This is post 2 of 5 in the series “2020 Carolina Classic” A series about things that went well in the 2020 Carolina Classic Match Format & Stage Inspection Walking the Prize Table Five Minute Walkthroughs Staff Reset Chrono: Trust, but verify Typically you only walk a prize table at bigger Area matches and Nationals where all the shooters end on the same day and there is a formal awards ceremony. Because of the multi-day schedule, only half the competitors will be on the range each day, which poses a problem. Most level 2 matches solve this by just randomly … Read More
Match Format & Stage Inspection
This is post 1 of 5 in the series “2020 Carolina Classic” A series about things that went well in the 2020 Carolina Classic Match Format & Stage Inspection Walking the Prize Table Five Minute Walkthroughs Staff Reset Chrono: Trust, but verify It’s been a few months now since the 2020 Carolina Classic, and I wanted to reiterate all the things that went into the planning and execution of the match that went well, to hopefully be emulated by more matches in the future. This is the first of a series that will be posted, one each day, for the … Read More
Polymer Offseason 2020
Back in the dim mists of 2012 and 2013, I spent the offseason shooting a 1911 in Single Stack and CDP. When November 2014 rolled around and I took a Steve Anderson class, I was motivated to just keep dry firing through the winter and shooting Production, which I’ve continued to do every year since then. I might take some time off from practice when it’s cold out, but I haven’t shot a match with a different gun than my main once since. At the time, it was an M&P Pro, then in the 2016-2017 winter I switched to a … Read More
Match Video: Sir Walter, January 2021
It was a good day out at the range with friends, and surprisingly warm if a little muddy in places. SC Section, Area 6, and Production Nationals are all coming up fast, so this is the first match of my 2021 season and it’s a good start. Scores are here. Since the last two matches, when I was shooting my M&P Pro, I had taken a few weeks off over Christmas and gotten back into dry fire with the Stock 2, putting in two sessions the week before this match. For the most part, it all came right back, although … Read More
#73: 2020 Carolina Classic, Part 2
This week on the podcast, I talk about this year’s NC match from the staff perspective. I discuss everything that went well and is worth emulating, including the format of the shooting days, 5 minute walkthroughs, all-staff reset, and more.
#72: 2020 Carolina Classic, Part 1
This week on the podcast, I talk about this year’s NC Section championship, focusing on my season leading up to the match and my performance during the match.
#70: SC Section 2020
This week on the podcast, I talk about the recent 2020 South Carolina Section match. I discuss whether it’s better to leave stages in or throw them out, why three minute walkthroughs are still a bad idea, andhow I shot the match overall.
#69: Improving Local Matches
This week on the podcast, I talk about the April 19th GoShoot USPSA match, and some things that I think they do differently that are worth emulating.
#68: No Such Thing As A Perfect Match
This week on the podcast, I talk about the idea that there is no such thing as a perfect match. First, as a competitor: you’ll never have a match without flaws, and that’s fine. Second, as a match attendee: there will always be something imperfect about the match, and all you can do is let it go and shoot the challenge in front of you.
#67: Offseason
This week on the podcast, I talk about shooting my first match in two months, and how moderate expectations led to a good performance. I also go into why I think an offseason isn’t that important early in your shooting career, and becomes more valuable the more you practice.
#66: 2019 Production Nationals
This week on the podcast, I talk about the 2019 Production Nationals in Frostproof, Florida. I talk through my thoughts about the match compared to previous years, review my personal performance, and raise my two big concerns with the way Nationals are being run in recent years. Match video of all 21 stages is here.
#65: 2019 Carolina Classic
This week on the podcast, I talk in depth about the 2019 North Carolina section match, the work that went into it, the things they did differently, and how it turned out.
More Reps?
At a match last weekend, while our squad was shooting the classifier, a friend who practices a lot but only gets to shoot one match a month asked me: “How do you guys reload like that? I try and practice reloads, and mine are never that smooth.” and then he mimed fumbling a reload as I started to consider what he was asking. “What do you do?” he asked. “Just more reps?” Now, I don’t know what other guys do, just what’s worked for me. But here’s what I told him: More reps won’t fix doing the wrong thing. All … Read More
“Just Go Shoot”
This summer, one of the changes I’m making to my practice is to live fire at least one evening a week. Last year, I would live fire every weekend I wasn’t shooting a match, which was two practice sessions most months. This new schedule gives me four a month, with as many as six if I go on the weekends. This is much more in line with the typical practice schedule for someone who wants to be competitive at the GM level. The First Practice Last Friday, June 22nd, was the second week of this new routine. It had been … Read More
Lesson From Practice
Another example of why you have to look for patterns in your practice and not just score the targets, from my practice this past weekend: Technically this run on Ben Stoeger’s Practical Accuracy was all 6 hits, none even really cutting it close. And the time was fast. A few hundredths faster than the runs before it. But it was also sloppy and bad technique. I felt myself pulling the trigger with my whole hand, and so it’s no coincidence that 4 of the 6 shots clustered low left. So for the next rep, I focused on gripping the gun … Read More
#63: Ego In Competition
This week on the podcast, I talk about the ways that ego can get in the way of developing yourself as a shooter.
#62: Why I Compete
This week on the podcast, I talk about what keeps me in the sport and the lessons that have transferred from competition over in to my life off the range.
#61: Shooting Through A Match
This week on the podcast, I talk through my recent experience shooting through an 8-stage club match in two hours.
#60: Do Not Try To Go Faster
This week, I talk about my experience with making speed gains, and why they usually don’t come just by trying hard or trying to go faster.
Reading Targets in Practice
During my practice session at the range on Saturday, I shot a lot of dots, all at 7 yards. I’m still working out these changes to my grip and trigger pull, but I can feel the progress, I just have to make it repeatable. But in the targets I shot, I saw an interesting example of the value of reading the pattern in the targets, not just scoring them. (Also a major theme of Ben Stoeger’s “Breakthrough Marksmanship” book.) Here are the first and last sheets I shot of the day: The first sheet is all over the place. You … Read More