Making a checklist for stage planning

[runawaygun762]

I have already brought up a couple of these points previously, but now I'm hoping for some help in resolving them.

Have any of you shooters, when starting out, ever used a checklist to help you in stage planning? I'm contemplating trying it, but I don't know if it would just make things more confusing. The thought came as a result of a local USPSA match where many of us were having a hell of a time trying to figure out the fastest way to shoot a stage, and a kid, I think he was eight or nine, asked his dad if he was allowed to move utside the shooting area to another target array. I immediately realized that was perfectly legal, as long as no rounds were fired until getting back in the shooting area. I'm also the guy who finishes a stage and looks around to make sure I shot at everything.

Looking at it from the perspective of a dumbass, it seems like having a personal checklist for stage planning would help, with things such as where reloads need to take place, where I can game the stage without violating a rule, which targets to put two shots on and which ones to go for one A (in the case of a three gun stage), things like that. I doubt many have tried doing something like this, but if you have, I'd love to get some feedback on how it worked out. My idea is to have a checklist that over time becomes second nature and turns into my technique for breaking down a stage in my head.

 

[mike cyrwus]

you are complicating the elephant dung out of shooting.

 

[drmitchgibson]

Just come up with a stage plan, and stick to it. Work to your strengths in a match, and practice on your weaknesses off the clock.

Having a checklist with known ways to game stages might be helpful at first, but this stuff will all be commited to memory very quickly. Good stage design eliminates gaming.

 

[runawaygun762]

you are complicating the elephant dung out of shooting.

The shooting part is easy. I'm trying to figure out how to be more efficient in getting myself to the shooting part.

 

[45recoil]

you are complicating the elephant dung out of shooting.

This.

 

[mike cyrwus]

shooting part comes first. then the tricky elephant dung

 

[runawaygun762]

I have the shooting part down. That's why I'm asking about tricks to make stage planning easier. Shooting quickly and accurately is easy, but thinking? Yeah, not so much.

 

[Matt1911]

Does it really matter?
Planning goes to elephant dung when the buzzer goes off anyways.

 

[runawaygun762]

Does it really matter?
Planning goes to elephant dung when the buzzer goes off anyways.

It certainly does, but it'd be nice to have a plan before the buzzer so there's some semblance of order before things fall apart. I'm betting there eventually, maybe, comes a point when the plan only goes to elephant dung most of the time or maybe even just sometimes, rather than the point I'm at where the plan refuses to even coalesce in my brain in the first place. Did I use the word "coalesce" correctly? elephant dung, it's prolly not even spelled right. Nevermind.

 

[hunter_dmw12]

just when you THINK you have the shooting part down, you probably really dont. Just like if you think you know everything, you really dont have a clue.

 

[LoganbillJ]

What exactly are you struggling with on stage planning? How did you handle stage 1 this month? Did you have a plan before the rest of your squad started shooting or did you pull from thier plans?

 

[LuckyDucky]

You should always make sure you have enough magazines for the stage and that they are all full.

 

[Burk Cornelius]

You should always make sure you have enough magazines for the stage and that they are all full.

Semi-Pro tip #164

 

[runawaygun762]

just when you THINK you have the shooting part down, you probably really dont. Just like if you think you know everything, you really dont have a clue.

I can certainly understand that. Perhaps I should have phrased it differently. I am very good at shooting, and wherever I am deficient, I know how to go about improving it. There is always room for improvement. Perhaps I should word it this way:

While I can certainly stand to improve my shooting, the shooting part of the game is not where I am going to be able to make a vast improvement in my place on the standings. My biggest deficiency right now is in stage planning, and I am trying to find ways to improve that. I am an experienced shooter, but not an experienced competitor. By soliciting opinions from experienced competitors, I hope to be able to find a few stage planning techniques to try at local matches which will serve as test beds to help me prepare for larger matches.

There, does that make me sound less full of myself and better convey the purpose of my post?

You should always make sure you have enough magazines for the stage and that they are all full.

Good to know for 3 gun. I shoot Production in USPSA, so I have to try to make sure my mags aren't full.

 

[runawaygun762]

What exactly are you struggling with on stage planning? How did you handle stage 1 this month? Did you have a plan before the rest of your squad started shooting or did you pull from thier plans?

No, those stages were fairly straight forward. That match showed my weakness in shotgun work, which is one of the things I knew I was going to need help with anyway. I was actually happy with myself that I elected to sart with rifle, as that was my plan before we began shooting. I knew that would be the best way to shoot it because there wasn't a whole bunch of wide swings needed to go from one target aray to the other, just those first four paper. If the bay had been deep with lots of targets on either side, I'd probably have gone with pistol first because of how much faster it is to swing wide with that vs a rifle.

 

[mike cyrwus]

(a little stream of consciousness)
These are the parts of your post that popped out at me. Im taking the time to reply, because I really want to help, and I figure your payment to me is letting me sound a little gruff.

I am very good at shooting, ...

While I can certainly stand to improve my shooting, the shooting part of the game is not where I am going to be able to make a vast improvement in my place on the standings.

I am an experienced shooter, but not an experienced competitor.

so when are you a good shooter?

when you get unlimited bullets, have all the time in the world, things are really quiet, noise ceases, the wind stops blowing, theres a neon sign on top of every target saying "shoot 2" with corresponding neon trim around the A zone?

This "competition" you speak of, happens after the stages, after the runs, after everyones done being a shooter.

Its like golf, aint no body hitting golfballs back at tiger woods, he's not golfing against other golfers, hes GOLFING. Aint no one shooting back at you, either.

there aint to super secret grandmaster tricks to shooting IPSC, etc and placing high in the results.
the only tricks that will get you to a high level in practical shooting are these, sight alignment, trigger control, grip, stance, follow through.
Thats the stuff that bad asses like Me, Jesse T and Mitch Gibson practice on in our training sessions; not how do I cut out a half of a step off my 45 steps around this course of fire.


If you were a good shooter like you say, youd have all the time in the world between the "shooting" parts of a stage to consciously tell yourself where to reload, get your gun up and move.

shooting quickly and accurately in a subconscious manner is NOT gaming, its shooting.

One does not simply not get to be a good shooter through hunting and being in the military.

youre probably not as good a shooter as you think you are.
Like I told someone last week, dont put the cart three time zones ahead of the horse.
There is no substitute for match experience. Go to matches. have fun. Dryfire. Theres no substitute for time, this will take a while.

Dont overanalyze this elephant dung on a forum, youll go nuts and youll take us with you.

 

[mike cyrwus]

Damn, thats some classic Accurate Ron stuff, I impress myself.

 

[LuckyDucky]

I'm still a noob...

But before the buzzer goes off, you should know where you're going to go, where you will shoot from, where you will reload, etc.

All your moves should be scripted. There's no opposing player, and there's very few random or unknown elements to which you should be reacting. It's all action, not reaction.

The pros do it better because they practice more. They have practiced creating efficient and effective scripts, and they have practiced executing their scripts a lot more than you.

If you can't execute, your plan won't really matter. It especially won't matter if you save a half step here or there when you bungle a reload or miss a target and lose 10 seconds anyways.

 

[Matt1911]

Just keep your ears open and listen to what others have to say (especially those who rank in the top 5 consistently) about their plans to run each stage, then decide on your own whether you think know it's a smart or dumb move and act accordingly.

 

[runawaygun762]

Okay, you've been paid by being able to sound gruff. No issues with that. The more my bosses yell at me, the more they care. I can take some gruffness (?) online without losing too many nights' sleep. Assuming I'm not as good a shooter as I think, the shooting part is something I can identify weaknesses and fixes for the weaknesses because there are lots of You Tube videos on that and everything I know is from You Tube. I think Matt has a good idea that I'm going to see if I can't exploit by trying to get squadded with some of the top guys at the next bunch of matches I shoot. I'm going to try hard to get to Tulsa for the monthly 3 gun match on the 26th, maybe I can weasel my way onto a squad with some experienced guys.