The basics I got from the videos Ted posted on winning the Extreme Benchrest are:
1. practice in all conditions
2. practice a LOT
3. practice so much that the $5000 doesn't cover your expenses
4. Slow down the pellet to the best possible speed (830fps in this case)
5. pay attention to ballistics. The .25 is better than the .30 with the correct pellet. In this case, the newer JSB heavies whatever they are
6. Understand the math of wind pushing the pellet. He did that fancy cosine thing to prove a 45 degree angle is better than 90 across.
7. be extremely consistent. Shoot the same way every time.
8. Shoot for groups and understand that some days, 6 inch groups are the best you can do and don't let it bother you.
9. Go practice more and more
What I don't think he talked about
1. consistency means doing things that are as exciting as watching paint dry. Weigh your pellets, clean your gun once in a while, know exactly how it's shooting on the day of the competition.
2. Build up the gun so it fits YOU. Don't fit to the gun. Did you see the scope mount on that thing?
3. tune your gun to the nth degree. This means understanding your pellet / gun relationship, and how to get the most. That means, go out and practice some more and adjust till you get it right.
4. record your shots when tuning and learning the gun. If I understand correctly, he's trained as a biologist, meaning he knows how to keep notes and analyze them.
5. go practice more.
6. Get a good scope and set it up specifically for the match. I believe he used a 6-24 viper or something similar. Parallax was set for exactly the correct distance, and the Scope couldn't even focus down to 25 yards, only 50+. It was an expensive scope. Don't scrimp.
7. Go practice and then go do it again.
Did I miss anything?
If any of you can think of things I missed, please post.
