Practice or Course Strategy?

[hube1236]

I have shot IDPA for three years now and can get through most stages decently, but there is always that little nag inside telling me I could have done better. I have been practicing draws, draw to one shot, double taps, bill drills, mag changes. Not every day, but more often now with my reloader

I still jam one in me with points down, but I can work that issue.

Now, I still need gobs of improvement in all areas of shooting, but now I think my times will place me higher (SS in CDP, SSP, ESP) if I manage the course better- aka from shoot, move, shoot dry, reload from slide lock to shoot, while moving- tac reload- gun's not empty I can move across open ground- shoot. This effectively hides the time of the reload.

I find myself listening to the range hand on the strategy too much instead of planning out what I am going to do before hand. Maybe IDPA is too prescriptive in the shooting sceanario, but there is ample room for interpretation.

Let me here from those upper Sharpshooters and above, where were the greatest advances you made in shooting times,.

 

[Ankeny]

When doing the actual shooting, see what you need to see to make the shot. Do every thing else quickly.

When gaming a stage, figure out the most efficient way to shoot the course. Economy of motion is the key.

 

[Correia]

1. Relax.

2. Have fun.


Seriously, it may sound kind of stupid, but if you aren't having fun then you will never get better. I find my best finishes come when I am just relaxed and not tense.

Otherwise agree with the above.

 

[Zak Smith]

1. Have a plan.
2. Before shooting the stage, visualize yourself shooting the plan. Repeat.
3. Shoot to your plan.

Smooth is fast.

-z

 

[Sludge]

Everything Ankeny, Corriea, and Zak Said above plus a couple other things that I think have helped me greatly over the past 6 months.

Spend a little time with the revolver. Shooting a few matches with a revolver really makes you focus on the fundamentals of pistol shooting. Smooth trigger control and follow through. Sight picture throughout the trigger pull, etc. I played with it and then went back to the autos and was stronger and faster than I had ever been. I really saved alot of dropped points that way. It took my focus to another level.

Another thing I think is overlooked is transition times. Matches are won and lost between the targets. If you are doing a 1-1-1 kinda thing with head shots. When your pistol fires on target 1, and if when it fired you had good sight picture, as your pistol is coming out of recoil you shouldnt still be looking at that target. You steal 1/4s of a second at a time doing that. Over the course of a match that turns into seconds. I think thats somewhat of a confidence thing. In the past I would sometimes still be looking at a target for the bullet hole to verify that I had the hit.. etc. I didnt trust myself. I knew I took a good shot, but I still for some reason needed verification. Maybe you dont have this problem but I realized I had to go beyond that.

What Zak and Correia said about smooth is true too. The fastest match I have ever shot (where I beat a master and several high experts who I have never came close to beating) I actually felt like I was slow. I didnt rush it. I know it was just a mental thing, but I relaxed and stopped caring had a plan and just let it happen and the gun just did its job. Im beginning to think the mental game is the most important thing in the match.

Im no guru. I am still fighting the transitions, still trying to find out how to get in that mental zone, but for me... I think I know where I have to go.

hope this helps..

 

[Correia]

Sludge brings up an interesting point. It is all a mental game.

A lot of times you feel like you are going fast, but the sensation of fast is just in your head. You can feel fast, but be horrible. I've come to the belief that fast is an illusion, reality is whatever the timer says it is. If you are relaxed and shooting the targets as you see what you need to see then you will be fine.

My biggest screw ups have come when I've tried to go too fast, and ended up crashing and burning. My best stages have come when I wasn't worried about speed, and I just relaxed and saw what I needed to see.

 

[Ankeny]

Sludge and Correia are spot on. Killer transitions come from the lightening fast processing of visual inputs gathered from total awareness. The ability to call each and every shot is crucial to high speed shooting. Knowing is better than hoping.

Trying to go fast is a recipie for disaster. A person will close the gap between the times you achieve in practice and what happens in the match by trusting that what you do is good enough. See what you need to see to make each shot, exercise economy of motion, trust yourself, and the time will be what it is.

 

[hube1236]

Sounds like swing hard at the golf ball, twisting all of the wrong muscles, feels hard, ball goes no where.

I have been in that zone, people tell me I went too fast I felt rushed. I beat everyone on a COF by 11 seconds- took 21 seconds in penalties.

Shot it again later, 6 seconds slower- 2 points down.



I am asking though, is it in execution or is it stage handling. I will consider the smooth and revolver comments as execution, and the transition as stage "strategery."

 

[Sludge]

Well, ya gotta be able to handle the gun and make the shooting work, and ya gotta be efficient in what ya decide to do. I guess first off ya need to know yourself. What are ya weak on? What are you strong on? Thats gonna effect your strategy. Your practice goals outside of the match will be to improve these deficiencies so that you walk to the line with a full tool box of skills to utilize.

As for the plan. Gaming a stage is an art. Its said a straight line is the shortest distance between two points. The same mentality applies to gaming a stage. Like on stage 3 of a classifier, its quicker to use a tac load (if you can properly perform it) when moving from the barricade to the barrel. It lets ya leave cover quicker and pocket the magazine on route to the barrel saving a small shaving of time on a difficult stage. Maybe a second or perhaps more. The big things are important, but the little things really add up. Attention to detail and situational awareness are the topics of the day.

Look at the stage, look at other shooters while ya wait. Look at the things ya think is good and bad about how other shooters ran the stage.. all the while your plan is coming together. Dont simply copy other shooters. Do what you feel is fastest for you. Think of things like, if ya got 3 targets, what order are ya gonna shoot em in? Right to left or left to right? For instance I, being right handed, am stronger going from my strong side to my weak side. So, for me if I have a choice I take targets from right to left. Im faster that way. Pay attention to little things like that.

Always paste. Always. When pasting, paste targets and walk through the course thinking of the movements. Its kinda a dry run without shadow gunning it. When walking through the COF pasting, think about your feet too. How are you gonna approach that barricade? etc. How close are ya gonna be to the cover? Look for the snags that cost ya time. I paste every shooters stuff most of the time until im the next shooter up. I already have my gear ready way before going to the line. When ya get your plan down. Start programming it. Shoot it perfectly in your head. Right before I shoot im calming down and trying to detach my mind from anything other than the plan and the first target thats gonna be in front of me. Im not watching that shooter in front of me. Im picturing my shooting in my imagination.

When your up, the last stage doesnt matter. The only target that matters right now is the next one. Ya gotta think that all the way through the COF. The shot that you just broke is gone. Dont worry about it. If you are thinking of that f00ked up shot ya just took.. who is aiming the gun for the next one? Shoot the program. If ya get out of your ideal sequence, just shoot the target that is infront of the gun. I have done it and I have seen it where ppl, who on cases like when your shooting over a barrel at 3 targets, the shooter would aim at one then because I guess he had a brain fart and broke the order he intended to shoot em in he would swing the gun over and start in his planned order. If ya get off step or get a penalty, dont worry about it. The damage is done. Dont compound it. Just shoot whats in front of the gun.

If ya end up bumping the SO on a stage because he was too close on ya or something, and he asks ya if ya want a reshoot.. ALWAYS take the reshoot. Im always faster the second time because I have had a practice run.

I mean there are a lot of things that go into gaming and executing a stage. I dont think ya can think of it as gun handling or execution. Its both.

Is that more to the point of your question?

Buy Matt Burkett's video series. Not just volume 5 (the idpa one). The others are geared more toward IPSC stuff, but many things other than the equipment still apply.

Read Brian Enos's practical shooting book.

Way more good stuff in there than we can tell ya here and way cheaper than paying an instructor.

Oh, and if ya dont have a timer for your pracice.. get one. The timer tells speed. Not how ya feel. It will identify your problem areas etc.