Tuning UP

 The Arizona Bigs event for today has been cancelled but there maybe a few die-hards (pun intended) showing up anyway.  The targets are up, so if you show up, have at it.  Shooters on the mountain should be shooting at a 80% hit rate on average. Generally, they will shoot better than that.

Never ever slow down!  Your quickest draw is your most accurate draw. Why slow shoot?  It only teaches you to shoot slow and to miss.  Why waste the wax and primers. I posted two photos of Arizona Bigs shot by two Arizona shooters which depicted 100% hit rate at championship distance and 85% in the black.  The scoffers say "so what, that is only practice." I respond by saying that is the most pressure I will ever shoot under and both shooters were at speeds 5% quicker than their bracket times for the year.  We don't practice accuracy on the mountain, we only practicc speed.   But we don't practice missing either.

Arizona Bigs:  With Arizona Bigs targets you are shooting at a 10 inch target at 10 feet with a height of 45 inches.  That is the same as shooting at a 15 inch target at 15 feet but you get the advantage of seeing your actual hits for those shots that miss the black.  It improves your focus.  It also improves your speed.  The larger target takes away one of the stressors on the shooter, the fear of missing the target. On the two targets I posted, both shooters were about 20 milliseconds quicker than their bracket times for the year, about what we expect from shooting closer (but not because of distance but because of lack of stressor.)

Frustration:  I always get frustrated when I watch a shooter slow shoot when I know they are quicker shooting their quickest draw.  The myth dies hard.  You are not better shooting 6s at 40% than shooting 4s at 60%.  Many believe they are more accurate when they slow down.  That is only true if you shoot a defective draw.  Most believe that, even when it is not true for them.  If it is true for you, change you draw. 

New shooter:  I had a chance to video a new shooter who, when I viewed the video, had a perfect draw. No flail, no poke. Less than a week later I had the chance to watch Short Keg.  He had the identical draw.  Needless to say I am urging the new shooter to change nothing.  The only difference between the two is 50 years of practice.

Hope to see you on the line down the road a bit.  Stay safe.