"Day After" frustrations

[Gordian]

Above all, DO NOT look at just the match problems; concentrate on what you did well and if you can't dryfire/practice then visualize shooting well at your next match.

Yep.

Concentrate most on what went right - because that's what you want to keep doing. Focusing on the negative tends to lead to more negatives. Of course, you shouldn't completely block out the bad - habit need to be corrected, and problem areas do deserve more attention. But that attention needs to always be on the right way of doing things, not thinking about how not to do something.

Very good advice! And if you can't practice with a gun at all there are still a couple things you can do - here's some food for thought.

First - exercise and stretch. Try to be as physically ready for the match as you can. For me this often goes out the window when I travel.

Get yourself a hand exerciser and bring it with you. A stronger/firmer grip never hurt anybody.

You can practice sight drills with a pencil. I think that Max mentions this on one of Saul's 3GM videos. If I remember right, hold a pencil pointed side up at arms length and practice snapping your vision between a distant "target" and the close "sight" of the pencil lead.

Practice the mental game - concentration and/or meditation and practice visualization.

You can also practice Burkett's movement drills with a plastic water bottle. Concentrate on moving in and out of position - not so much shooting on the move at this level of development...

Hope you have a great match!

[SA Friday]

Information overload. We all go through it until our fundamental shooting skills are solidified and subconscious. Just shoot and have fun with it. See each shot, feel each trigger press, go on to the next stage forgetting the crappy runs and reliving the good ones.

[Dwain C. Baer]

Information overload. We all go through it until our fundamental shooting skills are solidified and subconscious. Just shoot and have fun with it. See each shot, feel each trigger press, go on to the next stage forgetting the crappy runs and reliving the good ones.

Very well stated! Some days as I see each shot, feel each trigger press and go onto the next stage - I can still have issues . But there are days when everything lines-up properly and all is good in my world .

[Golden Bear]

Lighten up. The shooters you see at the match blazing through the course hitting all A's have all been putting in the time, you will get there at your own pace. Relax, have the patience to see each shot break as an A, forgot about time, and enjoy yourself.

You get better (hits and speed) with practice, until then, get your hits. You'll lose more with fast misses than you'll ever earn with hits (fast or slow).

Front sight focus, perfect trigger press, repeat.

Throughout the entire match, there's only one shot that matters: the one you are making right now. Don't worry about the previous shot; that's already past. Don't worry about your next shot; you're distracting yourself from that one that counts (the shot now). Focus on making this current shot the Perfect Shot.

Line up your sights on target. Focus on the front sight. See the serrations on front sight. Get a sharp focus on the top edge of the sight. See with perfect clarity the edge of the fiber optic or white dot. Pick whatever reference point works best for you, but see your front sight with absolute clarity.

Perform the perfect trigger press. Press straight back. The front sight doesn't move. You got your hit. Repeat.

Then remember, hey, this is supposed to be fun. Ya shoot your gun. Ya hit whatever ya hit. Don't worry about it. Go to the next stage and have some fun with that one, too.

[NewColonial]

For those playing along...

Got back in the States last weekend and made it to the range a couple of times. We can only put targets up against berm and move back to shooting distance. I put up 2 targets at varying separation, and also a 10" round steel plate. Used the plate to start and/or stop to practice wider transitions and slowing down. Did mostly 20-25 yard strings. Concentrating on watching front site and smooth trigger movement. Very happy with the results; hitting A's 90%+ of the time. To me, it doesn't seem like I'm shooting any slower than I did at last match. Intellectually, I know I must have been snatching the trigger and not watching the sight, but in my memories I don't see it.

I'm actually looking forward to Area 8. I know things will change once they throw in the timer, barricades, constricted lines of sight.... My goal is to shoot accurately, not fast. (Yea, that's what they all say.) And of course have fun. Strategy is to start and end each stage with a smile. I just keep telling myself how easy the following matches will seem in comparison. :-)

Hope I get to meet some folks from BE forums this weekend!

[Seth]

I'll be easy to spot, come say hi! Fat, bald guy on ATV with Cigar in mouth OR fat bald guy busting his ass to fix something sweating profusely.

[NewColonial]

Well, Seth was right. I didn't win.

Just want to thank everyone here on BE who offered advise and encouragement. I had a great time at Area 8. No "Day After" frustrations today. I think I slept less last night than I did the nights before the match. I'm still psyched up about it! I went in just wanting to make my hits and I'm very happy with the results. (Okay, maybe I hurried just a bit.) My best stage saw 23 A's, 3 C's. And there were stages where in couldn't hit a durn thing. Shook it off and moved on. Kept reminding myself, I'm not going to win, I'm not even classified so it really doesn't matter, just have fun.

Of course, now I'm looking at all the other gear I just must have, as my wife rolls her eyes; competition belt, bigger range bag, portable seat... Someday I'll even rank one of those cool nascar shirts with my name on it. :-)

Seriously, thanks again for all the tips. I look forward to "passing it forward" to another new guy someday.

[Chris iliff]

The gear and stuff never ends, get use to it. Glad to hear you had a good time and gained some bigtime match experience.