In the classifier match coming up, most shooters want to do the best they possibly can (big surprise) so they can get a high initial classification, or raise their current classification.
Some people set up the known classifiers, and practice them. Other people just hope a lot.
While I wouldn't suggest practicing the classifier stages (for a number of reasons, but among them that you don't actually want to be classified as HIGHER than your skill level will support) it IS true that aspects of classifiers can (and should) be practiced if you want to get good at USPSA.
While it is arguable that ALL classifiers test actual shooting skills applicable to USPSA, it is certainly true that
many of the movement and shooting skills in them DO appear in USPSA stages. So something you can do is to take a look at the stages and see what skills are required
other than simply being able to be accurate.
Here's what I see for non-shooting skills when I look at the stages for the upcoming match:
03-09: Draw, movement into and out of a position
99-41: Draw, standing reload, shooting around barricade
99-56: Surrender draw, movement into and out of a position, moving reload
13-06: Draw, standing reload
06-05: Turn and surrender draw
03-05: Surrender draw, standing reload
If we take those skills and tally them, we see that several things immediately jump out:
Standing reload (3)
Draw (3)
Surrender draw (2)
Movement into position (2)
Barricade shooting (1)
Turn and surrender draw (1)
Moving Reload (1)
If you have a slow standing reload, that is going to hurt you in multiple places. Similarly for a basic draw and a surrender draw. (Pretty much all draws are to close, open targets. No draws to 25-yard partials in this set of stages.)
As such, if you have a limited amount of time to practice, you should probably devote the majority of your time to standing reloads, draws and surrender draws, and if you have some extra time, effective movement into a shooting position.
…and obviously, hitting the target. No matter what, you need to be able to hit specific points on your targets.
However, if your standing reload takes 4 seconds, and your draw/surrender draw takes 2.5 seconds, (instead of a more normal 2 seconds and 1.5 seconds) that is an extra
12 seconds you've taken in those stages in which you've simply lost time for no appreciable purpose.
Put it this way: If you were to run classifier 99-41 in a GM time of 6.16 seconds with no points down, you'd get a 100% classifier score from HQ. If, however, you lost 3 seconds due to a slow draw and a slow reload, even with everything else being equal (perfect shooting) your classifier percentage drops to a 67%. That's a big deal!
Note: All of these are low round-count stages. As such, you cannot afford to give away many points, either. Example: In 13-06 Too Close For Comfort, there are two head shots you are forced to take. If you don't get A-hits, you have dropped 4 points out of 50 (for people shooting Minor). That doesn't sound like much, until you realize that doing so drops you 8% in your classification score,
all by itself. On the other hand, taking 5 seconds for a headshot (and worse yet, still getting a B-hit) doesn't help either.
So to succeed, you need to be
both fast and accurate.
In general, go
all-out for speed on everything that is a
non-shooting motion (draws, reloads, movement), and do what you need to do (including moderate your speed) to shoot A-hits on everything while shooting.
And if you perform dry fire practice on draws, surrender draws, and standing reloads for the next two weeks, just by itself that practice will help you on almost all of the stages. And since you'll need those skills in every other USPSA stage, it'll help you everywhere else, too.
