Here are stages 1 & 2 at the IDPA World Championship - note how badly I suck on those first 2 swingers. For some reason, I have an issue with being really timid when it comes to swinging targets, and it really showed on stage 2. It's funny because on day 2, I decided to just say the hell with it and go for it balls to the walls, and my scores on swinging targets improved dramatically. Which I'll have in later videos from the match.
Erm, what if the "provided 1911" jams?
All I know is that I know nothing. - Socrates
Caleb,
How do they define tactical sequence? One on each then go back, or most serious threat first?
Tactical sequence means that each target in an array must be engaged with 1 round before you can shoot anything else. Hence the engagement order of 1-1-2-1-1 for a six shot COF. Donovan, if the gun had gone TU, the only equitable solution would have been a re-shoot since it's a stage equipment malfunction.
http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/...559140727&ev=0
Look! A video without lensflare blasting everything! This is from the Indiana State IDPA Match, I finished 2nd in ESP. Prop fail!
Full match video from the Indiana State IDPA match. People who have attended Todd's classes did very well, taking 1st Place SSP and 1st ESP Master. Because Orange makes us awesome or something.
Congrats, CG!Originally Posted by caleb
This is my first time posting here, but I've been a member for a few months now....just browsing. I shot my first match today....ever. I've been shooting once a month or so for the past year and decided to try a local match. Here is the video of my first attempt at El Pres.....I wasn't fast but I hit 100% of my shots.
If anyone has some critiques, I would appreciate it.....I want to get better and I plan on shooting another local match next month and hopefully more than that one day.....once I improve.
Thanks, Donna
Congratulations on your first match!
Managing 100% accuracy on the El Pres on the clock at a match is pretty good...lots of people get freaked out by the timer and competition and go to pieces. You went at the speed you knew you could make the hits, which demonstrates good control.
As for breaking things down,
Draw:
You established a good master grip on the pistol before drawing it from the holster, which is exactly what you want to do because it's crucial to the control you're going to have on the gun for the string of fire. Your presentation from that point could stand to be sped up. Looking at your draw, it appears that your weak hand stayed more or less by your side as you were establishing your strong hand grip and drawing the pistol from the holster. Then your weak hand sort of chased after the gun as it was moved outward. You'd be amazed at just how much speed you can gain by making your left hand move to the centerline of your body as you go for the strong hand grip on the pistol. In other words, when you hear the buzzer both hands go to their proper place...strong hand on the pistol to establish your master grip, weak hand up to your sternum (assuming you don't have to clear a covering garment). I tend to anchor my hand with the back of my thumb against my sternum, fingers out. That way my left hand is waiting on my right to bring the gun in so I can establish my weak hand grip near my chest and then I have the rest of my arm's length of movement to refine my sight picture and work the trigger.
Grip:
On some of the shots it looks like you were re-adjusting your grip between shots. More than likely you're finding that you have a hard time keeping your weak hand anchored on the pistol under recoil, correct? It's a fairly common experience as the spot where lots of people anchor their weak hand on the grip of an M&P is kind of slick. You can do what I do and add a bit of skateboard tape to the part of the grip where your left hand makes contact and that will help you anchor the left hand down. Eventually you build a callous and no longer notice discomfort from the skateboard/safety tape. Another method that you may find helpful is to keep more flex in your elbows. If you bend your elbows in a bit you give yourself the ability to activate the pectoral muscles to help keep your hands together during recoil. To get the hang of this, I would suggest getting your normal grip on the pistol just as you would when you present to the target, then slowly bringing the gun back as you activate the pecs and see where in that range you're getting good assistance from the pecs. Generally the closer to the chest your gun is, the more pec activation you can use to keep your hands together and, as a bonus, control the recoil of the pistol. It takes a fair amount of deliberate practice to get to the point where it's second nature, but once you get there it tends to have a big payoff in terms of your ability to cope with recoil.
Reload:
You could eject the magazine as you are bringing the pistol back into your "workspace". In the vid it appears you sort of paused as you were ejecting the magazine. You can eject the mag while the gun is moving and while your left hand is going for the new magazine and that will save you some time. Orienting the gun so that the mag well is pointed more or less at your spare magazine will help the mag to fall free and make for a more natural insertion of the spare mag. Your actual insertion of the mag looked quite good...smooth and fast. You had a good index on the spare magazine and you looked the mag into the well nicely. Don't be afraid to seat the new magazine with more force.
Speed:
Your shot to shot speed looked to be dictated by what you were seeing on the sights...in other words, I noticed slight variations in the timing of the shots which seem to indicate that you were shooting based on what you were seeing as opposed to keeping a rhythm. That's extremely good, and is exactly what you want to do. When you get your grip sorted out to the point where your hands aren't separating under recoil, the gun will recoil more predictably and the sights will rise and fall more or less back into place. That will allow you to shoot faster using solid visual control based on what the sights are telling you. With time and practice you'll also build confidence in what you are seeing behind the gun. You'll get better at judging what is "good enough" to make the hit you want to make and that will let you speed up a bit as well. From the looks of that video you're taking great care to get a good sight picture and work the trigger to get hits most of the time...especially when you present on target and move from target to target...which is good. As you gain experience you'll build confidence in what you are seeing on the sights and you'll learn to properly manipulate the trigger a bit faster, with the end result being increased speed from the holster and from shot to shot.
Donna -- Kudos for jumping into competition. That video shows serious improvement. You've clearly been putting serious practice in. Congrats!
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