Jan 11, 2018
Been thinking a bit about practice, and where I should be spending my time in practice since I haven’t shot a match in about 4 months. What are the areas that I need to work on? Probably everything, and if that’s a thing, starting can seem overwhelming.
I mentioned on the podcast last week that I suck at lifting weights, but because I suck at it, I’m seeing tons and tons of progress, and that’s really motivating to keep lifting weights. I can deal with the sore muscles and trouble walking up stairs because I’m seeing lots of progress.
So, back to practice:
Things that I suck really bad at, are the things that are motivating to practice. Hammering on table starts, and reloads from my rearmost couple pouches, etc, are things that I’m not good at, and I can spend 10 minutes practicing these things and see a LOT of progress.
However, Is spending a bunch of time working on table starts, when I only see one every few months really the best way to spend my time?
I got to thinking about this while listening to the most recent episode of the American Warrior Show this morning, where Mike Seeklander is interviewing John Correia from Active Self Protection. John watches videos of self defense scenarios. Thousands upon thousands of them.
In the interview he talked about how there are a lot of things that people talk about needing for concealed carry, that he’s NEVER seen in one of the videos he’s watched: things like a CCWer actually doing a reload in a gunfight. Things like a CCWer needing to use some sort of flashlight or weapon mounted light in a gunfight.
But yet, when we consult the tactical corners of the internet, there are tons and tons of people practicing and training on these sorts of things, so they will be more effective in a gunfight. That’s not necessarily bad, but how much more effective would they be if they were to spend their time on the things that are most likely to happen and not the things that are the most fun or the sexiest, or the best for Instagram.
It was a great interview, and I think if you’re at all interested in carrying a gun for self defense it should be high on your list to listen to this week.
What are the things that most stages require you to do:
Obviously there’s a LOT more to practical shooting than these three things, but if we’re talking about the handful of things that you can pretty easily work on and get really good at, and see the most result from, these are three pillars that should give you a good starting point.
Thing is though: They’re not sexy. They’re not necessarily fun to work on like some other things you can do, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, these are three things that will give you a lot of improvement in your game if you push hard on them.
So, the next time you catch yourself dryfiring 4-aces for 30 minutes straight because it’s fun, maybe pause it, and work on some other things.
Thurmon:
I have developed a strong interest in competitive shooting over the last year. I'm still working up to shooting my first match (Hope to have you a first match voicemail early in 2018). I've went and watched the November uspsa match at cggr and just this weekend went and watched the carbine only match there as well. I was wondering if you could maybe cover some of the terminology used so some of use newbies won't be so lost in the lingo. One I've heard a lot is the on deck, in the hole, and in the deep hole. What exactly does that mean? Other newbie things I think people would benefit from is the definitions of comstock and Virginia count. I know some of these can be found in the rule books but thought there may be other listeners who might benefit from a good explanation. Thanks for all that you do with the podcast and hopefully one day soon we might see each other at a local match.
On Deck: That means you’re the next shooter
In the hole: That means you’re the 2nd shooter
In the deep hole: means you’re the 3rd shooter
Official definition from the USPSA Rulebook:
“Comstock” Rule number 9.2.2
"Unlimited time stops on the last shot, unlimited number of shots to be fired, stipulated number of hits per target to count for score."
Basically, shoot as much as you want.
“Virginia Count” Rule number: 9.2.3
"Unlimited time stops on the last shot, limited number of shots to be fired, stipulated number of hits per target to count for score."
Shoot only the exact number of rounds that you're told you can shoot. Shooting more will incur penalties for extra shots and extra hits.
I want to do a Q&A show next week, but to do it, I need your questions, I only have a few. So, if you’ve got a question like Thurmon, head over to triangletactical.net/question to submit your questions for next weeks Q&A show.