Sharp as a Marble - If you look closely, you can watch snails zoom by

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If you look closely, you can watch snails zoom by

Competitive shooting

This Sunday I shot USPSA and was able to film all my stages using my new Epic HD POV cam I picked up from OpticsPlanet.net (review coming shortly). Using a head mounted camera, I can watch my shooting and try to pick up on anything that might help me improve as well as provide my readers an endless font of entertainment.

First, the video

And the standings. I came in 28th out of 42 and for my 3rd outing (only 2nd being scored), I’m pretty happy with that. I would have probably done a bit better had I not had a catastrophic magazine failure in stage 3, but that’s the way life is.

Things I gathered from watching myself shoot

Accuracy was pretty darned good. I had 0 No-Shoots and all my shots on paper landed on paper.
No penalties. Well… technically there was a misunderstanding with the classifier so the whole thing would have been a penalty, but there was confusion on which hand had to go first. Looks like I was backwards.
I’ve developed a bit of a flinch. I marked it in the video once, but I see it happen two other times as well. More on this later.
Accuracy was good, but speed was low. For now, I’m ok with that. I’m really trying to ensure I’m coming back on target before pulling the trigger. I don’t want to get into ‘metronome shooting’ where I pull the trigger because it’s time to. As I continue on, my speed will naturally increase, it’s just important I don’t push it.

Sure, I’ll need to work on other crazy things like footwork and fancier / faster reloads, but those are things you worry about when you’re gun handling is perfect and you simply need to shave off milliseconds – I’m trying to shave off hours.

Overall I am very happy with my performance. I can do better and hopefully these videos will help me target (get it? Target! I kill me!) the lowest hanging fruit first. And of course, my readers can feel free to pummel me with insults and advice.

Next month’s match is canceled due to the holidays, so I’m probably going to run IDPA instead for the first time. I’m sure there will be penalties abound then ;)

posted @ 12/5/2011 9:46:38 AM

Incoming Links

Thrill A Second! Er…Minute! Er…Hour! | Daily Pundit on 12/7/2011 8:12:14 PM

Sharp as a Marble - Speed kills on 2/10/2012 11:27:42 AM

Comments

SPQR says:

on 12/5/2011 11:14:00 AM

As you work on things, don't overcrowd yourself with things to fix. Work on basics, get comfortable with the basics of working a course layout, basic sight picture and trigger control. Then as you get more comfortable, add one thing to improve upon.

And don't let that video discourage you, a good course run isn't that exciting on video either.

ExurbanKevin says:

on 12/5/2011 12:53:39 PM

What camera are you using?

ExurbanKevin says:

on 12/5/2011 1:34:39 PM

Would help if I read the intro 'graph, wouldn't it...

Jeff says:

on 12/5/2011 1:57:45 PM

On stage 3, why do you stand and shoot the targets at the end of the 'hallway' when you have to go right up to them to get the last array around the wall anyway? Shooting those on the move or point blank will save time.

Robb Allen says:

on 12/5/2011 2:10:57 PM

Because did you see the title of the stage? There were several DQ's there where people walked past those targets and broke the 180° rule. I wanted to completely avoid even being close to the damned things.

Jeff says:

on 12/5/2011 2:26:02 PM

Fair enough. They didn't look risky at all to me, but it's hard to see exactly where the 180 is in the video. The 180 risk to me was if you tried to shoot the close target while leaving the first position.

Robb Allen says:

on 12/5/2011 2:44:56 PM

Jeff, didn't look that risky to the guys who DQ'd themselves either ;)

IIRC the name of the stage wasn't for that part, it was for the steel popper I took out on the first shot. You were *required* to take that one out from where I did. They insisted that if you took it from the other lane, you were DQ'd (mostly because it was too close and the angle was wonky).

The targets behind the barrel were just poor design IMHO, but that doesn't excuse breaking the 180. Same thing for when I DQ'd my first outing.

Xman says:

on 12/5/2011 2:57:29 PM

What happened to your mag?
"Catastrophic" mag failure is having the welded bottom of your 1911 box fail leaving you with X live rounds, a spring, and a follower at your feet.
Good times. Good times.

dg13 says:

on 12/5/2011 6:31:37 PM

can't wait for your camera review. I am requesting one for Xmas, or birthday which comes up soon after.

Did you also look at the ContourHD before deciding in the Epic.

They both have similar resolutions, but the contour has a 110 to 135 deg FOV (depending on resolution). Epic has a very wide 168 deg FOV, which gives it a slight fish-eye look (not sure if I like that).....but at least you can see everything around you.

Epic can also do time lapse, which is cool.

so far I like both better than the go-pro. the go pro is too boxy for a good side-of-head mount.

Brice says:

on 12/5/2011 6:43:11 PM

Looks like you had fun. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Way to maintain control and not rush yourself. I was surprised to see targets with the uprights above the top edge of the target. I thought that was a no-no. I know my shoot boss won't allow it. Try not to put your hand/gun into a port unless you absolutely have to. It's a chance for the gun to bump something and possibly end up on the ground. It's also wasted motion which is where some real time saving is.

Warrior Knitter says:

on 12/5/2011 9:27:59 PM

IDPA .... don't leave mags with ammo, Cover and Pie, as in slicing it.

Have fun!

COVER!

George says:

on 12/5/2011 10:33:14 PM

The guys at TigerSwan taught us two things (well, they taught us lots of things, but two in this context)

1) Don't worry about speed. Focus on executing perfectly, every time. When you are done, go through a mental checklist and if you made a mistake, know why, and don't make it again.

2) It doesn't matter where you start. Just keep track of your performance, and focus on doing a little better each time.

George says:

on 12/5/2011 10:46:28 PM

One more thing...I noticed that your mag change in the last string was a little wonky. One suggestion: bring the gun up, then bring the mag back flat to flat against the back of the mag well. That way you have an index, rather than try to get it in there in mid air. There is a good video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpRsZA3DRmg. Charlie taught me at Gunsite.

deadcenter says:

on 12/6/2011 12:15:11 AM

Something to think about when shooting through ports, avoid sticking the gun into or through the port or window or hole or whatever. Your goal should be to position yourself so that your gun is just short of the port then you pivot your body around to engage all of the targets. This does two things, first it will save you time because you're not having to pull your gun back out of the port before you start moving to the next position, second it keeps you from having your gun hit the top the port during recoil (not an issue in these ports but can be in smaller ones). This doesn't always work, some stages are set up so you have to go chest deep into a port, but like I said, it's a goal. 28 of 42 is quite respectable for your third time out.

Comments have been closed on this topic.