Marksmanship Goals for 2020?

[navybowhunter]

Do you have any?

In reference to Appleseed, maybe your goal is to:

- Earn Rifleman patch

If you have earned the Rifleman patch maybe the next goal is:

- Earn Distinguished Patch
- Become KD qualified
- Earn that perfect 250 patch

My point is, that for me at least, the summit of the mountain has not yet been reached. I doubt it ever will be reached will because I often set the bar higher and higher after achieving a goal.

My goals in 2019? Some were met, some were not. I had some equipment issues I was dealing with (a barrel that had an issue), but I was able to achieve many of my goals.

My daughter? Wow....every goal I set for her she absolutely CRUSHED, LOL. No exaggeration. What we have for her now is a baseline for performance at each position, and we will adjust the goals off of that baseline from last year.

In order to know where we need to go, we need to understand where we have been and are currently at.

This is why maintaining data on performance is so important. Especially in reference to setting goals. That way when we do well (a good score) we know if it was a true improvement.

Shannon, in 2019 earned her Appleseed Distinguished, she plans to get the 250 patch this year as time allows.

She also earned her CMP Expert classification and her NRA Master classification in High Power Rifle!

Yes, I am a proud father, but taking our relationship out of it....THAT IS AMAZING! In 9 months she earned her Master classification in High Power rifle at the age of 11 years old! That has to be a record. For the record, it took me 5 years to earn my Master classification and some people never earn it!

How did she do it?

She did it by continually working to perfect the FUNDAMENTALS! She put into practice everything I have written in here about fundamental marksmanship.

Interestingly, her goals align somewhat with my goals for 2020 now. They are:

- Continue to perfect the fundamentals
- Earn LEG points towards the CMP distinguished Rifle Badge
- Earn a Master Classification in Mid Range Prone
- Earn CMP Master Classification (it is 95% for CMP vice the 94% in NRA)

Goals are worthless without a training plan to achieve them.

We have a training plan, and that consists of a lot of dry fire training (75% of which is standing, and 15% prone, and 10% seated.)

We are taking this month, and building our ammunition for the 2020 competitive season.

I realize not everyone's goals will align with ours, so back to Appleseed. It took me 5 full weekend events to qualify Rifleman.

It takes what it takes, but at some point, I think it was event #4, I started to actually put the course of instruction into practice. I started to dry fire "a little" at home a few days prior to the event, and whalla! It happened.

If you have goals of improving your own personal marksmanship and feel as if you may be stagnating with Appleseed, or.....maybe you have plateaued with the program, considering branching out into some of the established disciplines like NRA or CMP rifle competition to reinvigorate your personal enthusiasm for fundamental rifle marksmanship.

Best Wishes in 2020 to all! Keep em in the X or the V ring!

R/
Chris

[navybowhunter]

Why did we not set a goal to earn the "High Master" classification?

Our goals are "SMART":
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

Setting the bar too high can lead to a lot of frustration, so I recommend using the SMART analogy.

High Master is not realistic and timely, achievable within the year.

Now, if things change significantly, we will look at our goals and adjust/raise the bar accordingly.

We will never lower the bar, as that leads to laziness, LOL

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[MacGhillemohr]

Excellent post, and congratulations to your daughter, that is quite an achievement!

My goal is to try to make it to all of the High Power matches that I can, but it can be a little difficult because the closet range for shooting High Power is 2.5 hours away, not exactly an easy drive! Since rules allow scopes on service rifles, I'm back in the game.

Fortunately, I have an excellent range to practice on and also shoot E targets at a club that I'm a member of, mostly at 600 yards. I prefer XTC, but I shoot MRP too. I also shoot F T/R, hey, it's still fun!

[mals9]

I want to get back to an Appleseed event.
Shoot more rimfire Silhouette and make it to some CMP M1 matches.
Congratulations to your daughter. That is outstanding in anyone's book.

Mals

[rwadley]

My goals for 2020:

1. Improve my standing scores, which should help #2
2. Consistently shoot above 240 on the AQT
3. Learn to read the wind better, which should help #4
4. Requalify at Known Distance
5. Qualify at 25 Meters with irons
6. Qualify at 25 Meters with centerfire (never tried)
7. Compete in at least one CMP Service Rifle Competition.

[CAMPY]

Mine is definitely to get that 250 rocker at an appleseed. I've missed it by one point twice now, and by two points more than ten times. It's gonna happen. I also want to shoot at least three cmp rimfire sporter matches this year (my first) including the eastern games. I'm dry firing daily and really focusing on consistency in the kneeling position, which is my weakest (can't really shoot sitting well, no matter how hard I try.) I also plan to seek out someone with a lot more experience than me to help me fine tune my kneeling position.