So where do you begin? First of all, you don't get to be a Grandmaster like Bruce Gray without also being a master stage tactician. He can dope out complex stage procedures with the best of them. One of the most important techniques he shared was the power of visualization. This is where the shooter breaks down visually everything required to shoot a stage--for example, target order, when to move, where to set up for each shot and where to reload.
This is March in New Hampshire--but the next day was sunny and clear.
Why is this important? Because it enables shooters to weave everything they do into a seamless fabric of uninterrupted motion. Those who don't use visualization often appear unprepared and disorganized when they shoot a stage. And that usually results in poor performance.
Many years ago I watched Bruce shoot a difficult stage at the Area 2 Championship in Mesa, Arizona. Each shooter had to negotiate a maze of old tires stacked up to form a zig-zag wall, while other tires created tunnels to shoot through. It was a nightmare. Bruce studied the situation and proceeded to effortlessly glide along, engaging the targets without really looking like he was going that fast. But of the several hundred competitors who shot that stage, Bruce's score was the best. Not even Rob Leatham or Brian Enos could manage to catch him. It was a perfect example of tactical visualization in action.
Finally, the class had the opportunity to put it all together in a "run and gun" course of fire on the SIG Academy indoor range. Bruce critiqued each student's performance, highlighting places where they could have saved time. In practical shooting, time is the essence. Virtually everything you do is on the clock. Whether you're successfully engaging targets, reloading and smoothly transitioning from one place to another or suffering bobbles, blunders and brain fades, it all goes into your score.
To wrap up things, everyone shot that great old chestnut called El Presidente. Then it was time to unload, show clear and call it a day--or two, as it were. After the class, I got a chance to ask one of the students his thoughts on what he had learned. "A lot," was his reply. The young man elaborated that the class had really opened his eyes to the inner game of practical shooting. He also felt that he certainly got his money's worth.
SIG's new competition program seems to be off to a flying start. When you add this ingredient to its other comprehensive offerings, it totals up to arguably the most well-rounded training program in the country.
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