USPSA Area 5 Match Review

Just a quick Monday morning match review.  This was only my second major USPSA match, and my first level III match.  Keeping that in mind helps me ratchet down my frustration level.  Yes, I want to do really well at these matches.  But I'm still getting comfortable with how these matches work and what is required of the shooter.

For example, our squad shot on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.  Six of us who drove up to PASA Park from St. Louis arrived about 10:30 Saturday morning to check out the stages we would shoot in the afternoon.  We were able to take our time walking through 7 stages and sketching out stage plans.  That worked pretty well for me.  There was one complicated stage on Saturday that I screwed up, but it wasn't because I didn't have a workable stage plan.

But I didn't take the time Saturday evening after we shot the first half of the match to walk through the second half of the stages.  That was a huge mistake.  I did fairly well on half of the Sunday stages.  The ones I screwed up on were the long field courses.  The five minutes they give you to walk the stage after the stage briefing is not nearly enough time to formulate an efficient workable plan.  On three of these stages I changed my stage plan 3 or 4 times before I came to the line and shot.  On one of them I changed it right before the buzzer went off.  Not good.  Stupid, actually.  If you are not confident about the stage plan, you cannot concentrate on shooting accurately and moving efficiently.  That's a recipe for a meltdown.  Lesson learned: at every major match take the time to walk the stages sometime before the stage briefing.

I did well enough on half of the stages in this match to know that I could have been very competitive had I been consistent.  So I know I can do it.  It's just a matter of will and practice.

The only other thing I'm going say about this match is this: one word—ACCURACY.  I need to work on it big time.

So here are the only two videos of me recorded. The first is Stage #13. I melted down on this one.  This is one of the Sunday afternoon stages that I changed my plan way too many times before I shot.  I had no confidence when I went up to the line and it affected my shooting.  I hate those hearts. And the pink walls. Hate.



The other video is of Stage # 7.  I shot that one pretty well (5th in Production).



Just for the record here are the results.  And just so I can stay positive about the match here are the stages I did fairly well on:

Stage #2, Stage #4, Stage #5, Stage #7, and Stage #14.

Monday Match Review - IL State IDPA Championship (June 1-2, 2013)

I'm really getting tired of "learning things" at these matches.  Why can't I just shoot well and be done with it?  And the problem is that I "learn things" that I already know.  But more often than not one has to truly learn something the hard way.

Like this: never go to the line to shoot if you have any questions about the stage or the stage props.  Never let anyone rush you into shooting the stage.  I knew that.  But I went to the line as the first shooter on Stage #6 on Saturday assuming things about the stage that turned out to be wrong.  Opening the door at the beginning of the stage activated 3 targets—one swinger on the right, one swinger on the left, and a left-to-right moving target a little further down range.  When the SO demonstrated it all I was not in a position to see the timing of the activated targets.  I should of asked for another demonstration.  I didn't. I went to the line unprepared.  At the start signal I pulled open the door, stepped inside the door frame with my gun drawn and pointed at where the first swinger should appear.  Nothing happened.  I lowered my gun and turned to the SO with the words "prop failure" on the tip of my tongue. Then I heard the swinger activate, almost 5 seconds after I pulled the door open.  I was screwed.

If I would have known that the first swinger was delayed, I could have engaged one or two targets before it even appeared.  As it turned out, I missed both swingers. There was just no time to turn and engage them after I had lowered my pistol.

But I am a lucky man.  That stage was thrown out of the match as an illegal stage for other reasons.  But I have a lesson burned into me now.  I'm not likely to ever make that mistake again.

As for the rest of the match, well, I did okay, but I'm at the place in my shooting where I have a difficult time being happy with just shooting okay.  If I don't excel and burn up a stage, I'm disappointed.  I made at least 3 pretty dumb mistakes in the match that cost me Division Champion.  I was 2nd in SSP Division, 1st in Master Class, and 4th overall (128 shooters).  But I know that I could have done much better, at least 15 points better.

One excuse is the weather and the wait.  I arrived at the range at 7 AM, but we sat around until after 10 AM before we were able to shoot.  It was raining cats and dogs.  By 10 AM I was ready to crawl back in bed after sitting for 3 hours.  I know that had some affect on my shooting.  Even so, we shot the first 3 stages in the rain.  My head wasn't clear.  But that's no excuse. I need to be ready to shoot no matter what the weather or the circumstances.  I can't always have sunny skies and 70 degrees.

No pictures or videos of me this time.  For the records, here is the matchbook with the 12 stages.  The results are here.  And here is Ken's analysis.

Chrono & 50-yard shots

Went to the range for less than 30 minutes this morning.  I needed to chrono some rounds before I made  hundreds and hundreds of rounds with this formula for upcoming matches.  I only took about 35 rounds or so.  After I finished chrono-ing, I loaded two magazines with 11 each, set up a metric USPSA target, and walked off 50 yards.  I shot the first magazine at a rate of about 1 shot per second, maybe a little faster.  All 11 shots on target (5 As, 5 Cs, and 1 D).   They were all just a bit high.  Tried again.  11 shots at about the same speed.  All on target again (4 As, 6 Cs, and 1 D).  The holes were more centered this time. I'm happy with this.  If I can hit As and Cs from 50 yards with my not-super-accurate M&P Pro, that's cool.

Sparta Match Review (May 18, 2013)

Time for another brief match review.  I shot a 7-stage club match on Saturday in Sparta, IL.  There were 5 classifier stages and 2 larger field stages.  I designed one of the field stages.  The other one was a modification of a stage at the up-coming Ohio State Sectional.

I decided not to shoot Production for this match, but rather to shoot my normal production gear but in the Limited 10 division (minor PF).  There was really only one reason for that.  I didn't want to get bumped to M class shooting the 5 classifier stages.  Right now I'm on the cusp at about 83.9% in A class.  All I need is a high score on a classifier to push me over into M.  So what?  Well, I'm not ready to shoot at the level.  Cleaning up classifiers is one thing; shooting well on complicated field courses is something else.  I'm pretty good at short, quick classifier stages.  But I'm not even shooting up to my A class percentage in most matches.  When I start winning or coming close to winning against A & M class Production shooters, then I'll be ready.  I'm not trying to be a sandbagger.  I'm just being realistic.

I've never shot a Limited 10 classifier.  So how did I do?  I crashed and burned on the first classifier stage, but the others I shot fairly well.  Since these are my first classifiers in Limited 10 my initial classification will be A class (78%).  Turns out that if I would have shot this in Production, I would indeed have pushed my classification to M.  I got 93.68% on 3-V (CM 03-04).

Other than that, just a few observations for the record:

- No gun problems at all (yea!).
- Standing reloads (on classifier stages) were good
- Hit the steel nicely this match (except for one that didn't fall).
- I had a couple of hiccups reloading on the move.  I need to work on that.
- Accuracy was better this match (except for my first classifier stage where I was pushing                  my speed way too much).
- I watch myself on the videos and again I think: I'm too slow. I need to work on darting from one position to another.  Move faster, you old man!

Here are the official results.  And here are the combined results.

Here's a video of me shooting Stage #6 (my design)

Top 20 List

Hey, I'm #19 on the USPSA Top 20 by Division list (Production Division, A class).  If only my match performance would come close to my paper percentage!

New Magazine Holders

I've got some new magazine holders for my USPSA production set up.  They are awesome!  I sold my Safariland 773s and got these DAA Race Master Master Magazine pouches.  They are pricey, but worth it.

What's cool about these is how easily they draw.  Most mag pouches are designed to hold the magazines from the sides.  This one holds it in the rear with a long flat insert that is spring mounted.  The magazines slide out like butter when you grab it.  But it doesn't fall out when you run, jump, or do summersaults and cartwheels. Seriously.

I've been dry fire practicing with these for about a week and I love them.  We'll see how they work in the next match I shoot, which may just be AREA 5 in June.

I liked them so much I've ordered a pair of the plastic DAA Racer holders for my IDPA set up.  They use the same system.  I did have to use the modified spacer so that my M&P mags would fit.  HT to Ken for introducing me to these babies.

Monday Morning Major Match Review – 2013 MO State IDPA

The long-anticipated 2013 MO State IDPA Championship match was this past weekend (May 10-11).  We ran about 180 shooters through 10 challenging and fun stages. Some videos and pictures of the match are just now surfacing on the IDPA at ARPC Facebook page. I didn't take any hat cam videos this year.  And I didn't even think about having anyone take videos of me shooting.

It's always a challenge to shoot well at this match.  As an assistant match director I'm working my tail off to get things ready to go.  Keeping my head in the game is not easy. I wanted as little distractions as possible so I didn't video anything.  Another challenge is that the match directors and CSOs shoot through the stages on Friday morning very quickly in 4-man squads.  There's not a lot of time to size up stages and go over your plan before you shoot.  Before you know it, you are on the line and ready to go.

So here's what went well for me.  First, the first stage of a major match has been a challenge for me in the past.  I've often made costly mistakes shooting the first stage.  Recently, however, I've solved this problem by being much more careful and deliberate starting out.  I don't care about winning that opening stage.  I just want to record a good score and be warmed up and mentally ready for the match as a whole.  So had a decent run on Stage #9 (the first stage our squad shot) and then was ready to kick some butt.  I smoked the very next stage (#10).

Second, I was pretty consistent the entire match.  I didn't win any individual stages, but I placed in the top 5 in many and in the top 10 in most.  That was enough to win the match for me.

Third, I had no major mental mistakes.  The only procedural I got was on the stage I designed!  Sigh.  But I was rushed on that stage.  I should have asked for a little more time.  I was called to the line quickly and didn't get a chance to run through the stage in my head.  I engaged some targets through a port in the wrong order.  Dumb.  But I was fast enough on that stage, so it didn't hurt me too bad.

Fourth, I had no gun or ammo malfunctions during the entire match!  Yippie!  I believe I've finally got everything running smoothly.

Fifth, I won SSP Division Champion (and was 3rd overall).  Nuff said.

Now for some self criticism.

First, I had too many points down (70).  I had no accuracy meltdown on any particular stage.  I had 2 mikes in the match, and I only got a few 3-down hits.  But I had way too many 1-down hits on close targets that should have been zeros.

Second, even though I had the third fastest raw time, I still think I can improve on my speed, especially my movement from position to position.

Enough for now. Here is the link to the results.  And here is a really cool spreadsheet analysis by Ken Rihanek.  Lot's of photos here.