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:

Kevin, you have a good deal of experience, and are very comfortable behind the rifle. This is a nice spot to be for the fact that there’s little thinking required when getting into position to make an engagement… until I give you new stuff to think about! I have a few things here that will help reframe a couple pieces of your approach, but if you put in a little time with an open mind I think you’ll be back to a smooth and swift execution in no time, but with even better fundamentals and mindset.

The big picture for you at this point is that you are in a common skill/experience point on the learning curve where people have a pretty good idea of what they’re doing, and some solid confidence. This is actually a very tough place to be because it is easy to get rutted in your ways - you’ve been at this a little while, have a lot of muscle memory, and it generally gets the job done. But the difference between averaging 7s, 8s, and 9s and averaging 9s and 10s can be a tough nut to crack. This report and the guidance within it is what I think you need to commit to learning and working through to get you to that next step.

STRENGTHS AND SUCCESSES:

Self-diagnosed Pre-Training Survey:

• General Understanding and Ability to Execute -

  This is an easy one! Yes I would agree you know what you’re up against, have most of this thing figured out, and can get into the rifle effectively in most scenarios. The culmination of almost 100 matches has given you a great span of experience, to the point that you probably have seen it all. The rest of the report will be to take you from this spot and get you to think through more of the smaller details that cost you those couple of misses or those 1-2 bad stages taking you out from a strong finish in an otherwise awesome match!

Instructor Observations:

• Fundamentals-

  Overall I was pleased to see how well you naturally move into positions, I can tell you know what you’re doing. You’ve been at this long enough that you know what to do and how to do it. There were very few things I saw that I felt I wanted to correct other than the occasional center of gravity. Make sure you keep yourself over your own feet or base as much as possible. Other than that, great job…

• Driven -

  Believe it or not, there are a lot of people in this that want to improve, and even pay for training, but don’t take it seriously. I can tell you enjoy this, but you are serious about your future gains. You were recently able to take the online training and turn it into tangible results, and that proves that you’re willing to push forward toward your goals rather than fizzle out.

• Intelligent -

  Another obvious but important one - this is a very mentally challenging sport if you’re paying attention to everything. Mental capacity to learn and understand the finer details is definitely an important factor as you make your way up the ladder. You are smart, and have the capacity to keep up with the advanced challenges.

REFINEMENT OPPORTUNITIES:

Self-diagnosed Pre-Training Survey:

• Lack of Practice–

  Oh boy do I understand how this goes. As a diminishing skill, it certainly doesn’t help if we can’t get out there and practice enough. This is plain and simple - if it’s a choice that you can control, it is up to you if it’s worth changing priorities to get more practice.

  If it’s not in your control — QUALITY is always important, but even more so if you don’t get much practice. You will want to shift ever MORE attention to QUALITY over QUANTITY. The main purpose of this report is to give the shooter a more meaningful and thought-out path forward so that the quality of your training and practice shine through. The truth is, the 2 day class was just the beginning. The ongoing learning and improvement is 100% on you! This report will help get you there.

• Minimizing Actions To Allow Better Focus On Corrections-

  If you mean what I’m reading it as, I completely agree. It is an uphill battle to keep the clutter down during the shot sequence to make good shots and be able to pay attention. We really beat this up in class a lot, constantly saying to slow down and process what happened. Reducing the hurdles in this critical time period is essential to success, and we will cover that more in the next section.

Instructor Observations:

• Stress Management–

  This is a big topic with many layers. There were several little glitches and missteps during your engagements, and each one was significant, but typically each was a one-off. Things like forgetting to dial, not spotting anything, fighting gear in a position, mismanaging the course of fire, etc. These are just examples, I’m not sure if they were all happening, but little mistakes like those, fall into a couple typical buckets. The best catch-all for you is general stress management. I noticed that during the engagements you seemed to be a little more worked up than I’d want you to be, and there’s several little things to work on that would produce a much better environment for the shooter. Overall it’s seemingly not a big deal, but the devil is in the details, and it doesn’t take much to take a shooter out of a healthy environment, and introduce just enough stress/distractions that they can’t handle the situation at their highest capability. It’s just a horrible environment to learn and think, everything happening within fractions of a second. So let’s break it down and implement some useful solutions.

  KEEP IN MIND: most of these will seem subtle and not too significant, but they are! Respect each piece of this if you want to have overall better shot sequences and more impacts! The buzzwords here are TEMPO and COMPOSURE…

  • Preparation - The best way to set yourself up for success is to plan and analyze everything thoroughly before the clock starts. Come up with a Plan A, a Plan B, and rehearse it over and over. Now you are mentally geared up for the course of fire, the motions, the wind plan, the positions, etc.

    ON THE CLOCK

  • Mental - you’ve already done the homework to prep, so now it’s just a matter of honing in on what matters in the moment. As you’re settling into position, the brain should be working through this hierarchy:

    • Verify correct berm/target

    • Find and analyze wind indicator

    • Commit to wind call based on plan or last minute adjustment

    • Quick review of expectations for hit, upwind miss, downwind miss - probably .5 seconds

    • Interrogate if your position is sound, and if you’re comfortable enough to make a CALM shot.

    • Relax and breathe before squeezing a shot…

    • When/IF you miss, try not to feel emotion about it, just commit to the calculation and make sure you feel good about what to do next

  • Physical - I took note that you were breathing hard often, and there’s a few reasons for that I’m sure. Neither of us are “specimens” anymore, but there’s more to it that being in peak physical condition. The end goal is to be in position, ready to shoot, and totally calm. No racing heartbeat, no heavy breathing, no big discomforts in our body, etc. That’s not totally practical in a match environment, but we can mitigate some of it.

    • Walk into position, avoid the hustle, at least at first - pick up the pace toward the second half of the stage, but the beginning is sacred

    • Settle into final rifle/bag/body position and interpret your comfort level

    • Make adjustments if needed

    • BREATHE! I typically push out a long definitive breath before taking a shot, especially if I sense that I’m amped up, unstable, or just know I need a second or so.

    • If you still feel amped up, still slightly unstable, or not fully ready for a near-perfect shot - STOP and push out another breath.

    • At the end of this stage, you will be glad you took the first few shots so seriously rather than rushing through them. That brings me to the next item…

  • Pace - Overall, most shooters at this level can stand to slow down. A few guys are almost too slow, but most are slightly too fast. You are with the majority in the latter group. Short story from my past, I found myself after 3-4 years, very confident in my abilities, and felt pretty solid in my execution. I could get through stages quickly, hit most of the targets, and was overall a pretty good shooter among my peers. I knew I wasn’t the best, but I felt like the difference between me and the top guys was probably just more experience behind the gun. I wasn’t cocky about it, but just didn’t realize that the ceiling I thought I found, was actually like hitting a false summit. I finally realized that they were seeing more, thinking more clearly, and making better decisions — and that those all tied together, more than just that they had shot more than me.

    I had to rethink my approach, and after slowing down to look for those smaller details, it was like another world unfolded before my eyes. I was missing so much because I was already thinking about the next shot, already moving my bolt, already accepting the fate that I’d probably get a 8 or 9 on this stage. I was skipping over the critical focus areas that make the difference. Moving an average of 7s, 8s or 9s, to 9s and 10s is a small but very challenging task. Slowing down gave me the opportunity to work on those details. Some of this is repetitive but all ties together…

    • Move intentionally slow into the first position

    • Don’t rush the bag/rifle set up, make it perfect

    • Take the extra few seconds to truly firm up the confidence in that first shot

    • Shoot and freeze, allow yourself to spot and process - DON’T touch the bolt until you know what happened and what to do next. Remember that the more confidence you build, the faster you will be able to go later. Misses will cost more time…

    • Wait until you are crushing the stage before you accelerate too much.

    • Over time, you may need to see more time-outs, and slower pace than you’re used to at first. Then you will rebuild stronger and more attentive to the finer details, gaining speed and efficiency again but with better execution. THAT’S how you get to consistent 9s and 10s without the train wrecks or WTFs! Nowadays I try to finish with only a few seconds to spare, and a near flawless, calm execution throughout.

  • You’re likely doing most of this, and doing it pretty well - but doing it “most of the time” and “pretty good” sometimes isn’t enough. To prevent the great days from getting tarnished by a really bad stage where the wheels came off, you need to calm, see everything, think through everything, and stop the bleeding.

• Complicating Engagements –

This is where the powerful brain can be a double edged sword. It’s great to be innovative, and not always be a follower, so in that sense I commend you for showing up with creative ideas sometimes. However, I think there are some instances where you end up a little too far outside the bubble with a special plan, or a gear choice that goes against the grain in a way that is to your detriment. If you are the innovator of a new great approach, that’s awesome! But if you find yourself doing this a lot, it’s probably a little too much rolling of the dice.

I wish I could be more specific but I recall different instances where you chose to do something different, but it was seemingly obvious to me it was a bad idea. The one I’m thinking of was I believe a tac table on the barrel stage. It wasn’t a horrible idea, but given the course of fire, angles, and overall prop stability, it seemed overkill to me. Now just because something is above and beyond necessity (especially in trying to achieve higher chances of success) doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. But when you find yourself being an outlier, I suggest a few sniff tests:

1. If you stop, zoom out, and big picture look at the whole thing from a fresh perspective - is there a good or bad risk vs reward? Sometimes it’s apparent that you might gain a LITTLE stability, but risk a train wreck

2. Are you one of a few people who are considering the different plan, or did you see someone else successfully do it already?

3. If you are literally the only one with this idea, don’t commit to that plan in a vacuum - ask a few other people and just see what other thoughts that provokes. It might reinforce what you think is good, or it might expose some trap doors you didn’t see before.

Just be mindful that this is a thing, and if you find yourself being exceptionally unique, try to take another look and make sure it’s worth it.

• Equipment/BC Issue –

  Some small tweaks to your equipment plan to continue to smooth out the wrinkles, now and in the future…

  Suppressor - The suppressor was probably working against you a little considering the no-brake can and recoil. It’s not bad by any means, but a brake or suppressor brake-cap would make a nice difference to the rifle performance. Opening the door for better spotting and easier corrections will obviously help! I think we discussed this already and you had another can coming, but I just wanted to capture it here as well.

  BC Issue - You had a very incorrect bullet BC in your kestrel that you were fighting for a while. I’m glad you figured it out, and then it was much more of a normal performance without that in the way. In hindsight that was an easy fix and may be in the rear view mirror as far as you’re concerned. But let’s take it a step further.

  • Know Your DOPE - I put this on the little quiz card in our class for a reason. You should aim to know your basic DOPE numbers well enough that you are hopefully able to catch major discrepancies. I know in-between yardages can be tough, but if you know your 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 and 1000 yard elevations, you might catch the gremlin in your solver when you see that you needed 3.1 at 500 yards (or something like that, can’t remember your exact numbers when we realized something was going on there).

  • Periodic Solver Check-Ups - Occasionally poke around in your solver and check every setting and submenu. I’ve caught offsets I forgot were in there, old latitudes that were pretty far off, bullet length that had defaulted back to a .308, and other little factors. Especially before a match or big event, give it a once-over. I consider this part of my equipment check just like a little torque check on my rifle components.

VIDEO REVIEW:

Here’s a clip from the class drills we did on Saturday. I’ll breakdown what I see; most of the

feedback is already included in the report, but this may help add context or jar memory…

Overall you do a lot of things very well, natural flow in and out of positions, nice and square

behind the rifle, dialing before moving, taking a pause to think about your impact, etc…

My suggestions are —

1. Feet wider apart so you can stand more directly under you center of gravity.

2. I’m guessing they’re prescription, but tinted glasses will hurt/not help spotting - try others?

3. Muzzle flip with that suppressor was pretty high.

4. Final shot on clock was not spotted - but you saw the next high one. Probably weren’t ready

TRAINING PLAN:

Your overall skills are solid and at this point it’s all about a defined path forward. Aimlessly going to the range to just shoot more, will only get you so far. Let’s target specifics, and put your energy in the right places to get you measurable results. The class is over, but your climb has just started!

The following section is a combination of range-day timeline AND items to work on. Take these things and try to incorporate them in a compounding way that will stack benefit on top of benefit. This is designed to give you maximum results in the areas of improvement you need, and a few other staples that I think should be part of every trip out.

RANGE DAY ITINERARY:

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…

• Efficiency Drill 1:

  Using this standard drill mainly to iron out your bag stability improvements and check for complete equipment control throughout…

1. Think of the build and break drill from the class

2. 15 seconds, then 12 seconds, then 10 seconds…

3. Pick a standard target - .4 wide, non-painted steel preferred

4. Sturdy prop, different positions available. Pipe fence was a great example

5. On the clock, build a swift and complete position, and shoot 2 shots on target

   • Bag down, rifle down

   • Drive it forward while lining up barrel to target

   • Settle QUICK AND FIRM into the bag as you acquire target in scope

     • Mag well buried into bag for rudder support

     • Forcefully and abruptly sawed/shimmied into position in target area

     • Finish building connection behind rifle

     • Make final shimmy onto exact POA

   • Push out a breath as you close the bolt, and take another breath if you need to finish relaxing…

   • Hyper focus on target, make the shot!

   • Spot, RESET in the bag, cycle another round, make second shot!

6. Evaluate your progress on building an effective position quicker without compromising fundamentals.

7. Choose another time limit, and repeat

• Spotting Drill 1:

Initial several shots until you have lost the element of surprise and know your wind call well enough that you confidently know where your shots are landing and where the next ones are GOING to land. 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…

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. Pick a stage you know, OR make one up - work it slowly giving yourself 2:30 second on the clock.

Do EVERYTHING right, and see how long it takes. Take a little break, and do it again with a few calculated accelerations in smart places, such as the last few positions after confidence is built. See how long it takes. Rather than rush and miss, go slow and hit everything and start tracking how long you need to get the job done. Feel free to try this process on all different stages, with the goal being to eventually finish with five or so seconds remaining.

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

CONCLUSION:

             There are always more drills and beneficial methods you can use depending how you want to attack your focus areas. These are my observations and best ideas for you, but certainly not the end-all-be-all; don’t be afraid to try other things. As I said, you’re in a great spot with a great mentality, and I truly believe your goals are within reach. If you definitively approach each of these little ideas, I know you’ll be able to pick up several points every day you’re out there. That could be a big chunk in a 2-day match as an example, and if nothing else will feel good to execute more consistently across the board.

             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. 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 your processes, in every phase of the 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