My Latest IDPA Match: Still Suck!

[jayinsat]

[youtube][/youtube]

I need A LOT more practice. Fun as always.

[MoJo]

Other than the steel you looked like you were doing great! Take a tracing of the popper you are shooting at and practice on that. You will see where you are hitting and the hits that are likely to cause the popper to fall. A pepper popper should be calibrated to fall when hit in the circle or above with a standard pressure 115 gr 9mm.

[jimlongley]

[youtube][/youtube]

I need A LOT more practice. Fun as always.

The fun is the best part.

[C-dub]

Not completely terrible. How long have you been doing IDPA?

One thing I did notice and was surprised to not hear anyone saying anything was that several times your muzzle was point up over the berm. Almost every time you were reloading and also while moving with a loaded gun

My club hasn't used the steel popper in a while. Maybe because the last time we did it did take some of the guys with 9mm several rounds to finally knock it over. Or it could be their nearly complete aversion to steel targets. Either way, we have moved to using pressure plates activated when stepped on to active most of our swinging targets.

I compete in the SSP MM class. We just had a classifier match and I had hoped to move up to SSP SS, but don't think I did well enough on the first stage, so I think I still suck too.

[jayinsat]

Not completely terrible. How long have you been doing IDPA?

One thing I did notice and was surprised to not hear anyone saying anything was that several times your muzzle was point up over the berm. Almost every time you were reloading and also while moving with a loaded gun

My club hasn't used the steel popper in a while. Maybe because the last time we did it did take some of the guys with 9mm several rounds to finally knock it over. Or it could be their nearly complete aversion to steel targets. Either way, we have moved to using pressure plates activated when stepped on to active most of our swinging targets.

I compete in the SSP MM class. We just had a classifier match and I had hoped to move up to SSP SS, but don't think I did well enough on the first stage, so I think I still suck too.

This is like my 6th match in almost 1 year total time. Still very new. They utilize the 180 rule (up/down left/right)so that's probably why they haven't said anything.

[C-dub]

Not completely terrible. How long have you been doing IDPA?

One thing I did notice and was surprised to not hear anyone saying anything was that several times your muzzle was point up over the berm. Almost every time you were reloading and also while moving with a loaded gun

My club hasn't used the steel popper in a while. Maybe because the last time we did it did take some of the guys with 9mm several rounds to finally knock it over. Or it could be their nearly complete aversion to steel targets. Either way, we have moved to using pressure plates activated when stepped on to active most of our swinging targets.

I compete in the SSP MM class. We just had a classifier match and I had hoped to move up to SSP SS, but don't think I did well enough on the first stage, so I think I still suck too.

This is like my 6th match in almost 1 year total time. Still very new. They utilize the 180 rule (up/down left/right)so that's probably why they haven't said anything.

Where do your scores fall compared to others? Have you done a classifier match yet? Are you slower than many or do you loos more points than many?

I started off slower than many, but about the middle with lost points. Some matches I lose few points than many, but lately I've been increasing my speed, while still falling in the middle with lost points, my overall scores have been getting a little better. However, I'm still in the same class and that indicates more practice.

[jayinsat]

Not completely terrible. How long have you been doing IDPA?

One thing I did notice and was surprised to not hear anyone saying anything was that several times your muzzle was point up over the berm. Almost every time you were reloading and also while moving with a loaded gun

My club hasn't used the steel popper in a while. Maybe because the last time we did it did take some of the guys with 9mm several rounds to finally knock it over. Or it could be their nearly complete aversion to steel targets. Either way, we have moved to using pressure plates activated when stepped on to active most of our swinging targets.

I compete in the SSP MM class. We just had a classifier match and I had hoped to move up to SSP SS, but don't think I did well enough on the first stage, so I think I still suck too.

This is like my 6th match in almost 1 year total time. Still very new. They utilize the 180 rule (up/down left/right)so that's probably why they haven't said anything.

Where do your scores fall compared to others? Have you done a classifier match yet? Are you slower than many or do you loos more points than many?

I started off slower than many, but about the middle with lost points. Some matches I lose few points than many, but lately I've been increasing my speed, while still falling in the middle with lost points, my overall scores have been getting a little better. However, I'm still in the same class and that indicates more practice.

I'm bottom quartile for ssp. I am having trouble balancing the speed-precision-accuracy tight rope. I know shooting a compact doesn't help but, in all honesty, competition is secondary to building skills and good habits with what I carry, how I carry.

[Cedar Park Dad]

Still good. You'll get better playing more matches.
-Annoying when the steel doesn't go down. We had one guy hit his five times today (the cord was accidentally wrapped under another plate). We reset and he did awesome.
-Practice your reloads. That will save you a lot of time and its something you can do at home.
Glad to see the moving target worked. We had a heck of time setting it up today for the 4/20 match in Austin.

[chasesmallwood10]

Biggest time saver I can see is moving from position to position. Shooting on the move doesn't have a defined speed. If moving towards targets cover as much ground as fast a possible the use small choppy steps very close to target. This will put you close to targets allowing faster shot times. If moving away from target just the opposite. Use small steps engage all the targets at close range then move to next position with lots of speed.

[jayinsat]

Biggest time saver I can see is moving from position to position. Shooting on the move doesn't have a defined speed. If moving towards targets cover as much ground as fast a possible the use small choppy steps very close to target. This will put you close to targets allowing faster shot times. If moving away from target just the opposite. Use small steps engage all the targets at close range then move to next position with lots of speed.

Great tip! I'll try to remember that for this weekends match.

[mojo84]

Looks like fun. I've been wanting to try that myself. Is that at Cedar Ridge?

[jayinsat]

Looks like fun. I've been wanting to try that myself. Is that at Cedar Ridge?

Yep. This Saturday is the next match. Here is video of last months:
[youtube][/youtube]

[Rhino1]

I shot that match! Normally shoot at PSC in Friendswood but that was Easter weekend. Went to see Mother in Law in Seguin and took opportunity to shoot.

A couple of thoughts. The two most critical items in shooting are trigger control and sight alignment. Can't tell about trigger control from video. Any slight misalignment of your sights is magnified as distance to the target increases. You will only pick up that misalignment if you are "front sight focused". Your eyes can only focus on one plane. The natural tendency is to look at the target rather than the sights. Even experienced shooters fall into this trap. When I find my accuracy slipping in a match, I realize that I am looking at the target instead of my sights. Search "front sight focus" on the internet for more detail. I can almost guarantee you were looking at the popper instead of your sights.

Secondly, speed comes from everything except the shooting. What I'm saying is that work on speeding up your draw, movement, reloads, everything except the sights on target time. I'm not saying you want to go slow but you do want to take that extra .2 seconds to get the right sight picture to avoid the 1.5 seconds for a down 3 or 2.5 seconds for a miss.

Finally, analyze the match results. I download into a spreadsheet and look at each stage. If I did something stupid, got a PE, had a malfunction, etc., I'll take that into consideration. Look at how you ranked in each stage overall, raw time, and accuracy. Any glaring unbalance of these can be a clue as to what to work on.

[jayinsat]

Thanks. I am front sight focused.