theycallmeingot Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I just shot my first ever USPSA match. This is the first time i've even shot in the company of anyone other than close relatives at our backyard range. in preparation for the match, i dryfire practiced, and practiced quick reloads with empty mags. i conciously told myself that i really should get some dummy rounds and practice the reloads for weight, and also the mags go in the gun different when they're full. wouldn't you know it, the very first stage, first reload, i failed to seat TWO mags. off to a pretty bad start, i thought, but it's my first time... who cares? since that first stage, which i remember vividly, i gave up on trying to be good. i was new, and that's about as good as i could perform, i told myself. i was so focused on planning my courses of fire, and trying to do everything by the rules, especially when it came to safety, that i had no mental capacity to worry about how well i was going to perform. another thing that kept my mind occupied was keeping busy stickering targets. we shot 6 stages that day. the first one, i remember, and i did pretty poorly. the latter 5, i have absolutely no recollection of. The only reason i knew i had shot each stage, was i was out of bullets. Picking up brass and magazines, i could hear the RO calling out the shots: alpha alpha, alpha alpha, alpha charlie, alpha alpha. at the end of each stage i was surprised to find not only had i just been on autopilot for the last 30 seconds, but i actually shot pretty well. This is the first time in my adult life i've been involved in a "competetive" sport, so this is all new to me. Is this autopilot a correct reaction to the pressure and adrenaline? i can't help but think if i were actually "concious" during the stage, i would have goofed it up somehow. i'm not the type to be very nervous, by nature, so i expected to be nice and calm during a stage. what i didn't expect was to be done with it, and ask myself "how did i get here?". it really is a weird feeling. i also can't help but think that because it was my first match, and i had no expectations of myself, it made it easy to let go and perform better. i can only imagine that it will be that much harder to get my head into (or out of) the game next time without flooding my brain with expectations and causing me to overthink and sabotage my performance. i am sort of a competetive person, as well, so i wonder if this, in and of itself will hinder my performance? just seeking advice from the people who know. on a side note, my first match was a lot of fun. i'm definitely hooked on the sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaster113 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Welcome to the sickness. Its entirely normal to have high expectations for ones self, especially if you have experience with firearms already. Dont beat yourself up if you mess up a stage or a match cause that will just eat you up and affect your performance. Just do the best you can and learn from every match. Watch the good shooters closely. Footwork, stage planning, and definitely ask lots of questions. Most of us will gladly help a new shooter out. Most of us males are competitive animals by nature and it manifests itself during a competive sport like the one we play in. Stick to the basics like shooting accurately (mostly A's), getting your stage planning down, doing smooth reloads and most importantly shooting safely. The speed will come eventually. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast or something like that. Dont get caught up in the speed thing, just shoot within your ability. Regular dry fire and live fire practice sessions will help immensely and before you know it you'll be climbing up the ranks of the classification system. If you can afford to take a class or two from a pro then that will help alot too. I'd take classes if I didnt have to fly 6-10 hours one way to get to them. Good luck in your adventure . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38superman Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Welcome. The best advice I can give is don't worry too much about the score. With time and practice that will take care of itself. Just focus on safe gun handling at first. When that becomes second nature, start thinking about bullet placement and knowing exactly where the round went as soon as you break each shot. Speed will come with repetition. Just go as fast as you can as still get your points. Everybody has a plan until the buzzer goes off. After that, you're running on adrenaline and muscle memory, .... for now. After gaining some experience, you will realize that you enter a time warp when the buzzer sounds. Your perception of time will alter. You will be moving and shooting faster,but the game will seem to slow down. You find yourself thinking more during the stage, and not just going through the motions. Until then, you will make every mistake in the book. Learn from it and have fun. Tls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarozzy Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I was I a top swimmer in the nation during college (30th 5 years ago), I have experienced your " autopilot" many times. By practicing you are not only trainning phisicaly but also mentally, your body and mind know what to do. Once you get better you can learn to let your body do what is natural (autopilot) but also take control when you need because something went wrong (flubbed a reload) and the turn it back on again. Visualizing the course is not something to take lightly, you do not want to ( for lack of a better word) think while you are shooting, when your mind comes into the mix thing will go wrong. Before a race I would spend a minimum of an hour visualizing a 47 sec race, before a big race (nationals ext.) I would spend several hours visualizing. Visualizing is not just sitting in a corner with eyes closed (even though that is important) it is also working out your course plan, drills, any thing that gets your mind ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theycallmeingot Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 thank you for the replies. for being such a highly competetive sport, there is no lack of people willing to share knowledge and tips. thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OpenDot Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Welcome... I've been doing USPSA for 3 months now and still go through what you just typed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The ROC Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 FWIW... When you're ready, strap on a hat cam, I use a GoPro, and record youreslf in 1st person. Then after each match review it. You'll be amazed at the stuff you did but didn't know it at the time. Even better have someone film you at the same time so you can see yourself whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle O Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Read Sean Gaines thread on this forum called "Food for Thought"! It is a treasure of great stuff! Welcome, you have found the right place on the internet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 The brain is really amazing. I've been shooting for over 20 years in a variety of disciplines, and I can still recall the vast majority of my stages, including all the stages of my first competition. I'd (almost) kill to be able to let go and shoot on autopilot...so take that gift. I'll give you two nuggets of wisdom: Read Enos book, Practical Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals, and Coyle's The Talent Code. I wish I had read these two books where you are at now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBorland Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 i also can't help but think that because it was my first match, and i had no expectations of myself, it made it easy to let go and perform better. i can only imagine that it will be that much harder to get my head into (or out of) the game next time without flooding my brain with expectations and causing me to overthink and sabotage my performance. i am sort of a competetive person, as well, so i wonder if this, in and of itself will hinder my performance? First, congrats on what sounds like a very good start. Yep - expectations are a bitch. Similar story here. My first match was an ICORE (revolver only) match. I had no expectations, and just tried to be as calm, accurate and safe as possible. And wouldn't you know it - I won the match, lol. I came to my next match full of expectations, though, and was very disappointed at the result. In fact, I spent most of the remaining year battling expectations and feeling like I was doing badly. Overthinking might've been part of it, but mostly it was the result of shooting beyond my limit of control because I was focused on meeting my expectations, rather than only on that 1 shot I'm taking now. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris iliff Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 It will flow up and down performance wise over your first several months of competition. Eventually, you'll learn the basics and things will even out some. I say this based on my experience introducing shooters to the sport. Most have very good(beginner wise) first and sometimes second matches. Then along the 3rd or 4th match the wheels start to fall off. I believe this is "expectations" based on the shooters part. Just relax, program your stages, and shoot A's. No expectations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadslinger275 Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Everybody has a plan until the buzzer goes off. This is me in a nutshell!!! Welcome to the sport! Happy shooting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 i also can't help but think that because it was my first match, and i had no expectations of myself, it made it easy to let go and perform better. Shoot every match you shoot with that mindset, and see what happens. If at some point you do not do that, and instead shoot a match with any sort of expectations, compare the results with the "no expectations" mindset. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theycallmeingot Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 i also can't help but think that because it was my first match, and i had no expectations of myself, it made it easy to let go and perform better. Shoot every match you shoot with that mindset, and see what happens. If at some point you do not do that, and instead shoot a match with any sort of expectations, compare the results with the "no expectations" mindset. be just shot my second match. i will admit i had more expectations than before... and i remember a lot more of my stages. but there were definitely times where i still went on autopilot. at one point, i didn't realize i was on autopilot until a hot casing got stuck between my face and my glasses. took me right out of the moment and even made me reload when i didn't need to. i ended up shooting better this match because of other changes i had made; more practice, loading down to minor (was previously shooting full power 45s in production), etc. now that some of that stuff is squared away, i'm going to really try to get into the "no expectations" mindset and see how the results differ. when i first got into this, i had no idea how much of a mental game this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKSNIPER Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Going on auto pilot is what Dave Grossman refers to when he says : "....Now give them a hormone adrenaline dump and the thinking human being exits stage right and the gorilla comes to the party." You practiced beforehand so when you were under stress and couldn't keep all that stuff in your head your brain shoved it out and made the body perform as it was trained to perform. Good job dude! JK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 i also can't help but think that because it was my first match, and i had no expectations of myself, it made it easy to let go and perform better. Shoot every match you shoot with that mindset, and see what happens. If at some point you do not do that, and instead shoot a match with any sort of expectations, compare the results with the "no expectations" mindset. be just shot my second match. i will admit i had more expectations than before... and i remember a lot more of my stages. but there were definitely times where i still went on autopilot. at one point, i didn't realize i was on autopilot until a hot casing got stuck between my face and my glasses. took me right out of the moment and even made me reload when i didn't need to. i ended up shooting better this match because of other changes i had made; more practice, loading down to minor (was previously shooting full power 45s in production), etc. now that some of that stuff is squared away, i'm going to really try to get into the "no expectations" mindset and see how the results differ. when i first got into this, i had no idea how much of a mental game this. Nice work. Stay sharp and stick with it. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmax52 Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 I'm new to the competitive shooting world, but it sounds to me like muscle memory. Same thing for us in the military world. We train,train,train,train,train,train,train,train,train, etc.. then all of a sudden one day the poo hits the fan (buzzer goes off) and you just react. When it's all said and done with you don't remember much, but you're either alive at the end of the gun fight or just shot well in your stage. Just remember though; practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. IE: when you practice make sure you take the time to do it right and when " the poo hits the fan" it'll be right then also. Congrats on your first shoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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