PRS Talk Do's and Don'ts when squading with "Pro" level shooters?
- Thread starter Senor_Barney
- Start date
Totally forgot about recalling entire match. That’s a great idea. Make to to explain all misses and give the proper excuses like barrel speed up, BC being off, switchy winds…they are professionals and appreciate all that so they can improve their game.
- Nov 3, 2010
- 10,450
- 22,845
Shit. I read the galco-qls holster thread. Now I gotta get tested….
I saw Andy at a match last month. He has one glorious beard.
Thanks all for the input and the jokes in this thread.
The Match: I went to the PRS match in Grand Junction. Before I say anything else...HOLY COW....that venue is epic. Ive never seen or shot at a place like that. It is truly a unique setting. I was so in awe of the backdrop and the facilities vs. anything local I shoot at.
My Performance: I achieved my lowly goal of getting >50% of Winner, but unfortunately just missed on my second goal of finishing Top 100. I juuuuust missed out by a point or so. Day 1 started off rough because I started in the skill stage and dropped 7 of 8. This was a depressing way to begin a big match and I'm sure the squad was like "I dunno about this guy...". The grass was too tall for me.to see where I was missing. One of them gave me a pep talk and told me all I can do is move forward. I came back over the next 4 stages with 6-8s. I had two more bad stages where I shouldn't have tried to one-bag a prop when everyone used a bipod...that ended in a 1 for me. The pros know what they are doing and at my level I should use them as a guide for what I should also do. Day 1 ended under 50%.
Day 2. I zeroed the first stage where I was up first because I felt rushed and just didnt take my time to identify the targets. I didn't want to hold up the squad. My mistake. I should just shoot my own match. It ended with positive momentum, dropping just 3 points on my last 3 stages included a clean on stage 18 to finish the match. Ended 70% for Day 2 and 60% overall.
Celebrities?: The match had so many of the top level shooters I only know from podcasts, IG and YouTube. I know it sounds weird, but for me it was a surreal experience. I think that speaks to the quality of the MD and the facilities to have such a strong draw. I was able to introduce myself to a couple of them and explain how they inspire me to keep practicing and getting out there. That alone was a great experience and I cannot wait to go back next year.
My Squad: Like I noted, it was a pretty stacked squad with 5 finishing in the Top-25 and 3 in the Top-5. I made sure to introduce myself to every single member. They were incredible jokers, but also knew how to get after it when it was game time. Someone commented earlier that I shouldn't ask questions while they were prepping. I made sure to avoid that. One of them knew a guy that I shoot with locally and that established a connection. He was super encouraging and supportive of me throughout the match. There were also a couple really cool dudes from AZ that, while far more experienced than myself, weren't top-tier shopters either and I felt more comfortable asking them for help spotting targets and asking questions. I did my part by sharing my wind calls and what I was seeing when I came off my gun...hopefully it helped. Overall, it was still intimidating as heck to shoot in that squad, but I'm glad I did. abosorbed so much from just watching their motions and use of props. Not a single shooter used a tripod for rear support the entire match
Three Takeaways
1) Shots matter: As it should at this level, these guy are all playing to win. One guy dropped just two points on a stage because he shot the targets out of sequence. I had just come off two stages in a row where I scored a total of 1 point out of a possible 20 points. He dropped just two points, but it could have been that a loved one had died. He just walked down the hill and took time alone. It didnt make sense to me then...but I saw at the end how two points can be the difference between a top 5 and top 3 and so on.
2) Pace of operations: Wow, they move fast. I think that comes with years of repetition and comfort with having seen similar props at past matches time and time again. Before I could even find half the targets, some guys had already identified all the targets, gotten, their dope/wind, and inspected the prop to know how to attack it. Based on the advice in this thread, I really did my best to not hold up the squad and be ready and helpful. Which was difficult because shagging brass and spotting was difficult to balance with reloading my mags and getting dope ready for the next stage. I think I would have benefitted from being in a squad more my level so that we moved at a similar pace. At times I think I went too fast and flustered myself.
3) Wind Calls: It became immediately apparent that wind calls to make first round impacts (esp. at distance) is what separates top level shooters from the pack. Anyone, myself included, can shoot-to-miss and make a correction, but that is points dropped and when you have multiple targets with various wind calls that is A LOT of points. By the end of Day 2, I just started using their wind calls because it was better to have "something" more-right than nothing.
The Match: I went to the PRS match in Grand Junction. Before I say anything else...HOLY COW....that venue is epic. Ive never seen or shot at a place like that. It is truly a unique setting. I was so in awe of the backdrop and the facilities vs. anything local I shoot at.
My Performance: I achieved my lowly goal of getting >50% of Winner, but unfortunately just missed on my second goal of finishing Top 100. I juuuuust missed out by a point or so. Day 1 started off rough because I started in the skill stage and dropped 7 of 8. This was a depressing way to begin a big match and I'm sure the squad was like "I dunno about this guy...". The grass was too tall for me.to see where I was missing. One of them gave me a pep talk and told me all I can do is move forward. I came back over the next 4 stages with 6-8s. I had two more bad stages where I shouldn't have tried to one-bag a prop when everyone used a bipod...that ended in a 1 for me. The pros know what they are doing and at my level I should use them as a guide for what I should also do. Day 1 ended under 50%.
Day 2. I zeroed the first stage where I was up first because I felt rushed and just didnt take my time to identify the targets. I didn't want to hold up the squad. My mistake. I should just shoot my own match. It ended with positive momentum, dropping just 3 points on my last 3 stages included a clean on stage 18 to finish the match. Ended 70% for Day 2 and 60% overall.
Celebrities?: The match had so many of the top level shooters I only know from podcasts, IG and YouTube. I know it sounds weird, but for me it was a surreal experience. I think that speaks to the quality of the MD and the facilities to have such a strong draw. I was able to introduce myself to a couple of them and explain how they inspire me to keep practicing and getting out there. That alone was a great experience and I cannot wait to go back next year.
My Squad: Like I noted, it was a pretty stacked squad with 5 finishing in the Top-25 and 3 in the Top-5. I made sure to introduce myself to every single member. They were incredible jokers, but also knew how to get after it when it was game time. Someone commented earlier that I shouldn't ask questions while they were prepping. I made sure to avoid that. One of them knew a guy that I shoot with locally and that established a connection. He was super encouraging and supportive of me throughout the match. There were also a couple really cool dudes from AZ that, while far more experienced than myself, weren't top-tier shopters either and I felt more comfortable asking them for help spotting targets and asking questions. I did my part by sharing my wind calls and what I was seeing when I came off my gun...hopefully it helped. Overall, it was still intimidating as heck to shoot in that squad, but I'm glad I did. abosorbed so much from just watching their motions and use of props. Not a single shooter used a tripod for rear support the entire match
Three Takeaways
1) Shots matter: As it should at this level, these guy are all playing to win. One guy dropped just two points on a stage because he shot the targets out of sequence. I had just come off two stages in a row where I scored a total of 1 point out of a possible 20 points. He dropped just two points, but it could have been that a loved one had died. He just walked down the hill and took time alone. It didnt make sense to me then...but I saw at the end how two points can be the difference between a top 5 and top 3 and so on.
2) Pace of operations: Wow, they move fast. I think that comes with years of repetition and comfort with having seen similar props at past matches time and time again. Before I could even find half the targets, some guys had already identified all the targets, gotten, their dope/wind, and inspected the prop to know how to attack it. Based on the advice in this thread, I really did my best to not hold up the squad and be ready and helpful. Which was difficult because shagging brass and spotting was difficult to balance with reloading my mags and getting dope ready for the next stage. I think I would have benefitted from being in a squad more my level so that we moved at a similar pace. At times I think I went too fast and flustered myself.
3) Wind Calls: It became immediately apparent that wind calls to make first round impacts (esp. at distance) is what separates top level shooters from the pack. Anyone, myself included, can shoot-to-miss and make a correction, but that is points dropped and when you have multiple targets with various wind calls that is A LOT of points. By the end of Day 2, I just started using their wind calls because it was better to have "something" more-right than nothing.
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Awesome man that you got to compete with such high level shooters. It’s very hard not to get wrapped up innthe speed and how fast they are some times.
It takes patient and you have to actively work to slow down and shoot at your pace.
It sounds like you understand how you could have improved and the next match you shoot will be better. Spotting targets and getting dope does get faster and you become more efficient.
Looks like an awesome place to shoot!
Congrats man! As you found out, 99% of the people at these matches are just cool guys that share a similar interest. The fact that you were able to take away so much from your first match is a great start. I left my first match wondering if I had a better chance of becoming a professional window licker. Just keep going to them and you'll get better every time.
