Rifle Team Weekly Happenings 2021-09-26
Hi Everyone!
I hope that everyone had a great weekend.
Items this week:
- This week we will continue working on Air RIfle. Everyone who has gone through the introduction course will start shooting in a shooting jacket today.
- Returning team members may start practicing smallbore this week.
- Because we will be shooting mixed disciplines, everyone MUST wear hearing protection in the range from here on out. We will try to keep everyone shooting Air Rifle on the left side of the range, and everyone shooting Smallbore on the right side of the range. No reason other than the flow in the range is better and we don't have different target distances adjacent to each other (Makes it easier to focus).
- If you are interested in joining and are unsure, come down to the range and try us out! It's never too late to start!
- This week we will start using our shooter's journals.
While it might not seem like much, keeping a written record of your progress is one of the easiest things that you can do to help you improve. It allows you to look back to see what you've done and how far you've progressed as well as plan for the future. A common saying in IT (and most industries) is: "if it's not documented; it didn't happen". This is true for competitive shooting sports as well. You may have found the best way to achieve that "10-ring hold", maybe you found something that you need to work on next time. If you don't write it down; there's a fairly good chance that knowledge will be lost by the next practice.
We use the Ticket To Train System developed by USA Shooting to help make keeping a journal easier. Plan to spend 5 minutes (or less) before and after practice completing this.
The way it works is fairly simple. Get all of your equipment setup like you normally would, but before starting practice fill out a Ticket To Train. This completed form is your ticket to start practice. Tickets are located in the target holder and are available either in standard white or a limited edition color (Currently Electric Lime).
There's three sections to fill out before you can start practice:
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- The date
- What do you plan to work on today?
- What will you be doing to work on the items?
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There's three sections to fill out after practice.
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- Did you work on the tasks above? Sometimes we get into position and find that there's something else that needs work before we can work on what we wanted to. Sometimes we just get distracted. Bottom line - It's alright if we don't follow our plan. We just don't want to make a habit out of it.
- What do we need to work on next practice? Maybe we've solved an issue, but another arose. This is where we tell our future selves what to work on.
- Any other general notes you want to write down. It could be anything. Some examples of what you might put in this space are: How are you feeling today? A detailed description of what you worked on today or changes that were tested out and the results. Any rifle adjustments that were made. Various pictures or diagrams.
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Overall - just be honest with yourself. Don't BS something thinking that's what Coach wants to see on paper. I will not look at your journal unless you ask me to. This isn't for me. It's a tool for you to use. If you're not honest with yourself you won't see any benefit.
Upcoming Items:
- Next week we will continue shooting Air Rifle for anyone who starts this week.
- Next week we will start shooting Smallbore - Prone for anyone who has shot an Air Rifle with a jacket.
- For Smallbore you will need to either bring your own .22LR ammunition, or you can purchase it from the team. We sell Federal 711b: 50 rounds for $3, and 500 rounds for $23.
- If you choose to bring your own ammunition: Please make sure that what you are bringing is a plain lead bullet (It does not have any type of jacketing), and check with me or a team range officer before using it in the team's rifles. Our rifles are manufactured for precision competition, and are designed quite differently from your standard plinking rifle. The wrong ammunition through them can quickly strip out the rifling, resulting in a very expensive trip back to Germany for repair.
- Because we purchase the ammunition we sell through special programs at extreme discounts; Any ammunition you purchased through the team must be stored in team storage and used exclusively for team related practice & competition.
- Failure to comply with this puts the club at risk of being disqualified from future discount purchase programs.
- At the moment this ammunition retails for about $70 per 500 rounds...... If you can find it.
- We will be starting our first postal competition at the end of October. Look for more details in a separate email that will be sent out in a few weeks.
- We will have a few travel opportunities coming up in November & December. More details will be released when I finalize some plans with the other coaches.
Thank you for your attention, and have a great week!
GO HUSKIES!
-Zach