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There are a lot of questions I get both on and off the range such as “How do I become a sponsored shooter”?   In order to answer this question, let’s walk through three main levels of sponsorship or recently referred to as ‘Brand Ambassadors’.  Please note, there are varying levels within these three:

1. Product Sponsorship
2. Company Sponsored Shooter
3. Company employee

 

The first level of sponsorship can vary greatly in the level of support. Some sponsors will offer a discount on their products to free products.  From a monetary perspective, this could be $50 to $2500 in product.  The thought going through your mind is how do I get free guns and ammunition?  These are two of the most difficult sponsorships to get because everyone who is serious about shooting is looking to lower their out of pocket expense, and these two represent a lot of the annual money spent in the shooting sports.

 

The second level of sponsorship is a company sponsored shooter. This typically has several different levels of sponsorship within it as well.  These are typically shooters who have a primary sponsor who has the majority of the real estate of their shooting jersey allocated to this company.  They get free product from the company, match entry fees can be paid, travel can be paid, and supplemental items such as ammunition or guns to compete may be covered as well to different levels.  Often times, companies have tiered sponsorship levels.

 

The third is a company employee. These are sponsorship levels where the shooter has a paid position with a company where they draw an income.  In addition, the shooter shoots matches on behalf of the company where all travel and expenses are paid for.  They may also receive free items from the company and may be incented on how they perform.  This is often referred to the highest level of sponsorship.

 

Select companies who may be a good fit for you or your team. This has been my approach. Most of the sponsors I have are people who I reach out to because they have the best product in the industry.  There are a few of the sponsors I have where I have been approached, and they fit my requirements to represent the best companies and the best people in our sport.

 

What is in it for them? It is important to keep this in mind. Companies spend quite a bit of money on sponsoring shooters as well as matches.  Although these dollars are Marketing dollars, what do you have to offer?  How is the company going to get a return on their investment?  A lot of companies look at the number of matches you shoot, if they are major matches (State level or higher), what will you do for them with an online presence, etc.  Sponsors are looking for a minimum of space on your shooting jersey as well.

 

Keep them informed on your progress. It can take time, but just like any relationship it comes down to communication. Sponsors always want to know how you are doing, what you did, and where you plan on shooting next.

 

The most important part about being considered for Marketing dollars is being a great ambassador to the shooting sports. Your reputation is one thing you cannot pay for.  It can take years to grow and to develop and mere moments for it to be ruined so treat it with care.  Great companies want to represent great people and those who give back.  Are you one of these people?  Just because you routinely finish in the top three in your division at your local match does not entitle you to a sponsorship with a company.

 

How do you go about being a sponsored shooter? Be a professional on and off the range.  Develop a shooting resume.  Provide a background of who you are as a person, who you are as a shooter, and what you are looking for.  Be certain to share the major matches you have attended and which ones you plan to attend in the next twelve months.  The majority of sponsorships run January through December.  Most of the decisions are finalized in the fourth quarter of the year; IE October through December.  Find the person at the respective company you need to reach out to and send them your shooting resume.  If you can’t find the right person, most companies have a Facebook page or a ‘contact us’ and send them a note you are looking to get in touch with their Marketing Coordinator. If you get a return reply, send them your shooting resume and let them know what you have to offer.  It is perfectly fine to follow-up, but there is a fine line between being persistent and stalking.  So don’t be a stalker!  Good luck!

 

Until next time, see you out on the range soon!

Steve

I haven’t told this to many people…

A good friend of mine and fellow co-worker is into shooting, and he coaxed me into shooting a GSSF match in Dawsonville, Georgia. I was very nervous because I did not shoot Glocks much, and I bought a brand new Glock 17 RTF2 for the match.  Reluctantly, I went to the match because my friend assured me it would be fun, and there was no drawing from a holster.  There were 100’s of people at the match when we arrived.  I remember feeling overwhelmed and was not sure if I was going to compete.  My friend urged me that we were going to do this together. Outside of hearing the timer all I can remember is an adrenaline rush and the anxiousness I felt subside.  I remember rushing and not even looking at my sights as I pulled the trigger because I was trying to keep ‘pace’ with the shooters ahead of me and beside me.  Needless to say, I did not score well.  Each of the next two stages were ‘better’.  The feeling of being overwhelmed and what others thought of me started to drift in the rearview mirror.

 

A turning point for me and the future of my shooting career happened at this match. The match director of a local steel match asked how long I have been shooting, and I told him this was my first big match.  He asked if I had shot any steel before, and I had only shot some steel trees and other small plates.  He said my friend and I had to go to his match and he said we would fall in love.  I remember the first time I shot Steel Challenge: it was at the Griffin Gun Club in Griffin, Georgia.

 

It was a few months before I got up the courage to shoot this match. If it was not for my friend Ron, I’m not sure if I would have.  For some reason, I was concerned about what people would think:  Would they be better than I am? How I would shoot? Did I have the right gear?  While I shot my first match, my friend and I were squadded with someone people were talking about at the match, her name is Randi Rogers.  Wow, when I saw her shoot, I was in absolute amazement, and I was intimidated more now than ever!  She was the RO for our squad, and she was so nice and helpful.  I was not sure what to expect.  It was in part how she treated me, as a newbie, why I became somewhat comfortable.

 

What I have not told many people is how much I enjoyed the adrenaline rush, how I released the stress from the work week, and how great the people I have met along the way. For some reason, I still was anxious to go to my next match, and I waited 6 months.  The feelings I had experienced for my first match were still there, but they subsided more and more from each match I shot.  Today, I still have a little bit of this new shooter in me when I go to the firing line at a major match.  As with experience, this feeling subsides with time and experience.

 

For me, part of furthering and growing the sport is to create an environment where new and experienced shooters alike feel comfortable out on the range. In the past couple of months, I have brought two new shooters to the range, and I have shot with them their first couple of matches to help them get through the same curve I did, but hopefully at a quicker rate.  Once we get past this feeling of intimidation, anxiety, or unsureness is truly when we can have fun, enjoy the company of each other and add to the greatest family there is, the shooting family.

 

What I leave you with is an open invitation. If you feel overwhelmed to go to your first match and you are in the area, let me know and I will take you.  No strings attached.  If you want to ‘chat’ about it, email, or call, let me know!  I challenge my peers in the shooting community to do the same.  If you ask any of us for help, I seriously doubt you will be met with anything less than support and encouragement.  A little encouragement can go a long way!

 

See you out on the range soon!

Steve

My brother and I were the gatekeepers of fairness and consistency of how we were each treated. If I received a Transformer for my birthday, my brother was sure to point out if he did not get a Transformer for his and of course, if it was not of the same value.  It is interesting to see how we, as siblings, made sure there was a law of consistency and let our parents know if the balance shifted to one person or another.

 

Consistency is very powerful in shooting as well. Good things happen when you are consistent.  Those who are on the podium are very consistent in their shooting.  In Steel Challenge and NSSF we know we need to have four good strings and sometimes three good strings will not get you the #1 spot on Practiscore.  If you have one or two ‘fast’ strings and you have several make-up shots, you will not be in the top three in a competitive field.

 

Let’s talk about how good I can be, or how Capable someone can shoot. The fastest time of a string multiplied by 4 is what I call my ‘Capability Time’.  An example of this is below from Accelerator from the 2017 East Coast Steel Championship where I won the PCCO division and earned the Title of Rifle Master:

 

 

My Capability Time is 2.11 * 4 strings = 8.44 seconds.  I shot the stage in 9.06 and my lack of consistency cost me .62 seconds.  This may not seem like a lot of time, but if you have three clean strings on every stage you are leaving 4.96 seconds on the table.  If you have only two clean strings, with only one pickup shot on the non-clean strings, you are leaving 9.92 seconds on the table and so forth for the match.

 

Here is an example from a good friend of mine who is as capable as I am as a shooter, but needs to work on finding his “Edge” and work on not going over it:

 

 

 

 

He shot a total time of 10.00 seconds on Smoke and Hope. His Capability Time is 1.99 Seconds * 4 strings = 7.96.  After watching him shoot for a while I would call his Edge in the 1.80 range and can shoot this stage in 7.20 seconds all-day-long.  His first two strings each had a make-up shot (or two), the third string should have been his throw away.  The fourth string was very deliberate at 1.99 seconds.  The fifth string was a ‘train wreck’.  I know that feeling!  Just because you can pull the trigger fast does not mean you will score low in times.  Even I will say at a local match after getting 4 solid strings I will say “Hold my drink and watch this” and try to get a “Blind Squirrel” run.  You never know if you will get it or not, but you have to position yourself as a shooter to enable yourself to ‘let one rip’ on the final string.

 

In summary, if I knew if I was capable of a fast time, how did I go about getting four of these fast times all in one stage? I know where my “Edge” is and I try to get as close to it as I can without going over it and do this consistently.

 

See you out on the range soon!

 

Steve

In 1985, at the age of 8, I met one of the ‘coolest’ teachers in the entire world, or at least my elementary school: Mrs. Keen. There was nothing entirely special about her outside appearance.  She was in her late 50’s at the time, and we quickly discovered we had one amazing thing in common: we both loved chocolate!  She left me with so many nuggets of life lessons at an impressionable age.  Who knew my growth and development as a shooter would start 32 years ago in 2nd grade?

 

Her classroom was filled with games, and we played every day. At least this is what we were lead to think.  I remember a seemingly crude homemade game constructed of door bells and lights that transformed our classroom into a full blown of game of Jeopardy, the only thing missing was Alex Trebek.  The questions were both out of our text books as well as current events.

 

She would track our progress for every subject and make sure we were on track for the content of the week/month/year. It was a simplistic poster board with every students name and we literally earned ‘gold stars’ when we accomplished our academic goals.  I did not know what she was really doing until a Masters level class I was taking around leadership, and we were discussing SMART goals:

 

Specific

Measurable

Action-Oriented

Realistic

Timed

 

My chocolate loving teacher was teaching me how to learn and improve for the rest of my life.

 

When I made the decision I wanted to take shooting Steel Challenge serious, I created a spreadsheet with divisions, stages, and tracked times. These times were from matches I shot and the time of every string fired.  I then created goals of 20% reduction in every single division and time per stage. This was a Specific goal.  I measured the times and calculated the 20% reduction which was Realistic.  I set a goal to achieve this reduction which was timed for 6 months.  The Action that I took was to buy a set of steel and practice every stage.

 

Even though I didn’t get a gold star, I was able to reduce my total time across the board in 3 months through consistency. This process made me analyze each stage. Through some video analysis, I could see where I was making mistakes and what I needed to work on when I missed targets.  The first glaring issue was my first shot.  I was able to cut my first shot in Smoke and Hope from .80 to .40 seconds or under.  On one stage this was 20% by itself.  I then progressed to making my hits.  I would always miss target number three on Accelerator.  Slowing down and truly seeing my sight on this plate cut my time on this stage by 20%.  This made me realize it was important to not shoot every shot on each stage at the same speed.  Each target was different.

 

Who knew my 2nd grade teacher would teach me how to be a SMART shooter? I certainly didn’t.  There are so many lessons around us, we just have to stop and pay attention.

 

Until next time, see you out on the range soon!

Steve

I thought I was the best?
There are a lot of great shooters in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of the best Pro Shooters in the action sports I have had the opportunity to squad with. You truly do not understand what is possible until you see the best shoot. Outside of the Pro Shooters, I was one of the better local shooters at my club. I remember my first World Speed Shooting Championship and quickly I realized there were so many great shooters out there who were not Pro Shooters, but the best at their local clubs and State Champions. I would categorize my experience at this match as “Perspective”. I received a strong dose of perspective and where the bar of excellence was really set.
I just wrapped up a State level match and was fortunate to place 1st place in limited and 3rd place overall. It was one of my best limited performances I have shot this year, and I was very pleased with how I finished. Right after the awards ceremony, I met a mother who was working with the match FFL on a transfer from the prize table. I introduced myself to the mother. She then asked if I had met her son and I said that I know of him, but did not have the opportunity to meet him yet. She asked how I knew who he was and I mentioned the state and local match where they shoot and how well he was doing. She smiled and called her son over, and I introduced myself. He said hello but seemed to be very down. I asked him what was wrong and he looked at his mother. She said that he is used to coming in first place at his local matches and he did not make the top 10. I smiled at him, and I asked him if he knew that he was shooting against World Champions, National Champions, and multi-state Champions? He said that he did not know that. I did not focus on my shooting accomplishments, but I walked through some of the career highlights of the other three shooters making up the top spots in the match. He said that he did not realize. I asked him how old he was, and he said that he was 13. I told him he should hold his head up high, and I wished I was half as good at as he was when I was his age. With such a deep field, he should be proud of where he finished!
We then talked for a few minutes about what he needed to work on, and if he had any questions about taking his shooting to the next level to let me know what I could do to help. You can’t settle for just being at the top of the local matches, you have to know your competition around the country at the times they shoot and use them as a benchmark. It is tough with NSSF because you hardly find the same stages from match to match, but shooting Steel Challenge is a great way to compare yourself to others. In Steel Challenge, you will have the same stages setup every time and for the most part getting into the exclusive sub-70 club is the same across the country. You have to push yourself to practice to work on the fundamentals of shooting. We concluded our discussion centered around having fun at the range and focus on getting better. It will take time, but if you put in the focused effort and time even he will be amazed on what he will accomplish in the next couple of years!
See you out on the range soon!

Steve

I remember the very first time I rode a motorcycle. My dad took me to a parking lot at the local college.  I hopped on, grabbed the clutch, started the bike, kicked the shifter down into first gear, slowly let out the clutch, and rolled my right wrist forward.  I was riding a motorcycle!  After an hour of figure-eights, I told my dad I was ready to go for my first ride.  We went down some winding country roads, and I felt like I was ‘flying’.  To my surprise I was going 45 MPH on a 55MPH road and traffic started to back up behind us.  I pulled over, and I remembered telling my dad that I was nervous going any faster. I felt like I was rushing to get down the road.  He told me some words that I would remember the rest of my life.  “Son, you will build confidence as you ride this motorcycle over the next few weeks, soon you will want to go faster and faster; and you will soon think 45MPH is slow and you won’t feel like you are in a ‘Rush’.  Take your time and get comfortable.”  I remembered his advice when I started to push the limits of my motorcycle and soon 60 MPH was fast and then 80MPH was fast.  I pushed myself to be a better rider, but I felt the only way I would be able to go faster and be confident, was to go faster.

This same sensation is true for shooting. I remember the first time I shot Smoke and Hope with my Rimfire Pistol Open. I shot a modest 3.00 seconds, and I thought I was doing well.  When the buzzer went off, I felt a sensation of a ‘Rush’ to get all 5 shots fired.  I then aimed to shoot a total stage of 10.00 seconds, and I remember the first time I shot a sub-2.50 second string.  I thought…I mean I knew, I was going fast! I then looked at the results of the last World Speed Shooting Championship and realized I needed to be in the 1.5 second range to be as good as the fastest in the world.  WOW, how was I ever going to get there?  The answer: analyze what I was doing and PRACTICE!

Assuming you have solid trigger control, speed comes from two areas: the positioning of your body in relation to the target and secondly the communication between your eyes to your brain and then your brain to your trigger finger.

Indexing is the body position and ability to get from target to target. The majority of indexing is in your lower body. For me, indexing is your body’s ability to see a target and get your body in position to get the sights of your gun on target.  This aides in point shooting or instinctive shooting.  Your gun is either right on target when you transition or very close.  It is important to train your body to index well.  Drive at the knees!  In Steel Challenge, the transition to the Stop Plate on ‘Five to Go’ is a great example.  For me, indexing with a rifle is second nature and indexing with a handgun takes just a little bit more work.  This is because of the relationship of my face to the stock of the rifle.  Just point shooting on a target and pulling the trigger can be a successful strategy for some, but my experience is I can get quite a few targets by indexing and pulling the trigger, but I am not consistent.  The key component is then to see your sights on the target after you index.

As with my motorcycle, you have to go fast to get the excitement and out of control sensation – in control. What I have found is I can shoot “fast enough” but I have to slow the experience down in my brain.  Let’s get this out of the way.  Out of control is out of control.  Slow is slow.  You have to continue to push your “Edge” that I have written about previously.  You can only shoot as fast as you can see the target, the sight is on the target and you pull the trigger to get your hit.  The majority of time when I miss a target is because I have not waited to see the full sight picture on the target.  Sometimes I will try to ‘cheat’ at plate by shooting at the edge of the plate and allow the swing of my gun result in the shot being on target.  Admittedly, sometimes it works out and others it does not.  The key is you have to be able to see it.  If you were to survey Grand Master shooters across the country they will all tell you the same thing, you have to get your sights on target and get your hits.  Most people cannot miss quick enough to get make-up shots to get on the podium in a match.

Remember, don’t get into ‘Rush’ mode when the buzzer goes off. Assertively get your eyes on the target, get your gun and sight picture there, pull the trigger like you have done thousands of times, and then transition your body and eyes hard to the next target.  Practice doing this as fast as you can see.  Get rid of the ‘Rush’ mode and just go fast until you can’t see your sights when you get to the target.  Push this ‘Edge’ and you will be RACING!

See you out on the range soon! Steve

Following through!

My daughter decided she wanted to try her hand at softball this year.  I encouraged her to sign up on a local team and this is when the fun started!  My daughter went to her first practice; I was an anxious onlooker because I only played one year of baseball when I was her age before I transitioned to Lacrosse.  I know my role is to be a support person for her as well as a coach off the field.  I remember the first time she swung her bat at a ball.  She swung the bat, what seemed to be, 100 miles per hour and then as she focused on the ball she virtually stopped her bat halfway through the swing.  She was able to make contact with the ball, and it dribbled past the coach and barely made it to second base.  I was elated she was able to make contact with the ball, but I know how strong she is.  I am not sure why, but at 10 years of age her favorite activity when I get home from work is to try to tackle and wrestle with me.  Not sure why her uncle (my brother) taught her this was the thing her daddy enjoys the most, but nonetheless she is very strong for her age.

The coach approached me after the second practice and asked if I would work with her.  I told him I did not know too much about the game. He told me one thing: have her FOLLOW THROUGH with the bat while hitting, then she will be able to crush the ball.  Being caught up in the spirit of improvement, I discounted many viable options such as going to the school’s ball field, the Church’s ball field, and somehow we ended up in the driveway next to the garage.  After all, she was not hitting the ball that hard, right?!

I pitched her a couple of balls. I soon realized throwing a softball underhand with the right height, speed, and distance away from the hitter was a bit more challenging then what I thought.  Soon, I was able to put a couple over the plate, and my daughter hit one.  It was just like she was at her first practice, and again the ball trickled up the middle.  I showed her she needed to swing through her hips while not let up on her swing and FOLLOW THROUGH.  The very next pitch I realized she got the hang of it.  A ball went past my face going 60 miles per hour.  By any standard it was a home run, well it looked like it when the ball rolled up hill next to the neighbors porch!  I told her great job even though I was concerned by the giggles her and her sister let out by missing my face by a very narrow margin.  I then thought to myself this is a bad idea, and that we needed to turn around and hit toward s the woods, so we did.  I pitched another one to my daughter, and the bat made that magical sound. Then I heard a loud crash, and acrylic type glass fell down around me.  I have never seen anything like it, she had just shattered the back of the family basketball hoop by putting a softball right through it!  Boy, did she ever FOLLOW THROUGH!

FOLLOWING THROUGH is defined by Merriam Webster in two ways #1: “to continue a stroke or motion to the end of its arc or #2: to press on in an activity or process especially to a conclusion.” Clearly my first story is about the first definition and shooting Steel Challenge and NSSF is the second definition.  Too many times, both novice and experienced shooters alike fail to follow through when shooting.  If you are shooting a stage with 5 targets, in my case plates, you don’t give up on any target.  You FOLLOW THROUGH each and every shot and the most important is the last shot on the last target.  I can’t tell you how many great strings of fire I have seen ruined because someone did not FOLLOW THROUGH on the last shot and gave up on it.  The shooter missed the target and did not make sure they hit the last target or plate.  This is evident when you see a missed last target, the gun is lowered, and suddenly the gun is jerked back on target and engaged until it is hit.  Even though you have ‘called a shot’ as a hit and you think you have hit the last target, your gun and sights need to stay on the target to make sure you hit it.  The validation of a “hit” is best done by your vision and secondly by hearing the plate ring.   As with my daughter, it is important you finish the swing as well as your string of fire with confidence!

Until next time, see you out on the range soon!

Steve

The First Shot

For newer shooters, one of the biggest pieces of feedback I give them when training is to look at the first target they are going to engage and not at the sights of the gun.

Is this really that big of a deal?  When I first started shooting Steel Challenge and NSSF, I would look at my sights while ‘aiming’ at the starting cone.  Now I point my gun at the cone and transition my eyes to the first target.  For me, this change saves .25 seconds per string.  Although .25 seconds may not see like a lot of time, in an 8 stage Steel Challenge match with four strings per stage time adds up.  In this example, .25seconds X 8 stages X 4 Strings = 8 total seconds.  8 seconds can bump you one full classification in Steel Challenge!

The other important tip I provide shooters is to make sure you get your string off to a good start.  You want to make sure you get a hit on the first target.  How many times have you missed the first target and a sense of urgency consumes you, then your fundamentals break down and you try to make up time on the next targets?  When this happens to me, I end up missing 2-3 targets on the string.  It is very important to start your first shot and your first string with all of the fundamentals you have practiced.  Just because the ‘buzzer’ goes off does not mean you are getting ‘flashed’ like the movie Men in Black and all of a sudden you forget everything!  Take a deep breath and listen for the buzzer.  Don’t jerk the gun.  Swing the gun with authority to the first target as you do in practice.  Get a solid first shot in and the rest of the string is off to a great start!  You miss the first shot, odds are you can’t ‘miss fast enough’ to make up the time.  Snap your eyes to the target, see the sights aligned/dot hit the target, and squeeze the trigger.  Rinse and repeat.

Until next time, see you out on the range soon!

Steve

Golf is a fun game and it can test your mental state like none other!  It was not that long ago where I crushed a driver over 300 yards, and I was on top of the world.   I remember my golf partner Larry stating he wished he could hit a drive that far.  Larry is in his upper 50’s, and he has a slow and methodical swing.  Every single ball he hit was directly down the middle of the fairway.  His swing could not have been more than 80 MPH.  It looked like it was half of how hard I swing the club.  He would hit his drives consistently 220-235 yards every time.  This hole was a par 4 – 410 yards.  I had 105 yards left to go, Larry had 185 yards to go.  I pulled out my “A” wedge and Larry grabbed his 5 wood.  Larry took a ¾ swing and hit his ball on the green, in regulation.  I nodded in appreciation of his shot.  I swung a ‘full’ “A” wedge and mine went right, right into a bunker aside the green.  Larry two-putted for par.  I managed to get out of the sand and two-putted for bogey.  Needless to say, the advantage I had off of the tee box lasted only momentarily.

While shooting Steel Challenge, there will always be someone who can shoot a particular stage a lot ‘faster’ than you can, but you can ‘beat them up the middle’ by being consistent.  Go one-for-one on your string.  If you can shoot Smoke and Hope in 1.85 seconds on a string and your ‘Edge’ is 1.80, get your four strings of 1.85 for a total time of 7.40 and try for a fifth and final of a 1.65 in hopes to drop your total time to a personal best of 7.20 seconds.  More than likely a B or A class shooter with a same “Edge” will shoot Smoke and Hope with a first string of 1.85 seconds, a second string where they say to themselves “I can really speed up” and they have a make-up shot or two and shoot a 2.35, a third string of 2.30, just like the last.  On the fourth string they decide they are going to really focus on the target and then their sights and shoot a conservative five shots and shoot a 2.10 even.  Then on the fifth and final they say to themselves: “I have the fundamentals, and I am going to shoot a strong run just shy of the edge.” Then, they shoot a 1.95 just a little off their pace of their first run.  Instead of a 7.20-7.40; four solid runs just shy of their “Edge” they shoot; 1.85, 2.35, 2.30, 2.10, 1.95 for a total time of = 8.20.

I had this exact conversation about Smoke and Hope with one of the best Rimfire Rifle shooters in the world after he watched (and heckled) me at a major match.  Below are the exact times from the match for Smoke and Hope:

The four strings I kept were all within .04 seconds of one another or 2.3% deviation.  At the time of this match, my “Edge” on this stage was 1.65, and I made sure, in my mind, I had a 5% buffer or so from my “Edge” to be consistent to get the stage win.  So, how did the match end up? Although I had two malfunctions on one stage, I ended up placing 2^nd place in Rimfire Rifle. I was able to win Rifle Master at this match.

Just as Larry did with me in Golf, I returned the favor to my competition out on the gun range; I beat him up the middle.  Sure, shooting a 1.63 is great, but you have to be careful.. consistency will sneak up on you!

Until next time, see you out on the range soon!

Steve

The most effective way to increase your speed while shooting Steel Challenge or any shooting discipline is to take your time to be accurate first, and then the speed will come. There is a point of what I call ‘the edge’.  As you shoot faster and push yourself, your accuracy starts to decline.  You go over ‘the edge’ when your level of accuracy declines. This is where you can’t “see what you need to see” so that when you pull the trigger, you start to miss.  In most cases you are pulling the trigger while looking at the target and you are either not looking at your ‘dot’ or front sight to have a satisfactory sight picture.  Some call this ‘out pacing the gun’.  You may see the target and pull the trigger, but the gun and sight(s) are not there yet or they are not aligned on the target to get a hit.  For me, with a pistol, my front sight has not settled, and I have a tendency to shoot ½” high on a 15 yard target.  When you practice pushing ‘the edge’ and gaining consistency, ‘the edge’ starts to get faster and faster.  If you don’t practice or shoot for that matter, ‘the edge’ can slip back slowly or quickly depending on your experience level. So, how long does it take for your sight picture and being able to shoot against the “Edge” take to really decline?  I am a proponent of shooting once a week. You don’t have to shoot many rounds down range to maintain your current standard, perhaps just as little as 50-100 rounds once or twice a week.

 

Steel Challenge is about speed, but you will never be fast if you miss.  It is not uncommon for a Grand Master to shoot an entire match and not to have a string where they have to carry a pick-up shot.  I really believe the difference between a Master shooter and a Grand Master shooter often times comes down to making your hits or as some people call it consistency.  It is OK to have a miss and have to make-up in a string, but you need to try to limit this to one of the five strings per stage.

 

As soon as you can shoot accurately, you now have the ability to shoot fast.  I have always been a numbers person, so I keep a log of my progress for every division and every stage for matches as well as practice sessions.  It was soon evident the delta between my match times and practice were misses.  The great part of Steel Challenge is you have the same target presentation whether you are shooting a match in Georgia or California.  I am still not as fast during my matches as I am in practice, but the gap has closed significantly.

 

Until next time, see you out on the range soon!

Steve