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rob_s
10-23-09, 09:29
Tropical Sport Shooting Association (http://tssaidpa.us/wordpress/) hosts a once-a-month training/practice/drills night (http://tssaidpa.us/wordpress/?page_id=24) at the Markham Park Target Range (http://www.broward.org/parks/range.htm) in western Broward County (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=markham+park+target+range&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.677964,77.783203&ie=UTF8&hq=markham+park+target+range&hnear=&ll=26.128278,-80.357866&spn=0.026008,0.03798&t=h&z=15&iwloc=A). These practice nights are on the first Tuesday of every month, and shots are usually fired starting at 7, ending at 10, with signup beginning at 6. We appreciate all the help we can get, so the earlier you can be there the better, and usually club officers are on site by 5:30 at the latest. Cost is $20 for TSSA members, $25 for non-members. You can see Roger Z at the events for more information on joining TSSA.

We hold carbine drills and pistol drills, and even have folks on hand to help anyone who is totally new to handgun shooting.

TSSA is also an IDPA club and we have IDPA pistol matches on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at Trail Glades Range(currently moved to Markham due to construction at Trail Glades) and on the 4th Saturday of the month at Markham. See the website for more information about these events.

Who: TSSA and YOU!
What: Carbine and Handgun drills night
Where: Markham Park Target Range, western Broward County Florida
When: First Tuesday night of each month beginning at 6:30 PM
Why: To improve your shooting skills, learn something new, get in some trigger time, and hang out with a great group of folks and have fun
How:
For pistol drills you will need:
pistol
3 magazines (at least, more is better)
holster
magazine pouches (one at least, 2 is better)
200 rounds +/-
For carbine drills you will need:
carbine
3 magazines (at least, more is better)
sling
magazine pouches (one at least, 2 is better, 3 is better still)
200 rounds +/-

you can email me at rob AT tacticalyellowvisor DOT net for more information

Magsz
10-23-09, 14:00
Ive spoken about the drills night in the M4C regional training thread but i figured i would go ahead and say something here as well.

If you own a carbine and you're on this website you need to be coming out to these classes.

I personally enjoy attending simply because it gives me a chance to practice the skills that ive learned over the past year under the watchful eye of Rob, someone that i respect that knows what the hell they're doing.

Its pretty neat to have an opportunity to run the types of drills most of us dream about but cannot due to lack of facilities. Its also really neat to have a chance to analytically assess what works and what doesnt. Every drills night is hosted with a specific purpose and Rob usually does a great job of challenging the students and even himself. Skill level need not apply. For the most part, even the beginners are never left behind as Rob will tailor the class to the students on hand.

Again, i would encourage anyone with a basic interest in running their rifle properly to attend.

The requirements are very simple and the group is quite friendly.

Jay Cunningham
10-23-09, 14:10
Ive spoken about the drills night in the M4C regional training thread but i figured i would go ahead and say something here as well.

This now *is* the M4C Regional Training thread for Florida.

;)

Magsz
10-23-09, 14:35
Cool beans!

igoswoop
10-24-09, 09:47
It'd be good to see some AAR photos or some video links.

Keep up the good work.

sandman99and9
10-24-09, 10:39
Sounds like lots of fun. I will be bringing my 12 yr old son to hopefully get him more involved in shooting/learning.
Do we have directions posted on here somewhere ??

S.M.

rob_s
10-24-09, 17:48
We're working on some photos and video. I normally take a lot of photos and video at the matches but running the drills doesn't typically leave me much time for pictures.

There's a link to the google map of the range location in the first post. click on "western broward county".

Magsz
10-24-09, 18:23
There will be plenty of pictures after the next drills night.

Ill even try and get some video. I had a friend of mine out there last month taking pictures and video but hes been so busy he hasnt had a chance to do much of anything.

Hopefully his schedule will free itself up a little and he will be able to regularly provide media for us. :)

rob_s
11-30-09, 06:57
Tomorrow, Tuesday 1 December 2009 we're doing it again.

On the carbine side we'll be doing transitions to pistol. You'll need all of your usual carbine gear (carbine, sling, load carriage) as well as a pistol, holster, and ammo. you will also want a way to carry loose carbine ammo to the line for topping off of magazines. We'll go over the basics and then work on transitions on the move and potentially from positions other than standing.

If you do not have, or do not want to work with, a handgun we can accommodate that. While we prefer that everyone on the line be working the same drills we understand that some people may not be comfortable with the transition yet, or may not have the gear they need to work with the pistol. If that applies to you YOU CAN STILL COME OUT and we will keep you shooting.

rob_s
12-02-09, 06:25
Another drills night in the bag. I think we got through some good stuff.

Started the evening with a discussion on followthrough, and the potential negative impact of certain types of drills on same. We then went over the fundamentals of trigger control very quickly before putting them to work with a 2" smiley face sticker as the target. Shooters were expected to keep all shots in the smiley face. We began at 10 yards with two strings of one shot only so that the shooters could get their bearings and hold-over. We then went to a string of three, followed by two strings of five, and finished with a string of 10. After each string we went forward to assess the targets. We discussed any misses, and offered suggestions on how to address them. We found several shooters that were not easing to reset, and quite a few that were going faster than their skills allowed given the target and distance, as well as a couple that were falling into a rhythm and letting their trigger finger get ahead of their sights.

We then attempted to drive home the shifting hold-over now that they had it nice and doped out at 10 yards. We refaced the targets completely and we moved in to 5 yards, firing a 5-shot string, then out to 15 yards, then 5 again, and then 15 again. Changing distance and firing longer strings to give the shooters a chance to work out their hold-overs but also to force them to think about what they were doing. We finished this block with 10 rounds back at the 10 yard line. Targets were evaluated between each string of fire.

We finished out the night with a block on transitions. We were a little rushed, but as always we followed the walk-then-run methodology. We talked about why we transition, different methodologies, and the fact that the #1 way to get better is to learn the motions slowly and then repetitive dryfire practice at home to get comfortable and increase speed. We also discussed the change in sight picture when going from the RDS-equipped carbine to the iron-sight equipped pistol, and the fact that the aiming points are different with the two platforms.

We ran through the transition dryfire ("click" with the carbine then "click" with the pistol) to start just to make sure we didn't have any total spazzes on the line and so that anyone new to this could begin to build the comfort level. Shooters then loaded their pistols, and we had everyone fire two rounds to center mass to make sure they were all competent with drawing and operating the handgun. From there we loaded a single round into the carbine and removed the magazine. This helps to get people out of the gaming method of transitions where the shooter counts the number of rounds (which is problematic on many levels). Shooters were required to get the "bang" and then the "click" before drawing their pistol and completing the three-rounds-on-target drill.

Shooters were then instructed to come to the line with magazines randomly loaded with 2-4 rounds each. We then ran multiple drills such as "four rounds to your own target, and 2 to the head of your neighbors target" or "two rounds to the target to the left, two rounds to the target to the right, two rounds to your own target", etc. The intention here was to avoid a repetitive drill where shooters count rounds or have obvious break points. We want to make the failure of the carbine as much of a surprise as possible. We ran through 5 cycles of various 6-shot drills, as fast as the shooters could get set up to run it again.

If my count is correct we got the shooters through somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 live-fire transitions, and hopefully gave them the skills to go home and practice on their own with dryfire drills. We used the standard IDPA target and asked for hits inside the -0 (8" COM, 6" head). The goal here was to continue to apply the fundamentals from earlier in the evening but to relax the accuracy requirement somewhat so that shooters could focus on the mechanics of the transition. Accuracy is final but sometimes you can give a newer shooter too much to think about and they are dealing with too many new things all at once. Going from the 2" circle to the 8" gave them a huge opportunity to relax and focus on the skill at hand: the transition to pistol.

All in all I think it was a good night and we ran it right up to the limit of our 10 PM range deadline, with last shots fired around 9:45 giving us 15 minutes to clear off the range before they shut down the lights.

hopefully some of the attendees will be by to share their thoughts.

Jay Cunningham
12-02-09, 07:23
Sounds great, Rob - thanks for the update.

Magsz
12-02-09, 10:33
Great night last night.

I particularly enjoyed the first drill that we ran since it really made you slow the hell down and think about your holdovers. The fundamentals never get old and even the most experienced shooters should be practicing simple drills just to stay in check.

I got a chance to run my M&P compact for the first time through some of the drills and i was pleased to get the chance to finally be able to transition with the damned thing. Thanks Rob!

All in all, a good night with lots of good practice.

rob_s
12-02-09, 10:48
January will hopefully incorporate all the things we've been working on over the last couple of months. Fundamentals, movement, reloads, transitions, holdover, and fundamentals. And maybe more of those bowling-pin targets if people will stop shooting the damn stands!

5 January 2010!

rob_s
12-05-09, 16:55
how do you know you had a good night of transition drills? Pile of AK mags on the deck from stripping the empty magazine and setting it up again!

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/rob_s/SFDCC/DRILLS-AKMAGS.jpg

rob_s
01-05-10, 10:35
We're on again for tonight. Depending on how cold it is and what kind of turnout we get we may be working a few different things.

Right now the plan is for a review of reloads, shooting on the move, and transitions to pistol, and then getting into some dynamic drills encompassing all three.

Magsz
01-06-10, 17:29
Great night last night.

It was as cold as its ever been down here if not colder and it sure made for some interesting arctic style training. :)

Thanks for a very fun night Rob.

Guys, if you've got a carbine, half a brain and a desire to shoot with a bunch of safe, switched on dudes...come on out, you wont be disappointed.

rob_s
02-02-10, 12:40
Bumping, yet again, for tonight.

you can keep an eye on twitter.com/tyv2009 for weather and other updates.

Tonight is shooting on the move. Moving in, moving laterally, combining them, and still getting your hits!

rob_s
02-03-10, 07:19
15 shooters out last night. I actually got some pictures and video I'll try to post. Worked on moving while shooting, moving in, moving right, moving left.

rob_s
02-03-10, 07:38
After we covered the basics of shooting on the move, we set up three barrels in an "L" shape, and target ID targets with numbers, colors, and shapes. The shooters were required to move along the row of barrels in the L, and then place one round in either the shape, color, or number they were assigned. They were told to load & make ready, given their assignment, given a chance to assess the target array, and after a nod to indicate they were ready, tapped on the shoulder to give them the go-ahead to begin.

We did the evolution once with single rounds to each target, and then twice with two rounds to each target.

By assigning the shape/color/number not only did the shooter have to focus on something other than just moving and shooting, but it also gave me a way to evaluate their hits as they went through the drill without having to paste between each shooter. Many, many shooters holdovers went completely out the window with everything else they had to focus on.

http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq10/tacticalyellowvisor/Training/100202%20Carbine%20Drills/MATTSHAPES.jpg

rob_s
03-03-10, 08:41
24 shooters last night! :eek: Two relays, 13 and 11 (not sure how that happened).

Spent 2.5 hours on transitions to handgun. We began with our usual brief demonstration of mechanical offset of the sighting device over boreline and how to compensate with proper holdover. We had quite a few shooters that were new to us so we did this a few times at 7 yards, and a few at 10.

Then we moved to simply drawing and firing the pistol which we did several times to observe proficiency of the group. After which we did dryfire carbine, transition to pistol, before going hot with the carbine.

We engaged a single target, multiple shape targets (see photo above) beginning with one call out for the carbine, and one for the handgun. So "six, yellow" means engage the 6 with your carbine until empty, transition to pistol and engage the yellow. We did this several times but a brief rain rendered the paper targets all but useless.

We then went to engaging multiple targets. A call out of "left" meant engage the body of your own target with the carbine until empty, transition to pistol and engage the head of the target to your left.

We finished up with body/head on your own target, this time at 10 yards after all previous drills were at 7.

In all I think that each shooter got somewhere on the order of 20 live-fire repetitions on transitions, and we saw a definite and noticeable improvement in the group as a whole from the dryfire run at 19:30 to the final live-fire at 10 yards at 21:30. The new guys took their time, made sure to understand the motions, and saw marked improvement because of it.

We did see a LOT of gear issues, which appear in some cases to be getting worse not better. Regular guys using drop-legs that they'll never use in the real world all because their carry holster won't work with their chest rig. :rolleyes: Ummm, you're doing it wrong. Get a chest rig that works with your carry holster, not the other way around.

The truth of the matter is that the shooters that have the easiest go of things are working out of their carry holster, a single pistol mag on the belt, one or two carbine mags on the belt, and a dump pouch or cargo pocket to carry an extra magazine or loose ammo. I think the most we've ever required at drills night is 3 magazines (one in the gun, two on you) and we often use loose rounds to set up specific drills over and over again.

Magsz
03-03-10, 09:25
Another great night of training.

Thanks for the effort Rob. Its a shame the targets got a little too excited and ended up all slippery and wet on the ground. :p

rob_s
07-12-10, 06:37
After a two-month hiatus I was back running drills this past Tuesday, the 6th of July, and anticipate being back out again for the August 3 drills.

Magsz
08-04-10, 12:27
Drills night last night was something special.

Im really not sure why i enjoyed it as much as i did but alot of good quality shooting was done.

The balance between precision and speed was quite fun, especially with the varied targets and the level of interest amongst the students. For some strange reason i felt as though the students really picked up on the mood and shot better as a class than normal.

Accuracy standards were high last night and everyone seemed to make the mark.

Kudos to Rob for putting together a really great training curriculum.

Some videos from last night showing the last drill of the evening, the Vtac 2X2X2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c81lbzYRaLQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jndW7K3Zk0s

An example of a drill we ran requiring speed and precision.

5 shots to the body into an 8 inch circle on an IDPA target and then two shots to what is essentially the brain bucket. :)

Look at the speed at which the shooter on the left completes the drill. Essentially half the time that it took me to shoot my course of fire. Both shooters made their hits. The difference is that my shots were grouped in a quarter sized hole and his spread was varied. Moral of the story, 1 the shooter on the left is even more precise and quick with an aimpoint T1 which is just plain scary and 2, i need to speed up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o1-8m11UvY

rob_s
08-09-10, 11:49
Some videos from last night showing the last drill of the evening, the Vtac 2X2X2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c81lbzYRaLQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jndW7K3Zk0s

Hopefully we demonstrated that firing hammers is actually slower than firing at a cadence. If not we'll revisit it next month with an all-VTAC drills night! :D

The shooters are definitely "getting it". Couple that with having someone else siphon off the totally new shooters before they get to our group and we're able to progress much, much faster. Watching the majority of the guys hit the paster on the first attempt and the rest walk it in in short order made me very happy.

I'm glad you're enjoying coming out, and thanks for the kudos.

rob_s
08-09-10, 11:54
Next drills night, Tuesday 7 September, we're doing an all VTAC night.

1-5 Drill (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaCpOt9xVy4)

2x2x2 drill (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVGPEgRZwIw&feature=channel)

Triple Threat drill (http://www.youtube.com/user/VikingTactics#p/u/1/5K3FP6UqiT0)

Rifle El Prez drill (http://www.youtube.com/user/VikingTactics#p/u/8/7OfsxKFh370)

and maybe the

9-Hole drill (http://www.youtube.com/user/VikingTactics#p/u/7/KbyqAoiX4CA)

and if time permits the

Highsmith drill (http://www.youtube.com/user/VikingTactics#p/u/16/vZJzJGawqLs)

Magsz
08-09-10, 15:17
For those of us that paid attention Rob had the fastest run of the evening and he was probably the only one shooting the way Mr Lamb advocates.

For me, im too inexperienced to do anything other than fire the way i fired in the video. It just happened to work out the way it did where i was pressing the trigger when i had an adequate sight picture.

Ive NEVER trained to do hammers, it just kind of worked out that way. I think it has to do with me being a goofy white kid with absolutely zero rhythm. :)

obucina
08-09-10, 15:25
I cant believe I missed this! Since I have to plan my time and finances out accordingly, I am going to try to make it for the october or november shoot!

rob_s
08-12-10, 12:41
Special drills night Tuesday, 31 August 2010 @ 18:30

Who: All Safe Shooters
What: Carbine and Shotgun drills night (pick one or the other, not both)
Where: Markham Park Target Range (http://www.markhampark.com/), western Broward County (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=markham+park+target+range&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=51.355924,128.144531&ie=UTF8&hq=markham+park+target+range&hnear=&ll=26.134327,-80.346708&spn=0.028703,0.062571&t=h&z=15)
When: Tuesday, 31 August 2010 @ 18:30
Why: For practice!
How:

Carbine shooters will need

Carbine (centerfire or rimfire, either is fine, prefer magazine-fed)
Rifle Case (know which end is the muzzle end, all guns arrive at range cased)
Sling that hangs the carbine muzzle-down (test this on your own at home before you come out!)
Magazines (at least two, more is better, load them all up)
Magazine pouch (at least one, two is better, chest rigs and vest are fine too)
Ammo (suggest at least 200 rounds)


Shotgun shooters will need

Shotgun
Shotgun Case (know which end is the muzzle end, all guns arrive at range cased)
Sling (if you have one, they'll likely work with you if you don't)
Ammo (I have been told all you need is birdshot which leads me to believe it will be all on steel)
Ammo carriage (having a bag or pouch to carry ammo on your person makes things much easier for all involved)

Magsz
08-12-10, 13:02
SAWEET!!!!

Im in! Ill be back in town by then!

Thanks for the efforts Rob!

hippieslayer
08-28-10, 16:41
I'm thinking about comming out. It's just a hell of a drive from Tampa :mad:

rob_s
08-28-10, 16:51
Yikes! While I certainly don't want to discourage anyone, we don't do anything terribly earth-shattering. You are welcome to come out if you'd like, but that's a hell of a haul just to shoot some drills.

hippieslayer
08-28-10, 20:58
Yikes! While I certainly don't want to discourage anyone, we don't do anything terribly earth-shattering. You are welcome to come out if you'd like, but that's a hell of a haul just to shoot some drills.

The out door range is appealing to me. The ones around here suck.

CENTCOM_Survivor
08-29-10, 00:06
I'm thinking about coming out. It's just a hell of a drive from Tampa :mad:

I would actually contemplate driving over there for the all-VTAC night.

I agree there is nothing in Tampa worth a crap.

hippieslayer
08-29-10, 08:18
I would actually contemplate driving over there for the all-VTAC night.

I agree there is nothing in Tampa worth a crap.

I originally thought that Guncraft in Ruskin was showing some promise. I called them and asked about rapid fire, drawing from a holster and transisions. They replied yes, you can, with the $250 yearly membership.

So somehow the $250 yearly membership makes me more qualified to perform higher risk shooting activities vs. the $35 monthly membership. I'm not about to spend $250 a year on a membership when I'm home here for maybe a month a year on leave, and that equates to probably actually using the range a couple days out of the year.

rob_s
08-29-10, 10:50
Well it sounds like if you guys are going to cone over you should try to team up and carpool. Sept 7 will be the all-VTAC night. I think we're going to start with 2x2x2 then 1-5 and go from there.

Magsz
09-07-10, 23:07
Three shooters shooting the modified triple threat drill.

Really nice balance of speed and accuracy for this drill and i enjoyed it quite a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUF0iAGhOIY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNhJmrtJinM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgvOMJan2d8

I walked away from this with a few observations.

1. Mathematically i see why shooting in cadence actually works. Too bad i am the whitest bastard on the planet, have zero rhythm and simply cannot get this to work for me.
2. My target transitions are slow, ive got to speed this up.
3. Adhering to a personal standard of accuracy and understanding the balance between precision and speed is paramount. You've got to know how fast you can go without sacrificing your ability to get hits.

Awesome night Rob, very well put together, thank you!

rob_s
09-07-10, 23:12
Awesome night Rob, very well put together, thank you!

Glad you liked it.

The last string in that video of me shooting makes me laugh. It's over before it starts!

rob_s
10-06-10, 06:39
Thanks to the guys that came out and shot with me last night. Despite the late start we got exactly everything done that i wanted to or that we needed to. Only thing that would have changed with more time is we would have taped/pasted more. The bad news is that without that way of keeping guys honest some people were just blasting away without much regard for getting their hits. The good news is that even these guys got somewhere between 15 and 20 opportunities to practice their transition to pistol live-fire.

Getting the mechanics of the transition (how to sling the rifle, when to go for the pistol, etc.) is only half the battle. learning to make the switch in that space of time from a red dot sight where your focus is on the target to finding that little blade sight on the end of your pistol and getting it into focus in time to line it up and get the hits is the real challenge. Doing it under the lighting conditions we did is even more of a challenge. You can practice the mechanics at home, and you can tell yourself you're finding the sights in dry-fire, but having that target down range that tells you if you're doing it right or not is something we can only do at the range and is really the test of whether or not you're getting the concepts.

Taktix
06-08-11, 05:16
This looks like a good time. Are these events still taking place every Tuesday night?

rob_s
06-08-11, 05:27
Yes, however for the time being I am not running them. I hope to be back out soon.
ETA:
It's every FIRST Tuesday, not every Tuesday. They just had one last night.

Oracle00
11-01-11, 19:32
Are these drills nights still going on @ Markham? Reading the posts from the past, this sounds like a lot of fun. I'd be very interested in joining as soon as I get my rifle.

Franky

Kchen986
01-26-12, 20:24
Is this still going on? I'd love to join in. Please send me an email at Kchen086 AT gmail DOT com.

rob_s
01-26-12, 21:39
Is this still going on? I'd love to join in. Please send me an email at Kchen086 AT gmail DOT com.

I'm no longer involved.

phester
05-01-12, 04:30
Drills and competition are ongoing, see the link for details.

http://www.tssaidpa.us/wordpress

Clint

954G
07-27-14, 21:45
Just wanted to re post, Drills and Matches still going for 2014. Come on out and have some fun and practical practice. Oh and actually use that rifle that has only seen a bench rest.


Tropical Sport Shooting Association (http://tssaidpa.us/wordpress/) hosts a once-a-month training/practice/drills night (http://tssaidpa.us/wordpress/?page_id=24) at the Markham Park Target Range (http://www.broward.org/parks/range.htm) in western Broward County (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=markham+park+target+range&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.677964,77.783203&ie=UTF8&hq=markham+park+target+range&hnear=&ll=26.128278,-80.357866&spn=0.026008,0.03798&t=h&z=15&iwloc=A). These practice nights are on the first Tuesday of every month, and shots are usually fired starting at 7, ending at 10, with signup beginning at 6. We appreciate all the help we can get, so the earlier you can be there the better, and usually club officers are on site by 5:30 at the latest. Cost is $20 for TSSA members, $25 for non-members. You can see Roger Z at the events for more information on joining TSSA.

We hold carbine drills and pistol drills, and even have folks on hand to help anyone who is totally new to handgun shooting.

TSSA is also an IDPA club and we have IDPA pistol matches on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at Trail Glades Range(currently moved to Markham due to construction at Trail Glades) and on the 4th Saturday of the month at Markham. See the website for more information about these events.

Who: TSSA and YOU!
What: Carbine and Handgun drills night
Where: Markham Park Target Range, western Broward County Florida
When: First Tuesday night of each month beginning at 6:30 PM
Why: To improve your shooting skills, learn something new, get in some trigger time, and hang out with a great group of folks and have fun
How:
For pistol drills you will need:
pistol
3 magazines (at least, more is better)
holster
magazine pouches (one at least, 2 is better)
200 rounds +/-
For carbine drills you will need:
carbine
3 magazines (at least, more is better)
sling
magazine pouches (one at least, 2 is better, 3 is better still)
200 rounds +/-