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 along with notification of this report.

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

Max, you were a great fit for the class. You have a healthy amount of experience and understanding of what you’re doing— even if you don’t have all the answers, you know what you’re trying to figure out and what you’re looking for. I saw a lot of little light bulbs turning on, and even if none are Earth shattering, I think you’re in a great position to use the learning event as a catapult into a more successful near future.

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

STRENGTHS AND SUCCESSES

Self-diagnosed Pre-Training Survey:

• Relatively Good Fundamentals

  I think as with most shooters from brand new through the top, most have ‘pretty’ good fundamentals. I think it takes a lot of trigger time to reach the super solid point. There are even things I know are still small weaknesses in the fundamental space. So I agree, you seem to have a natural and pretty solid skill set behind the rifle. Trigger control and follow through was good, and you seemed to build good overall positions from what I saw - no major missteps or weird physical decisions.

Instructor Observations:

• Attitude

  I like to point this out when a client has it. There’s a lot of tough personalities and defensive mechanisms at play in this alpha-dominated field. So for the guys that are pretty good but still have an open attitude, are able to receive instruction, see faults, and focus in this dynamic environment, it’s a very solid plus! You are chill enough to keep your head when things aren’t going well, and were receptive to my insights. Keep this quality no matter how good you get! If you can’t learn, or you can’t relax, you can’t learn and improve. This is a very necessary trait for good progress.

• Fundamentals

  Again another simple but crucial piece. Fundamentals in a good shooter are usually not as good as they think. We are able to get away with murder with the great equipment we get to use. Unfortunately this usually will be exposed as things get tougher, and in your case you were able to show solid fundamentals with few cracks. There are a few clean up items here and there, like snatching or snapping off a trigger, but you can address those as you slow down during the shot process as we discussed in the class.

REFINEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Self-diagnosed Pre-Training Survey:

• Organizing Plan & Keeping Fundamentals Solid

  I think we covered a lot of ground in class about all the mental work I put in before the clock starts. This is where you get a solid plan, and as you develop the plan, keep in mind that it has to hold water in the stress of the moment. Keep the plan simple, easy to remember, look for wind jump patterns, plan to move L>R or R>L even if it’s slightly more beneficial to start in a more random spot (easier to mentally not thing about what position is next), etc.

  The fundamentals are there, but I think you’re playing too much whack a mole, so it keeps coming to mind when it shouldn’t. This should be second nature, and the main way to achieve that is more trigger time. That sounds like a boring answer, but that’s the big ticket — the shortcut is making it trigger time with specific goals in mind, not just sending 100 rounds in training without thinking. Use this training plan to target any fundamental shortcomings, make it the plan for the day, and beat it up until you figure out.

  The recoil also is a whack a mole pop up every shot. The muzzle jump will make you think harder about your fundamentals, fight harder to spot, and then have to think and sometimes guess what you think happened because you couldn’t see it! This is a crucial part to figure out. Once recoil is settled, spotting gains come, and then you can stay calmer on the clock and just work fundamentals naturally as you flow through the engagement.

• Self Diagnosing Misses

  This is very connected with the topic above. If you put in the time to review your plate width, minimum correction, blind correction, and wind tendencies, you will have done 90% of the work. Then on the shot, your last two jobs are to mentally get set before pulling the trigger, and then make a nice shot with minimal recoil. You will see so much more, and be able to measure and correct, and in the rare situation you don’t see anything, you can make a pretty solid decision of what your correction should be to get back on plate.

Instructor Observations:

• Recoil Management

  This is the big one for you. Out of everything I saw, your biggest hurdle is the recoil in my opinion. It takes practice and deliberate investigation into what tweaks work and what doesn’t. This was a challenge in pretty much every engagement we practiced, and we weren’t able to mitigate it out altogether in the time we had. That said, I pointed out that this weekend was just the tip of the iceberg, and now you can really hone in on this stuff to work it out. I’m going to keep this part short here since I gave you a very thorough play by play and step by step breakdown of this issue in your video review later in the report.

• Tripod

  I believe you called this out as a cheapo option, and in most cases it’s fine, but at this level there are enough reasons to justify upgrading the tripod. Even in just windy conditions, spotting others shots is SO much better with a really sturdy set up, and then of course when you do tripod rear it’s a huge benefit. I wouldn’t rush into replacing it as a top priority, but down the road probably. I know you mentioned tripod isn’t your most confident thing, and you can certainly iron out that skill with what you have. In fact, if you can practice with the gear you currently have, you will do SO well when you get a more solid setup.

• Positional Perfection

  Not always completely achievable but usually pretty close! Multiple shots I watched in person, confirmed with video review later, reveal that you’re leaving a little on the table in the positional setups. Fundamentals are 80% there, but you can get more working in your favor.

  • Too Relaxed Looks Like: setting the bag and just placing the rifle on top is NOT maximizing the set up. Most of the shots I watched were built this way – and it’s not just you, most of the class is too casual about it. That’s why we spoke so much about it all weekend! You can see that the muzzle is swirling around as you close the bolt and get on target. Then under recoil, the muzzle whips all different directions, almost in a circle. This is because there is nothing holding the rifle in place.

  • Perfection Looks Like: the ultimate goal is to give the rifle ¼” to slide from moderate skin contact, to a stop in your muscle, with the target right in your crosshairs still, AND for all that movement to be finished quick and crisply. Sounds like a lot, but if you set it up right, it’ll do it almost perfectly every time.

    • Biggest thing is after you place the rifle on the bag, as you slide your body down behind it you should be sawing and shimmying the rifle AGRESSIVELY into that bag, feeling it grab really well.

    • By the time you’re in the glass, the biggest part of the job is done!

    • If you’re not on target, you slightly muscle it over, and then RE-SHIMMY to get it to hold the new position (NPA).

    • Now when you close the bolt, nothing moves, and the rifle is channeled deep in a track/groove, giving it one path to go under recoil

    • The last piece is based on how much you personally and situationally need it – the muzzle-down onto POA technique. IF you have a tendency to jump up multiple mils under recoil, you should fine-tune your combination of how much shoulder pressure you’re putting in, along with settling that point of aim slightly high, and shifting your NPA down onto target for your final control pressures. This will help control where the rifle tracks under recoil. Play with it to see if you need it a lot, a little, or not at all, also playing with light, medium and firm shoulder pressure.

    • With recoil that is MINIMAL, PREDICTABLE, AND REPEATABLE, spotting will become significantly easier!

    • This topic will have some overlap with the next section, as the bag techniques play a huge part in the recoil management I highlight next…

  • VIP VIDEO SUGGESTION

    • Review the portion of the video where I highlight the bag settling and maximizing recoil benefit.

    • https://www.carusoprecision.com/vip-core-skills/v/positional-shooting

VIDEO REVIEW

If a picture is worth 1000 words, let’s take this video as a nice opportunity to tear things down. I love how your legs are wide and locked

out, but let’s work on that lean. The forward/downward forces down into the buttstock and cheekweld are going to increase your odds

of undesirable muzzle jump. On that topic, you still have a good bit of muzzle rise on all these shots. A few things to play with:

1. Leaning Down - Connecting tall, then necking down, you add downward forces to NPA for when the shot goes off. I would practice

   walking your torso into the buttstock, then widening out and lowering down, shoulder passively sliding down past the buttpad

   until it’s in the right shoulder position, THEN connect, THEN a slight neck entry. Right now it looks like you’re connecting and

   committing when you’re still tall. This is part of the forward lean I’m warning you about.

2. Shoulder Pressure - the amount of movement in the shoulder under recoil leads me to think you might be building behind it but

   then softening out of it for stability? If so, try to combine the proper body position clarified from #1, and then medium pressure

   behind the rifle.

3. Shoulder Position - If the two techniques above don’t solve it completely, consider relearning a new shoulder connection point.

   I personally know that my connecting point is slightly wrong, inducing muzzle rise, but I get away with it using a low recoiling

   setup. Your 6.5 and suppressor requires more work! Try adding in a shoulder drop - proper body connection height and angle, then

   connect and gain sight picture. Once set up nicely, like a shoulder stretch, disconnect just the shoulder and reverse roll it back,

   down, and then back up from underneath the buttpad. It will have a natural spring-back to settle upward back to your neutral

   shoulder resting place. Now there is more of a backstop under the buttpad, and it will stop the rifle from seesawing as bad.

4. Roll Down - An additional technique to incorporate is the roll down onto target. Acquire your target, but as you firm up your

   position, settle in just above the target. Then with your breathe-out, slightly pressure the rifle DOWN onto target, let it stop, then

   rip the shot. This is honestly the least natural thing to do, but very effective. The question is how much above the target do you

   have to start before the roll down for the forces to keep you flat in recoil? You have to test that. This will change from standing to kneeling and other height/body positions.

Combine those techniques and you should be able to tame about everything. Keep in mind that the goal is adding shooter-interface forces that are as straight in line with the shot as possible, and training the rifle to go where you want it to go after the shot. If you’re not leaning down but straight behind, using at least medium pressures, and adding a little more support under the buttpad, the buttstock can track slightly back into your muscle straight back - NOT down, NOT sideways, and probably not up unless you’re overdoing it. I have stacked all these techniques together and ended up several mils under the target! Honestly that’s not bad, but if you’re not expecting it, then it IS bad. You want repeatable flat recoil.

• VIP VIDEO SUGGESTIONS:

  • https://www.carusoprecision.com/vip-core-skills/v/positional-shooting- starting at 10:00 timestamp

  • https://www.carusoprecision.com/vip-core-skills/v/positional-shooting-options - starting at 1:30 timestamp

  • https://www.carusoprecision.com/vip-core-skills/v/fundamentals-shooter-interface - starting at 6:24 timestamp through 9:30…

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.

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 and recoil improvements throughout…

• Practice a few recoil techniques we looked at, scrutinizing each one to get as much as you can from it WITHOUT time pressures. Take note of what works, and practice implementing it a few times off the clock. Then move into the following drill:

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

     • Step all the way into buttstock, THEN lower yourself to be the right height without leaning forward - ADJUST YOUR BASE, DON’T LEAN!

     • 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 final connection behind rifle - CHOOSE APPROPRIATE SHOULDER PRESSURE AND SHOULDER POSITION

       • Make final shimmy onto exact POA - CONSIDER ROLLING DOWN AS NEEDED

   • 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!

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. 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