The Thrill Is Gone. Struggling to find the fun.

[JesseM]

I started shooting competitions about 3 years or so ago. I went to a local IDPA match and then tried a local USPSA match and I thought it was fun so I kept going to them casually. Casually in the sense that I didn't go to every match; I let other social functions take priority ususally.

Then it reached a point where I started going to most of them and then I started going to all of them and sometime around the start or middle of last summer something clicked and I went from just showing up and having fun to actively working to improve, I got competetive, I wanted to win. I went from 15% up to 53% at my peak.

I think part of it was people were noticing my improvement.... there isn't a lot of competiton at my local IDPA club and I started consistently placing near the top of the scores and I would overhear people asking how I shot a stage and people would come up and ask me what my time was on a stage and I started thinking "Maybe I don't suck." And some shooters much better then me told me "You could be winning matches if you'd do blah" and so it went from "fun" to "This shit is serious business."

And whle I kept making progress and advancing in scores it kept being fun. But something happened the last few months. I went to my first major USPSA match in May, got a bit psyched out by all of the much better shooters surrounding me and I had some personal drama going on the home front that distracted me so I shot the worst match I've shot since I started shooting.

And since then I've had the yips. It's like I forgot how to shoot accurately, any target past a certain distance all I'm doing is making noise when I pull the trigger. I have a few A & Master shooters giving me advice, some of it conflicting. One told me "Give me an afternoon and 200 rounds and I can fix you." One of them telling me I need to dry fire and shoot more. I can't afford the ammo to shoot more.

It's a hobby, it used to relax me but now it stresses me out, I worry about what's the quickest way to shoot a stage, I worry if my sight alignment is right, if I'm shooting too quick, if I'm not shooting quick enough, etc. This thing I started to do for fun is getting very very close to becoming a chore... and if it starts to be too much work I'm going to eventually reach a point where I say "screw this" and stop doing it. I'm not there yet but I'm close, very close.

I've told a few friends that I think I need to take a few months off so I can find the fun again and they all make the threats of "If you do that you'll never get better." but I think they're missing the point.

So what do you all do? Should I take a break?

[Chaser_2332]

There is no need to continue to do something that isn't fun to you, however taking a break might be just what you need to make it more enjoyable. I wouldn't let a match with some more experienced shooters discourage you from pushing on and trying to get better. Most of the time once you make that breakthrough you will be very glad you did.

[toothandnail]

Take a break

[Lifeislarge]

Go shoot a match, and literally walk through every stage making certain that you score 100% of points. Make it a bullseye run and just try to enjoy the feel of the gun and the joy of precision marksmanship. You know you can hit the targets, go prove it to yourself.

Or buy a new gun.

[lugnut]

You know what you need to do with regards to a break or not. That's easy. What you need to do is figure out WHY you like shooting and how to deal with the "obstacles" that many of us deal with.

Clearly you like the sport and shooting... and you DO like the recognition. So don't a lot of us. You need to put goals together as what you want. Is it just fun for you? Do you want to be competitive but don't know how far you can go?

It's hard to figure it out. You get to a level then it seems to become work. I've always found that if I try to focus on gradual improvements and not how I do relative to others I really LOVE shooting. Easier said than done though.

I have some friends that quit because they can't compete at the levels they want. They are competitors for sure but they aren't shooters if they can just walk away....

[blaster113]

sometimes shit on the home front will take the starch out of our hobbies. I suggest taking a short break, maybe do some recreational shooting with one's favorite non-competition firearms like a 10/22, M1 Garand etc then go back out and shoot a match.

As for stage performance you have to be focused to do proper stage breakdown. Talk with the more experienced shooters during the stage walk through and get ideas. Then try to focus on getting your hits. Most USPSA targets are in the 10-15 yard range. I fall into the accuracy first camp; you can't go fast if you can't hit what you're shooting at so focus on getting A's. As for speed try to shoot just fast enough to get 90% A zone hits. Any slower then you're going too slow, any faster then you run the risk of dropping too much points due to penalties or marginal hits. Speed will come in time and you can push yourself to go faster once you know you can get your hits.

I think all of us have gone through burn out phases

[grapemeister]

Take a break! I've been there, done that! In the mean time watch the movie, Peaceful Warrior.

While taking the break there is nothing wrong with going out to the range and doing a little group shooting. But, go by yourself, and preferably when nobody else is around. You know, like a slow Monday morning. Just group shoot about 20 or 30 rounds, and enjoy every shot with no expectations. Just be there in the moment.

I have an extra copy of the movie I picked up at Goodwill for a couple of bucks. If you'll PM your address I'll send you my extra copy. You may have to watch the movie 2 or 3 times to really get the lesson, but it's well worth it.

[B_Seehawer]

I get the homefront thing dude. I have a non-supportive spouse that hasn't helped me out much. I'd love to take my shooting to the next level but the best I will ever be is "club hero" which is well under where I would like to be.

The thing that keeps me going?

My wife isn't there. When the buzzer goes off, it's my time...

[Racer377]

I get the homefront thing dude. I have a non-supportive spouse that hasn't helped me out much. I'd love to take my shooting to the next level but the best I will ever be is "club hero" which is well under where I would like to be.

The thing that keeps me going?

My wife isn't there. When the buzzer goes off, it's my time...

Heh. I keep telling myself I could at least make GM if I got divorced. Maybe even BE a GM.

OP - if you need to take a break, take a break. But, consider this, maybe you just need to take a break from the performance expectations you put on yourself?

From personal experience, when I have expectations I don't meet, I get pretty pissed.

[NoSteel]

I'm not that good (C class) and I know it!!! I continue to go to matches because I enjoy shooting and being with the friends / family I have there also.. I have participated in other activities where it got to a point where it wasn't fun anymore and walked away.. Never have felt that way about shooting, but my personal goal is to just have a good time and shoot safe.....

[coordinator]

Some expectations can lead to disappoinment. Another movie worth watching is Bagger Vance.

The joy of shooting is still there, you may have to search deeper to locate it.

It's still a hobby, until you tell your self that you're there to win the gun.

[dfwmiket]

Take a break; I did, for 3+ years......and now I shoot now and then; enjoy it, but it's still not the "way it used to be"........ remember, as you and everyone said.......if it ain't fun, don't do it.

====

[kneelingatlas]

Two things I see repeating in this thread: take a break and shoot all As; it sounds like you love shooting so option B might be what I suggest, but if trouble on the home front has to do with money, A might be more prudent. I think either will help made it more fun.

[Sean Gaines]

I started shooting competitions about 3 years or so ago. I went to a local IDPA match and then tried a local USPSA match and I thought it was fun so I kept going to them casually. Casually in the sense that I didn't go to every match; I let other social functions take priority ususally.

Then it reached a point where I started going to most of them and then I started going to all of them and sometime around the start or middle of last summer something clicked and I went from just showing up and having fun to actively working to improve, I got competetive, I wanted to win. I went from 15% up to 53% at my peak.

I think part of it was people were noticing my improvement.... there isn't a lot of competiton at my local IDPA club and I started consistently placing near the top of the scores and I would overhear people asking how I shot a stage and people would come up and ask me what my time was on a stage and I started thinking "Maybe I don't suck." And some shooters much better then me told me "You could be winning matches if you'd do blah" and so it went from "fun" to "This shit is serious business."

And whle I kept making progress and advancing in scores it kept being fun. But something happened the last few months. I went to my first major USPSA match in May, got a bit psyched out by all of the much better shooters surrounding me and I had some personal drama going on the home front that distracted me so I shot the worst match I've shot since I started shooting.

And since then I've had the yips. It's like I forgot how to shoot accurately, any target past a certain distance all I'm doing is making noise when I pull the trigger. I have a few A & Master shooters giving me advice, some of it conflicting. One told me "Give me an afternoon and 200 rounds and I can fix you." One of them telling me I need to dry fire and shoot more. I can't afford the ammo to shoot more.

It's a hobby, it used to relax me but now it stresses me out, I worry about what's the quickest way to shoot a stage, I worry if my sight alignment is right, if I'm shooting too quick, if I'm not shooting quick enough, etc. This thing I started to do for fun is getting very very close to becoming a chore... and if it starts to be too much work I'm going to eventually reach a point where I say "screw this" and stop doing it. I'm not there yet but I'm close, very close.

I've told a few friends that I think I need to take a few months off so I can find the fun again and they all make the threats of "If you do that you'll never get better." but I think they're missing the point.

So what do you all do? Should I take a break?

you can!

or you can shoot a different division, makes you think of scenarios differently, and it may make spark something there. One of the best breaks from Limited shooting was switching to open division, I saw a lot of things that I wasn't doing in my limited game, and made me a better shooter because of it. you might give it a try.

[BillR1]

I started shooting competitions about 3 years or so ago. I went to a local IDPA match and then tried a local USPSA match and I thought it was fun so I kept going to them casually. Casually in the sense that I didn't go to every match; I let other social functions take priority ususally.

Then it reached a point where I started going to most of them and then I started going to all of them and sometime around the start or middle of last summer something clicked and I went from just showing up and having fun to actively working to improve, I got competetive, I wanted to win. I went from 15% up to 53% at my peak.

I think part of it was people were noticing my improvement.... there isn't a lot of competiton at my local IDPA club and I started consistently placing near the top of the scores and I would overhear people asking how I shot a stage and people would come up and ask me what my time was on a stage and I started thinking "Maybe I don't suck." And some shooters much better then me told me "You could be winning matches if you'd do blah" and so it went from "fun" to "This shit is serious business."

And whle I kept making progress and advancing in scores it kept being fun. But something happened the last few months. I went to my first major USPSA match in May, got a bit psyched out by all of the much better shooters surrounding me and I had some personal drama going on the home front that distracted me so I shot the worst match I've shot since I started shooting.

And since then I've had the yips. It's like I forgot how to shoot accurately, any target past a certain distance all I'm doing is making noise when I pull the trigger. I have a few A & Master shooters giving me advice, some of it conflicting. One told me "Give me an afternoon and 200 rounds and I can fix you." One of them telling me I need to dry fire and shoot more. I can't afford the ammo to shoot more.

It's a hobby, it used to relax me but now it stresses me out, I worry about what's the quickest way to shoot a stage, I worry if my sight alignment is right, if I'm shooting too quick, if I'm not shooting quick enough, etc. This thing I started to do for fun is getting very very close to becoming a chore... and if it starts to be too much work I'm going to eventually reach a point where I say "screw this" and stop doing it. I'm not there yet but I'm close, very close.

I've told a few friends that I think I need to take a few months off so I can find the fun again and they all make the threats of "If you do that you'll never get better." but I think they're missing the point.

So what do you all do? Should I take a break?

you can!

or you can shoot a different division, makes you think of scenarios differently, and it may make spark something there. One of the best breaks from Limited shooting was switching to open division, I saw a lot of things that I wasn't doing in my limited game, and made me a better shooter because of it. you might give it a try.

This!! Now and then at local matches, I'll take out my CDP gun and compete with that. It does make you have to plan different reload spots and keeps things fresh. I usually get asked about it..."Why are you shooting the .45 today?" I reply..."Cause it's fun!"

[JesseM]

I wanted to clarify two things, the trouble on that home front was just an argument between me and the woman that happened the day before my first major match so it was distracting me during that match and only that match; everything is fine on that front now. It was just that argument being in my head along with my nerves about it being my first major match got to me and I did so poorly there I might as well not shown up. I didn't even get a damn match shirt, they were all out. (Seriously why did you ask me what size shirt I took if you were going to give it away anyway?")

And as far as the money thing I'm doing fine I was just saying that I can't afford to shoot as much as these A, M and GM guys do and tell me that I "need" to shoot in order to get better.

As far as shoot all As... I have been trying to do that and failing miserably. At my match yesterday I told myself to go as slow as I need to in order to get hits and I still had one of the shittier scores in recent memory. I seemed to be better when I just shot as fast as I could.

There was a time when I could keep all of my shots inside a 3" circle at 15 yards, not exactly great but for me that was good. Last week I put some new sights on my Glock house gun and was sighting them in to make sure they were adjusted properly and I was struggling to even make a group at 10 yards. My accuracy seems to be degrading the more I shoot matches.

I used to not give a crap about the scores of a match but now I can't help but feel shitty if I don't do as well as I think I should or as well as everyone tells me they think should.

Edited October 7, 2013 by JesseM

[kneelingatlas]

My accuracy seems to be degrading the more I shoot matches.

I say take a month off, then come back with some dry fire until it feels good again, then static targets until you can keep ten shots inside a 4" circle at 10 yards again.

"Take two of these and call me in the morning"

[MarkCO]

I have been right where you are like 5 times.

Here is some "advice". First, put your shooting into perspective within your life. Is this your hobby, your escape from the rigors of the daily grind, where you place your self worth, a competitive outlet, the most important thing you do, your camaraderie fix...? Why are the scores important to you? Once you have your shooting "boxed" it might be easier to set goals and decide what you need for yourself.

I have had a few GMs tell me I could be a GM if only... well, with life, family, business, kids, career...that "if only" in terms of time and money was never attainable. So I had to ask myself how good is good enough? Do I want to specialize or generalize? Is there a combination of factors that will end up killing the fun or competitive drive in my shooting?

So, no, I have not answered your question. I would not be so presumptive as to believe that I know you or your personality enough to give the answer you seek. But I hope if you will sit down with a piece of paper, a pen and a close friend who knows you, you can prioritize and figure out what shooting is to you and then take a path that is better for you that where you currently are.

I took a big step back and looked at my shooting earlier this year. I had to be honest with myself and realize I do this for several reasons, and none of them have to do with ever winning a major. That sacrifice is not worth it to me at this point in my life. Then I had to asses my skillset. I paid for a class with Manny Bragg and spent time writing down my priorities, goals and the paths that had to be followed to get there. I missed one of my 3 short term goals, so I retooled and pressed on. But I am generally shooting better, enjoying it more, caring less about placement and getting out of my shooting exactly what I want.

I just filled of my shooting goals last Saturday, but it is on a topic banned on Enos.

Anyway, Best wishes!

Edited October 7, 2013 by MarkCO

[Tacticalk9]

Go to a 3-gun match and kiss "not having fun" goodbye.

I never went to another uspsa match after my first 3-gun match

[GrumpyOne]

I say shoot a different division. Find a stock snubby and shoot revo with it. You KNOW that whatever you do, there will more than likely be someone ahead of you that you cant possibly catch. At that point, you are shooting for the fun of it again...

[Mark R]

You want all the fizzle to come out of your shooting...take on being a Match Director for a few years!

[jayjay1]

I have only one gun, that I kept longer than five years.

All the others had to go after a while.

I have only two calibers, which I´m shooting longer than five years too.

A new caliber, including reloading, is always like a new competition for me.

I often change disciplines, shooting hand guns and rifles.

Did long range shooting, pistol precision, shot gun on "running" bunnies and hogs (steel plates), bought me an AR15 for plinking, then mounted a scope and did some serious 500m-shooting with it, got into IPSC, started with production, actually I´m in Standard (Limited in the US I suppose).

Two months ago I bought a cheap old Swiss army rifle (IG11), stripped it, cleaned it, compounded it again and was curious what I can make with it, iron sights on 300m.

I do a disciplin and get bored after a while, maybe two years, a bit earlier or later, then I see something different and want to try it.

Actually I´m a little bored with perfect sport guns which almost hit the ten allone.

So I´m thinking about to get me an old and crappy pistol, with a big caliber, to look what I can make with it.

Next time a Glock in 10mm Auto or something equal comes my way....

Some shooting buddies of me, who started with me, are shooting the same disciplin with the same weapon since 15 years or so.

They don´t understand me and shake their heads (so do I).

For whom do you shoot?

For your fun, or for the acceptation of the people around you?

In my opinion you take to much care of that, what the others around you say.

If you are shooting to achieve other peoples expectations, you take yourself under pressure.

Can´t be fun in my opinion.

I don´t care.

If I´m shooting competition, it is like a big party for me.

Where else can you shoot such nice stages in such a short time?

I did what some here said, tried to get 100% Alphas on an IPSC - match.

I was veeeery slow, but every Alpha was like a win for me, I laughed a lot that day.

What do you think what the others said?

And what do you think? Did it bother me?

Shoot only for you and for your fun.

Smile about the others.

And if you think you should take a brake, well, do it.

What can you lose?

If shooting stresses you, it is no fun, then it is work.

I wouldn´t work in my free time.

Hum, eventually I leave the Glock and go for a .454 Casull , umph, what do you think?, seems that I have to come a really hard decision, but well, a little Peacemaker or the Ruger Vaquero look pretty nice too, ....

Edited October 7, 2013 by jayjay1

[JesseM]

Go to a 3-gun match and kiss "not having fun" goodbye.

I never went to another uspsa match after my first 3-gun match

There really aren't any near me that I'm aware of. I went to York but that's 3 hours there.

[Sarge]

You want all the fizzle to come out of your shooting...take on being a Match Director for a few years!

[frag316]

Dude, if I were you, I'd probably take a break.

I had that issue at the end of last year. I put a lot of unrealistic expectations on myself and wound up really hating shooting for the last couple of months. I went shooting with a good group of friends, but it just stopped being fun for awhile. The off season was probably the best thing that happened to me last year, because I might have given up completely if it hadn't rolled around when it did.

Take up another hobby for a little bit. Shoot a rifle or clays or take up golf. Do something that takes the same level of focus for you, but apply it differently. Maybe after you walk away from it for awhile, you can come back to it and enjoy it enough to perform where you want.