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Thread: Calvinball: The Anti-drill, Drill.

  1. #1
    Member Sal Picante's Avatar
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    Calvinball: The Anti-drill, Drill.



    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 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:



    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?
    Last edited by Sal Picante; 01-18-2017 at 03:59 PM.

  2. #2
    Member Peally's Avatar
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    Sounds fun and confusing, but I'm a visual learner
    Semper Gumby, Always Flexible

  3. #3
    Member Sal Picante's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peally View Post
    Sounds fun and confusing, but I'm a visual learner
    Hence the name... LOL.

  4. #4

  5. #5
    Leopard Printer Mr_White's Avatar
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    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?
    Technical excellence supports tactical preparedness
    Lord of the Food Court
    http://www.gabewhitetraining.com

  6. #6
    Member Sal Picante's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr_White View Post
    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

  7. #7
    Leopard Printer Mr_White's Avatar
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    Well even as narrowly-demonstrated as his stuff is....lots of respect for what I've seen T1CS do.
    Technical excellence supports tactical preparedness
    Lord of the Food Court
    http://www.gabewhitetraining.com

  8. #8
    Site Supporter MGW's Avatar
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    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?
    Last edited by MGW; 01-24-2017 at 11:39 AM.

  9. #9
    Member Sal Picante's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GreggW View Post
    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...

  10. #10
    Member Peally's Avatar
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    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.
    Semper Gumby, Always Flexible

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