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View Full Version : Calvinball: The Anti-drill, Drill.



Sal Picante
01-18-2017, 03:30 PM
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/731798/PF/calvinball.png

I'm posting this because I'm noticing a disconnect with some of the people I shoot with: There are so many excellent resources for dry-fire and live-fire drills (http://benstoegerproshop.com/books-dvds/) out there and there has been an explosion of people posting incredible footage of shooting feats which has spawned a tide of one-upmanship both in USPSA and defensive shooting worlds. (See T1CS do 3 shots in .79 from AIWB https://www.instagram.com/p/BPEBt0YgLvu/ - kittening unbelievable!) The focus of so much of this has been quantitative: grind down the times/grind out the reps and techniques.

I'm all for that and people should be doing a lot of that (I am), but I think it creates a slight "Pass/Fail" mentality whereby people who aren't making GM-level times on drills or etc are thinking they're losers.

What seems to get forgotten is that consistency is huge and that so much about USPSA and defensive firearms usage is about being able to keep a cool head in an ambiguous situation, not outrun the sights and deliver good hits. Practice where the stress is applied much more gradually, but where the focus is still about delivering good hits, in my experience, helps a shooter build consistency.

So... I introduce my version of the game, "Calvinball".

(Where does the name come from? I'm a big fan of Calvin and Hobbes, like any good child of the late-80's/early-90's, and the game is named after the game Calvin and Hobbess played that is devoid of rules, process, etc... It just seemed to fit.)


Safety Rules

Jeff Coopers 4 Rules of Gun Saftey are to be practiced.
Use of a 180 is necessary.
We run a hot range, just to save time, but running a cold line can work too.


Setup

The game is played with a timer.
The game is shot with only steel targets that don't fall.

Flipping 6" plates (Action Target hostage plate) is a great addition!
We usually set a large popper in the middle, flanked by a mini-popper on each of the large popper.

No less than five 2'-wide barricades or barrel stacks, the closest being 13 yards, the furthest being ~19 yards. Arrangement can vary, but the following setup seems to work for me:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/731798/PF/field.png

Game Play

1 shooter at a time attempts the level
Miss a shot, your turn is over
1 shot per steel target
The first level is shot from 1 position... The second level is shot from 2 positions... (It gets nuts at "level 8")

Moving feet more than a "pivot" constitutes a position. E.g. moving to the other side of the barrel is a position.

Shooters alternate turns and have 3 attempts to establish a base par-time for the level.

If no base par-time can be established, the next shooter chooses a different path for that level.

Once a base par is established, the shooters have 3 attempts to match or beat the base par time.

The shooter that set the par has the last chance to shoot the level. (Defense)
The fastest time, taking into account handicap, chooses the next path for the next level: The sky is the limit for how confusing you want to make this. Prone? SHO? WHO? If people can't clean it, the next guys gets to choose something less complicated.
The shooter that sets the path has to shoot it first to "demo" it.

A Handicap is applied:

If person is behind you by a class-level, they get ~.25 second consideration per position, per class. (e.g. If a GM is shooting against a D shooter, the D-shooter get's 1.25 seconds on the 1st level, 2.5 seconds on the 2nd level, 3.75 seconds on the 3rd level, etc)
This isn't set in stone...

Keep the round count reasonable: <14 rounds. If you're hitting the steel too easily, increase the distance, or decrease the size of the steel plates. (Load up your high caps. Single stacks may need to reload on the fly...)


The game should progress quickly, bouncing between the shooters. The pressure comes from having to remember a new "path" through the barricades, hit the steel reliably at distance and, once the par is set, trying to outrun the other guy. Even shooters that accept a handicap put pressure on the better shooters since they're now contending with the idea that they need to pick up the pace...

Thoughts?

Peally
01-18-2017, 03:44 PM
Sounds fun and confusing, but I'm a visual learner ;)

Sal Picante
01-18-2017, 03:48 PM
Sounds fun and confusing, but I'm a visual learner ;)

Hence the name... LOL.

alohadoug
01-18-2017, 03:54 PM
I like it.

13263

Mr_White
01-24-2017, 10:49 AM
That is really cool Les, thanks for posting it. I agree with your point. And that T1CS dude is just completely of the hook awesome. Do you know if he shoots uspsa or anything?

Sal Picante
01-24-2017, 11:04 AM
That is really cool Les, thanks for posting it. I agree with your point. And that T1CS dude is just completely of the hook awesome. Do you know if he shoots uspsa or anything?

Not sure... I think you're the only one. LOL

Mr_White
01-24-2017, 11:12 AM
Well even as narrowly-demonstrated as his stuff is....lots of respect for what I've seen T1CS do.

MGW
01-24-2017, 11:39 AM
I'm trying to visualize this. Have a little vertigo today and it's messing with my brain function I think. Is this kind of like horse only with multiple shots and par times?

Maybe post a quick video?

Sal Picante
01-24-2017, 12:08 PM
I'm trying to visualize this. Have a little vertigo today and it's messing with my brain function I think. Is this kind of like horse only with multiple shots and par times?

Maybe post a quick video?

I tried to video it, but a 5-position progression is like an hour of shooting... not sure how to video it...
(I tried time-lapse too, but that didn't really work out...)

It is like horse, but the multiple hits and par time sorts mess with people more...

Peally
01-24-2017, 12:18 PM
I want to try this out some time when the weather gets nicer. I need to sit down and get my head around it first though.

Sal Picante
01-24-2017, 10:22 PM
I want to try this out some time when the weather gets nicer. I need to sit down and get my head around it first though.
Where in WI are you? If you're south and don't mind your retarded southern neighbor (IL), I'd be happy to show you...

GRV
01-25-2017, 11:59 AM
This is awesome! Thanks Les!


I agree though that the how-to could use some work. Can you write out in words a sample game between two players for say, just a level or two?

There are still a lot of aspects I don't quite get about it, like the standard for establishing par times, who designs the first level, whether going prone or SHO counts as a position change, if the pictured arrangement is pretty fixed or if there is flexibility in number of targets and target arrangement (and what rules govern that if so), if targets can be used multiple times or not (otherwise level 8 with 5 targets and 1 shot per target.......what?), whether specifying which target(s) must be shot from which position is part of a level or not. Alright I'll stop :p

This is really really cool :cool:.

Mr_White
01-25-2017, 12:16 PM
I'm trying to think of how to implement this for our training group. We have a few reactive targets, but no steel and nothing that won't fall or move a lot when hit. I'll think about it a little, but I think with some modification we can use it. Non-falling steel certainly would be the ticket though.

The basic idea behind it (judging by the OP), to emphasize on-demand shooting, rather than trying to high-fly crazy stuff, is really powerful and good.

jetfire
01-25-2017, 03:08 PM
Well even as narrowly-demonstrated as his stuff is....lots of respect for what I've seen T1CS do.

That was a FAST twitch reflex to that gun.

Peally
01-25-2017, 03:12 PM
Where in WI are you? If you're south and don't mind your retarded southern neighbor (IL), I'd be happy to show you...

Green Bay, but thanks for the offer :D

I don't think it's a hard game to understand, I just need to run it once with a buddy to get it down.

Sal Picante
01-25-2017, 04:50 PM
I'm trying to think of how to implement this for our training group. We have a few reactive targets, but no steel and nothing that won't fall or move a lot when hit. I'll think about it a little, but I think with some modification we can use it. Non-falling steel certainly would be the ticket though.

The basic idea behind it (judging by the OP), to emphasize on-demand shooting, rather than trying to high-fly crazy stuff, is really powerful and good.

A brace of some sort can keep steel from falling. Or turn the plates around. Or send someone down range to hold them up.

:)

Mr_White
01-25-2017, 04:56 PM
A brace of some sort can keep steel from falling. Or turn the plates around. Or send someone down range to hold them up.

:)

All good ideas, it's more an issue of us just not having any steel targets though.

Sal Picante
01-25-2017, 05:00 PM
This is awesome! Thanks Les!


I agree though that the how-to could use some work. Can you write out in words a sample game between two players for say, just a level or two?

There are still a lot of aspects I don't quite get about it, like the standard for establishing par times, who designs the first level, whether going prone or SHO counts as a position change, if the pictured arrangement is pretty fixed or if there is flexibility in number of targets and target arrangement (and what rules govern that if so), if targets can be used multiple times or not (otherwise level 8 with 5 targets and 1 shot per target.......what?), whether specifying which target(s) must be shot from which position is part of a level or not. Alright I'll stop :p

This is really really cool :cool:.

OK ... I can do that:

Three players, Alice, Bob and Charlie, Alice and Bob are good, Charlie is 1/2 as good as Alice. Charlie gets ~.50 per position handicap.


Alice, being the swinging dick, calls out the first position:
From behind the far barrel, left side, draw and shoot the three poppers in the middle, L-C-R-C-L.

She's doesn't clean it.
Bob cleans it in 3.25 and sets the initial par. Now Charlie goes, then Alice, then Bob for 3 turns.

Charlie gets lucky and cleans it in 4. This sets the par to 3 seconds for Alice and Bob.

Alice, on her 2nd try sets the par at 2.97, which sets the par for Charlie at 3.47.

Last shooter is Bob and he can't match a 2.97.


Alice, being the swinging dick, calls out the 2nd position:
Position1: Middle-left barrel, from the outside, shoot the leftmost little place, then shoot the rightmost little plate.
Position2: Run to the forward-right barrel and shoot the 3 plates in the middle right-to-left from the inside. (5 shots in all)

...

...

Make sense? I hope that helps. (Need to go in a sec so I wrote this in a hurry)


I'd say SHO and WHO are positions. I'd say prone is a position.

Sal Picante
01-25-2017, 05:01 PM
All good ideas, it's more an issue of us just not having any steel targets though.

The steel keeps the game progressing fast... No time wasted on resetting, etc... Just shoot. Keep the line hot and iterate through ....

Even with 5 people it goes FAST.

GRV
01-25-2017, 05:56 PM
OK ... I can do that:

Three players, Alice, Bob and Charlie, Alice and Bob are good, Charlie is 1/2 as good as Alice. Charlie gets ~.50 per position handicap.


Alice, being the swinging dick, calls out the first position:
From behind the far barrel, left side, draw and shoot the three poppers in the middle, L-C-R-C-L.

She's doesn't clean it.
Bob cleans it in 3.25 and sets the initial par. Now Charlie goes, then Alice, then Bob for 3 turns.

Charlie gets lucky and cleans it in 4. This sets the par to 3 seconds for Alice and Bob.

Alice, on her 2nd try sets the par at 2.97, which sets the par for Charlie at 3.47.

Last shooter is Bob and he can't match a 2.97.


Alice, being the swinging dick, calls out the 2nd position:
Position1: Middle-left barrel, from the outside, shoot the leftmost little place, then shoot the rightmost little plate.
Position2: Run to the forward-right barrel and shoot the 3 plates in the middle right-to-left from the inside. (5 shots in all)

...

...

Make sense? I hope that helps. (Need to go in a sec so I wrote this in a hurry)


I'd say SHO and WHO are positions. I'd say prone is a position.

Perfect, thanks!

Sal Picante
01-26-2017, 03:04 PM
Should read: Charlie gets lucky and cleans it in 3.5. This sets the par to 3 seconds for Alice and Bob.



I messed up the handicap because I was in a hurry...