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1st stage nervousness ...how to shrug it off?


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On 10/28/2016 at 7:33 AM, SCTaylor said:

No personal offense, but his advice is crap! If you want to shoot consistently, why in the world would you do something different on the first stage? And then different on the second?

 

 

 

Because the first stage is different than every other stage for a lot of people. It is human nature to have increased anxiety at the beginning of any competition/performance. If/when you can get past the start of event nerves then I see what you are saying. 

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23 hours ago, IHAVEGAS said:

 

Because the first stage is different than every other stage for a lot of people. It is human nature to have increased anxiety at the beginning of any competition/performance. If/when you can get past the start of event nerves then I see what you are saying. 

 

All I mean is, channeling Steve Anderson, we have one job to do once the timer sounds.  Leave only acceptable shots on target.

 

I prepare for the first stage the same as the last. Overall, the only difference is how comfortable I am with the gun going boom. Mental prep, walk through, gear checks, pre-run routine should all be the same. Your speed at which you perform the greatest isn't going to change on match day, so do not try to control speed.

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I find that during a match, my first couple of stages aren't as smooth as the remaining stages. I.E. I "get better" over the course of the match.  I don't think it's due to nervousness...but more so just getting into a rhythm of sorts.  I think that I need to find a spot before the match where I can possibly do some drills or some live fire just to knock the rust off.  Anyone else feel the same?

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I find that during a match, my first couple of stages aren't as smooth as the remaining stages. I.E. I "get better" over the course of the match.  I don't think it's due to nervousness...but more so just getting into a rhythm of sorts.  I think that I need to find a spot before the match where I can possibly do some drills or some live fire just to knock the rust off.  Anyone else feel the same?
For me its a combination of both.....more relaxed, less nervous and just trigger time getting into the groove.
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On 8/2/2017 at 5:46 PM, IHAVEGAS said:

 

Because the first stage is different than every other stage for a lot of people. It is human nature to have increased anxiety at the beginning of any competition/performance. If/when you can get past the start of event nerves then I see what you are saying. 

 

It's not something you should worry about "getting past".  It's something you should embrace.  Used properly it is a performance enhancer.  If seen as a negative, it will manifest as such.

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/27/2012 at 9:25 AM, humanoid said:

I seem to always make a stupid mistake on the 1st stage. Sometimes it costs me a procedural or points down. I am fine after that. What do you do to shrug off those beginning of the match jitters?

I like to think those jitters are why I enjoy the sport, its the competitor within. Rather than shrug them off, I acknowledge them and then double down on my focus and visualization. 

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  • 3 months later...

 

On 8/6/2017 at 2:06 PM, theWacoKid said:

 

It's not something you should worry about "getting past".  It's something you should embrace.  Used properly it is a performance enhancer.  If seen as a negative, it will manifest as such.

 

This is deep but I agree. I also slow down I little on the first stage of a match. Probably not the best advice since I'm a newbie. Not that I walk it but I like to have a pretty solid run. Most of time I mess something up but for the most part the first stage is a positive experience because I get the warm up in that one is not allowed before USPSA matches.

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  • 2 months later...

I've also experienced such negative emotions, no matter what is the number of the stage. When I manage to relax my mind and not think so much about what I have to do, my mind does not sabotage the body activity anymore. The martial arts breathing help me too.

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I get 1st stage jitters as well esp when I'm the first guy called up in my squad. For me, I do the stage walk-thru making mental checks of mag change points and order of engagement, get to the line when called. Get the LAMR command, nice slow pace here, taking some deep breaths, focusing only on what I'm physically doing which works out to be a little distraction to the targets waiting downrange, sorta like a meditation moment. Holster my gun, keeping my hand on the grip so the RO knows I'm not ready as yet.

 

I close my eyes, take a couple deep breaths while mentally visualizing myself engaging only the first target(s) (this only takes like 3-4 sec so I'm not really holding up the squad). Let go of the grip, shake 'em loose so they're not tense and hang my arms at my side, indexing the butt of my pistol on my forearm while staring down at my first target, my brain and muscles on the verge of triggering at the very split second that beeper goes off. "Shooter ready? Standby!" BEEP! Snatch pistol out of holster, run to target if required, raise pistol up to my eye line and because I'm already staring down at my target, my sights should naturally come up in line, then engage the first target as I'd pictured and hopefully my natural instincts kick in for the rest of the stage, engaging and mag changing as I'd rehearsed mentally during the walk-thru. It sounds like a long and drawn out process but it actually isn't. All those little mental distractions keeps my brain busy working and not focusing on the part of me that's got the jitters. This works for me and can't say it'll work for anyone else.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I don't really believe in new age techniques, but I have had some success with meditation and breathing exercises. Even 3-5 minutes seems to help center me. There's a cell phone app called Insight Timer that is free and fairly helpful. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Once I hear I’m in the whole I start to try and do controlled deep break breaths and try and calm myself down. Then I’ll tune everything out and do a mental first person visualization .ohmce I’m on deck and the range is being reset I’ll do one last walk through . Once up during make ready I’ll tell myself to relax and just see my sights and Dont “Hero” and be consistent.  I think a lot of the nervous will go away the better your visualization and once you find your own pre stage ritual. 

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On ‎8‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 9:27 AM, dsu96 said:

I find that during a match, my first couple of stages aren't as smooth as the remaining stages. I.E. I "get better" over the course of the match.  I don't think it's due to nervousness...but more so just getting into a rhythm of sorts.  I think that I need to find a spot before the match where I can possibly do some drills or some live fire just to knock the rust off.  Anyone else feel the same?

 

So here's what I'm doing to combat this issue in dryfire.  When I start my dryfire, I do about three "warm-ups" where I draw on a target and pull the trigger 6 times.  Then I move directly into my dryfire drills.  Mentally, I'm telling myself "I've warmed up" and I expect 100% performance from myself after the warm-up.

 

At matches, I do virtually the same thing at the safe table - draw on a target and pull the trigger 6 times as fast as I can, for 3 reps.  Again, mentally I'm telling myself I'm warmed up - no excuses.

 

It works pretty well for me.

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  • 1 month later...

I used to feel super rushed on the first stage for some reason. I think all the mental preparing the day before and the morning made me feel like I had to go to 0-60 really quick. I started just slowing it down and readying myself at a good pace before the start of the first match.

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  • 2 months later...
On 7/28/2012 at 7:52 PM, ncopenshooter said:

The best thing I've done for first stage jitters is that the odds are better than average that everything on that stage, you've done. Therefore, it's simply doing the individual parts again. Endlessly walking the stages, doing it the day before, etc. is garbage and there are a number of the top shooters that would agree. For me I like to treat each stage as a new event. The progression I follow is:

- Read the stage description, round count and what I can and can't do (are there any goofy starts or stage requirements)

- Walk the stage. Find all the shots. No strategy, just confirm the number of shots required to the targets on the rang.

- Walk the stage. Strategy walk through. Find where you want to be, where to reload, etc.

- Walk the stage. Last time. Visualize all target positions, where is hardcover, no-shoots, partials, etc.

- Sit back and visualize shooting the stage and unless there's a tight or complex portion/position, don't walk it again. You've done it enough at that point, no point potentially building anxiety.

Hope that helps.

I think that's not how the brain works. More walk-ins, less anxiety. The more times you visualize it, the less anxiety. 

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On 4/27/2012 at 4:19 PM, jdphotoguy said:

I find some draws and dry fire at the Safety Table before the match starts to help. USPSA is odd in that you can't really warm up like other sports. In golf you can hit the driving range and putting green, but in USPSA you start cold.

 

I had never thought of that, but it is odd.....

 

I shoot a lot of sporting clays and most tournaments will have a skeet field or, more commonly, a five stand setup for people to shoot a quick warmup round before their squad is up.

 

I know bay space is limited, but surely most clubs with a little imagination can come up with a small, safe setup to warm up with some steel

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On 3/10/2019 at 7:01 AM, elguapo said:

 

I had never thought of that, but it is odd.....

 

I shoot a lot of sporting clays and most tournaments will have a skeet field or, more commonly, a five stand setup for people to shoot a quick warmup round before their squad is up.

 

I know bay space is limited, but surely most clubs with a little imagination can come up with a small, safe setup to warm up with some steel

 

Some major matches will have a bay set aside (usually with an RO for safety) for function checking guns, confirming zero, warming up, etc. 

 

I’ve never seen this at a club match. Most matches locally, if there was an open extra bay, I’d rather have an extra stage instead of a warmup bay. 

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  • 5 months later...

They go away with experience. At some point you'll get confident enough to not have so many worries. Swingers used to cause me jitters and once I became proficient they were just like a static target and I wasn't concerned. The more rounds you throw down range and experience you get the less you'll worry! 

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I try to keep things around me light, regardless of the match, just enjoy what you are doing.  

Walk the stage as many times as you need to get a good plan in place and follow that plan.

Most shooters are going to be a little nervous, but just relax and have fun.  I usually have a

saying that I use to focus on the stage plan and that is "Relax and Concentrate".  Enjoy the

freedoms we have to shoot.......

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I like to remind myself that everyone else has to shoot their first stage of the match too. Sometimes I just want to survive the stage and sometimes I want to set the bar- I've found that always being in attack mode yields better results than being in a 'hope' mode. 

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