In yesterday’s post on consistency, one of the topics that came up was the value of keeping a gun/match log book to track how many rounds you’ve fired over the course of the year, malfunctions with your gun, etc. If you click this link, it will show you a sample of a very basic log book for matches/practice. The linked log book shows what I consider to be the most basic information for your log book – date, type of shooting, round count, malfunctions, and gun used.
My personal log actually has more detail – I keep track of when I’ve cleaned my guns, if there are any known issues with a gun (such as the magazines on my Para P16-40), as well as what parts I’ve replaced with aftermarket parts (like all the Beretta factory parts I installed on the Taurus PT92), which then allows me to track any kind of serious breakage or time to install any new parts.
I’m a huge fan of record keeping – I believe that meticulous records will help you be a better shooter, as you can analyze practice sessions, matches, you name it. I have seen one online log book where the maker linked his “match type” to video footage of him shooting the match so he could view his performance and break it down on film, much like NFL teams do.
Maybe instead of calling you “Ahab”, I’ll call you “Sarbanes Oxley”…
😉
Being a lazy-ass programmer, I keep records where I think they’re important – I rotate through certain exercises weekly during my range sessions – moving and shooting, weak hand, strong hand, draw and fire, rapid fire, accuracy, etc. I just pick a “topic” and work that, trying to think of exercises as I drive to the range. I do use some standards… I sometimes video myself at the range, but only about once and month – as I feel I could spend more time shooting…
I use my USPSA classifiers/standings to gauge how good or bad I’m doing. (We shoot pins, steel, etc…)
I guess you could say that my approach is sort of a mix of Agile biz process and Crossfit: I guide myself to work a different “topic” every session, but try not to let “process” stifle the real work.
For being a newbie (I’ve only been shooting semi-auto for ~3 years. Been shooting for ~5… Mostly revo stuff too…) I seem to do alright as I usually place in the top 3 of my local clubs… (7.30 El Pres.)
This is the first year that I’m focusing more on making it to more matches/etc, so I’m sure I’ll start to suck harder