at home this kinda stuff. Repetition is a good thing to have when doing this. That way I do not get my mind stuck behind my action questioning what I am doing while i am shooting. Thank you for the info! Is there a match there Thursday? I will be at Tuesday Night Steel for sure. Oops Tuesday is Rio, Thursday is Pima and Ben Avery. Sorry my mistake The heat was horrible tonight. 32nd out of 149 overall but I managed to win SingleStack though... PlaceNameTotalPercentStage1Stage2Stage3Stage4 1Musa, Tim101.64100.00%17.6825.3433.6624.96 2Ashcroft, Robb103.9297.81%19.4828.8927.2128.34 3Fletcher, Kelly10894.11%20.5930.1631.3425.91 4Harris, Rich109.9892.42%21.2233.2431.2824.24 5Ortiz, Joey112.5390.32%22.826.0231.1132.6 6Yost, Rick122.5482.94%24.2628.3634.2135.71 7Heffelfinger, Jim130.2878.02%23.4434.638.3433.9 8Lehfeldt, Drew136.0574.71%23.9131.4938.0242.63 9Tindle, John143.3270.92%23.8138.2236.444.89 10Wegener, Jeff144.9170.14%23.4335.7149.7536.02 11Lake, Ryan147.8568.75%24.4735.9846.5140.89 12Harris, Rand150.1467.70%35.5244.4739.4830.67 13Gilmour, Alex154.665.74%26.2931.9552.3743.99 14Beda, Ron160.7263.24%28.5141.9148.7441.56 15Snook, Jeff162.7862.44%31.1247.8545.8337.98 16Mcdonald, Ben180.8356.21%37.6453.247.4742.52 17Collins, Chris182.0255.84%33.945.8457.0245.26 18Delatorre, Bob183.3655.43%37.850.0649.3146.19 19Mcgregor, Scott203.2350.01%35.7781.2342.443.83 20Henderson, Vicki273.7737.13%85.4260.6875.751.97 21Azmann, Nick296.6934.26%91.0472.0960.3573.21 22Freitas, Joshua314.2832.34%39.0473.45138.0863.71 23Schrock, Brian323.3231.44%63.4479.3995.5684.93 24Hartsock, Seth331.2830.68%43.1961.21143.6983.19 25Speyer, Dave337.9130.08%52.3976.32111.8697.34 26Peterson, Arthur339.2929.96%68.38110.5383.8976.49 nice, I will be going to the PIMA match for sure Thursday, 04 and maybe Ben Avery after if I am feeling up to it. I have work the same night so we will see. |