Update/reflection re: training and matches, with match videos
Your feedback is always welcome and appreciated
A month or so ago I took a 2-day course with Charlie Perez (Big Panda Performance). It was really interesting, and I'm glad I took it. He started out by saying that we would not necessarily improve by taking the course, but that we would learn what to practice, and that the improved practice would lead to improvement, and I understand and agree. It was definitely a "how to be a better USPSA competitor" class as opposed to a shooting class. I think he determined early on that all of the participants had a baseline of skill that would make them able to benefit from the course, and after that, there was no real work on shooting skills. We did shoot drills to help us SWTNTS at speed and distance, and quite a bit of time on stage strategy, footwork, body mechanics, mindset, etc. All well-presented, demonstrated, and very helpful.
I am working to add these skills into my practice and matches. I really wish I had started this 15 years ago, but, alas...
I shot a match a couple of weeks ago and, while I'm not happy with my overall performance, I did benefit from some of what I learned in the class, particularly the stage planning and footwork.
As I evaluate my shooting and performance, listen to podcasts, etc., it really seems to me that I need to improve my grip and general accuracy at distance. I think my grip is contributing to too many close A/C's that should be A/A's. I'm working on the shooting sooner, rather than faster, and I see the utility of that, but that also results in me taking longer shots--and these lead to C's and D's.
I also still need to move faster between stages. It feels fast in my head, but the video doesn't lie. It's not fast.
I definitely need to do more dry practice, and I have ordered the Stoeger dryfire targets/book kit. I'm not sure how to dry practice for accuracy at distance, but I'll try to find that. I seem to be interpreting the messages I'm getting as: "You can shoot faster (at distance) than you realize, so do it!" and also, "Shoot slow enough to guarantee the hits." I realize that both of these things can be true, but I don't think I have the skill (yet) to fully understand or incorporate these seemingly contradictory messages. Also, I'm not sure what to do about my grip. There are many different practices, by successful and respected shooters. I think I need someone to watch me and show me.
Video links are below. Stage notes and scores are in the video description.
Stage 1a and 1b
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
I should probably learn how to put all of these together in one video...