No.343 Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 ...is the worst thing that ever happened to my shooting. My head is now full of expectations. I am in a strange funk that I can't pull myself out of, so I now find myself trying to get out of it while shooting. I am frustrated. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cy Soto Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 This might be the perfect opportunity to dust off that copy of "With Winning in Mind" by Larry Bassham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimo-Hombre Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Toss out the card. Go to a different club and sign up as a non uspsa new shooter. Go shoot idpa. Go shoot clays. Pick up archery. Learn to ride a unicycle. Perspective amigo.... Get some! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimo-Hombre Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Didn't mean to sound flippant... Just that most would agree that wanting to do good or meet expectations never helps performance. When I'm pissed about my shooting it helps so much to go do something else, something difficult but that I have no performance expectations in. Reminds me what it feels like to just DO and with interested focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROY NEAL Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Get even crazier........try getting it in 2-3 more different divisions and seeing if you have the skills to actually shoot that class versus the real GM's...................You either have the mental strength to continue shooting or you don't........too many rush to try to get an "A" card or an "M" card thinking that is what will make them happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No.343 Posted September 9, 2013 Author Share Posted September 9, 2013 Didn't mean to sound flippant... Just that most would agree that wanting to do good or meet expectations never helps performance. When I'm pissed about my shooting it helps so much to go do something else, something difficult but that I have no performance expectations in. Reminds me what it feels like to just DO and with interested focus. No problem. When I read the post I wondered if riding an unicycle was fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No.343 Posted September 9, 2013 Author Share Posted September 9, 2013 Get even crazier........try getting it in 2-3 more different divisions and seeing if you have the skills to actually shoot that class versus the real GM's...................You either have the mental strength to continue shooting or you don't........too many rush to try to get an "A" card or an "M" card thinking that is what will make them happy.I wanted an "A" card and I was happy to get it. Then one day I checked my scores and saw that I was bumped. I think I will dust off my copy of Bassham's book and change my press over to 40S&W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facelessman Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Same thing happened to me last year. Started practicing alot, the M card showed up out of nowhere. Figured I better start practicing for real. 6 months later, GM card showed up... thought, oh shit, I REALLY need to practice now... I definitely felt the "pressure" at that point, but kept at the practice since that's what got me there in the first place. I try not to have any expectations of myself, and just shoot my game. Anything I think I need to work on, I throw a little bit more of into my practice sessions. Mostly it's mental focus and executing my stage plans. Forget about the little cards and just shoot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hello Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 (edited) Just remember the "M" card has a whole nother class above it. Edited September 20, 2013 by Hello Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coordinator Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Expectations can lead to disappointments. Perhaps you'll get out of your own way and go back to what you were doing i.e. enjoying the ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketCity1911 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 I went through this earlier in the year...trying to go "Master" fast and racking up Misses/Penalties (i.e, not enough visual patience). After getting a bit frustrated, I decided to focus more on accuracy instead of how fast I could shoot. For the first time ever, I shot a major match with no misses or penalties and it felt great! If you are searching for consistency in match performance, I suggest starting with accuracy and getting all the points you can get as a way to relieve your expectations of performing at the "Master" level. You may be surprised at how well you will place and more importantly how good you will feel about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussellM Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Same thing happened to me last year. Started practicing alot, the M card showed up out of nowhere. Figured I better start practicing for real. 6 months later, GM card showed up... thought, oh shit, I REALLY need to practice now... I definitely felt the "pressure" at that point, but kept at the practice since that's what got me there in the first place. I try not to have any expectations of myself, and just shoot my game. Anything I think I need to work on, I throw a little bit more of into my practice sessions. Mostly it's mental focus and executing my stage plans. Forget about the little cards and just shoot... I think this explains Exactly what I am experiencing right now. Having no expectations is a mentally tough thing though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No.343 Posted September 21, 2013 Author Share Posted September 21, 2013 Thanks for the encouragement guys. I have gone back and worked on my accuracy just like you mentioned Rocket. Come to find out that my primary revolver is having some issues. I blew up my previous revolver at about the same time that I got my M card. This replacement is a beautiful gun with a great action, but I didn't see the problems earlier because I had been shooting at short range. I started to do some fifty yard shooting and found that I couldn't keep more than four rounds per cylinder on a USPSA target. I figured that I just wasn't shooting well anymore. Finally, I went to the range with a friend and shot at 100 yards. I was shooting about an eight foot group. Yes, eight feet wide. We swapped guns and I saw that I could still shoot a little bit, but my buddy had the same problem while shooting my gun. I will definitely be talking to the my gunsmith at 150X Custom. He will take care of my sick revolver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketCity1911 Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 Been there, done that with the C-more on my open gun. Glad you figured it out;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMB Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Same thing happened to me last year. Started practicing alot, the M card showed up out of nowhere. Figured I better start practicing for real. 6 months later, GM card showed up... thought, oh shit, I REALLY need to practice now... I definitely felt the "pressure" at that point, but kept at the practice since that's what got me there in the first place. I try not to have any expectations of myself, and just shoot my game. Anything I think I need to work on, I throw a little bit more of into my practice sessions. Mostly it's mental focus and executing my stage plans. Forget about the little cards and just shoot... Spoken like a true GM. I bow to your wisdom. Where you been dude?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 (edited) Huh! Similar thing happened to me. I wanted to make Master bad. I worked real hard and trained more than I had before. I really ripped a few good classifiers and got bumped to Master. It was anti-climatic for me though. I felt that I really needed more skills than I had to be a real "Master". I think the better I get the more I need to improve... it's outright torture. The realization came that I just don't have the time (or want to?) to balance my life and pursue GM. My first Area match was a complete blow up... last Master by a whole lot. Made me wonder if I still enjoyed it like I did before. What was my next goal now? Pressure is self induced and shouldn't come into play but it does no matter how hard you try to ignore it. I did a lot better at my last Area match and that felt good. The M card means less than I though it would honestly... I just need to to the best I can and enjoy the sport I love. I think I'm in a good place now. For the time being I'm sticking with my division and will do what I can to improve. Let the cards fall where they may... and always enjoy life! EDIT: And Cy Soto- I actually did pick up my Bassham books shortly after I made Master... too funny. Edited September 24, 2013 by lugnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No.343 Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 I feel the same way about pursuing GM. I don't think that I can/want to work for it. Instead I am focusing on individual skills. Right now I want to be good at shooting on the move with a revolver and shooting good fifty yard groups. I can't just shoot matches. I have to have a goal. I went for a while without one and it took the fun out of shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facelessman Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Spoken like a true GM. I bow to your wisdom. Where you been dude?? ha! Decided to lay off the local matches as much this year and spend more time practicing. I shot 49 matches total last year, and while I had improved alot, it was the practice that did all the improvement. As soon as I stopped treating locals as practice... I had also gotten away from mt biking, and spent more time earlier this year back on two wheels. I've shot a couple locals recently, and the local 3gun matches at TRC, but not much more. Got IPSC and USPSA Production nationals around the corner, so I'm in full bore practice mode now. I see several types of "persuing GM" or "working towards making master" comments, and that's where you can set yourself up for disaster and disappointment. Work on all of your skills individually in practice, then just shoot at matches. The best matches I've had were the ones where I was able to really execute my stage plans. The shooting just happened. Obviously, the little mistakes happen, and those I try to take note of those for AFTER the match. I try not to think about the shooting itself during the match. It's definitely a mental challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Spoken like a true GM. I bow to your wisdom. Where you been dude?? ha! Decided to lay off the local matches as much this year and spend more time practicing. I shot 49 matches total last year, and while I had improved alot, it was the practice that did all the improvement. As soon as I stopped treating locals as practice... Dude you are crazy. 49 matches is hard core. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_Seehawer Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Spoken like a true GM. I bow to your wisdom. Where you been dude?? ha! Decided to lay off the local matches as much this year and spend more time practicing. I shot 49 matches total last year, and while I had improved alot, it was the practice that did all the improvement. As soon as I stopped treating locals as practice... Dude you are crazy. 49 matches is hard core. They were just club matches.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facelessman Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 They were just club matches.... Looking at the spread sheet, it was a bit much. Almost two matches every weekend can be shot here in Tucson alone. Add all the stuff up the road at Rio, and you can even shoot a match during the week. 5 majors and a few state level matches, the rest were just club matches... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnhhuber Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 I am not near Master yet but I did have a similar issue when I won a few club level matches. All of a sudden, instead of wanting to do well, I felt I was obligated to do well. This took a lot of the fun out of shooting for me. I overcame this by reminding myself that I was not obligated to win, and thus my only desire was to shoot my own match at my current level of training. The day I am able to run a perfectly clean match and execute my plans with smooth speed will be the day I reach my main shooting goal regardless of the final results. "The wise man never reaches for the great; thus he achieves greatness. When he runs into difficulty, he stops and gives himself to it. He doesn't cling to his own accomplishments; thus problems are no problem for him." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris iliff Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 (edited) I made Master this summer in Open. It jacked with me a bit. Just like making A did, and B before that. I think we are the types that place expectations on ourselves. This is a good thing IMHO, as long as we keep it in perspective. This allows us to "make" that next goal. The "magic fairy shooting dust" is what we did to get here. Hard work. We will continue in it, that's all we can do. Besides, it's fun!! Edited September 29, 2013 by Chris iliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malarkey Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 I'm right there with you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmooberry Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Wow! This was a great thread to resurrect. I'm just a lowly A, but I've noticed that I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself to bump up to Master, and now, I have a heck of a time shooting an A level classifier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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