What to focus on to improve performance?

L

Lee Hachigian

Active member
As a lifetime golfer, each year I’ve always tried to focus on one part of my game to improve my scores and/or at least maintain my performance as I age (a tough task to say the least). Like drives in the fairway, or number of putts per round, etc.

In benchrest group shooting, what do you “top shooters” think is the one most important part of the game to remain competitive (outside of barrels and bullets)? Is it keeping the load in tune, trying not to shoot too small, trying not to shoot big, practice, maintaining your equipment, etc.

Lastly, how would you measure your improvement (outside of winning)? Like comparing your ages to the winner’s agg, number of groups greater than .3xx at 100 yards or .8xx at 200 yards, etc.

Thanks,
Lee
 
Lee,
I was sitting in the garage the other night looking at my equipment on my loading table and wondered what I was missing this year.
How do you go about prioritizing what you focus on to get better?
I was really optimistic about this season in the early spring. By the middle of the season I was totally frustrated and doubting every piece of equipment I have.
Joe Hynes
 
Lee Hachigian said:
As a lifetime golfer, each year I’ve always tried to focus on one part of my game to improve my scores and/or at least maintain my performance as I age (a tough task to say the least). Like drives in the fairway, or number of putts per round, etc.

In benchrest group shooting, what do you “top shooters” think is the one most important part of the game to remain competitive (outside of barrels and bullets)? Is it keeping the load in tune, trying not to shoot too small, trying not to shoot big, practice, maintaining your equipment, etc.

Lastly, how would you measure your improvement (outside of winning)? Like comparing your ages to the winner’s agg, number of groups greater than .3xx at 100 yards or .8xx at 200 yards, etc.

Thanks,
Lee
Click to expand...

Well I don't shoot group only SR score and to me the principle is the same. IMO the 2 most important factors is that your rifle must be in tune and you have to be able to read the flags.
 
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Lee,

The very first things to do the evening before a big or small shoot is to have a Bombay Sapphire martini, at least 8 oz. should fit the bill. Not what I always do but, a little liker is a bit of fun.

I'll be interested in the solution to this perplexing problem, lets hear from the big boys.

Dan Honert
 
Lee Hachigian said:
Lastly, how would you measure your improvement (outside of winning)? Like comparing your ages to the winner’s agg, number of groups greater than .3xx at 100 yards or .8xx at 200 yards, etc.
Click to expand...

This is an interesting question, because weather plays a big factor and placing, say, 3rd out of 6 shooters is way different than placing 3rd out of 60 shooters. Not claiming to be a top shooter, but to see how I am doing, over the season I have plotted number of X's, and a normalized score that corresponds to the percentage of shooters I beat - 100 for winning, 0 for last place. X's fluctuate with the weather, but a trend within the noise means something is changing, like a barrel wearing out or throat eroding. The normalized score is noisy, too, but depends less on weather, I think.

Plotting normalized agg, i.e., your agg divided by the winner's agg, might be useful for group shooting. If you won, your score would be exactly 1, if not, a larger number. 2 would be pretty bad.
 
I personally believe

sometimes we forget what got us there. (whatever level you consider yourself)

Everything has to be good to finish good. When things are going good do you get a little lax on brass prep for example. Is your primer seating tool worn some? Are your dies what they used to be? Are you trimming the same as you used to? Are you practicing as much as you used to?

There is a difference between practicing and testing. How many times have you had to go back to "square one" and get your head back on straight.

Have you maintained your front rest? It's all about keeping all the little things from becoming big things.

For me, practice is a huge deal. Not for only keeping sharp on the flags, but keeping sharp on the maintainance issues.

Richard Brensing
 
Tuning

My goal is to work on and better understand tuning my rifle. As I do learn more I believe with all certainty the statement. I think made by TB, that very few guns on the line are in a competitive Tune
Mine included most of the time
 
Barrels and bullets?? Most will agree.

BUT, if your rifle will not put the first three shots through the same hole, in ideal conditions, and at 100 yards??

Remember, the group never gets any smaller after the second shot.


.
 
I guess my question

would be if you have a good bbl and good bullets and your still not shooting where you think you ought to be,
what are you looking at? Most know about the rifle tune. But how about your equipment tune?
Richard
 
I lack the experience you fellows have but if I had to come up with a one word answer it would be "wind flags". They are the one factor I have the least control over.
 
liljoe said:
Lee,
I was sitting in the garage the other night looking at my equipment on my loading table and wondered what I was missing this year.
How do you go about prioritizing what you focus on to get better?
I was really optimistic about this season in the early spring. By the middle of the season I was totally frustrated and doubting every piece of equipment I have.
Joe Hynes
Click to expand...

Hi Joe,
As you know I can’t watch the flags while on down on the scope. So I focus on watching the entire range waiting for the best condition to run my group. However, this year my load left me to frequently for me to agg good. I guess if I had to do all over, I would say I had tuned my loads with the bullets to hard into the lands. They shot good there, but once the temperature and humidity changed I was f’d. Going back to your question, I have to say focusing on having and maintaining my tune was my priority. I just want to know if that’s what you top shooters do? Or, is there some other part of the sport that makes the difference between winning and/or not not having a chance?

Lee
 
Looking at the responses the top shooters in our sport choose not to share. Why is that I wonder? You have a lot of shooters with different ideas bouncing things around, that is a good thing. But advice from the top, which was asked for?

Dan Honert
 
mks said:
This is an interesting question, because weather plays a big factor and placing, say, 3rd out of 6 shooters is way different than placing 3rd out of 60 shooters. Not claiming to be a top shooter, but to see how I am doing, over the season I have plotted number of X's, and a normalized score that corresponds to the percentage of shooters I beat - 100 for winning, 0 for last place. X's fluctuate with the weather, but a trend within the noise means something is changing, like a barrel wearing out or throat eroding. The normalized score is noisy, too, but depends less on weather, I think.

Plotting normalized agg, i.e., your agg divided by the winner's agg, might be useful for group shooting. If you won, your score would be exactly 1, if not, a larger number. 2 would be pretty bad.
Click to expand...


MKS, I like your idea on the metrics. I did just that when I first started shooting, comparing my aggs to Joe Krupa’s aggs (Joe is a HOF shooter). I guess today, my goal is to finish in the top 10 in all aggs, and I try to win the grands.
 
Lee, I look at Match Reports, and you sure don't need any advice from the likes of me.

Truth is, the way Benchrest has evolved, I do just about everything wrong. Bart told me a number of years ago that it was almost painful watching me shoot.

I would just keep doing what you are doing, get as many barrels as your budget will allow, and be willing to discard the ones that not capable.

The same goes for a Rifle. A good friend of mine has been shooting, and winning with an older Rifle for some time. A while back, someone convinced him he needed a new Rifle, built around the best and latest in components.

It's so far turned out to be less than stellar. Let's just say if it was a Driver, it had a bad habit of slicing into the woods.
 
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Dan H said:
Lee,

The very first things to do the evening before a big or small shoot is to have a Bombay Sapphire martini, at least 8 oz. should fit the bill. Not what I always do but, a little liker is a bit of fun.

I'll be interested in the solution to this perplexing problem, lets hear from the big boys.

Dan Honert
Click to expand...
BomBay is it.......
 
mks said:
This is an interesting question, because weather plays a big factor and placing, say, 3rd out of 6 shooters is way different than placing 3rd out of 60 shooters. Not claiming to be a top shooter, but to see how I am doing, over the season I have plotted number of X's, and a normalized score that corresponds to the percentage of shooters I beat - 100 for winning, 0 for last place. X's fluctuate with the weather, but a trend within the noise means something is changing, like a barrel wearing out or throat eroding. The normalized score is noisy, too, but depends less on weather, I think.

Plotting normalized agg, i.e., your agg divided by the winner's agg, might be useful for group shooting. If you won, your score would be exactly 1, if not, a larger number. 2 would be pretty bad.
Click to expand...

Better yet.
Look at the targets of your neighbors....the person on each side of you...or 2-3....if your group is not smaller or similar....time to change something....but, that also tunes you into what condition your neighbors are shooting....
Practice. Practice.
I hate practice.....fireform and shoot em......
 
jackie schmidt said:
Lee, I look at Match Reports, and you sure don't need any advice from the likes of me.

Truth is, the way Benchrest has evolved, I do just about everything wrong. Bart told me a number of years ago that it was almost painful watching me shoot.

I would just keep doing what you are doing, get as many barrels as your budget will allow, and be willing to discard the ones that not capable.

The same goes for a Rifle. A good friend of mine has been shooting, and winning with an older Rifle for some time. A while back, someone convinced him he needed a new Rifle, built around the best and latest in components.

It's so far turned out to be less than stellar. Let's just say if it was a Driver, it had a bad habit of slicing into the woods.
Click to expand...

That happened to me.
4 yrs of 4 and 1 groups. 3 and 2....
There was a bump on the stock. Moved the stop post, of the front rest, back. And boom. Nice groups....Finally put stock tape on the front of the stock....got better....
Jack Neary had advised going back to what was shooting good. Pulled out the old rifle...And it was not me, 2 scopes, Farley shooting rest, bullets,.....found a .002" bump on the stock 2" back...all good now.
 
Lee Hachigian said:
MKS, I like your idea on the metrics. I did just that when I first started shooting, comparing my aggs to Joe Krupa’s aggs (Joe is a HOF shooter). I guess today, my goal is to finish in the top 10 in all aggs, and I try to win the grands.
Click to expand...

As many know I'm a one-eyed shooter (left eye 20/200). So after reading the "windflags" section in Tony and Mike Ratigans books I started of thinking of the wind as a river. Watch sometime on a still body of water as a breeze moves across it. Very isolated disturbance of wind pattern. Keep in your concentration of that wind pocket as sometimes the breeze will be between the flags and it can bite you. Only one bad shot in a 25 shot agg can take you from the top 10 to. Just another name on the match report.

Lee, few years back Joe Krupa was translating the "Tony tapes" to print. (I think Joes secretary was doing the translation by the spelling of some of the words). During that time Joe was writing a book of his oun. He never published it (IMO he should have) but he sent me a draft copy along with the draft of Tony's book. Joe went into some detail as how a rifle could be in tune in a left to right wind and be out of tune in a right to left wind.
So, with that in-tune hummer, it takes intense concentration to "flow with the wind" while you shoot. Notice Tony at a big shoot. He is up at daylight studying wind patterns for that upcoming day. That must help since Tony has more HOF points than the next 3 shooters combined.

Guess it's barrels, bullets and concentration.

.
 
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