How people win at field target
- By scotton
- Field Target
- 21 Replies
I've been doing some statistical analysis of the last 10 matches in our area and I've spotted some trends. This is mostly for PCP, we don't have enough different piston shooters to spot meaningful trends.
For WFTF, everything under 40 yards should be automatic.
Positional shots should be 75% or better.
The winner is going to be whoever shot the long targets the best. And some shooters do better in the wind.
So my recommendation (assuming you have good dope for the close shots) is to practice offhand and long shots.
For Hunter, again everything under 40 yards should be a hit. Oddly, the top hunter shooters are more likely to whiff an occasional close or medium target than the WFTF shooters.
There is a clear line with some top shooters doing well at positionals and average at long shots while others do well at long shots and struggle with positionals.
For example, at a fairly easy monthly shoot last month, one shooter missed a 53 yard target and went 6 of 8 on standing and kneeling. He tied another shooter that cleaned the sitting shots and went 5 for 8 on positionals.
At a very tough match two months ago, the winner hit 87.5% of the long shots, missed one short shot and went 4 for 6 standing. 2nd place hit 83% of the long shots and missed 2 medium shots (one of those being a 52.5 troyer shot at 21 yards) and also went 4 of 6 standing. 3rd place was perfect out to 40 but missed 6 long shots and shot 50% standing. If he would have hit 1 more standing and 2 of the long shots he missed, he would have tied for 1st. The margins are very thin in Hunter class.
So for Hunter I think the recommendation is the same: know your short stuff, practice the long shots and positionals. You can win a match hitting the long shots, but you can lose a match missing the positionals.
We don't have a lot of Open class shooters (or more than 1 at a time), but I recall when we had a top Open class shooter come to our matches, he would usually clean the sitting shots (or come close) and miss one or two standing shots. I think with the ability to range combined with the 20 fpe limit, positionals would be the focus for Open class shooters.
Based on this analysis, my new practice routine is to put a 1 inch KZ target at 50+ yards and hammer it for a while, then move to 25 yards and shoot it standing and kneeling for a while. Then back to sitting, and so on. No more putting out 6 or 8 targets at various distances, they turn into confidence boosters instead of practice targets. And all that walking around cuts into practice time.
Hope this helps, and selfishly I hope it doesn't help too much. Now quit reading and go practice.
For WFTF, everything under 40 yards should be automatic.
Positional shots should be 75% or better.
The winner is going to be whoever shot the long targets the best. And some shooters do better in the wind.
So my recommendation (assuming you have good dope for the close shots) is to practice offhand and long shots.
For Hunter, again everything under 40 yards should be a hit. Oddly, the top hunter shooters are more likely to whiff an occasional close or medium target than the WFTF shooters.
There is a clear line with some top shooters doing well at positionals and average at long shots while others do well at long shots and struggle with positionals.
For example, at a fairly easy monthly shoot last month, one shooter missed a 53 yard target and went 6 of 8 on standing and kneeling. He tied another shooter that cleaned the sitting shots and went 5 for 8 on positionals.
At a very tough match two months ago, the winner hit 87.5% of the long shots, missed one short shot and went 4 for 6 standing. 2nd place hit 83% of the long shots and missed 2 medium shots (one of those being a 52.5 troyer shot at 21 yards) and also went 4 of 6 standing. 3rd place was perfect out to 40 but missed 6 long shots and shot 50% standing. If he would have hit 1 more standing and 2 of the long shots he missed, he would have tied for 1st. The margins are very thin in Hunter class.
So for Hunter I think the recommendation is the same: know your short stuff, practice the long shots and positionals. You can win a match hitting the long shots, but you can lose a match missing the positionals.
We don't have a lot of Open class shooters (or more than 1 at a time), but I recall when we had a top Open class shooter come to our matches, he would usually clean the sitting shots (or come close) and miss one or two standing shots. I think with the ability to range combined with the 20 fpe limit, positionals would be the focus for Open class shooters.
Based on this analysis, my new practice routine is to put a 1 inch KZ target at 50+ yards and hammer it for a while, then move to 25 yards and shoot it standing and kneeling for a while. Then back to sitting, and so on. No more putting out 6 or 8 targets at various distances, they turn into confidence boosters instead of practice targets. And all that walking around cuts into practice time.
Hope this helps, and selfishly I hope it doesn't help too much. Now quit reading and go practice.
