First clean match!

[Dead Eye Raith]

Ok, I have a question, I slowed way down this month and I shot a clean match. My question is should I continue to attempt to shoot clean and just allow the speed to come, or shoot as fast as I can and let accuracy come?

R/ DER

[Sagebrush Burns, SASS # 14226]

First, congrats on the clean match.  That always feels good.  Speed or clean?  It's a personal choice.  Since I'll never be very fast, might as well try for clean.

[StirrupTrouble]

Way to go!!!! It is a matter of personal preference. I have some friends that always try to shoot clean and don't care about their times and others who tear it up and rarely shoot clean. Personally, I am in the middle. i go as fast as I can but when I get down to the last few stages if I am still clean I tend to back off to preserve the clean match since the chances of me winning anything is rare

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Old saying is that you can't miss fast enough to win a match.  Depends on what you are talking about.  If you are shooting 20 second stages and have one or two misses over a 12 stage match that is one thing.  If you wind up shooting 35 second stages to get a clean match that is a different thing.  The first scenario would give you a 250 second match.  The second would yield a 420 second match.  Which would you rather have?

[Jim No Horse]

Congratulations on the clean match. The way I move in transitions a mid 30s to mid 40s is fast....shoot your own game....for guys shooting in the twenties who want to crow.....we have young guns  shooting in the teens here in central Texas.

Shoot your own game....have fun....enjoy....Jim

[Jess Money]

I've shot one clean match so from then on it's been to shoot as fast as I can as accurately as I can. I don't win any first place overall matches, but I sure have fun trying to!

[Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903]

When I first started Charlie Bowdre told me if you're missing you're shooting to fast, if you're clean you're shooting to slow. I have found that for me if I practice fast I'll shoot fast. 

I practice on the ragged edge and then try to calm down a little at matches. Since doing this I shoot more clean matches than I used to. 

I think the main thing is practice. 

 

Randy 

[Marauder SASS #13056]

Generally it is much harder to teach an accurate shooter to be fast

than it is to teach a fast shooter to be more accurate.

 

If you want to improve you have to do a sort of see-saw in your practice and matches.  IF you shoot clean, pick up your speed some.  You will have some misses, but you will adapt and begin to shoot faster and still not miss.  Then once you get a little too fast, go back to more deliberate shooting to get accuracy back.

[StirrupTrouble]

16 minutes ago, Marauder SASS #13056 said:

Generally it is much harder to teach an accurate shooter to be fast

than it is to teach a fast shooter to be more accurate.

 

If you want to improve you have to do a sort of see-saw in your practice and matches.  IF you shoot clean, pick up your speed some.  You will have some misses, but you will adapt and begin to shoot faster and still not miss.  Then once you get a little too fast, go back to more deliberate shooting to get accuracy back.

This describes how I have worked as well. When I started this game, I was shooting in the 70s, and using this practice technique has gotten me into the low 30s/upper 20s. Still dog slow compared to some, but for me it is about progress

[Chili Pepper Jack]

Congrats on the clean match! I am not the fastest guy but I do think if you are trying to get fast you must shoot fast. When you didn't have the clean match how many misses did you have? If it is only one or two over 6 stages you are right on track with some of the fast guys that I see shoot in the miss department that is. I practice as fast as I can just thinking about that front sight and it has helped me speedup some. I like to practice with a timer and set a par-time on it, but the real timesaver is in your transitions just my 2 cents. 

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

What is a more "fun" feeling?

 

Assuming that your fastest time is something that is never going to be near the best at a match, you have the following choices...

 

1.  Shoot as fast as you can, knowing that you will never win.   You are competing against yourself as you try to outdo what you have done before.  You get a sense of accomplishment when you do so.

 

2.  Concentrate on shooting clean.  It may make you even slower, but you get a sense of accomplishment when you pull it off.

 

 

For some scenario 1 is more fun.  For others, scenario 2.   For me, I started out doing 1, but never really had that much "fun" with it, as my time were pretty consistent near the bottom on the heap.   When I started to doing 2, I really felt like I was shooting for a goal, and when I finally did it, I felt really good.   I have also found that even as I go with 2, my times are slowly getting better as well.   Still no place near a top gun, but there is improvement and I am having fun.   That's the most important thing.

 

 

On the other hand, if you feel like you have a chance at being a top shooter, then keep trying to be as fast and accurate as possible and go for that top slot as best you can.   

 

Either way; have fun!

[Marauder SASS #13056]

It is not necessarily either or, but it can be Both!!

 

Practice and enjoy.  No, only a very few are the top shooters, but that doesn't men that we canno all enjoy shooting as well as we can.  Improving as much as our body, mind, and time allow.

[Dead Eye Raith]

It's funny though, I slowed down, shot clean, and still finished in the top 10! Thanks for all the input. 

[StirrupTrouble]

Good for you, Dead Eye! Sounds like you are right on track. Most of the time when I finish top 10, there are 11 shooters at the match

[beacon]

Recently gaining interest on gun shooting. I would personally aim for clean shooting and then work out to do it faster.

[Pat Riot]

Congrats, Dead Eye. Good job. 

[Trailboss (Santa) Dave]

I came into this sport after years of shooting IPSC/USPSA and NRA Action

 

And it has always amazed me you can miss a big target up close in with a single action