SUMMARY:

This report provides a comprehensive review of the recent training class 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. It is a standalone tool by itself, but I have also integrated links to relevant training within my Virtual Instructor Program where it would help correlate and add direct context. If you don’t have a membership yet, it would help, but is not required. If you’re interested, everyone from class will receive a 50% off opportunity to get access to that program — your discreet code: 6C8UHGN

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. Time Management

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:

Lee, between you and me, you might be my favorite student! No joke, I REALLY enjoyed watching you progress throughout the weekend and connect all the dots. You bring a lot to the table for your first year at this, and I think you’re in a fantastic position if you keep working at it. Naturally and without much effort I think you’ll already do very well, but if you take this guidance and run with it I think you’ll crush it!

You have a great attitude, a collected mental approach, and no significant physical hurdles. With that combo of attributes, there’s nothing in your way, as long as you stay focused and put in the time, you will continue to improve immensely.

STRENGTHS AND SUCCESSES:

Self-diagnosed Pre-Training Survey:

• Tenacity and Good Means -

  Your pre-training survey shows these two great qualities and I would agree with your assessment. You seem to have a high capacity and strong drive to think through what’s ahead of you and are quick to catch up. Secondly, having the means to stick with this endeavor is a huge asset. Many stumble in, get hooked, and then struggle to keep up with the energy, money, and mental drive it takes to keep progressing. To clarify with the money side of it, fortunately it’s honestly not that bad - unless you make it worse! Many will bury themselves in debt, buy too much stuff, and get gadget-happy rather than simply hone their skills. You have a very capable system already! Between that and replenishing ammo components, that’s all you need! you just got some good training, now hit the ground running with it. The most important ‘means’ are actually time and mental capacity. If you can back your goals with those two things, you’ll do great.

Instructor Observations:

• Attitude and Learning Ability-

  Your attitude toward learning is excellent - quick to listen, easy to understand, fast to implement, and willing to see results for what they are. With very little ego to get in the way, there are no other major barriers to learning for you. Defense mechanisms and barriers to effective learning communication were huge for me as a flight instructor. The learning environment was also a very challenging one, similar to the shooting range. The big ones we used to watch out for were macho (ego, can’t take suggestions), maverick (going on your own because you always know better), and resignation (quitting when it gets tough). Those are not things I saw in you, so if you can keep those out of the equation, you set yourself up for an efficient learning curve.

• Fundamentals -

  Again another simple but crucial piece. I watched closely during the different drills, and overall you were setting up very nicely. I saw a lot of good body mechanics, smooth bolt manipulations, proper indexing, and good trigger control. Only thing I would add here is that the more you get pushed, the most slop shows up, and I did see the occasional trigger slap or snatch off. Not unusual, but something that can always be improved. Otherwise keep it up, you have a natural comfort behind the rifle.

REFINEMENT OPPORTUNITIES:

Self-diagnosed Pre-Training Survey:

• Mental Bandwidth and Processing On Clock –

  I did not see much hang up in this department while we were working together, but I can still throw in my two cents. The only time I saw you get a little jammed up was when your dot drill was already shot! But to compliment you here, when you paused, I see in the video how you re-indexed your trigger finger while thinking through your dilemma. That’s great to have that awareness of how to manage that in a healthy way.

  The big ticket items I’ll reiterate from the class that apply here are as follows:

  • Make a plan, and make it mentally simple to compute, for example, a wind plan should have a pattern to recall more than a need to read your 5-column dope card.

  • Rehearse the execution so it’s natural and not conscious thought - know where you’re going and how you’ll set up there, each step of the way.

  • Acquisition needs to be confident and cold - know where your target is, a fast way to find it, and work yourself onto it subconsciously as you are settling into rifle.

  • Know what your minimum corrections and blind corrections should be - in case you miss, you will immediately know what to do.

  If you work these things into your planning phase more and more, you will be able to spend more time spotting, finding mirage, adapting to wind changes, and moving swiftly through a stage without wasting energy fighting those other thoughts.

  • VIP VIDEO SUGGESTIONS: Each one of these targets the areas I mention above. Becoming more efficient in the methods described in the videos will save you critical energy on the clock.

    • https://www.carusoprecision.com/vip-core-skills/v/wind-pt-1- building a good, natural feeling of wind conditions through glass - confidence = efficiency

    • https://www.carusoprecision.com/vip-core-skills/v/wind-pt-2- quick wind math, gun number study, verifying mirage, all natural and verifying plan = confidence

    • https://www.carusoprecision.com/vip-core-skills/v/dopedata-cards- smart planning, recognizing patterns = quicker decisions on clock

    • https://www.carusoprecision.com/vip-core-skills/v/target-acquisition - slow target acquisition is tied with no-spot-misses for worst time suck - efficiency = critical!

Instructor Observations:

• Tripod–

  Overall for your level of experience I’m actually very happy with your tripod ability. This is just a next-level skill that I think needs to be practiced for all. It’s easy to get behind one casually, and get a false sense of confidence. Put that same person on a clock with a tripod they’ve rarely practiced with, and watch the wheels come off. There will usually be one or two stages per match that will challenge the shooter to make the tough decision: bag only, or tripod? It can usually be done either way, but the better tripod shooter will prevail statistically more often than not.

  Being able to quickly set up on target, and iron out any stability wrinkles is a HUGE asset, and it’s really not hard. But it takes practice for familarity, and guidance like my class to show you what you’re looking for. You’re in a good spot with this but I would highly recommend making it be a casual-confident-comfortable tool in your belt. This way when the crossroads present themselves, you can make a solid decision on if you can smoothly handle it with a tripod or not. The big considerations are:

  • REAR LEG SUPPORT

  • Pros/When To Use It:

    • Unstable prop or very small shooting surface

    • Smooth floor surface (wood, cement, fine gravel, grass, dirt…)

    • Targets reasonable close in direction

    • Multiple and/or small window positions where it takes meticulous care to thread rifle all the way in and out of position

  • Cons/When To SKIP It:

    • Prop is maybe a small surface, but super stable and potential for a vertical brace to smash bag position up against for more stability

    • Chunky gravel or awkward surface, possibly too much stuff in the way of a casual placement of tripod feet

    • Large awkward pan between targets

    • Even if lots of positions, if they’re big and open for a chop-down drop of your equipment, plus any of the other factors above, bag will probably be easier.

  • Considerations:

    • Sturdy tripod

    • Good tension on leg hinges

    • Height set to avoid knuckle tensioners

    • Height set to promote stability - tall enough to get in, but not maxed out unnecessarily

    • If able shoot in direction that promotes pulling equipment

    • Line up strong side of target and make final fine-tune point of aim via pushing support leg into tripod base

    • DON’T pull against support leg - tripod WILL tip causing floating feet!

  • TAC TABLE SUPPORT

  • Pros/When To Use It:

    • Unstable prop or very small shooting surface.

    • Few positions, and/or all the same height.

    • Demand for high level precision off small surface/unstable position - such as a KYL.

  • Cons/When To SKIP It:

    • Unstable tripod with skinny legs that will twist and torque under pressure - will induce nonstop lateral wobble.

    • Lots of movement - tendency to drop bag and have to pick it up several times costing too much time.

    • Too much height variation in ground or prop positions that a confident tac table height can’t be guaranteed.

  • Considerations:

    • Make sure everything is tight on tripod and ball head

    • Leave a 20-30° tilt on table to allow for flexibility in height - don’t leave yourself not outs

    • Safer to use a light fill bag for easier flexibility if you didn’t get height perfect

    • Know your drop from prop to table with a bag, 5-7” usually, 1 ½ fists stacked, or grab a tape measure like nerdy Thomas!

    • Tether your bag if you can so that if it falls under movement, its still close to the table - avoid having to grab it from the ground

      VIDEO SUGGESTION - Coming soon, a full suite of tripod videos in the advanced program when available…

MISCELLANEOUS:

To address your post-training questions…

1. Bag fill - grease fill is red tacky grease, lukas oil. Adjust ratio per amount, but I’ve done 3 heaping tablespoons per 19# bag of glass blasting media - blended one at a time with a paint mixer in a 5 gallon bucket.

2. Free Recoil - My analogy was that with a 6mm low to medium recoiling rifle, I start at shoulder pressure in the buttpad that would crush a grape - if you’re really solid such as on a boulder, I might start to deform a clementine, but not crush it. I may start there, and relax as needed until the sight picture settles. But rarely if ever, do I completely disconnect or barely just touch my shirt to the rifle. If it’s that bad I should’ve used a tripod!

3. Record yourself for drills, especially one-shot build and break style drills, OR just any training — you can watch and start to learn your average times to get into a good position from there. Knowing doesn’t always help, but certainly knowing tripod efficiency can make a difference. Run a few stages where you use bag only vs tripod and start to gain insights into what scenarios are better one way or another.

VIDEO REVIEW:

Honestly not a lot of negative feedback looking at this video, but rather a lot of great things to reinforce.

Starting from the initial position, I really like what I see - nice bag placement, body position stable, square,

and compressed enough to ground an elbow naturally (it doesn’t look forced). Watching your recoil here,

it looks very tame and flat, suggesting good pressure and position behind the rifle, a properly settled bag,

and the botnia probably helps too! Lastly, your bolt and trigger manipulations are relaxed, smooth, and

defined with good follow through. Overall a very nicely executed drill. The key is to implement that same

level of execution with higher stakes, stronger time pressure, and positions that may be less comfortable.

TRAINING PLAN:

Overall the goal will be to hit the range when you can, and target specific items - then beat them up until they become more fluid and natural. This will be one thing at a time, not 5 topics in one range day. It will take some discipline to stay focused even if it gets mundane, but I know you can stay on track if you want to improve!

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.

RANGE DAY ITINERARY:

This is a general timeline of how I’d organize the range visit. Items 1-3 are all done within first 30 minutes, and then progress to the drills, targeting that day’s main focus area…

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. Then, back to drill main focus area with remaining time.

7. 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

   • 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.

• Strive to have a solid grip, saddle the rifle against your body when making big movements, and be aggressive with your strength in managing the rifle – You are in charge, not the rifle!

7. Choose another time limit, and repeat

• 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!

3. For EVERY SHOT, prep yourself with minimum correction and blind correction mentality, and IF you miss, try to make a 4-5 second correction (1st splash through 2nd shot)

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 future is very promising in this sport! 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 or even a 1-day. For a relatively new shooter, you are doing really well. If you stick with it and become more efficient, you’ll be crushing it.

             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