How do we catch the GM's?

[big daddy]

WOW what a great thread. I too am in the large B class pool and have made it my goal to see A class this year. I have been putting a plan together of how to make that happen and this thread was the right thing at the right time. In the 3 or 4 years I'v been a member of this forum this has been the most inspiring thread I'v seen......THANKS!!!!!

[ramirezerwin]

quit your job, practice everyday

[Flyin40]

One simple word has come to mind everytime I see this thread but just never posted it. Its very simple......

"Decide"

Flyin

[GrumpyOne]

Catch them in their sleep, with a very big stick!

[Stuck in C]

Have enough dedication or interest to set aside sufficient time to practice, and have a career that allows it. For instance, one small group I know who have all made master or "A" are self-employed consulting engineers that have blocked out one afternoon a week for shooting practice-it's part of their schedule. I also know a couple of doctors and dentists who take an afternoon off a week to practice shooting instead of the historical doctor's golf afternoon-even though the rest of their work schedule is long and tough. It comes down to what you decide to do with the time you are given.

[HS101]

Catch them in their sleep, with a very big stick!

Every time I see this thread come up, I think "ground snare in front of a port"

[konkapot]

Making GM is hard.

Making GM and then being competitive as a GM is even harder.

Human nature is to avoid hard things, particulary when your life might already be full of hard things. Work, commute, finances, kids etc etc.

Ultimately, it sometimes comes down to someone saying "Instead of watching an hour of television, I'm going to dryfire."

Or "Instead of spending $x on x, I'm going to take a class from Manny."

A lot of it, frankly, comes down to choices.

Travis Tomasie gets a lot of support from the Army. "Support" is putting it mildly, of course.

That's not what made him the shooter he is; what made him what he is is the staggering amount of very hard work that he did long long long before the Army entered his life.

Long before Mr. Leatham became TGO he was practicing his butt off, loading his own ammo, raising kids, working, driving to work, paying rent/mortgage etc. He started about where we all did.

Scott Springer (who posted in this thread) has a kid AND owns his own business. He ain't no slouch as a GM.

Choices and hard work.

FY42385

[j1b]

Had an interesting conversation last night with some friends over cocktails and a nice fire.

For those that don't know, my daughter is 17 and bound for college in 18 months. Our friend's daughters both are out of college. So the discussion was around a big college versus a small college, and a close college versus a college further away. I'm setting all of this up so we can contemplate that conversation and understand does it apply to IPSC, life, sports etc. etc.

My end conclusion is that successful people get to where they are at because of who they are. Not where they are. I've said a good number of times that the common characteristic in the people who've climbed Everest rarely lies in the path the took. It lies within the individuals themselves.

The big college teaches people one thing. Different, but regardless they learn the reality of college and life. The small college teaches more substance. More hands on. In both environments, a person determined to succeed will succeed. In fact, I believe the people choose their place to do battle with their best interest at success at heart.

I think I've always believed this. I've always believed I controlled my success. And as I think back at all the things that have played into posts I've made - I believe my thought process has evolved and changed as my environment has evolved and changed. Subconciously I've done this to best insure I can see the success I want. So in shooting, some time frames in my life I've been brutally hard. Other times, drastically less so. All adaptive to how I know I can best change to get where I want. Likely all to help me prioritize.

This is at the root of this discussion around how to get to GM status, or area champion status etc. etc. Those that are going to get there almost don't have a choice. Their nature almost won't allow it to not happen.

I find this topic pretty interesting.

As I was thinking about some stuff the other night I came to the realization that I still believe I can win any match I enter. That if an Area match is on the horizon, I'll do what I need to in order to be able to win. I don't always. I do rarely. But in my inner being, I just believe I can get there. Same with nationals. My last nationals was 13 years ago. 13 years!!! But I believe that I can get myself to a point of very high competitiveness. Honestly, I still believe I can win one.

Whether I can, can't, will, or won't almost doesn't matter. I believe I can. I believe it's there. And I believe every shooter that placed in the top 20 last year likely has that same type of belief.

To me that can almost identify the defining characteristic. Very few will actually ever get there. Again, I don't know if that matters. Its those that believe they can that show us how amazing the sport can be.

J

[j1b]

Making GM is hard.

Making GM and then being competitive as a GM is even harder.

Human nature is to avoid hard things, particulary when your life might already be full of hard things. Work, commute, finances, kids etc etc.

Ultimately, it sometimes comes down to someone saying "Instead of watching an hour of television, I'm going to dryfire."

Or "Instead of spending $x on x, I'm going to take a class from Manny."

A lot of it, frankly, comes down to choices.

Travis Tomasie gets a lot of support from the Army. "Support" is putting it mildly, of course.

That's not what made him the shooter he is; what made him what he is is the staggering amount of very hard work that he did long long long before the Army entered his life.

Long before Mr. Leatham became TGO he was practicing his butt off, loading his own ammo, raising kids, working, driving to work, paying rent/mortgage etc. He started about where we all did.

Scott Springer (who posted in this thread) has a kid AND owns his own business. He ain't no slouch as a GM.

Choices and hard work.

FY42385

Very well put.

J

[kimmie]

This is a great thread. This is an INSPIRATIONAL thread because it relates not only to shooting but to LIFE. I will read this often. Thanks

[lugnut]

Makes me realize I should be dry firing right now... bye.

[spook]

How fast you shoot depends on how fast you can see.

How good you become depends on how much you love the game.

If you truly love it, you will never want to stop improving. You'll enjoy figuring ways out to improve your weaknesses and improving will be on your mind all day.

If Al Bundy (well, Ed O'Neal) can become a BJJ Black Belt, then anyone with enough dedication can become a GM.

99.99% of the reasons people don't make GM are mental/motivational (which easily translates to laziness, but in the end, you just don't want to enough).

At least, that is my experience.

[JeremiahD]

Bump to an old thread.  The first two pages are pure gold.

[UpYoursPal]

How do you catch a GM?

 

Simple: set a bear trap on the firing line!

[stick]

On 2/23/2010 at 7:10 PM, Ron Ankeny said:

Well yea, if there is some physical reason that would prevent one from performing. I am certainly no GM shooter, but I did experience a time when I could depend on high M to middle of the road GM scores on classifiers, and I have a lot of problems.

Drive and dedication trump talent in my book.  As my dad once said "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, It's the fight in the dog."  How bad do you want it?