Women of USPSA- Nationals 2011

Thanks for posting, always fun to watch excellent shooters do their magic, whether male or female.

I've had the pleasure of meeting a few of the ladies featured and the misfortune of meeting one.

Is it just me or was there a rather large number of butt shots in this video? I like the female form as much as the next guy, but seriously, these ladies can shoot, can't they focus on that.

There was shooting in that video???

msshooter wrote:There was shooting in that video???

LOL, yes, some of those ladies are distractingly gorgeous.

jdphotoguy wrote:

msshooter wrote:There was shooting in that video???

LOL, yes, some of those ladies are distractingly gorgeous.

I'm a Jesse fan!

Lot's of great competitors in that video.

Multi-time national champion, Annie Aysen is an awesome Team Smith & Wesson revolver shooter, just such a great person all around. She frequently visits Magnolia, and I'm proud to call her a friend. She's a true champion in every sense of the word promoting the shooting sports among women. She's an NRA Instructor who teaches with Kay Miculek at S&W sponsored Ladies' Action Shooting Camps around the country.

jdphotoguy wrote:Is it just me...

Yes maybe it's just you and what you're focused on.

I noticed a lot of (other) things:
-:45 what exactly is she doing with that pistol sideways?
-they take short deliberate steps when moving, then plant
-1:44 look at that grip and cant of her weak hand, I can't even bend my wrist that far!
-2:11 why did she bring the gun back in when going to the next target, habit?
-most of them seem to extend arms fully and lock their elbows
-3:51 catching her ejected round, isn't that kind of frowned upon as a safety issue since you're not focused on the muzzle?

I don't have girlie hands but am really looking at my grip after watching them.

9c4me wrote:

jdphotoguy wrote:Is it just me...

Yes maybe it's just you and what you're focused on.

I noticed a lot of (other) things:
-:45 what exactly is she doing with that pistol sideways?
-they take short deliberate steps when moving, then plant
-1:44 look at that grip and cant of her weak hand, I can't even bend my wrist that far!
-2:11 why did she bring the gun back in when going to the next target, habit?
-most of them seem to extend arms fully and lock their elbows
-3:51 catching her ejected round, isn't that kind of frowned upon as a safety issue since you're not focused on the muzzle?

I don't have girlie hands but am really looking at my grip after watching them.

-:45 I believe she is adjusting her red dot
-3:51 dumb showoff move

-3:51..is that the "misfortune of meeting one" you mentioned, did she beat you?

Thanks for posting. Some awesome shooting - wish I could shoot like that. And some good observation ( except about the butts - for what it's worth guys, they may read this too - if we want to talk about things besides their shooting start a Hooters thread)- they really do lock their arms out. I seem to remember Cliff telling me he has certified some of them as NRA instructors but don't remember who. Annie Aysen was here for the Southern Regional and the Classic - I thought she was a really nice person and enjoyed watching her shoot her revolver.

I'll second Mrs. Aysen. She's one of the nicest people I've ever met. My first major match ever was the Gator a few years ago. I won 3rd Unclassified in limited (nothing special) but they didn't have a plaque for me. The next year I drive up to the range for the same match and here comes Mrs. Annette running up to give me the plaque she had made from the previous year. She had met me once for about 2 minutes and remembered my face from a year earlier. She can also run a revolver with the best of them. It's not uncommon for her and her husband to run 1st and 2nd in Revolver division.

Athena Lee is also really friendly and helped us play a joke on a friend of ours at a match.

Ive learned a lot from watching them shoot as well. I'm not as bulky as some of the guys we shoot with and I have very small hands. I've taken cues from their stances and grips that help make up for lack of upper body strength.

-:45 what exactly is she doing with that pistol sideways?
As someone said, adjusting the red dot. Lots of open shooters do it this way but it seems silly in a way since you will be looking at it at arms length when shooting. It seems to work though.
-they take short deliberate steps when moving, then plant
smooth is fast and lots of people take this approach. It isn't necessarily the best for everyone though, but often shooting as you are leaving and being ready to shoot as soon as you get to the next position is actually more important than the moving speed between locations.
-1:44 look at that grip and cant of her weak hand, I can't even bend my wrist that far!
the canted wrist does help "lock" or strengthen the joint. Probably more important for those with less strength but can help most, I'd imagine.
-2:11 why did she bring the gun back in when going to the next target, habit?
do you mean 2:15? If it is a wide transition, I think it is often faster to pull the gun in, transition, and push it back out. It can be difficult to stop an agreesive swing at full extension, if that makes sense. That being said, she pulled it in farther than is probably ideal for the amount of movement she made, but there are differences in strength and technique at issue, too.
-most of them seem to extend arms fully and lock their elbows
It's probably an upper body strength/mass issue, or a comparative lack thereof. Also, some of them may be slightly bent but with raised elbows so that they look straight from the side or slightly below, as many of the angles in the video. Does that make sense?
-3:51 catching her ejected round, isn't that kind of frowned upon as a safety issue since you're not focused on the muzzle?
It is frowned upon at some places but still popular in others. The muzzle focus is only one issue. The bigger problem is the chance of an ejector fire. I have been shooting for a while and have personally witnessed it three times, twice of which was during a move like this. The ejector ignites the primer, the bullet hits the barrel hood and doesn't go anywhere with much force, but the brass frags and can hurt if the shooter or RO catches a piece. Two of the three times I witnessed it blood was drawn, and once it was the RO's blood. None of the occasions ended in serious injury, thankfully. It's silly though. It looks "cool" only to someone who hasn't been around the sport much, in my opinion, and is asking for a problem. If I am ROing, I am not going to DQ someone for doing it, but I much prefer someone who unloads in a slow and controlled manner. The timer has stopped at that point. Relax and be careful. My $.02!

Will_M wrote:I'll second Mrs. Aysen. She's one of the nicest people I've ever met. My first major match ever was the Gator a few years ago. I won 3rd Unclassified in limited (nothing special) but they didn't have a plaque for me. The next year I drive up to the range for the same match and here comes Mrs. Annette running up to give me the plaque she had made from the previous year. She had met me once for about 2 minutes and remembered my face from a year earlier. She can also run a revolver with the best of them. It's not uncommon for her and her husband to run 1st and 2nd in Revolver division.

Athena Lee is also really friendly and helped us play a joke on a friend of ours at a match.

Ive learned a lot from watching them shoot as well. I'm not as bulky as some of the guys we shoot with and I have very small hands. I've taken cues from their stances and grips that help make up for lack of upper body strength.

I'll "third" Annette. She and her husband Elliot are great people.

I've got a story about Kippi Leatham (yes, Mrs. TGO) who is in the video a couple of times. At my first Nationals, I was shooting in "C" class and during a break was watching the Super Squad, including her husband, shoot. I wanted to shoot some pictures of the squad on the stage so I started jogging back to the truck to get my camera. Kippi wasn't shooting and was watching their daughter (who was pretty small at the time) and a couple of other kids who might have been her step sons or maybe children of other members of the super squad. Anyway, I don't know if Kippi told them or they decided on my own, but somehow it was decided there was as game of tag and I was "it". I had to weave my way through the kids on the way to the truck and on the way back, I heard her say, "Here he comes. Get him!" We were all laughing pretty hard by the end of it. The Leathams have all been really cool when I have been around them.

There are a lot of good people in the shooting sports, from the local level all the way to the top. Oh and Will, I promise not to talk about your feminine build if you stop calling me fat,errr "bulky". LOL.

Great analysis Bryant. Thanks.

DBChaffin wrote:
do you mean 2:15? If it is a wide transition, I think it is often faster to pull the gun in, transition, and push it back out. It can be difficult to stop an agreesive swing at full extension, if that makes sense.

Sure does, especially after trying it. The wider the transition the harder it is to stop on target.

DBChaffin wrote: -3:51 catching her ejected round, isn't that kind of frowned upon as a safety issue since you're not focused on the muzzle?
It is frowned upon at some places but still popular in others. The muzzle focus is only one issue. The bigger problem is the chance of an ejector fire. I have been shooting for a while and have personally witnessed it three times, twice of which was during a move like this. The ejector ignites the primer, the bullet hits the barrel hood and doesn't go anywhere with much force, but the brass frags and can hurt if the shooter or RO catches a piece. Two of the three times I witnessed it blood was drawn, and once it was the RO's blood. None of the occasions ended in serious injury, thankfully. It's silly though. It looks "cool" only to someone who hasn't been around the sport much, in my opinion, and is asking for a problem. If I am ROing, I am not going to DQ someone for doing it, but I much prefer someone who unloads in a slow and controlled manner. The timer has stopped at that point. Relax and be careful. My $.02!

Wow, never heard of this happening. Thanks for the info DBChaffin.

Golfer wrote:Thanks for posting. Some awesome shooting - wish I could shoot like that. And some good observation ( except about the butts - for what it's worth guys, they may read this too - if we want to talk about things besides their shooting start a Hooters thread)- they really do lock their arms out. I seem to remember Cliff telling me he has certified some of them as NRA instructors but don't remember who. Annie Aysen was here for the Southern Regional and the Classic - I thought she was a really nice person and enjoyed watching her shoot her revolver.

Agreed, Golfer. They are athletes who deserve respect. And yes, as an NRA Training Counselor I had the honor of certifying Team Smith & Wesson members Elliot and Annette Aysen as NRA Instructors.

ssanders224 wrote:Awsome video. Whoever did the editing did a good job. You can see more concentration and technique in this vid than a lot of other videos I've found online.
From this thread I've learned:

1. I think I might lock my elbows when I'm shooting??... hmm... probably need to work on that.

2. We need to build a swinging bridge... that think looks tricky.

3. As a single dude, I'm going to start encouraging more females to come shoot at Magnolia.

4. Will shoots like a girl.**

** LOL... Just joshin ya Will, couldnt help myself. However, after watching that video, "shooting like a girl" probably isnt such a bad thing!!

It is a pretty professionally done video. There are some really good shooters that lock their elbows and some really good shooters that don't. Never hurts to think about it, experiment with it, and try both ways to see what works for you.

We had a swinging bridge but it was big, heavy, and seldom got used. It eventually was decided that it took up too much room in the building and it was put out to pasture. It is too bad we don't have it from time to time, but it was a novelty prop and I don't miss it that much personally.

I'm all for inviting new folks to come out and try a match, male or female.

Back to elbows, neither Will nor I shoot with fully locked elbows. These videos are pushing a year old, but me first, then Will:

I've worked on getting my arms out a little more since that video was taken. Also there were some tight corners so I kept the gun in a bit more than usual.

I've found if I lock my elbows, the shock is transferred almost entirely to my wrists. If I break them slightly, my wrists, elbows, and then shoulders can absorb most of it. I DO need to work on upper body strength though. You can see the difference in recoil control in Bryant's video vs mine.

Of course I could be completely wrong and that's why he's so much faster than me.

My two cents.

I had the pleasure to briefly meet Annie Aysen at the Southern Regional Revolver Championship and you can tell from the respect and love everyone was giving her that she is a great lady.

Bryant always gives a well thought out and detailed response, which is welcomed, never hurts to learn new things.

From what Danny noticed at the last ICORE match I seriously lock out my elbows. Need to video myself shooting to better understand what it is I do and don't do.