Anything I can do to not suck at stage planning?

[Gio]

One thing I would add to the above great advice:

The most important thing to do to cut time off a stage w/ your plan is to eliminate shooting positions. I see way too many newer shooters trying to eliminate reloads by adding a shooting position here or there. You certainly don't want to get caught with a flat footed reload in the middle of a target array, but stopping yourself in full motion to shoot an extra target just to save a reload later in the stage wastes a lot of time. Shoot the targets in the most logical/efficient order, and then figure out where to reload in between positions to make that happen.

[Slavex]

Also, and this is counter intuitive, pay attention to other new shooters, every now and then they see something the GM's won't. Like a target you can snag if you actually do go into a port, window or door (which you normally would try to avoid at all costs). This can pay into what Givo88 says.

[Fourtrax]

If you are a shooter that cares, and you must since you ask, then get to the match early.

There is not one SERIOUS shooter getting there late and only using the allotted 5 min. I run stages for a good 30 min to one hour before the match. I get there early and I can tell you from 11 years experience that the shooters at the top are there with me. Spending 10-15 min on the more difficult stages is huge. There are always some that need very little prep, but even an extra 2,3,4 or 5 min on those easy ones before the match pays huge dividends.

Of course when you add a great mental program to this it is even better. Go buy Lanny Bassham's With Winning in Mind.

Good luck.

[rob_s]

In short, shoot more matches. 6 or 7 matches in and you're barely scratching the surface. There's a lot of good advice above, but it's all probably premature with only a couple of matches under your belt.

Probably the best advice is to watch someone else, someone more experienced than you, shoot the stage but make sure that person is shooting your same division (how a limited shooter shoots a stage is different than how a production shooter does it).

[Mike R]

There are some great resources for stage breakdown on some of the more gamer-friendly forums but I'm not sure the rules of linking outside of the forum here. Overall, I think visualizing the stage repeatedly, and if necessary, again at load and make ready is the best way to prepare for a stage. The direction you travel in rarely matters beyond personal preference or what will make for more convenient reloads.

Once you are to the point that you are comfortable you can engage all of the targets start looking for opportunities to shoot on the move. Shooting while charging targets, or backing away from targets can save time if you are confident you can safely do so.

At least in the iron sighted divisions match winners don't necessarily shoot the fastest. They often are the ones that spend the least time not shooting.

I occasionally will find a little shortcut, or positioning, that boosts my confidence. When this happens I find it is easier to shoot within my ability rather than shooting to the pace I think I need to shoot and that pays off when the scores come out. As a B class shooter I had a couple of top 12 stage finishes at Limited Nationals due to small elements that gave me confidence that I had the time I needed to score good points. If you haven't read With Winning in Mind by Lanny Bassham I would highly recommend that as well. Often we can plan OK but match pressure builds and we do not execute- that book is great for understanding mental management and executing the plan you have selected.

[Bob-C]

I've only shot a few club matches and one USPSA all-classifier match, but I do have thoughts on stage planning. I'm sure I'll change my planning approach as I develop but here are the simple points I have to offer for now:

• Watch shooters ahead of me shoot the stage. Take mental notes about whether their plan looks efficient or not.
• When helping to score/tape/reset targets, I think about what I might have done differently from that last shooter, or the last few shooters. And what would I do the same. My own plan emerges.
• When I get a chance after seeing a couple of shooters and seeing the targets close-up, I'll try to do my own fresh thinking about the stage, something different from others. Or, I'll just decide I'll copy a guy if he did it in a way that really makes sense to me.
• When I'm in the hole or on deck, I finalize my own plan. I just try to make sure it's a reasonable, efficient plan.

That's the simple approach I currently use -- again, new competitor so take it with a grain of salt.

[Failure2Stop]

I've only shot a few club matches and one USPSA all-classifier match, but I do have thoughts on stage planning. I'm sure I'll change my planning approach as I develop but here are the simple points I have to offer for now:

• Watch shooters ahead of me shoot the stage. Take mental notes about whether their plan looks efficient or not.
• When helping to score/tape/reset targets, I think about what I might have done differently from that last shooter, or the last few shooters. And what would I do the same. My own plan emerges.
• When I get a chance after seeing a couple of shooters and seeing the targets close-up, I'll try to do my own fresh thinking about the stage, something different from others. Or, I'll just decide I'll copy a guy if he did it in a way that really makes sense to me.
• When I'm in the hole or on deck, I finalize my own plan. I just try to make sure it's a reasonable, efficient plan.

That's the simple approach I currently use -- again, new competitor so take it with a grain of salt.

Always a good idea for new competitors to emulate better stage planners.
The issues arise when:
You're the first or second shooter on the stage.
The plan of previous shooters hinges on high level, on demandax accuracy at speed.

Folks tend to learn how to do complex things by first observing, then receiving guidance, then doing, and repeating the cycle. Simply doing what the guy before you did without understanding the "why" won't get you as far as you could.

From Tapatalk:
Jack Leuba
Knight's Armament Company: Military/Govt Product Liaison
F2S Consulting: Director of Shooting Stuff

[45dotACP]

Shot an IDPA match just yesterday and I discovered something important. DON'T CHANGE PLANS. I stepped up after visualizing my plan and suddenly decided to shoot a stage a different way and totally blew the stage.

Picked up a win on a different stage though, and I came in 4th overall

[HopetonBrown]

There's stage planning in IDPA?

[Bob-C]

Everyone faces being the first or second shooter on a stage. Most have long since developed the ability to think independently or they probably would not have found their way into the shooting sports. I doubt there is anyone here who is pure monkey-see-monkey-do.