Eric Gambill Shooting Log

Well I didnt have a very good match at DTR saturday. Ended up shooting 85% point which is going to be no bueno running minor against major at the sectional match in a couple weeks.

Results:
http://www.combinedresults.info/index.php/match/5893

Ended up 8th overall and won limited division by 7% which was surprising to me. I just seem to be stuck between 85-90% points shot at all my matches this year. My overall avg for all matches shot is 88%. I really want to clean up some of these charlies im dropping on open targets, its pissing me off. I feel like at this point it should be easy for me to shoot 92% points and clean. Guess I just need to work it out in practice.
 
OK Open/Limited is in the books, it was a pretty fun match. Got to shoot the swinging texas star and polish plate rack which I've never seen before. When the scores first came out I was sitting 5th overall, first A class and I was impressed that I finished that high shooting minor. Then I saw they had me listed as shooting major...I knew that was going to change things a little. Still ended up first A but there were only two of us.

Overall I wasnt unhappy with how I shot, I just need to get over this points hump. Like I've said in above posts, its the thing thats holding me back from better match finishes right now. I'm shooting very few deltas and the charlies are most always soooo close to being an A. I guess I cant say its my only problem, I still seem to be finishing stages a second or two off the stage winner on a lot of stages.

Limited minor experiement over. Time to ramp up the production training for High Desert and Nationals.
 
Life sure can get in the way of training. Ive been so busy the last couple weeks that I didnt really get my normal training schedule accomplished. Leaving for the High Desert Classic in the morning. It'll be my first time to shoot this match but I've heard good things about it.

No high expectations for this match. I have been trying to work on focusing more on the things I need to see during a stage. A zones, front sight lifting, magwell opening on reloads, positions. A lot of times I look at these things but I might not actually be paying attention to them. Sometimes I think my sub-conscience gets in a hurry kinda like "ok I saw it, next thing" instead of just spending a little more time to confirm whats going on. Im thinking this has a part in some of my inconsistency.
 
High Desert is in the books. Came out 8th overall in production, dead last in Master. This was a tough match with some of the most challenging target presentations I have ever shot at. Hardcover and no shoots were plentiful and lots of multiple moving targets. On top of that they threw in a lot of wierd positions and angles. I was happy with how I shot. Only two mikes for the match and four deltas, only one person in the top ten had less penalties than me. I lost it because I was SLOOOOW. Watching the videos on the way home, it was obvious that I was not physically 100% this weekend. I guess the stomach virus and lack of sleep last week took more of an effect on me that I thought. I just wasn't as aggressive as I normally am. If I would have put together how aggressive I was at the OK Lim/Open match with my shooting this weekend, I think I would have found what I'm looking for.

Speaking of that...
 
T minus 10 days until I leave for nationals. Time to ramp up the training. Dryfire today was all about being aggressive. Worked some draws and simple reload move to point drills. At the end I worked some transitions drills. My transitions have been good in matches but they feel choppy in dryfire. My eyes snap to the next A zone but a lot of times the gun stops on the A/C line on either side. It doesnt seem to happen as much when I'm shooting 2 shots per target but when I work on one shot per target like the enos transition drill or shooting a speed shoot in a match, its choppy.

I'm really going to push the speed in practice the next 10 days. Try to find an edge to stay on while im shooting. This weekend will be my big training weekend, going to try to shoot everyday that I'm off. I'll probably shoot once or twice more the next week before I leave.
 
Steel challenge at ITPSC today. There nothing quite like the confidence boost you get from ringing steel at high speeds. Had a pretty decent day shooting the .22

Watched Seth rip off a .87 draw from the holster on smoke & hope, that was cool. Were training everyday this week. Heading back out to the range in the morning to work some drills on paper. Its all about speed and aggression this week. Trying to push past my normal comfort zone in an effort to raise that zone some.
 
Dryfire today. Learned a couple signifigant things which hasnt happened in a while. First I guess I forgot that I need to stand on the right side of the box on the turn and draw (left handed) when im turning into the gun. Much more smooth.

Second, I was practicing some unloaded table starts, while starting facing up range. Normally people turn into the gun, its habit. On these table starts I found it much more fast and smooth to turn away from my strong side to retrieve the gun. I think these two discoveries will make a nice improvement to my stage times at nationals. Especially on the speed shoot stages.
 
Live fire this morning at ITPSC with Seth. We worked some speed shoot drills based on the speed shoots at nationals and then spent a good amount of time on Steve Andersons field course drill. I was pressing today, trying to make myself miss but it just didnt happen. Even with the over aggressive shooting I only had one delta and no mikes. There were plenty of charlies going around but I think I accomplished what I was set out for. One thing I noticed was how much my new grip is allowing me to shoot alphas faster. The sights were returning well and I was having an easy time calling shots. I saw every shot today and knew I was punching charlies when I was pressing faster and faster on the drills. The biggest lesson I learned was the only reason I was shooting those charlies was because I opened up my visual patience to allow them to be acceptable to gain speed.

More range time in the morning. Then family time. Then were on the road and its game on.

On a side note, my 6yr old daughter told me the other day that I was like a dragon when I shoot. She even drew me a picture. I think I'll keep that one.
 
Thanks! Hopefully I remember some of this stuff I've learned and dont go omgimatnationals and brain dump.
 
Best. Practice. Ever.

I was eating up the A zone today (literally, I dont do that positive self talk stuff Im a realist).

Could not have asked for a better final practice. I felt like a GM all day. We're done. Hitting the road tonight. I'll try to update our match progress on here everyday.
 
Well, I seem to be a magnet for trouble sometimes. 2 hours after we arrived in vegas, as we were unloading the truck, I stabbed myself in
my right hand above the index finger. I was using my Kabar TDI to cut a ziptie off a cable and slipped. It was a direct puncture wound into joint of my index finger. It bled ALOT. I have until sunday morning before I shoot, I hope its slightly healed by then.
 

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Get some Sugar, and Turpentine,(REAL TURPENTINE) Put a teaspoon of sugar on a bandage and put 2 or 3 drops of tupentine on the sugar. Put the bandage on your finger. This will take the soreness out of the wound and make it useable.
My grandfather worked in a sawmill and was always dealing with cuts and scrapes and splinters. He taught me this when I was a kid.

It Works!
 
Pretty awesome day. I had a blast. My hand healed pretty good over the night and it was about 95%. I shot well today. Not perfect, made a couple small mistakes but Im almost satisfied with my performance today.

I felt really aggressive today. Tommorow I will be an alpha monster. Its gonna be "hulk smash" My shot calling was excellent today. It will continue tommorow.
 
Here's the vids from the first two days of shooting. I'm pretty satisfied ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKK403ex46M&feature=youtube_gdata_player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql8Rz-jQ44k&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 
Shooting season is over for me. I made many improvements in my shooting over last year and my major match results prove that. Seven major matches this year, four top five finishes....2 top ten and 26th Overall - 4th Master at Nationals. I had a lot of fun and met some cool people.

Its now time to take a break. I'm going to purge myself of shooting (which will be tough) and focus on physical fitness. I want to lose weight and become quicker and more explosive physically. When I get on track with that, I'll start to reflect on this season and start getting my new shooting training plan setup. I'm excited....I feel like I'm at the point now where the only thing that is holding me back is learning how to shoot points faster.

Heres the video from the match:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwIfTLatxtM&feature=share&list=UUjRIo1mEUZo-IZE1EscMsdQ
 
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