mike cyrwus Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 -wont be because you really, really, want it to happen. It will be because you let it happen. "What" you let happen is your true ability level. When you have that great stage, its not that you lucked out, its that you relaxed and your true self came out. You might be suprised how good you really are. Telling yourself that youre going to "rip it up" or "really go for it" is a no-go; you re-inforce the notion that you have to summon the speed and accuracy Gods in order to perform well. Well, you dont. I know this has been hammered home in many threads here, but Ive seen a few instances of it recently in my neck of the woods, so I figure theres a lot of necks and a lot of woods out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Antichrome Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I totally agree. My best stages were the ones where I was thinking "Oh boy, this is gonna be soooo fun" I wasnt thinking about anything, I was just having a blast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle O Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Good point Mike! I have realized this myself lately, and my shooting has gone up a notch because of it. For me now, it's no longer the "timer" starts, but the "starting beep" goes off. I'm still catching myself doing stupid stuff here and there, but now it's like every other stage, and not 3 places during each stage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppa Bear Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 My input is stage planning. You have that stage where the plan comes together in your mind and it is so easy to execute. You just flow from point to point and the targets are right where you want them to be. You finish the stage and find out you are the fastest time for your class with great hits, while to you it seems like you were so slow because your brain was seeing everything in slow motion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Good input Mike. And I agree. When I'm thinking about trying do something specific (speed up, slow down, shoot As, if you screw up this stage you wont win your class, etc etc) nothing goes well. When i just forget about everything going on, listen for a beep, then GO!, I tend to do a lot better and thats when I do something silly and win a stage, or something, haha. Less thinking. More doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringcheese Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 That's the down fall and challenge of our sport. WAY TOO MUCH TIME TO THINK, not so much time shooting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hefta Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Lately I have been trying to be more athletic during a COF and move as fast a my 45 year old legs will let me... my shooting has suffered a bit. I feel that I have to really push myself in order to get to the next level. Perhaps I need to dial it back just a bit and find the sweet spot. Some of us just never get better... just older. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris iliff Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Best stages have definitely come after really good visualization and then "letting it all go" right before the beep. All my concerns and thinking stop and I just run the program. Great stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 My best stages "happened" when I had abandoned every form of trying, both gross and subtle, whatsoever. It takes years (around 10) of hard core training to reach that place. But it's worth it. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillon b Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 my best stages a lot of the time come right after I bomb a few, I just relax and then it just flows better and it comes easier, and I am faster and more accurate to. I just wish I could get the jitters out before the first couple stages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
technetium-99m Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Mike, This happened last night shooting Eye of the Tiger. Really relaxed, just turned and shot the targets, sights go up sights come down. I unload and Mitch calls out 3.32 seconds. I say holy crap. Turns out to be a 88.9% classifier, that's the best I've ever shot one, it seems I can do this stuff if I can only get out of my way. Now to try and shoot like that more often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapemeister Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Lately I have been trying to be more athletic during a COF and move as fast a my 45 year old legs will let me... my shooting has suffered a bit. I feel that I have to really push myself in order to get to the next level. Perhaps I need to dial it back just a bit and find the sweet spot. Some of us just never get better... just older. I'm 44, and although we're not ancient, I think we find ourselves looking at the super speedy 24 year olds, and thinking that we can do the same, or we do realize we're not as fast, and we get down on ourselves. I went through a faze where I was trying too hard, and trying to move too fast because I wanted to be fast like the younger dudes. Of course, my shooting suffered. I've learned and I'm still learning that "not trying" and dialing it back a bit has helped me tremendously. A lot of times I end up with better scores than younger dudes because I shoot smarter, not faster. I now concentrate more on what I call the little time savers that do not require 24 year old legs. You know, keeping the gun up, getting the best points possible, etc., etc. Good luck to you, you old fart! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Turns out to be a 88.9% classifier, that's the best I've ever shot one, it seems I can do this stuff if I can only get out of my way. Now to try and shoot like that more often. Any form of trying is what prevents "it" from occurring. You try when you're not sure. You can remove trying by precisely planning what you know you need to see and do on every single target. Then fuel that with the determination to do so. In training and practice, of course we have to care or we wouldn't improve. But in a match, for what we've trained to manifest, we have to learn to not care and just shoot. That is very hard to do because in a match, we naturally care about how we shoot or how we finish. But all of the best stages I ever shot were shot with a "witnessing" rather than a trying or caring attitude. Before you shoot a stage, let go of al forms of caring and trying, gross and subtle, and see what happens. Shoot stages with more of a "watch and learn" attitude, rather than a "I am going to do this and this is what's going to happen" attitude. Then if one day you do that and rip a stage apart, quickly let go of that. "That" being, I did this and got that. Because if you don't let go of the results (got that), you've just subtly returned trying to your pre-shoot menu. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleA Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Don't try while shooting stages in a match and look forward to knowing what you need to work on in practice. To me the feeling is liberating in that I don't need to care about how I do, just in that I need to pay attention to what I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Anderson Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Dillonb, "my best stages a lot of the time come right after I bomb a few, I just relax and then it just flows better and it comes easier, and I am faster and more accurate to. I just wish I could get the jitters out before the first couple stages" This is who you are becoming... but it's not who you have to be. This is my favorite kind of post... when the buzzer goes off, your conscious mind can only deliver one thing. Your subconscious mind can do anything it's learned. Detailed visualization sets the stage (pun intended?) and you decide what you want your conscious mind to "do." Shoot fast? Shoot Alphas? Go slow and controlled? Tear it up? Rip it a new one? Choosing one frees your subconscious to do everything else. The zone, autopilot, etc. It's very common for rapidly advancing shooters to go through periods of undesired performance when this is all coming together. If you're working on movement, you can expect your points to suffer a little. This is normal and shouldn't last too long. Celebrate the gains! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonovanM Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 It's very common for rapidly advancing shooters to go through periods of undesired performance when this is all coming together. If you're working on movement, you can expect your points to suffer a little. This is normal and shouldn't last too long. Celebrate the gains! This is super helpful Steve. I've been down on myself a bit lately due to this kind of performance in some of my most recent matches: super speedy, but crap for points. I didn't realize that it's because I'm just working on movement, even though that's been my focus on for the past few months. Great thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbear_98 Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 It's very common for rapidly advancing shooters to go through periods of undesired performance when this is all coming together. If you're working on movement, you can expect your points to suffer a little. This is normal and shouldn't last too long. Celebrate the gains! This is super helpful Steve. I've been down on myself a bit lately due to this kind of performance in some of my most recent matches: super speedy, but crap for points. I didn't realize that it's because I'm just working on movement, even though that's been my focus on for the past few months. Great thread! This... I have been struggling with the speed vs accuracy thing lately as well. Either too fast and crap for points, or too slow with good hits. I am seeing what I need to do but can't find the balance..... Gotta find the in between. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Anderson Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 This can be a little tricky... and is hard to diagnose on the internet, but you need to figure out whether your points are sufferning because you're thinking about something else or whether you're hurrying, rushing, or trying. If you're thinking about your feet and legs, a points drop is nothing to worry about. If you're hurrying, rushing or trying, that's a different problem. This also varies depending on how hard you're training and how quickly you're developing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbear_98 Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 This can be a little tricky... and is hard to diagnose on the internet, but you need to figure out whether your points are sufferning because you're thinking about something else or whether you're hurrying, rushing, or trying. If you're thinking about your feet and legs, a points drop is nothing to worry about. If you're hurrying, rushing or trying, that's a different problem. This also varies depending on how hard you're training and how quickly you're developing. My focus lately has been on moving and shooting at the same time. I sent you a PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Anderson Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 "My focus lately has been on moving and shooting at the same time." I wish I'd read this before your PM. This is an excellent idea, but it's impossible as a match mindset. It explains your careful, deliberate shooting. Your poor brain is doing this: Shoot well move well shoot well move well shoot well When I'm coaching people on individual skills, I never discuss the others. If we do a new movement drill, I don't care what your hits are or if you even hit the target. I want all of your attention on the movement. When the new skills are subconscious, we go back to shooting A's. The guy who is beating you by x seconds per stage has all of that programmed into his subconscious and his brain is doing this: Shoot alphas I know it's frustrating, but if you keep training correctly it will come together in bliss eventually. You must commit every skill to the subconscious mind, then you must shoot alphas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterbenedetto Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 (edited) Taking a super GM class was the best thing I ever did in IPSC sport. Had to relearn everything again and it pays off. One of the lesson learned is learning how to relax while shooting. When i feel that this happens when I shoot a stage, it turns out better than expected. Kind of like "shooting in slow motion" I'm sure most had this experience. Edited July 4, 2011 by shooterbenedetto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbear_98 Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 When I'm coaching people on individual skills, I never discuss the others. If we do a new movement drill, I don't care what your hits are or if you even hit the target. I want all of your attention on the movement. When the new skills are subconscious, we go back to shooting A's. You must commit every skill to the subconscious mind, then you must shoot alphas. This is great advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Don't try while shooting stages in a match and look forward to knowing what you need to work on in practice. To me the feeling is liberating in that I don't need to care about how I do, just in that I need to pay attention to what I do. Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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