I still haven't done a thread on what USPSA is and why it's awesome (sorry), but I thought some of you might be interested in my match video from the first major match of 2019 and my breakdown of it. I've copy and pasted this verbatim from a forum dedicated to such things, so I apologize if there is context missing.
"First, a huge congratulations to Tyler Turner on his back-to-back victories at BITB. Much deserved.
Second, my results at this match (good, bad, and indifferent) appear to be a very accurate representation of where I currently am in terms of skill and ability. I’m thankful for that.
Third, this match was a poignant reminder that growth increases in small increments over long periods of time. Do I wish I had followed the Ben and Hwansik path of “figuring it out” much quicker? Absolutely. But, I’m surprised at my lack of frustration here. I’m plenty content to keep the marathon going because I genuinely love this game.
Fourth, I shot just under 91% of available points. That number needs to be higher in any given match and ESPECIALLY at a match like this where there is very little hardcover or no shoots, and not many targets beyond 15 yards
Stage breakdown done in the order that we shot them.
Stage 10:
25.94s. 20A, 20C, 1D, 1M. 45th (73.44%).
This was easily my worst stage and, unfortunately, was worth a lot of points. I was the first shooter, which – to my surprise – did not make me any more nervous than normal. However, I dug my own grave during the walkthrough here. I removed my coat at the start of the 5 minutes so that I could be fully ready to go. This stage was half hosing and half far (relatively) shooting. I realized on the second target, a wide open hosing target, that my hands were frozen and not working as expected… and the panic set in. I aimed at the center of brown on everything and racked up tons of Cs. The Mike came on the very last target, a tuxedo a ways off. I have ZERO clue where the shot went. I called two good hits that should have been on top of each other and walked downrange to find only one hole on the target. If it were somehow a “double,” it was a true double in the same hole. I didn’t have the heart to call for an overlay.
Stage 1:
21.46s. 21A, 10C. 35th (77.01%).
I was too slow on the steel array. I should have only been posted in the 3rd position for the last target requiring the lean. Overall, though, I was just sloppy on points. I can’t say for sure why I was shooting lots of Cs, but I think it was the classic combo of relaxed grips + yanking the trigger while still warding off the cold and trying to get juice back in my hands. It’s equally possible that I was aiming at the wrong spot or screwing up the transitions otherwise (most of the Cs were on the 3rd and 4th positions, hosing).
I don’t like the off-balance foot in the first position.
Stage 2:
18.75s. 21A, 6C, 1D. 31st (78.53%).
The D was a mental programming error on the second target. I called it but didn’t make it up because my brain was alerting me that I needed ammo to shoot the two positions on the first mag. In hindsight, that makes no sense because the makeup would have been appropriate there and less likely on the second array of close targets.
The transitions inside the door make me sad. No Blake Drill style there whatsoever.
Obviously, the bobbled reload is bad. Also, I’m not pleased with the foot movement in the corner. I should have planted my feet more carefully to open up to all the targets.
Had I paid more attention, I could have skipped the last movement at the end and shot those 2 arrays static by not crowding the port. Also, that makeup shot at the very end was erroneous. I had 2 As and made a bad call on the first shot.
Stage 3:
17.99s. 18A, 2C. 12th (80.70%).
This showed some finer details that are really plaguing my game as they show up frequently throughout the video. I am sleeping on sight pictures. I don’t recall if I missed my index on the first target, or was just staring at the sights for no reason, but I should have been breaking the first shot much sooner. I am also killing myself with makeup shots.
The bad shot-call on the steel and the dismount makes me very sad.
My moving reloads are getting better (I think) and I’m getting the gun up and aimed much sooner.
Stage 4:
17.21s. 25A, 5C. 13th (86.01%).
This shooting on the move is actually a big improvement for me. It’s still very weak, I admit, but this is the first time I ever recall seeing myself actually on the attack while SOTM in a match setting. 2 of the Cs were on the first array for no good reason. I also really don’t like the lag between the 2nd and 3rd positions while I reload.
Stage 5:
16.81s. 27A, 5C. 18th (86.71%).
I chose to go deeper than the plan Tyler and other top dudes took simply because it required less movement and I wasn’t feeling confident about my ability to shoot As while moving in that situation.
Trigger speed and transitions are really slow across the board here.
I also did not prep the final array very well in my walkthrough. The far right target is very angled, thus the A zone is noticeably smaller. I did not prepare to aim more carefully on that and shot C/D there, then made it up with another C. Yikes.
Stage 6:
16.91s. 25A, 7C. 30th (81.22%).
I got too jammed up with the hardcover targets, especially through the port. But, I wanted to give myself a chance of at least attempting As. Movement was not anywhere near quick enough, reloads were tardy, and the final array needed much faster splits and transitions.
Stage 7:
15.30s. 17A, 5C. 22nd (80.28%).
More makeup shots. 2 of the Cs were on the first hardcover target, both just outside the perf… I need to really focus on racking up As in those situations.
Stage 8:
27.47s. 29A, 3C. 13th (87.33%).
This one – obviously – got squirrely. The first array has pathetic transitions… again, no Blake Drill flavor to be found.
I missed my “flight path” to the corner when I bobbled the reload and got rattled because I was suddenly VERY aware of how close I could be to breaking the 180. I then toppled over and had trigger freeze on the close target.
Severe trigger freeze and tensing up my firing hand slowed down the last position a lot, especially on the close target before stepping off for the far, right one off camera.
Stage 9:
27.25s. 26A, 2C. 21st (74.86%).
Makeup shots, once again, killed me here. I needed two makeups on the steel, which probably account for a second or so alone. I was hell bent on shooting all As here, so I went unintentionally slow to rack up points and also added time with the extra shots where I called bad hits. The real issue here came down to stress management. Rather than staying relaxed and just shooting at the speed of my sights, I moved the needle too far towards shooting conservatively and therefore poorly. I left a lot on the table here."
"First, a huge congratulations to Tyler Turner on his back-to-back victories at BITB. Much deserved.
Second, my results at this match (good, bad, and indifferent) appear to be a very accurate representation of where I currently am in terms of skill and ability. I’m thankful for that.
Third, this match was a poignant reminder that growth increases in small increments over long periods of time. Do I wish I had followed the Ben and Hwansik path of “figuring it out” much quicker? Absolutely. But, I’m surprised at my lack of frustration here. I’m plenty content to keep the marathon going because I genuinely love this game.
Fourth, I shot just under 91% of available points. That number needs to be higher in any given match and ESPECIALLY at a match like this where there is very little hardcover or no shoots, and not many targets beyond 15 yards
Stage breakdown done in the order that we shot them.
Stage 10:
25.94s. 20A, 20C, 1D, 1M. 45th (73.44%).
This was easily my worst stage and, unfortunately, was worth a lot of points. I was the first shooter, which – to my surprise – did not make me any more nervous than normal. However, I dug my own grave during the walkthrough here. I removed my coat at the start of the 5 minutes so that I could be fully ready to go. This stage was half hosing and half far (relatively) shooting. I realized on the second target, a wide open hosing target, that my hands were frozen and not working as expected… and the panic set in. I aimed at the center of brown on everything and racked up tons of Cs. The Mike came on the very last target, a tuxedo a ways off. I have ZERO clue where the shot went. I called two good hits that should have been on top of each other and walked downrange to find only one hole on the target. If it were somehow a “double,” it was a true double in the same hole. I didn’t have the heart to call for an overlay.
Stage 1:
21.46s. 21A, 10C. 35th (77.01%).
I was too slow on the steel array. I should have only been posted in the 3rd position for the last target requiring the lean. Overall, though, I was just sloppy on points. I can’t say for sure why I was shooting lots of Cs, but I think it was the classic combo of relaxed grips + yanking the trigger while still warding off the cold and trying to get juice back in my hands. It’s equally possible that I was aiming at the wrong spot or screwing up the transitions otherwise (most of the Cs were on the 3rd and 4th positions, hosing).
I don’t like the off-balance foot in the first position.
Stage 2:
18.75s. 21A, 6C, 1D. 31st (78.53%).
The D was a mental programming error on the second target. I called it but didn’t make it up because my brain was alerting me that I needed ammo to shoot the two positions on the first mag. In hindsight, that makes no sense because the makeup would have been appropriate there and less likely on the second array of close targets.
The transitions inside the door make me sad. No Blake Drill style there whatsoever.
Obviously, the bobbled reload is bad. Also, I’m not pleased with the foot movement in the corner. I should have planted my feet more carefully to open up to all the targets.
Had I paid more attention, I could have skipped the last movement at the end and shot those 2 arrays static by not crowding the port. Also, that makeup shot at the very end was erroneous. I had 2 As and made a bad call on the first shot.
Stage 3:
17.99s. 18A, 2C. 12th (80.70%).
This showed some finer details that are really plaguing my game as they show up frequently throughout the video. I am sleeping on sight pictures. I don’t recall if I missed my index on the first target, or was just staring at the sights for no reason, but I should have been breaking the first shot much sooner. I am also killing myself with makeup shots.
The bad shot-call on the steel and the dismount makes me very sad.
My moving reloads are getting better (I think) and I’m getting the gun up and aimed much sooner.
Stage 4:
17.21s. 25A, 5C. 13th (86.01%).
This shooting on the move is actually a big improvement for me. It’s still very weak, I admit, but this is the first time I ever recall seeing myself actually on the attack while SOTM in a match setting. 2 of the Cs were on the first array for no good reason. I also really don’t like the lag between the 2nd and 3rd positions while I reload.
Stage 5:
16.81s. 27A, 5C. 18th (86.71%).
I chose to go deeper than the plan Tyler and other top dudes took simply because it required less movement and I wasn’t feeling confident about my ability to shoot As while moving in that situation.
Trigger speed and transitions are really slow across the board here.
I also did not prep the final array very well in my walkthrough. The far right target is very angled, thus the A zone is noticeably smaller. I did not prepare to aim more carefully on that and shot C/D there, then made it up with another C. Yikes.
Stage 6:
16.91s. 25A, 7C. 30th (81.22%).
I got too jammed up with the hardcover targets, especially through the port. But, I wanted to give myself a chance of at least attempting As. Movement was not anywhere near quick enough, reloads were tardy, and the final array needed much faster splits and transitions.
Stage 7:
15.30s. 17A, 5C. 22nd (80.28%).
More makeup shots. 2 of the Cs were on the first hardcover target, both just outside the perf… I need to really focus on racking up As in those situations.
Stage 8:
27.47s. 29A, 3C. 13th (87.33%).
This one – obviously – got squirrely. The first array has pathetic transitions… again, no Blake Drill flavor to be found.
I missed my “flight path” to the corner when I bobbled the reload and got rattled because I was suddenly VERY aware of how close I could be to breaking the 180. I then toppled over and had trigger freeze on the close target.
Severe trigger freeze and tensing up my firing hand slowed down the last position a lot, especially on the close target before stepping off for the far, right one off camera.
Stage 9:
27.25s. 26A, 2C. 21st (74.86%).
Makeup shots, once again, killed me here. I needed two makeups on the steel, which probably account for a second or so alone. I was hell bent on shooting all As here, so I went unintentionally slow to rack up points and also added time with the extra shots where I called bad hits. The real issue here came down to stress management. Rather than staying relaxed and just shooting at the speed of my sights, I moved the needle too far towards shooting conservatively and therefore poorly. I left a lot on the table here."