Tanking Stages---How Do I Avoid It?

[MichiganShootist]

I am a B/Expert level 65 year old shooter. In the 2010 "season" I have shot in dozens of club matches, three level 3 USPSA matches, and 4 Sanctioned IDPA matches. (I shoot a lot more IDPA over the year than USPSA because of my access to USPSA clubs is limited)

I have won or am generally close to the top of the pile in Super Seniors/Distinguished Seniors.... but in the middle to bottom of my classification over all. (At the MI state IDPA match -- for example -- I was HOA Distinguished Senior but dead last place out of 10 ESP Experts)

After spending some major time reviewing my score sheets... a pattern is really clear. I SHOOT AT A VERY COMPETITIVE LEVEL IN THE VAST MAJORITY OF STAGES... BUT---I TANK ONE OR TWO STAGES AT EACH MATCH SO BADLY THAT IT DESTROYS MY SCORE. (In the 13 stage MI match two stages accounted for 33% of my score. More than triple the top shooters.) YIKES !!!

So is this just what I should expect as an aging shooter, or an issue of having a Senior moments, or is there some way I can amp up my focus to be more consistent. There seems to be no common thread on the "bombed" stages...that I can work on.. so it must be mental????

Any suggestions, especially from "seasoned" shooters would be appreciated.

Mark

[jar]

How do you bomb the stages? Too many misses? Forget targets? Waste time thinking or looking for targets? Something else?

Do you currently spend the time waiting to shoot visualizing shooting the stage? If not, that will help a lot.

[DWFAN]

Im with you Mark, and Im not even a Senior or Expert. Last major match I shot I bombed 2 stages keeping me from the bump to expert. Most of my other stages are inline or better than the top Sharpshooters, and most of the bottom experts.

Most of my issues are mental errors and not watching the sights. forgetting a mandatory tac load and then running dry against a charging/disappearing target. 3 seconds PE, -10, and I was down about 10-15 more on the rest of the targets. That was just 1 stage. The other stage I completely didnt hear or understand it was 3 per target. I shoot 2 per, and am down 26 when the smoke clears. Those two stages were Over half of my points down for a 10stage match. (76 or 77pts total)

Ive started reading Lanny's book for mental management.. hope that has some more insight for keeping my focus for the whole match.

Edited September 3, 2010 by DWFAN

[MichiganShootist]

If there is a pattern ... I can't see it.

On the two stages at the MI match that I trashed.... one was lots of long shots and I took far too many extra shots and ended up with very few points down... but a terrible time.... but one target had a FTN penalty too.

The other disaster was a standards stage where I received a "cover" procedural and just missed a couple point blank shots at very close range.

The only common factor in those two stages was that they were late in the 13 stage match on a VERY hot and humid day.

Yes I was hydrated... there is always lots of G-2 in my cooler:)

[spanky]

Stop thinking and start shooting.

[Shibby]

Are you visualizing and programming all your stages?

Before I shoot a stage I visualize the whole thing from beginning to end from the first person point of view. Then when its my turn to shoot I'm just replaying the tape of what I visualized already.

Edited September 3, 2010 by Shibby

[lugnut]

Stop thinking and start shooting.

These kinds of comments don't help.

IMO what seems to be missing is mental rehearsal. Even on seemingly simple stages it's VERY important to come up with a plan and visualize shooting the stage- this includes reloads, acceptable sight pictures, etc. Spend some time checking out stages before that match if you can. Procedurals are usually always due to mental lapses- sometimes bad footing on cover calls maybe. Even when you are hydrated- heat and humidity absolutely have an effect on you mental toughness- making it that much more important to visualize what you are going to do.

This is something we all have to deal with to some extent... age and heat work against us. But good preparation can help avoid these problems. Don't let it get to you mentally and just keep working on it.

[G-ManBart]

Have a plan, stick to it, and if something throws you off the plan, GET BACK TO IT. For example, if you get to a position with some steel and you throw enough misses that you think "I'd better reload"....do so, but then reload at the same point in the stage where your original plan had you reloading, that way you don't have to try and do mental math while shooting. When stages go bad, and they do for all of us, the only thing you can do is to shoot as many Alphas as possible...the time wasted is already gone. Those couple of things can turn a totally tanked stage into just a sorta bad stage. It still hurts, just not nearly as much. R,

[shooterbenedetto]

Shoot one targets at a time and count targets per shooting position.

keep it clean per stage. if you are missing, then you are shooting too fast

[MichiganShootist]

Thanks for all your input. GMan-Bart may the closest to helping me.

On both of the stages mentioned in my post above... something went wrong... right at the buzzer or on the first set of targets and apparently I never recovered to "save the stages".

One stage was a weak hand, strong hand,free style drill and I had left the safety engaged on my gun for the weak hand start...so when I tried to shoot weak hand nothing happened. I got flustered while taking off the safety with my strong hand and the SO screamed "cover" in my ear while I was taking off the safety (the SOs on this stage should have had swatikas on their arms)

From there on it was all down hill. I had burned valuable time screwing with the safety and had "used up" my cover warning for the stage.... so I probably went a little faster and earned a procedural and missed a point blank head shot free style.

I need to really give the mental preparation part of this game as much thought and time as I do dry fire drills!

Any thoughts on that would be appreciated.

Mark

Edited September 3, 2010 by MichiganShootist

[Bill Nesbitt]

What do you eat during a match? I do better when I graze all day long and eat a light lunch.

One of the worst stages I ever had was after eating the carb laden "provided lunch" at the IDPA Nationals one year. People were back in the crowd asking Susan "what happened to Bill"? Lesson learned.

[steel1212]

What do you eat during a match? I do better when I graze all day long and eat a light lunch.

One of the worst stages I ever had was after eating the carb laden "provided lunch" at the IDPA Nationals one year. People were back in the crowd asking Susan "what happened to Bill"? Lesson learned.

Yeah, I always love it when matches say, "yeah we are having BBQ, beans, fried taters, etc, etc". I'm thinking man that would be great for AFTER the match! I'll usually bring a sandwich and some jerky.

[Flexmoney]

The only common factor in those two stages was that they were late in the 13 stage match on a VERY hot and humid day.

Yes I was hydrated... there is always lots of G-2 in my cooler:)

You answered the question I was going to ask.

FWIW, a full cooler doesn't mean YOU are hydrated. Hydration starts a day or two ahead of time, and continues all through the match. You need to be proactive to stay ahead of it.

My range bag is a bucket with a lid on it that I can sit on. My buddy has one rigged up to a dolly that he can wheel around. Plus, the dolly is rigged to hold an umbrella (shade).

For a long match, I will take the magazines off until it's near time for me to shoot.

I find it good to have something to snack on throughout the day. Nothing too heavy. You want to keep your energy level even (as well as your blood sugar).

Anyway...conserve energy and take special care of yourself. We are out there all day long.

[benos]

.. so it must be mental????

Of course it must be. You know how to shoot, you're just not allowing yourself to shoot within your capacity at all times.

In addition to experimenting with the excellent suggestions so far, you might try shooting a few matches backing down your mental intensity level, maybe 10 to 15 percent. Be sure to visualize every thing you see in complete detail, until you can shoot the stage with your eyes closed. Then after load and make ready, tell your self that you are just going to smoothly cruise through this stage at about 85% of your capacity. And hold that mental set througout the buzzer until you fire the first shot. If you get started calm and composed, then you will shoot the whole stage like that.

be

[spanky]

.. so it must be mental????

Of course it must be. You know how to shoot, you're just not allowing yourself to shoot within your capacity at all times.

In addition to experimenting with the excellent suggestions so far, you might try shooting a few matches backing down your mental intensity level, maybe 10 to 15 percent. Be sure to visualize every thing you see in complete detail, until you can shoot the stage with your eyes closed. Then after load and make ready, tell your self that you are just going to smoothly cruise through this stage at about 85% of your capacity. And hold that mental set througout the buzzer until you fire the first shot. If you get started calm and composed, then you will shoot the whole stage like that.

be

Outstanding.

[GrumpyOne]

Stop thinking and start shooting.

+10. .

Edited September 4, 2010 by GrumpyOne

[MichiganShootist]

Thanks Brian. (and all)

Those are good insights.

I think that since many of the people who are my "competition" are 30 or even 40 years younger, faster, have better equipment, and better training.....that I tend to push too hard and over run myself. That all goes along okay and I can hang with them based on experience and attitude...until there is a bump in the road and them my little train goes off the tracks.

Mark

Edited September 4, 2010 by MichiganShootist

[Flexmoney]

Thanks Brian. (and all)

Those are good insights.

I think that since many of the people who are my "competition" are 30 or even 40 years younger, faster, have better equipment, and better training.....that I tend to push too hard and over run myself. That all goes along okay and I can hang with them based on experience and attitude...until there is a bump in the road and them my little train goes off the tracks.

Mark

Truly, the competition is only between you and the course of fire.

One mental hurdle is thinking about others and...especially...assigning them attributes (in relation to yourself).

Shoot the course of fire. Shoot your game.

[MrBorland]

I'm late to the party, but I struggle with some of the same issues as the OP; namely, consistency during a match. Typically, 2 go very well, 2 go ok, and 2 are flat-out bad. I've been encouraged by the good and tried to figure out what I've been doing "wrong" so I can eliminate the bad.

But, this approach hasn't been working, and recently had an epiphany: The "keep the very good/get rid of the bad" approach is fundamentally flawed because they are 2 sides of the same coin - lack of control and mental focus. Some stages only appear to go well because, although I'm unfocused and out of control, I happened to get lucky. Huzzahs from well-meaning shooting buds abound, I actually believe what I did was good and what I need to be doing more of. But the bell curve is symmetric, so on other (usually longer) stages, my "luck" runs out and others agree with me that it was "just one of them things".

It's like a skier careening down a slalom out of control - if he makes it, he's told he's a good skier. He begins to believe it, too, so he stays out of control. When he later crashes, people offer their condolences for his "bad luck".

The epiphany, then, is that I nor the skier will get much further by eliminating the "bad" while trying to do more of the "good" (which only appears as good), because it's an attempt to plot only one side of a bell curve. A better approach would be to seek the center of the curve. As Brian pointed out, I think the path forward (for me, at least) is to regain control and seek the center of the curve by backing off a bit and seeing more.

Tom

[benos]

Thanks Brian. (and all)

Those are good insights.

I think that since many of the people who are my "competition" are 30 or even 40 years younger, faster, have better equipment, and better training.....that I tend to push too hard and over run myself. That all goes along okay and I can hang with them based on experience and attitude...until there is a bump in the road and them my little train goes off the tracks.

Mark

Truly, the competition is only between you and the course of fire.

One mental hurdle is thinking about others and...especially...assigning them attributes (in relation to yourself).

Shoot the course of fire. Shoot your game.

As my best friend Rondy would have said, "There ye go!"

One of the hardest hurdles to overcome is to allow yourself to shoot your own game - for each course of fire.

be

[co-exprs]

I don't feel as though I really know a stage untill I can close my eyes and visuallize the entire stage from buzzer to show clear. Each routine, the footwork, each taget picture and.... easy/hard target status. During my walk through I classify each target as easy/hard or high consiquence/low consiquence. Hard tagets get hard focus and extra attention when breaking the shot. usually, there are only a couple of hard or high consiquence targets to deal with. It might be a 20yd 8" plate, or target crowded by no-shoots. Whatever the case, by the time the buzzer goes off, I have the course the target status so memorized that I only need to replay it in my head. This allows the band width to think about shooting that tougher target properly. This can be practiced by simply putting an especially difficult target into your practice array. Be sure to mix that difficult target into your speed target array to force you to slow down and make your hits. Everyone tanks a stage from time to time. Even the best GM's. If you are observing a specific pattern though, it should be relatively easy to correct.

[Steve Anderson]

How do you feel before you tank?

And how do you feel after?

Do you crash right away, middle or late?

I may know what the problem is...

Edited February 6, 2012 by Steve Anderson

[dravz]

How do you feel before you tank?

And how do you feel after?

Do you crash right away, middle or late?

I may know what the problem is...

Self-image? He expects to tank?

[Grunt]

So is this just what I should expect as an aging shooter, or an issue of having a Senior moments...

I don't want to minimize the impact of age on anything we do. Yes, youth does have its benefits in this area. But, every time I want to lean on that as a reason for not performing well I have to remember Ken Tapp. That guy could shoot. He was about your age and made regular appearances in the top 16 of major matches. Not bad for an "old" guy.

Grunt

[Sin-ster]

I'm going to talk about what I like to call the "F&*# it" moment, and how it's helped me over the years (in all sorts of competition).

Every stage I've ever tanked, I have been "pressing" to some extent or another. It is by far and away the most common in the first stage or two of a match. I came up with a lot of "answers" (excuses?) in the beginning-- still a little sleepy, it was still cold before the sun had really warmed things up, I was rusty and needed to get the feel of the gun, etc. All of that changed when I shot a few local matches and turned in some of my best performances on the opening stages-- which coincidently were some of the most difficult.

It hit me then that this really wasn't anything new for me. City/District/State swim meets, District/State/Regional/Sectional/National baseball games, or any competitive atmosphere to which I assigned excessive importance (hot girls in the stands, people I wanted to impress watching, friends on the rival team, etc.)-- I was commonly prone to screwing up early on and then coming on strong.

So I quickly realized that for me, it truly was a mental matter-- but not one of low intensity or lack of preparation/visualization. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

I look back to some of those matches/games/meets and realize that at one point in time or another, I (quite literally in many cases) just said, "F&*# it"-- and things started to turn around. The match is tanked-- whatever, let's just have fun. I'm blowing this Major on the first two stages-- whatever, I paid my money and these stages are awesome, let's go out and enjoy ourselves. Invariably, my best performances have come out of those moments-- or in the rare instances where I wasn't pressing to begin with.

One of the last seasons I played baseball at a highly competitive level, I saw in one of the younger guys on my team the same things that had been hampering me. He was pressing, he would screw up, and he would press even harder and get frustrated. Unlike me, he was never able to recover. I dropped some of my "F&*# it" knowledge on him; he began to turn things around. Over 5 years later, I saw him again in a social setting; he told me that my advice was the most helpful that he'd ever received, and that carrying that over to similar situations had really helped him out. Not only was he performing better, but he was enjoying himself more as well. That meant a lot to me-- and I'm kind of sad to say that I forgot my own advice at some point in time along my own path...

It's not a matter of "not really caring" about your performance; trust me, that's a physical impossibility for me. The key is to be as relaxed as possible, without apprehension or tension, and the confidence to know that you can perform to your expected level on demand and without question, if you'll just let yourself run that way. I identified the factors which put me into that "pressing mindset", and it boiled down to performing well in the eyes of others in most cases. What I realized is that the expectations were MINE, and not theirs-- I've got no one to really impress during a match but myself, and I'm my own biggest critic more often than not! The issue was one of my own making, and the notion that it was exacerbated by other people who might be watching was nothing but an illusion.

The "F&*# it" solution is not the true answer; you're better off to start out relaxed and confident. However, it does seem to be a great stepping stone into understanding that feeling. As Brian and spanky have suggested already, just go out and shoot your next match. Get your plan, visualize it and lock it in-- and then just go have fun with it. See if it doesn't make a difference in your performance!