On November 3rd I had surgery on my left shoulder. Over three and half weeks later I still have large bruises and somewhat limited range of motion.
But I had made it to the range a couple of times for practice and my shooting was okay and only occasionally experienced some pain. So Saturday I went to Whidbey Island for the Holmes Harbor Rod and Gun Club steel match.
I tried to take just a little more time before squeezing off the shot but still make the target transitions as quickly as I could. This seemed to work a lot better than if I tried to make everything go fast.
My rimfire results in particular were very good. I cut my total match time by over 10 seconds (this is about a 15% improvement!). This was a total of 56.64 seconds for five stages. Since there are four strings of five shots in each stage this means my average time for each string was 2.83 seconds. And since every stage requires five shots the average time per shot was 0.5664 seconds. I’m constantly amazed this is even possible let alone that I am capable of shooting this fast on targets likes these:
But it’s possible. Here is the video to prove it:
The scores were:
| Class: Rimfire Rifle Open | |
| Name | Match Time |
| Brian Lawson | 37.54 |
| Tony Ceci | 48.39 |
| Brian Lawson | 48.64 |
| Ron Wigger | 50.24 |
| Dan Lavaty | 54.02 |
| Ethan Kimball | 63.90 |
| Class: Rimfire Iron | |
| Name | Match Time |
| Joe Huffman | 56.64 |
| Brian Lawson | 71.27 |
| Scott Bertino | 84.73 |
| Class: Rimfire Open | |
| Name | Match Time |
| Dan Lavaty | 64.03 |
| Jim Dunlap | 88.05 |
| Rev Barchenger | 96.47 |
| Dave Shupe | Mechanical Issues |
| Class: Centerfire Iron | |
| Name | Match Time |
| Joe Huffman | 78.44 |
| Bruce Barchenger | 90.18 |
| Dave Shupe | 124.71 |
| Dennis Bohling | 132.05 |
| Scott Bertino | 140.83 |
| Class: Centerfire Revolver Open | |
| Name | Match Time |
| Chris Ceci | 80.93 |
| Class: Centerfire Revolver Iron | |
| Name | Match Time |
| Ron Wigger | 96.82 |
I had rotator cuff and bone spur surgery a little over four years ago.
The best piece of advice I can give is to not slack off doing the physical therapy. And even after the therapists are done with you, keep up the exercises.
Ah, you are doing well, Grasshopper!
This was an important match for you; you’re gaining confidence, and learning to keep your rhythm. When you missed in the earlier stages, you waited and then made up the shot before moving on. (Not always)
Later stages, you assumed you made the shot, and moved on. After your brain registered a miss, you came back to make up the shot. That hesitation to see whether you made or missed the shot is the difference between doing well and cursing yourself.
I’ve don’t do this stuff well, myself. But I know just enough to recognize the the improvement;
I congratulate you for your progression. You learned a lot (or you ingrained your improved technique) in this single match.
Nice!
What Jerry said – you really gained confidence in pushing through each string confidently and smoothly, then coming back to make up a miss if needed. Definite progress!
Rotator cuff surgery just over a month ago, right shoulder. I can’t use my right arm to brace my left yet(been practicing left-hand only), and it’ll be a while before my shoulder will take anything more than a .22 rifle(when I reach that point). Yeah, do the PT religiously.
Which reminds me, time for my at-home stuff for the morning.