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being an idiot


fmiller

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So... for the second time in a row I was DQ'd at my 'first' match.

 

Which is fine... When I decided to take this up (50th birthday midlife crisis kind of thing) I resolved to treat it as a Zen 'the-journey-is-the-destination' thing. There's a lot to learn and these things take time. And the DQs were "just" forgetting rules (I mentioned "idiot" right?). It's not like I had a tantrum or hurt someone.

 

BUT

 

What I've found, both times out, is that when the first stage buzzer sounds my mind goes completely blank and I end up simply forgetting to engage all targets.

 

I do the walkthrough, make a plan, watch what others are doing and evaluate their strategies against my own... I think I'm doing all the things.

 

But then I'm DOING it and can't remember my last name... let alone my fantastic plan.

 

Can any of you give me some tips? 

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32 minutes ago, fmiller said:

 when the buzzer sounds my mind goes  blank

 

Experience ...    Practice ....

 

Try "dry firing" at home - set up an El Presidente -

practice drawing, turning and firing 2 shots per target,

and then reloading and firing 2 more shots per target.

 

That's you plan - execute it.

 

Then, add movement into your dry firing exercise.

 

Then, make the scenario more complex - more targets

and little movement.

 

This will get you remembering your plan ....

 

By your 3rd month, you'll be a pro.

 

In the meantime, if your mind goes blank, just remember

all  the safety rules - they're all that matter in this sport.

 

Don't worry about speed - speed doesn't exist if your

mind is blank.

 

Just take your time, watch your muzzle, and hit the

targets as you remember them.

 

No reason to be DQ'd just because you're slow or

looking around, as long as you don't break the 180.

 

Good luck with it    :) 

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A DQ is usually for breaking the 180 rule or another similar safety violation.

So you were DQd for failure to engage?

As another senior, my motto is "slow is the new fast".

Easy to do a brain dump at the buzzer, we all (most at least) have done it.

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First of all understand that the RO is looking out for you and the rest of the squad. It's all about the safety.

I don't think you mentioned why you were DQd. If it was a 189 violation you need to get conscious of where you are pointing the gun and where the 180 is at all times. If it was for having the finger in the trigger guard while moving, loading or clearing a malfunction that is a habit you have to break. Those are the two most frequent reasons I've had to stop new shooters.

Regarding brain dump. I'm also a 50+ aged shooter and have shot hundreds of matches...it still happens. What I do especially on complex stages is get a plan and lock it in. It may not be the best plan, but I commit to the plan. Then all I have to go is execute the plan. Here's the deal, a poor plan well executed will beat a great plan poorly executed every time. So figure out where all the targets are, where you need to post up to shoot then, reload while you are moving between positions as necessary.

As a new shooter, first focus on safety. Then find all the targets and get hits. Do not worry about speed or how fast anyone else is shooting. Make you plan and shoot your plan. Don't try to keep pace with the hot rods.

Finally, have fun. This is supposed to be fun!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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As far as stage planning and forgetting a target, Chalee has a very comprehensive post in here on the topic. Search how to break down a stage, or something along those lines. Even if you only take away one or two things from it, well worth the read. After a few more matches, study it again. No one can overdo fundamentals, which I think stage planning falls into. 

 

When I see someone FTE a target it's usually due to an overly complex plan. Stage planning is a skill that has to be learned. If you can't execute a plan every time with your mind almost on autopilot, the plan itself may need some tweaking. Just my $0.02. 

 

 

Edited by Part_time_redneck
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On 5/28/2017 at 4:20 PM, fmiller said:

Can any of you give me some tips? 

 

With the limited amount of details given, here are my tips:

1.  go slow & safe at matches.  There's a lot of information your brain is trying to process and trying to go faster than what you can process leads to problems.  

2.  LOTS of practice (dry & live) until safe gun handling is part of your nature.  

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Thanks for all of the feedback!
 

One thing I feel I should make clear is that I don't resent the DQs at all; these were all totally my fault.

 

And, since we ARE playing with live ammunition, I figure the RO is doing me a favor by preventing me from having to live with hurting someone.

 

The DQs themselves don't really have much to do with the brain dump thing. The first was a 180 violation on a stage that began facing uprange. Literally the first time I'd ever tried that, and I drew too early.

 

The second was even dumber. I entered the box with a magazine in the pistol. Just plain dumb. Another mag holder on my belt would have prevented it, I just went into autopilot while loading and put the magazine... well.... where magazines go...

 

Anyway, it looks like the gist of what I'm hearing is that I need to slow down and stop trying to be John Wick....

 

Thanks!

 

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2 hours ago, fmiller said:

  since we ARE playing with live ammunition, I figure the RO is doing me a favor by preventing me from having to live with hurting someone.

 

That's the kind of attitude we LOVE in this sport ....    :wub:

 

And, yeah, only a few John Wicks around (Not Me) ....

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I just finished both reading this book and listening to the audio book version on a long drive from SOCAL to NORCAL. Lots of good ideas and concepts to help develop the mental side of shooting:

 

http://brianenos.com/shop/shoppractical-shooting-beyond-fundamentals/

 

Summed up in the words of Yoda:

 

"Do. Or do not. There is no try"

 

Basically stop trying or thinking and just do.

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My first year in pistol I shot IDPA. I really wanted to shoot in a sanctioned match and had to classify 3 times to make MM. Once I accomplished that I shot 2 or 3 local matches and the last one before the sanctioned match I got DQed for the 180. Looking back now I realize that I had more experience with the classifier than shooting actual match stages. Anyway the DQ really stung but worse yet I got another DQ at the sanctioned match.

 

Like you OP I put the blame on the dude in the mirror but it was still a bitter pill to swallow as I didn't want to get a bad reputation. I really considered giving up on competition all together. What I did do is I backed way off, switched to a different division, did a lot of dryfire drills with particular emphasis on where exactly the 180 is at all times, and I made a big effort to really slow down and enjoy the time on the range not try to be a star.

 

It was 10 months before I reentered competition, that was two years ago. I now have a totally different outlook on things, a lot of empathy for beginners and I have learned to put speed in it's proper place. I'm getting to the point where I'm actually starting to make some progress.

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Stage planning is an advanced technique over all the safety considerations.  What I mean by that is, don't worry about executing even the simplest of plans while dealing with a safety issue.  

Turn and draw for example.  Turn after the buzzer.  Then execute your stage plan.  

Eventually, like when you are classified D and ready to try for C you can start to worry about executing "stage plans."  (btw, that "trying to execute stage plans" NEVER goes away!)

Until then, if you have to do something backwards from most other shooters just ensure you don't DQ then so be it.   If you rack up 3 FTE's then it's no big deal.  It's what you had to do to ensure you finished, safely. 

 

When I first started I ended a few plans early because I had not gotten enough mags on my belt yet.   I still had fun and called myself "the perpetual D classer" because I never really cared if I purchased enough mags and holders.  I also never anticipated shooting a gun other than my sub-compact Glock 26.  I was just having fun!

 

Oh how things have changed over the last 14 years!

 

Have fun, and don't put pressure on yourself.  Stick to the safety plan over the strategy plan, and your 'first two' matches will be nothing but a distant memory.

 

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I've only shot a couple matches so far (my first was May 28th, the day you originally posted) but I have started each one saying to myself, just keep the muzzle downrange. Being a new shooter my goal is #1 to not get a DQ. On Sunday my girlfriend texted me and asked how it was going. My reply was I didn't get DQ yet and someone else did, so I'm not last. Dude not only broke the 180 rule but almost made us all dive for the ground. Like half the squad was like stop! stop! stop! He was a rightie and started to the right and had to run back to the left. It was at that moment that I made sure I started by running far to the left at start so that there was almost zero chance of breaking 180. On every other stage I just kept repeating gun downrange to myself. I'm sure I was a bit slower because of it, but I make it to the end and wound up shooting the last stage in the top 25% of all shooters. Nothing gives you reason to come back like feeling great about the last stage.

 

Being new sucks because you see just how fast others are, but I just tell myself that I need to run my own pace because I could kill someone if I f*ck up. I was faster this last Sunday than I was my first match and I was more accurate too. During the week I ran around my apartment engaging targets, practicing reloads, and making sure I had to run backwards and not break 180. I'll do the same this week as well and with any luck the drills and skills class I'm doing this next weekend will help even more.

 

Anyway, don't give up and just go at your own pace and have a simple goal to start. Hope you've gotten to shoot again and had a much better result.

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If it's really your first match then my advice is stop trying to win.  You can't.  Instead, focus on completing the stage and shooting all A's safely.   Judge yourself by your accuracy and not by the timer.   The times will come later.

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Seriously run the stage at half speed. Not half of the speed demons out there. Half of YOUR speed. Consider every movement before you make it.

 

Focus only on accuracy and safety, and let the timer be irrelevant.

 

A good example: on your first turn-and-draw, rather than getting DQd you should have chosen the safest possible route: "I'm not even going to touch the gun until I've turned all the way around!"

 

Drawing that early tells me you were busy trying to keep up with the jones's.

 

Edited by MemphisMechanic
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  • 1 month later...

A 2nd finger violation is another DQ that will get you in IDPA and although nobody ever noticed, I used to walk around my office while indexing my finger on the side of my stapler and making sure that it was always pointed at the same wall (berm).  LOL

sneaking in some practice time.    :rolleyes:

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On ‎5‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 4:20 PM, fmiller said:

So... for the second time in a row I was DQ'd at my 'first' match.

 

Which is fine... When I decided to take this up (50th birthday midlife crisis kind of thing) I resolved to treat it as a Zen 'the-journey-is-the-destination' thing. There's a lot to learn and these things take time. And the DQs were "just" forgetting rules (I mentioned "idiot" right?). It's not like I had a tantrum or hurt someone.

 

BUT

 

What I've found, both times out, is that when the first stage buzzer sounds my mind goes completely blank and I end up simply forgetting to engage all targets.

 

I do the walkthrough, make a plan, watch what others are doing and evaluate their strategies against my own... I think I'm doing all the things.

 

But then I'm DOING it and can't remember my last name... let alone my fantastic plan.

 

Can any of you give me some tips? 

have you considered the technique I refer to as "being a man"? it requires you to focus and get the job done instead of being violently shaking and nervous like a virgin on her wedding night....highly recommend you try it

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On 5/30/2017 at 6:36 PM, fmiller said:

Thanks for all of the feedback!
 

One thing I feel I should make clear is that I don't resent the DQs at all; these were all totally my fault.

 

And, since we ARE playing with live ammunition, I figure the RO is doing me a favor by preventing me from having to live with hurting someone.

 

The DQs themselves don't really have much to do with the brain dump thing. The first was a 180 violation on a stage that began facing uprange. Literally the first time I'd ever tried that, and I drew too early.

 

The second was even dumber. I entered the box with a magazine in the pistol. Just plain dumb. Another mag holder on my belt would have prevented it, I just went into autopilot while loading and put the magazine... well.... where magazines go...

 

Anyway, it looks like the gist of what I'm hearing is that I need to slow down and stop trying to be John Wick....

 

Thanks!

 

When facing uprange  on start position, turn toward what ever side your holster is on. You can't pull out too early then. With practice it is just as fast and right now "fast" should not be a priority.   Be safe, smooth, and accurate.  Speed is the last thing to add to the formula, besides some "speed" will come with time.

Edited by StuckinMS
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My first few "solo" matches (without a buddy guiding me), I took a notebook and pen to each stage during a pre-match walkthrough.  I would walk the stage several times, making notes, then actually wrote down my stage plan.  Then I moved to the next stage and did the same.

 

During the match, I would review my written stage plan during the 5-minute walk-through before the squad started shooting.  Some times my plan matched up with how others shot the stage...other times it didn't.  But, I stuck to my plan rather than trying to change things up at the last minute.

 

After getting a few more matches under my belt, I no longer write down my stage plan, unless it involves several memory-type shots....then it's simply "shoot 5 targets at this area, 4 targets here, 2 here, etc.".

 

I've always been a fan of "plan the work, then work the plan".

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