USPSA shooting plan for people who can't remember ****

[Grelber]

My short term memory skills were average at best before 50, and they ain't a getting any better.
Hate it when I run past a target, get that perplexed feeling when aiming at a target that I already shot, etc..

Have you folks found any tricks that make it easier to remember your plan after the beep?

 

[CB45]

Thought about taking up Golf? Bullseye shooting? Bianchi?

OK OK OK, I'll bite. Visualize the stage over, and over, and over again until you can see yourself shooting every target in the correct sequence. When the timer goes off, your mind and body will replicate that movie.

That was real 'Zen' I apologize.

I don't think about a stage when I'm shooting. I'm just aiming and squeezing the trigger.

 

[VERT]

Switch to single stack. Less bullets to keep track of.

 

[Russellhjoy]

What Chad said. Also, try making your plans as natural as possible instead of the fastest or most efficient way. Sometimes running a stage a way that is most efficient ends up being too complicated and you will run past targets.

 

[Grelber]

Thought about taking up Golf? Bullseye shooting? Bianchi?

Sometimes I wonder about becoming a sniper.

 

[CB45]

Sometimes I wonder about becoming a sniper.

OK that weirded me out a little bit.

 

[rvb]

OK OK OK, I'll bite. Visualize the stage over, and over, and over again until you can see yourself shooting every target in the correct sequence. When the timer goes off, your mind and body will replicate that movie.

That was real 'Zen' I apologize.

I don't think about a stage when I'm shooting. I'm just aiming and squeezing the trigger.

The first part wasn't zen, that's just a form of rehearsal/repetition... a way to help memorize the target sequence and where to look to find your next target. the last part, yea, 'maku mozo' and smoke 'em if you got 'em...

-rvb

 

[Rob377]

There are 3 tricks:
1. Experience - if you've done similar stages or sections of stages before, it's easier to remember them. The more reps of similar stages or segments, the easier it gets.

2. Visualization - run through it physically and in your head as many times as possible. Each rep reduces the amount of mental effort required to complete any given process.

2. Not having to think about anything shooting or gunhandling related - Stage execution tends to be a semi-conscious activity. If you have to put conscious thought into the mechanics of shooting or reloading or start consciously thinking about how boned you are for missing that pieces of steel for the nth time, the mental bandwidth that was running your stage program gets re-allocated with the obvious consequences.

 

[Snizz1911]

There are 3 tricks:
1. Experience - if you've done similar stages or sections of stages before, it's easier to remember them. The more reps of similar stages or segments, the easier it gets.

2. Visualization - run through it physically and in your head as many times as possible. Each rep reduces the amount of mental effort required to complete any given process.

2. Not having to think about anything shooting or gunhandling related - Stage execution tends to be a semi-conscious activity. If you have to put conscious thought into the mechanics of shooting or reloading or start consciously thinking about how boned you are for missing that pieces of steel for the nth time, the mental bandwidth that was running your stage program gets re-allocated with the obvious consequences.

Bingo. I would add with experience comes some sense of relaxation. When I was first starting I was nervous enough I might as well not had a stage plan lol. As you get more matches in the stage anxiety goes down. I still freak out when I screw up a stage and magically forget what I was supposed to do from there on.

 

[rvb]

lots of good advice in here.

also, if there is a stage I'm having trouble remembering/visualizing, I'll make it a point not to watch other shooters. ... although if I'm having trouble remembering my plan that's also a good sign it's too complicated like Russell said...

-rvb

 

[VERT]

Edit: sorry got in the wrong place with the smart phone.

but since I am here again. Last month I had to reshoot a stage because a popper fell down. I had a plan after running the stage once. Lost 3 seconds on the stage. I find that if I over think the whole thing and do worse. Now I just look at the targets so I don't forget one, relax and let it happen. It's all for fun anyway

 

[Grelber]

lots of good advice in here.

It very much seems like it, and it is appreciated!

OK that weirded me out a little bit.

Mea Culpa. I've got to stop doing that.

 

[Coach]

Decide on a plan early on and walk it several times before the match. Then spend the walk through 5 minutes walking it and burning it in. Don't let you plan be over complicated and if memory is a problem make you plan one that easy to remember.

1) Minimize positions
2) Don't transition back and forth across the stage if it can be avoid.
3) Limited can usually be broken down into these and those.
4) Don't shoot targets from way back here if you have to get closer anyway.

 

[Friction]

I am still learning so my advice is only based on a little more than a dozen matches but movement has been my main focus recently and I've learned some good stuff from talking to folks about it on the range.

Rob gave me some good advice about having a short memory during the stage and not getting hung up on what just happened in lieu of staying focused on whats ahead of you/whats left in your plan. Like most people, I tend to spiral downward fast if I start thinking about what I just did wrong in my plan or a poor shot which almost assures the rest of the plan will fall apart. So with that, assuming you can have a general plan to start, just run with it and if you screw up a portion try to pick up the plan at the next movement or transition that you have control over.

I have also tried to start looking down more and focusing on where I need to move my feet to before I shoot first, then my path, then targets or the props after that. Since I have already seen the targets I know they will be right where I left them but my happy lil' feet can be far from where I though they would be before I started... So by paying attention to where I want to be next, instead of where I am now, I can adjust more easily then if focused on the exact path between both points.

I.E. I can't open a door that swings out if I am standing against it. I may also be able to engage the targets on the other side without stepping in once its open. So I focus on where I want my feet to before I open it because adjusting that in real time will cost more time than anything else. Likewise, on the targets that require leaning past a wall if you figure out where you need to stand to make the shot during the walkthrough and focus on that while running towards it you are less likely to have to adjust your stance after you have tried to acquire a sight picture.

As for creating a plan, my times have improved pretty significantly based on looking at the stage as a series of sectors/small parts and not really paying attention to the whole thing once I start moving. Thats nothing revolutionary and pretty much what you are supposed to do, but it took me a while to start only focusing on small portions at a time. Since cardboard targets don't shoot back it really doesn't matter if you can see them so you can choose to engage them from the most convenient locations for you. Sometimes that means taking far targets first before you move and sometimes it means exactly the opposite. Likewise, even if everything is at the same general distance, maybe you will take all the non cover targets from one spot then move, reload and take all of the covered targets or steel from another.

If a cluster of standard targets has steel mixed in with it and the round count is close for the cluster I like to finish on the steel since I'm more likely to need to perform an unscheduled reload. The fact that steel is binary, either up or down, makes its easier for me to keep track of what I did and didn't shoot if I shift my attention to a reload for a second. I'll always waste a round on a cardboard target I'm not sure if I hit just based on the huge penalty that comes with a miss.

Of course, keep in mind that some stage designs are well though out and have "tricks" or a natural flow built into them and others may be poorly thought out and create inadvertent challenges that are difficult to overcome in any organized fashion.

 

[mongo404]

Have a plan.
Stick to the plan.
If you get off the plan get back on the plan!!

 

[BillD]

Make sure you're final walkthrough is good. I've missed targets in my final walkthrough and missed them during the COF too.

 

[cschwanz]

I dont do it as much for local matches as i do major matches, but i like to try to get there early and at least take a quick look at each stage. Im not going to make an official plan but i want to see where targets are and get a rough idea of the layout. When i look at a stage, i can usually tell the first few targets ill shoot based soley on the start position. Thats a start. Then its just figuring out the best way through the stage based on your skills. Once I establish my plan and im happy with it, i close my eyes and visualize the stage and go through each target and shot. You should be able to tell yourself with your eyes closed "buzzer goes off, I shoot the 2 targets on the right, then the 3 poppers to my left. I move up to the door and there are 4 targets through there, 3rd one has a no shoot. Reload while moving to the windo and shoot the 4 plates, take a step to the right and shoot the last 3 paper, one of which is half hard cover." If you cant do that, go walk the stage a time or two more to make sure you know where the targets are. When you can see it all in your head, just repeat it a few times over and over to 'create the movie' of yourself shooting in that order. once the buzzer goes off hit 'play' in your head and let the shooting happen.

It'll get better the more you do it.

 

[BillD]

Major matches: Unlike Corey, who is young and his mind is still sharp, I want to have a plan for every stage before the match starts. I can't always but I want to. 5 minutes when 12 other guys are figuring out their plan is just not enough time for me. I use the walkthrough to reaffirm my plan and walk it a couple more times, if possible.

 

[Grelber]

I incorporated some of the stuff folks have contributed at a match yesterday, and I really think it helped, and that increased the fun factor.
Probably decreases the chance of a dq as well.
Appreciated!!