Reading (Into) Match Results

[NickA]

Other than how you finished, what do you guys try to get out of your match results? Do you keep notes on each stage like # of shots, # of targets, etc.? What type of targets (steel, swingers), shots from cover? Do you ask the RO to give you times on certain things like the draw or reload?
Just trying to get the most out of my match time and track my performance. Since each match is different I need to find some consistent points of comparison and figure out what I need to work on compared to the better shooters.

[joshs]

I always look a what percentage of the available points I shot. I try to shoot about 90%.

[DonovanM]

I've asked for my draw time a few times before. Not that it makes that big of a difference, but it's interesting when you think it took you over a second and in reality it's something crazy like a .7.

What I mostly look at is points shot/available. 90-95% is the goal like josh said. I also shoot with 4 guys right around my skill level - A/M in Production - so it's fun to see who's points/time combo came out on top.

[JodyH]

I'm usually RO'ing in addition to shooting, I don't have time to think about minutia.
I just look at overall results and think about how I felt during the match/stage and how that compared to the actual results achieved.

[BWT]

I'm usually pleasantly surprised by my rankings.

But the thing I really look for, that really gets me.

Beating my brother, :D. Dude they miscalculated his score last month, the dude shot a hostage and left like 3 targets failure to neutralize, and I ran some courses faster than him (with an AK versus an AR), and he still beat me.

I'd say it'd be good to look at your scores to get an idea of your progression.

I really look at mistakes I'm making versus not.

I had no failures to neutralize, I had no hostages shot, and I had no procedurals (which is hard to do in that course of fire), and I ran respectable times and shot well.

I think honestly... it doesn't get much better then that.

Also, the thing to consider, I don't shoot in any leagues or associations, so, it's much more... dynamic in the stage design, you may run one stage a certain way and another another way, you can't look at your times and say expect to run a stage in "X" time and see yourself getting faster month to month.

There just aren't enough similarities. Also it doesn't help that I switch guns (I run an AK and AR, alternating, because it's fun for me), I'd say running drills is the best way to measure yourself, and getting a timer.

But, like Todd cautions, don't run drills to run drills, or to game the drills, run them to gauge how much you've improved after practice, etc.

[gringop]

I only look at problems that occurred while shooting the stage, poor reloads, gun malfs, poorly called shots, bad positioning.
I'll note these and work on them at the next practice.

As was noted before, when I'm SOing and running a squad, there not much time for analyzing details.

I'll look at match results to see how other shooters are doing but that's about it.

As a SO, if I was asked by a shooter for draw, split or reload times, I might give it to them once but there no way that I could do that every time. I had 16 shooters on my squad at the last match. I would still be out there if I read off every time.

Gringop

[NickA]

Thanks guys. I've mostly just looked at the results to see how I finished, and make notes on each match regarding problems with certain kinds of shots or targets, blown reloads,etc. Lately I've consistently crept into the top 10 at the local matches (in SSP), so now I'm looking for ways to improve further.
Just for fun I took this weeks results and did some number crunching to confirm what I pretty much already knew: I'm slow.
Some fun facts:
In SSP (27 shooters), finished 6th overall and 2nd in SS class. I was the most accurate shooter, but 10th in raw time.. Only 23 points down, and 16 of those were one stage with two simultaneous swingers that I..uh...missed.
Out of 62 shooters in the match I was 26th in raw time, 11th most accurate, and would have been 16th place overall.

So this weeks goal will be to go faster and try not to lose too much accuracy. Should be interesting as I tend to have two speeds: slow and WAY too fast. Anyone have some advice other than GO FASTER?:cool:

[joshs]

Anyone have some advice other than GO FASTER?

It sounds like you are shooting at a speed where shooting faster will compromise your points. Instead of trying to shoot faster, try to do everything else faster. A lot of time can be gained by working on your stage programming, movement, and set-ups. But, these things are mostly helpful only in competition, so whether or not they are worth you spending time on depends on why you are shooting competition.

[theblacknight]

This is why i got a little key fob spy cam for 20 bucks to use to film matches. Not to add Pantera to and post on youtubes but to see what I'm doing that I might not remember or have even caught. What do NFL teams do what not practicing(lol jokes)? They're in the movie room reviewing footage. Trying to see that little thing no one else noticed about some this or that ,that will give them an edge next time. This goes for every sport that involves stategery(TM GWB) and I take it to heart. Having a notebook at the range is a good thing too.

[NickA]

josh and tbk- both great suggestions.
I hate to give up accuracy if I don't have to, so I'll definitely concentrate on speeding up everything else; will have to see if I can do that and not let it bleed over into making me shoot too fast.
I do need to get more video; I suck at self-diagnosis. I'm honestly not sure if the time is going into non-shooting stuff or I'm taking too long to set up shots. I suspect the latter- on stages that are more "run and gun" I usually place a lot better and still have good accuracy. When the shooting is tougher I slow down.
A hat cam may be the ticket- won't have to bother anyone else to take the video, and can still get some coverage of stages that end up behind barricades or walls. I will get some video this weekend, and maybe see if one of the better shooters can watch and give me a critique.

[jetfire]

If you do get a hatcam, make sure to mount it at angle where you can see your gun and the targets in the same frame. I found that unless I can see the targets, I won't know exactly what I was thinking at the time when I was shooting, and it allows you to see timing issues you may have with dynamic targets such as swingers.

Even better is to have a friend film you as well so that you can see your footwork. I struggle mightily with footwork; at the IDPA World Championship on "stand and deliver" stages I was running neck and neck with the eventual division champs, but on stages that involve good footwork they smoke me.

The main I thing look for in match results is comparison - I'm fortunate enough to shoot against a pair of GMs on a pretty regular basis, so I want to see what they're shooting, what their times and hit factors are, and how far off that pace I am. Or if I beat them, what I did right that I can work on.

[gringop]

So this weeks goal will be to go faster and try not to lose too much accuracy. Should be interesting as I tend to have two speeds: slow and WAY too fast. Anyone have some advice other than GO FASTER?:cool:

Calling shots:
Are you calling your shots? By that I mean do you know that the hit was good or bad by the position of the front sight when it lifts and not by visually checking the target. If you can't or aren't calling shots then you need to work on it at every practice.

Speed up transitions:
Not just target to target transitions but transitions from reloading to shooting, from moving to shooting, from shooting to moving to the next position.
It helps to think of things as flowing in a progression instead of checking off a list to get done. Instead of "Shoot 2 on this target then 2 on this target then move to the wall, reload and pie to put 2 on that target", think "Engage 1st array...move to reload position, use cover on next array, etc."

Shooting speed:
Stop thinking of shooting speed as fast or slow. Start thinking of it as shot difficulty and what kind of sight focus you need to make the shot. Close 3 yard targets? Get a firm grip and hammer the crap out of them with a flash sight picture. 10 yard head shot? Get a good crisp front sight focus. 20 yard 8" plate? Settle down, get a razor sharp front sight and press the shot off. There is no fast or slow, just see what is needed.


Gringop

[NickA]

Caleb- From the video thread I gather that you use the Contour hat cam? Have you used anything less expensive? keep in mind that i'll just be shooting video for myself, not for my internet empire:cool:

gringop-
I can usually tell when I break a bad shot but wouldn't say I'm really calling shots yet. Part of the problem is most of my "practice" is matches, hoping to get more real range time over the winter.
Transitions- I really like the way you put that- thinking of it that way should keep my brain less cluttered. I'll work on breaking stages into fewer parts this weekend and speeding up all the non-shooting parts.
Shooting speed and seeing what is needed- definitely heard all about this from Todd, and understand the concept, just have to put it to work. Now that I've got the techniqe (grip,stance, trigger press) to deliver accurate shots, I have to learn to "let it go" and use the flash sight picture when necessary. That's always been a problem of mine.
Thanks for the great advice.

[jetfire]

A really screaming good deal on a hat cam would be the GoPro SD version. It doesn't shoot in 1080p, just standard definition, but it's also only 100 bucks as opposed to the 200+ you'll pay for the various HD models out there.

Whatever you do, don't get those wretched camera/glasses that some people wear. Bad picture quality and worse audio aren't worth the form factor for me. The big value to hat mounted video when you're trying to improve as a shooter is it puts you back behind the gun but in a more relaxed environment.

[ford.304]

Tachyon makes some you can even mount on a rail on your gun.

http://helmetcameracentral.com/

I have the GOPRO HD. It's nice, but it's a little bulkier than some other solutions out there.

Caleb, what do you use to edit your videos? Getting different runs synced up to compare yourself directly to other shooters seems like it could be pretty useful.

[jetfire]

I use a combination of Sony Vegas and Windows Live Movie maker. Mostly Vegas for the difficult stuff. The one downside to running side-by-side video comparisons is that it's difficult to watch both shooters at once; what I've found is more useful is to watch a better shoot a stage a couple of times and then watch myself shoot the stage a couple of times. That's where you can see slight differences on things that I need to tweak.

[theblacknight]

If your low on funds like me

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMd5kqS0Z_k/TWa0S1mCFpI/AAAAAAAAAFY/W1MXlZ_2f1Q/s1600/keychain-spy-camera.jpg

mine has a flash card in the place of the reset button like pictured. 20$, Velcro holds it on. Battery lasts for like a hour. I put mine on my ear pro.

[NickA]

Since you guys were kind enough to help me out, a quick update.
Shot another match last week and put some of your advice to work. I followed gringop's advice and broke the stages down more by arrays and tried to let the difficulty of the targets dictate the speed, and it worked very well. I got a little loose on some of the close targets but maintained good accuracy on some farther ones and ones behind no threats,etc.
I did get video of 3 stages (got stuck keeping score so it was hard to corral someone to run the camera, then the card got filled up with footage of the inside of my pocket:o Haven't had time to review it much, but one thing that stood out is how long I take to work around cover. I've gotten so focused on not breaking cover that it takes me forever to "slice the pie". Not so bad from a tactical standpoint but needs to be sped up for matches.
End result was 3rd in SSP, first in SSP/ SS, and I think I would have been 6th overall, so easily my best finish yet. It was a smaller and maybe weaker field than the week before, but I definitely shot better so I'll take it.

[DonovanM]

There is no fast or slow, just see what is needed.

This is truly excellent advice. Focusing on speed alone is extremely detrimental to one's scores. Focusing on efficiency is where it's at - shooting a target or completing an action with only as much time as is needed for your skill level. There's a fine line between doing this and just "shooting fast". Vision is the most important factor - as soon as it shuts down, I know I'm pushing myself too fast. But at the end of a stage if I remember seeing sight pictures for every target, then I know I've done well.

As Brian Enos says, "if I only shoot as fast as I can call my shots, I will be fast enough." There is no reason not to shoot 90-95% of the points available over the course of a match, whether it's IDPA or USPSA.

Sounds like you've made some real improvement Nick. Nice work :D

[HeadHunter]

If your low on funds like me

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMd5kqS0Z_k/TWa0S1mCFpI/AAAAAAAAAFY/W1MXlZ_2f1Q/s1600/keychain-spy-camera.jpg

mine has a flash card in the place of the reset button like pictured. 20$, Velcro holds it on. Battery lasts for like a hour. I put mine on my ear pro.

Where did you get it?

[DonovanM]

Where did you get it?

Looks like one of the 808 Car Keys micro cameras you order from China off ebay. From what I've read, the #3 model is the best.

[VolGrad]

I'm not at the skill level to even know what to track yet I guess.

For background I shoot IDPA in SSP as a SS. I'm knocking on the EX door pretty hard but last week's State Champ match humbled me. I was accurate but really slow.

I don't take many notes but things I do write down on my score sheet for that stage might be;
fumbled re-load
bad grip during draw
gun malfunction
waited X seconds for a moving target to present
anything notable about the stage that was either good or bad
extra shots I took that in the end weren't necessary (Vickers count and was actually good but shot extra rounds anyway to be sure)

I don't get into the specifics on the time like splits, etc. I just shoot and figure out where I can improve ... or where I just F'd up mentally of otherwise.