Blowing the match on the first stage.

[Justin]

So, I attended the Superstition Mountain Mystery 3 Gun match this year, and managed to figuratively shoot myself in the foot on the first stage out of the gate.

What really ticks me off about it is that the stage was a pretty straightforward run and gun pistol affair, nothing tricky at all.

What sucks is that I managed to completely blow past a shooting position that had three targets in it; two static paper and one swinger. I'm hoping this isn't becoming a trend, but I managed to do the exact same thing at the post-SHOT Show Vegas 3 Gun match as well.

See the video here:

(Skip ahead to the 28 second mark to see the stage. Evidently I can't use the time tag when embedding video.)

Yep, 45 seconds of penalties on one stage. HALF of the penalties I incurred for the entire match.

So, I'm wondering if this is an issue with my stage planning? If so, what can I do to make sure it doesn't happen ever again?

Edited March 30, 2011 by Justin

[Bsbllrooster]

visualization visualization visualization (repeated for emphasis ) But seriously do a couple walk throughs in your head and really focus on the details of exactly when, where, and how your going to execute whats needed to shoot the stage.

[blaster113]

Did the same thing in a state match a few years ago, had a FTE penalty and two mikes on my first stage. I was the first shooter in the squad, didnt have time to do much of a walk through or visualize the stage. Gotta pay extra attention and focus during the walk through and visualize the stage.

[pjb45]

There was a similar thread about FTE.

I believe your mental preparation is the key. The challenge is to have the mental discpline to execute your mental preparation for each stage.

Mike Seeklander talked about how you shoot a stage via your subconcious not concious mind. So the key is to implant your COF sequence in you subconcious mind prior to shooting it.

Was it the first stage at both matches?

[Justin]

That's the thing that kills me when I think about it.

We got to the match a day early and walked all of the stages. The day of the match, I watched three or so competitors shoot the stage before I did, so it's not like I had a lack of opportunity to walk the stage.

In retrospect, I wonder if I had failed to consider the possibility of walking past that port and making a mental note to remember to go to that port?

Was it the first stage at both matches?

No. At the Vegas match, the stage where I missed a position was the second one we shot, and at SMM3G, it was the first.

[Flexmoney]

What really ticks me off about it is that the stage was a pretty straightforward run and gun pistol affair, nothing tricky at all.

So, I'm wondering if this is an issue with my stage planning? If so, what can I do to make sure it doesn't happen ever again?

I have done that a few times..on stages that I took for granted.

We have to decide to nail each and shot...each and every target. A good way to do that is to build a stage planning routine, and use it.

[CHA-LEE]

I agree with Flexmoney. When I screw up a stage plan the vast majority of the time is because I took the stage, or a section of the stage, for granted and didn't program it fully. Almost every time I do this its because I figured that it was simple enough stage or section of the stage and I didn't need to program it and burn it in. I have reverted to programming every stage to the same level no matter how easy or difficult it is.

Programming a stage plan is just as important as shooting it. Give both aspects the same respect and things will go a lot smoother with less surprises.

[Justin]

Charlie, that may very well be the issue. The stage was a pretty straightforward layout, and one that I figured I could blaze through, so I may have taken success for granted without noting that hammering a target on the right side might cause me to not return to the port near that target.

In retrospect, I think I may have broken this one down into chunks without giving thought to the transitions in between positions.

In any event, while I'm sure the archives are already probably full of this sort of thing, I'd be interested to know how you guys go about planning a stage so this sort of thing doesn't happen.

Under ideal circumstances, the way I plan a stage goes kind of like this:

1.) Walk up to the stage.

2.) Walk through the stage two or three times to get a general feel for the layout.

3.) Look at the stage description, try to memorize how many of each target there is on the stage (e.g. 6 steel, 12 paper, etc.)

4.) Walk the stage again with an eye towards finding positions where I can shoot all of the targets.

5.) This part's kind of fuzzy, but try figure out where I should reload, and maybe refine exactly where I stand. (e.g. stop here at this barrel/stick/stake/prop and shoot what I can see.)

6.) If there's a particularly tricky target, remember that I need to shoot it. (e.g. the short target through the port next to the barrel)

That's kind of my ideal way of planning a stage, though I'm open to suggestions on how to modify my thought process to be more effective. Also, it seems like some guys can walk up to a stage, walk it two or three times, and have a plan down. For me, I feel like I have to walk a stage more like five or six times, and maybe even more if it's a memory stage. Additionally, there are times when I walk up to a stage, give it a walk through or two, and kind of panic. I assume that panicking when walking a stage isn't conducive to good planning, so I've been working to remain calm, and force my brain to look at it logically rather than freaking out and failing to put together a coherent plan.

Regardless, I think that stage planning is one of those things that I might need to apply more concentration to, especially if I can figure out a way to reduce the number of walk-throughs required to get a solid idea of it in my head.

[Justinsaneok]

Charlie, that may very well be the issue. The stage was a pretty straightforward layout, and one that I figured I could blaze through, so I may have taken success for granted without noting that hammering a target on the right side might cause me to not return to the port near that target.

In retrospect, I think I may have broken this one down into chunks without giving thought to the transitions in between positions.

In any event, while I'm sure the archives are already probably full of this sort of thing, I'd be interested to know how you guys go about planning a stage so this sort of thing doesn't happen.

Under ideal circumstances, the way I plan a stage goes kind of like this:

1.) Walk up to the stage.

2.) Walk through the stage two or three times to get a general feel for the layout.

3.) Look at the stage description, try to memorize how many of each target there is on the stage (e.g. 6 steel, 12 paper, etc.)

4.) Walk the stage again with an eye towards finding positions where I can shoot all of the targets.

5.) This part's kind of fuzzy, but try figure out where I should reload, and maybe refine exactly where I stand. (e.g. stop here at this barrel/stick/stake/prop and shoot what I can see.)

6.) If there's a particularly tricky target, remember that I need to shoot it. (e.g. the short target through the port next to the barrel)

That's kind of my ideal way of planning a stage, though I'm open to suggestions on how to modify my thought process to be more effective. Also, it seems like some guys can walk up to a stage, walk it two or three times, and have a plan down. For me, I feel like I have to walk a stage more like five or six times, and maybe even more if it's a memory stage. Additionally, there are times when I walk up to a stage, give it a walk through or two, and kind of panic. I assume that panicking when walking a stage isn't conducive to good planning, so I've been working to remain calm, and force my brain to look at it logically rather than freaking out and failing to put together a coherent plan.

Regardless, I think that stage planning is one of those things that I might need to apply more concentration to, especially if I can figure out a way to reduce the number of walk-throughs required to get a solid idea of it in my head.

I know how you feel. I have only competed once, and blew my first stage. I would have won the match but instead got third place. I'm hooked. I't was a hokey little outlaw IDPA match. I stepped out of the shoot box. That penalty alone cost me the whole thing. I know how it feels.

[GrumpyOne]

Slow down, get your hits. If you had went slower through the stage, and hit everything, would you have done better than the 45 seconds in penalties? You have to learn to walk beofre you can run....Take this from someone still crawling......

[CHA-LEE]

This is my process for breaking down, programming and executing a stage…..

(1) Walk up to the stage and read the written stage briefing. Looking at the WSB before you walk the stage is very important because you need to know how and where to start along with any other special instructions that need to be adhered to. These things have a significant affect on your stage plan.

(2) Get into the start position and then walk through the stage casually looking for the targets and shooting positions.

(3) Once I have located all of the shooting positions on the stage I will then “Assemble” my stage plan in a rough form by shooting position from first to last. If there are multiple ways to shoot the stage I will pick the most efficient plan based on what needs to be shot or performed during the stage. The main focus in my stage plan is to not lock myself into shooting positions longer than I have to be there and to pick a movement path through the stage that does not inhibit my ability to move aggressively while shooting, reloading, opening doors or things like that. I will always pick a plan that will allow me to move through the stage in a flowing aggressive manner even if I have to travel a longer distance.

(4) Once my shooting position stage plan is figured out I will look at the strings of targets to engage in each shooting position. I mainly focus on what foot position or stance in each shooting position which allows me to engage all of the targets without needing to shuffle my feet. Then I identify which targets I want to be engaging first and last to see if I can engage them as I enter or leave the shooting position. I leave the shooting order of target within the position to whatever flows the best to allow me to get in and out of the shooting position the fastest. Obviously if there are activators or movers in the shooting position I will mix up the shooting order to minimize my wait time for the mover to expose its self. I have a hard time planning a shooting sequence where every target in the string is engaged in a specific order. So I basically focus on what target I am going to engage first and last in the position then let the other targets get shot as I see them.

(5) When I have my shooting position and target engagement order plans solidified then I pull all of the individual pieces together and run through the stage plan in my head many times. Here my main focus is on the highly technical sections of the stage where missing my position or shooting order will waste a lot of time. Even though I will put more mental attention on the highly technical sections I will not think about just that part of the stage. Every time I think about the stage I start at the beginning and run it all the way through to the end. Regardless of the difficulty of the stage I will run it through my head at least 10 times before shooting it in order to program it in my head. If it’s a super technical stage I may not run through the whole stage in my head many more times but I will slow down the technical portions to ensure that I am hitting the key points solidly. This can make the stage “Programming” part take a lot longer so its important to pick a plan and start programming it early on in the match so you can be ready to execute your plan by the time you have to shoot it. I am able to formulate the most fluid and effective stage plans when I have many hours to run the stage plan through my head. Going to a big match a day before you have to shoot and being able to check out the stages and formulate a stage plan, then be able to think about it all day and into the night make it WAY easier for me to execute the stage plan the next day.

(6) When I Make Ready to shoot the stage I will quickly run through the stage plan one last time then give a nod to the RO to let me start. When the buzzer rings I let go conscious control of the stage run and allow my auto pilot take over and execute the stage plan. If I don’t feel confident about relinquishing all control to my subconscious I allow myself to only focus on one conscious objective that is fairly general in nature. Such as telling myself “RUN” or “SMOOTH” or “SHOOT IT” or “FAST FEET” or “AIM HARD”. Not all of these at once on the same stage. Usually only one or two of these self coaching phrases per stage. I will use whatever catch phrase is most important for that given stage. For example, if I am shooting a stage with a log of shooting on the move I will use the “FAST FEET” phrase to keep my foot speed up while shooting. If I am shooting a hoser stage that requires a lot of hardcore fast shooting I will use the “SHOOT IT” phrase. The key to this is that the phrases are generic enough to effectively apply to whatever I am doing without distracting my subconscious from running through the programmed stage plan. If I have a very directed conscious thought of “Shoot the third target really fast” or “Aim really hard on the far away steel” this will always pull me out of a subconscious mode of shooting in order to execute the very specific work direction that my conscious mind is dictating. Shooting from a conscious one decision after another mode is very slow and rarely “Flows” well. You want most of your shooting, if not all, to happen from a subconscious level.

[Gary J]

It can be mind boggling sometimes. That was good shooting though.

[Justin]

CHA-LEE, thanks for the mental process for breaking down a stage. I followed this at LaRue, and it seemed to help quite a bit.

When applying this to 3 gun, I think there are a couple of minor tweaks to be made, insofar as you have to mentally program transitioning from one gun to another, and there's a lot more prop manipulation as well.

For instance, one of the stages at LaRue required you to use a Mosin Nagant's bayonet on a target before dropping it in a dump bucket. I spent a bit of time mentally prepping the whole bayonet thrust, and none on dumping the gun in the abandonment bucket. At the sound of the buzzer, I hit the target, but when I dumped the gun, the bayonet went through the wall about a third of the way up, so I had to pull it out, and then dump it again.

A proper stage plan would have accounted for that, and the video would be a little bit less hilarious.