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Memory stages are hard for me


bigboy69

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The answer is easy the work is not, if you want to get better at memory stages, practice them, set-up a stage in your house, walk it and visualize it until you have it perfect then. Then do it again another 10,000 times, but make sure to practice it perfectly, so as not to develop any bad habits.

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memory stages are hard for everyone, but the better you get at memorizing/visualizing stages in general, the better you will get at the annoying memory ones. When I first started my visualizations were like "go there, shoot 3 targets and 1 steel, then go there while reloading, shoot 4 targets", etc....

Now I try to see each target array from the shooters perspective, including the hardcover, noshoots, etc..., and spacing between targets, and how it's going to look when the target first comes into view as I come into a position with gun up, etc...

When in doubt, I try to simplify. I'd rather do an extra reload than have a complex plan and forget a target.

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Shooters who have difficulty with memory stages also have difficulty with remembering a stage plan for a normal stage. If you don't put dedicated effort into memorizing the stage plan for every stage then you will always struggle with memory stages. Basically if you are lazy with remembering stage plans the more trouble memory stages will be.

The simple answer is to quit being lazy with your stage planning in general.

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Shooters who have difficulty with memory stages also have difficulty with remembering a stage plan for a normal stage. If you don't put dedicated effort into memorizing the stage plan for every stage then you will always struggle with memory stages. Basically if you are lazy with remembering stage plans the more trouble memory stages will be.

The simple answer is to quit being lazy with your stage planning in general.

For a normal stage I can memorize fine, I can't do it in 2 minutes time, but I can memorize it. I put a lot of time and effort into memorizing the stages.

When it's a major shoot I am there the day before watching shooters and walk the stages for a couple hours after. Local shoots I get on the stages as soon as allowed and walk them til the last minute.

I don't think I'm " lazy" with my stage planning at all. Everyone processes things differently and picks up on things differently.

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Relax and free your mind from those bills you need to pay on Friday and the fact that your truck is overdue for a tire rotation. Place no unnecessary stress on yourself, as that robs energy from what's needed to memorize and execute what you memorized. And then put quite a bit of energy into that memorization during the time you have for it. It helps a lot if you spent some portion of your life in memorization-intensive activity. If not, develop it now.

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quit being lazy

I don't think I'm " lazy". Everyone processes things differently

I always have a tough time processing complex stages as well, but usually do

as you do - get there the day before, or spend as much time as possible trying

to figure out the stage. :bow:

One stage, at Frostproof, defeated me - I spent an hour the day before looking

at the stage, and NEVER figured it out. :surprise:

Couple of other stages, I'm proud to report, I figured them out a bit better than

most of the other shooters, but it took me a lot of work/thinking to do it. :closedeyes:

Now that I'm 71 years old, it's getting a little harder each year. :ph34r:

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Shooters who have difficulty with memory stages also have difficulty with remembering a stage plan for a normal stage. If you don't put dedicated effort into memorizing the stage plan for every stage then you will always struggle with memory stages. Basically if you are lazy with remembering stage plans the more trouble memory stages will be.

The simple answer is to quit being lazy with your stage planning in general.

For a normal stage I can memorize fine, I can't do it in 2 minutes time, but I can memorize it. I put a lot of time and effort into memorizing the stages.

When it's a major shoot I am there the day before watching shooters and walk the stages for a couple hours after. Local shoots I get on the stages as soon as allowed and walk them til the last minute.

I don't think I'm " lazy" with my stage planning at all. Everyone processes things differently and picks up on things differently.

The best plan of attack in breaking down memory stages is to first figure out the required shooting positions to see all of the targets. There will always be required shooting positions to engage specific targets so those positions need to be identified first. Once you have figured that out then you can break down the engagement order of targets within each position so you are not double engaging targets or missing targets.

Where I see most shooters fail in memory stages is that they are more focused on the engagement order of targets and ignore the shooting positions. This results in missed shooting positions and an incorrect engagement order of targets.

As pointed out before, this process of locating the required shooting position and engagement order of targets is no different than a non-memory stage. If you are deploying the same methodical process in breaking down the stages then memory stages stop being an issue.

Lastly, how often do you setup a memory stage to figure out and shoot in practice? If you are not practicing this skill then how good do you expect to be on match day?

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""Lastly, how often do you setup a memory stage to figure out and shoot in practice? If you are not practicing this skill then how good do you expect to be on match day?""

Unfortunately I don't have access to set up stages anywhere. My practice would be local matches. That's why I didn't know if brain games etc would help.

""Where I see most shooters fail in memory stages is that they are more focused on the engagement order of targets and ignore the shooting positions. This results in missed shooting positions and an incorrect engagement order of targets.""

Yes. I try to find the positions first and then figure out the order. But i think I'm always too worried about missing a target so then I end up shooting them more conservative?

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Don't need the order. Just like "4, 3,1, 3, 3" -meaning the number of targets in each array/position. That's first walk-through. Sometimes can get your reload spot in there, too. Definitely get that on second walk-through. On third walkthrough refine the targets in your mind-no shoots, swinger, open targets, make sure your round count is correct. Then you just go through and know how many targets each position after the beep. High-Power Jack pretty much summed it up. Experience helps. Can't shoot conservative-not sure what that means. If you don't know where your shots are, doesn't matter if you miss a target.

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Lot's of good advice in here. I hate'em too. Because of that, when I find one in a match, I work the heck out of it, until it isn't a problem. Major matches are less of an issue, because I always come the day before to walk the stages, On club matches......I do my best, but usually lean on Scott Stockton!!

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Shooters who have difficulty with memory stages also have difficulty with remembering a stage plan for a normal stage. If you don't put dedicated effort into memorizing the stage plan for every stage then you will always struggle with memory stages. Basically if you are lazy with remembering stage plans the more trouble memory stages will be.

The simple answer is to quit being lazy with your stage planning in general.

This....and don't change your stage plan when you are making ready because you saw someone else do something that you hadn't planned.
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One obvious things actually could ting the targets you are seeing and make sure the number you get jibes with the walk through.

Memory stages are not my favourites but 12 man squads beetling all over the stage and a 2 to 5 minute time limit, you may not get more than one look at the presentation.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I like to say "there is no such thing as a memory stage." This is just another way of saying what Cha-lee says about not treating them any differently.

I don't remember anything for a memory stage other than what each shooting position looks like and do my best to come up with a plan that doesn't involve passing over any targets to engage later. If you have to see a target later that must be passed over I've found it helps to pass it up the 2nd time rather than saving it for later. This might be a built in fail safe since there are holes in it the 2nd time to give you a clue to skip it.

At any rate... work on not memorizing anything for a memory stage and you'll find they are just stages that take a bit longer to plan than the shorter ones.

It works... I can't remember the last time I forgot something on a memory stage. :)

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One obvious things actually could ting the targets you are seeing and make sure the number you get jibes with the walk through.

Memory stages are not my favourites but 12 man squads beetling all over the stage and a 2 to 5 minute time limit, you may not get more than one look at the presentation.

This is what kills me. Crowded squad milling around and rushed to take a look.
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That does not happen if you show up early and walk the stages before the match starts. If your first time looking at the stage is during the 5 minute walk through then that is your first problem to resolve.

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The more complex a stage. the more you need to make your attack simple.

It's easy to go to a memory stage and get confused trying to game out the positions. Most times it is better to try to break the stage down to its simpler form. If it means taking fewer targets or a harder shot to keep from blowing by a target you may be better off with the simpler solution. As you gain experience you will learn where you can cut corners, take chances or pour on the gas.

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  • 1 year later...
On 3/8/2016 at 11:35 PM, CHA-LEE said:

Shooters who have difficulty with memory stages also have difficulty with remembering a stage plan for a normal stage. If you don't put dedicated effort into memorizing the stage plan for every stage then you will always struggle with memory stages. Basically if you are lazy with remembering stage plans the more trouble memory stages will be.

The simple answer is to quit being lazy with your stage planning in general.

That's very true.

I know this first hand.

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