SUMMARY:

This report provides a comprehensive review of the recent training class and match weekend, drawing from multiple sources of insight and performance data. Trainee feedback was actively collected and analyzed to understand their individual perspectives, challenges and takeaways. Additionally, I’ve incorporated my own instructor observations gathered throughout our time together, with particular focus on engagement, progression, and skill application during drills, exercises, and match conditions.

Performance in the match setting was critical to assess how effectively the trainee executed learned skills under pressure, and to identify any recurring gaps or strengths in real time. Taking this all into account, I’ve developed a personalized training plan for each individual. These plans are informed not only by the data collected during the course, but also by my own personal experience as a competitor and an instructor.

The goal moving forward is to ensure that each trainee continues to build on their strengths while systematically addressing areas for growth using methods that are practical and tangible. All training elements have been tested and yield a form of measurable results. Training means more than identifying problems but offering no solutions. This plan is a practical guide for the next steps in achieving your goals. If anything in this report is not clear or requires further explanation, please reach out.

OVERVIEW:

Thank you again for joining this class! It was very rewarding to watch you connect the dots and make progress throughout our time together. Each trainee comes to the event with varying levels of skills, abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and how much room they have to grow. In addition, everyone learns at their own pace. That said, you may have walked away with one little insight, several huge breakthroughs, or something in between. No matter what, this training was not an ultimate solution, but a place to better equip yourself as you continue on your journey. Everything you picked up, changed, validated, or completely rebuilt will need to be practiced and worked to get the results you’re striving for; the work is not done!

We reviewed basics, enhanced fundamentals with advanced techniques, refined sophisticated skills such as movers and tripod operation, as well as dissected deep cerebral topics such as spotting and wind reading. We exercised drills to lock in specific muscle memory, and also to expose you to new concepts. Topics the class asked for and were covered were:

1. Wind

2. Spotting

3. Positional Techniques

4. Tripod Techniques

5. Mental Planning & Stage Prep

6. Smart Corrections

After each topic was covered in class setting, we took it to the firing line to hone in on the physical skill and techniques behind each topic. I was happy to see everyone participate even when the guidance didn’t necessarily make sense or seem significant at first. As an advanced shooter, there are some philosophies and simple concepts that are staples for progress, for ALL. A few of the mantras throughout the training were:

1. “Small changes can make large improvements” – lots of the teachings are subtle differences that can significantly clean up your execution, giving you better first round impacts, spotting, consistency, etc.

2. “Pause” – As simple as it is, this is often the critical missing piece to consistent performance. Rushing through the process may work for a while, but eventually you will face an issue and likely moved too fast to properly manage it. 

3. “Slow down and process what just happened” – Similarly to the one above, this focuses on the follow through in the shot process. Are we actually watching with an attentive brain as we make the shot? Or are we just waiting for the bullet to land so we can quickly cycle to the next shot?

We covered a LOT of material. As we discussed in class, not every insight needs to be incorporated into your process, but take as much as you can and see what yields the best results. No matter how our 2 days unfolded for you, the goal is to take what we covered, combine it with some pointed critique, and propel you on a guided path forward toward your next goals. Let’s get into your personal report!

SHOOTER GENERAL:

Brad, you have made a lot of good progress! I see you as a very capable and experienced shooter with very little in your way at this point. We are in the polishing phase, where attention over time will get you what you’re looking for. Being very comfortable and casual behind the rifle due to experience is a nice spot to be, but also a little comfy spot to avoid getting stuck in. It’s easy to get complacent in that zone and miss out on the opportunity to keep digging and finding improvements.

Instructor Observations:

Strengths

1.       Good overall fundamentals

2.       Smooth manipulations – speaks to a lot of training and muscle memory

3.       Taped turret side stage – wrong berm, but what a calm collected adjustment! The comfort behind the rifle comes from lots of repetition and training – your work is paying off!

4.       Great movement – you’re fit, you’re a quick thinker, you know where you’re going and how to get there

a.       Tripod work has paid off – seem comfortable and efficient

Refinement Opportunities

1.       Speed Tweaks – Still a bit too fast on the bolt IMO, and somewhat frequent trigger finger snatch-offs. This means you’re in just a little too high of a gear.

2.       You said something like “I’m just 110%” or something like that, taking ownership of it, but I suggest you don’t lock yourself into that trait…

a. You CAN slow it down and you WILL do better, IF you want to.

      b. You have room to stay on pace without rushing that in that part of the shot sequence. Going to fast here will open the door for:

                                                               i.      Risk of ND

                                                             ii.      Mentally committing to the bolt opening more than watching the shot

                                                            iii.      Mentally committing to moving MORE than processing

iv. Not seeing as much downrange as the bullet lands

3.       Equipment Tweaks – curious to hear some feedback after you removed the mag blocks.

a. We touched on it in the fall, but this time I saw it actually interfering with a few positions.

b. I saw this mainly with Drake, but I do think with the feeding on the centerfire rifle, it doesn’t really have a big purpose, but can cause more issues:

                                                               i.      Grounding out on prop

                                                             ii.      Catching the bag on the first little drop down where the equipment comes out of the acra rail – false sense of being in the bag

TRAINING PLAN:

RANGE DAY ITINERARY:

Designed to put a methodical priority and smart order of events to maximize the day, and capitalize on environmental conditions.

1.      Review forecast before going – come up with a guess of min-max wind hold you’ll need at say 800 yds.

2.      At Range - Check zero/chrono/adjust kestrel.

3.      Drills – start with the cold wind call at distance.

4.      Work through other drills in this plan, and don’t be afraid to add/substitute what you need.

5.      Mid day, when the wind has the most potential, stop your other drills and repeat a full wind analysis, ending in another semi-cold call at a farther target.

6. Take notes!

DRILLS:

• Cold Wind Call:

1. EVERY TRIP OUT, make this your first plan after checking zero. The hard part of this drill is that everyone loves the satisfying feeling of hitting every hundred or so, validating data. But you can do that later! The other challenge is that there’s nothing on the line, it’s not a match, so it’s easy to jump the gun and get impatient.

2. Don’t rush, take in every detail, study the area, and average your wind across the field of fire.

3. Finalize your call, and take a poke.

4. Hit or miss, reverse out of the shot and analyze what you could have seen better.

   • See if there is a single indicator you could’ve used during the shot sequence that would’ve been the best source of information.

   • DON’T SKIP THIS STEP - This is where the learning happens!

5. It’s a long term gain, sow progression drill. Things won’t necessarily change overnight, but it’ll take the already solid wind calling you have, and help you start to hone in on more specific details. 

   • A second level drill would be to switch to only doing this on the rifle

   • Give yourself a few minutes tops, then one minute, then make your first shot within 20 seconds.

   • 800+ yards is fine, does not have to be 1000…

• The Pacer: A catch-all drill that’s perfect for you!

The goal is to move slower in the shot sequence, process, and de-prioritize the bolt movement, while challenging yourself to spot and correct (the name of the game at your level!).

1.       Big Small, 2 Shots – Biggest and Smallest KYL is challenging and perfect

2.       Set 30 seconds on the clock – YES 30 SECONDS

3.       Build position, perfect as you can, close bolt and STOP

4.       When MENTALLY READY, SHOOT and STOP EVERYTHING

5.       With the finger ON THE TRIGGER, speak a full sentence about what you saw and what you need to do

6.       Now cycle the bolt, move to small target and STOP

7.       When MENTALLY READY take the shot and FREEZE

8.       Review how it went, rinse and repeat

This is training you to not rush the shot, keep spotting and processing the priority when it needs to be, and only moving on when the mental loop is completed.

Don’t let intermittent success fool you – the guys who dominate are the ones who can slow down and almost always get it right. Averaging 8 out of 10 versus 9.5 out of 10 is a huge leap, and this is the ticket…

• Spotting Drill 1:

Do this for the first several shots, until you have lost the element of surprise on your wind call. Once you know confidently know where your shots are landing and where the next ones are GOING to land, you move to drill 2. Next phase will allow you to re-introduce the element of surprise to make your brain have to analyze the point of impact again from a fresh perspective… But for now:

1. Start on completely sturdy props and use un-painted steel

2. Use a big/small array, maybe a KYL Largest and then Smallest (or one of the smallest)

3. Make perfectly stable and bag-settled position

4. Take several seconds before the shot to study the target and backdrop

5. Prepare for expectations of what you’ll see with a hit or a miss

   • Depending on your vision, consider more emphasis on plate movement and statistics (how likely you expect to be over or under on your windage).

6. Take a shot, and freeze to see everything you can, and take a few seconds to process.

7. Make a measured call, not “a little left,” but “0.2 left of center…”

8. Take that call to a small plate and test your call.

9. If it hits – SUCCESS… If it misses, repeat the drill on the big plate and see if you see it better;

   • You will likely have a better expectation the second time because you just saw a miss in the dirt. That’s ok!

   • Let that guide your brain to better interpret the information down range this next shot

10. To reset the level of challenge, take the drill to a significantly different distance and repeat the drill.

• Spotting Drill 2:

Taped Turret, with a buddy or alone, re-introduce the element of surprise and get yourself working hard to spot again once you’ve pretty much figured it out for the current conditions…

1. Have a buddy spin your windage off by up to double what the actual wind conditions call for, and down to zero wind. For example, if it’s roughly 1.0L of wind, allow for anything within 2.0L-0.0.

   • This simulates a big gust or a big lull in wind; a bit much, but still reasonable and good for this drill

2. If you’re alone, it’s less calculated

   • Without looking, spin your own windage a little one way, reset your grip and go the other way. A few clicks this way, that way, this way, etc… Once you feel lost, you’re set!

3. Cover the turret with some painter’s tape - if alone and it’s on the support side, just don’t look!

4. Shoot, spot, measure, correct – analyze results

5. Reverse dissect what you thought you saw versus what actually happened

6. Contrary to the fun speed stage in class, take your time. Accuracy over speed here!

7. Repeat this drill until you can’t miss your second shot, or you’re completely sick of it! At a minimum, do this for 5 cycles.

• Free Time:

1. HIGHLY recommend reverting back to more scope based wind work in second half of day

   • Mirage is up, changes more frequent, challenge accepted!

   • Build a tough panning long distance stage, and put in the time to get a specific plan

   • Make sure you have a plan A, and a simplified plan B using simple additives per target.

   • Test it out and reverse engineer what you needed, vs what you saw or could improve

2. Obviously feel free to do anything else that needs work – don’t skip the tough stuff!

CONCLUSION:

             As I said you’ve been doing really well to build confidence and efficiency with your shooting. With the aforementioned drills I think you can take the game to the next level. The big picture for you is slowing down, thinking a little more before moving, and then making a 100% confident next step. One of the highlights of the entire class was when you engaged the wrong target with your first shot on the fun side stage, and then caught the mistake, moved over, and nailed the correction on the right target on the clock! IT WAS HILARIOUSLY AWESOME! And in reviewing the tape, I see it as one of the best slow-down-and-process moments ever. You did NOT reach for your bolt until you realized what was going on. If you can bottle up that cadence and use it again and again in the future, you will stop the bleeding quicker, see more, and get more impacts pretty much guaranteed.

Keep that in mind, and keep up the good work on the time spent on the range. Your strength of time and dedication is 80% of the solution, and I believe we have close to the rest of the answers here between these two classes you took. Take the time to do something different, get out of a few habits, and don’t skip leg day! There’s your ticket to the top.

             I’m open for a follow up if you have any questions. See below for a bonus list of highlighted items from the curriculum that I want to emphasize before your next trip out. Please stay in touch, share your victories big or small, and let’s shoot together again down the road. It was a pleasure working with you again. Thank you and God bless,

Matt Caruso

Caruso Precision

CLASS HIGHLIGHTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1.      Get out and train sooner than later, lock in what you learned

2.      Keep your attention within your thirds, G.O.D.

3.      Stick to the process in every phase of day/match/stage/shot sequence; don’t cut corners

4.      Drill your weaknesses even if it’s less fun – “don’t skip leg day!”

5.      First shot = most important shot… make it perfect!

6.      Don’t settle for bad wind angles, use an azimuth or good compass for exact numbers

7.      After a stage, reverse math the wind to derive true wind conditions to carry forward

8.      Other than checking DOPE, don’t shoot clean steal because it makes you weak

9.      IMO spotting is the most important skill beyond having good fundamentals

10.  Prepare spotting expectations based on target environment BEFORE you’re on the clock

11.  Know your min. correction for edge miss (½ target) and blind miss (¾ target) BEFORE on the clock

12.  Plan your toughest target, toughest position as a primary driver of your plan development

13.  Review EVERYTHING on your rifle end to end before saying you’re ready for the clock

14.  Make mental snapshot of last shot before stepping off. Finish process before chatting with buddies

15.  Pause, process, plan, then execute… Do NOT rush downrange analysis

16.  Corrections should have a number, not just a direction… “I was left,” vs “I was 0.4 left”

17.  Move the bag and rifle separately from position to position

18.  Saw into bag before every shot, it becomes muscle memory, costs no time, yields good benefit

19.  Confidence = efficient time management. Take the time before the shot, or you’ll struggle afterward

20.  Move quick, shoot slow