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Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

Best match I ever shot and a lesson I hope to never forget.


AJPeacock

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Nothing earth shattering here, as I've read this same type of stuff on other posts. I just thought I'd share my experience with you all.

Although I haven't done much IDPA or other 'semi-auto' type competitions. I did compete in Cowboy Action Shooting for several years and I took it serious.

One of the last big matches I shot (2005 Midwest Regionals), taught me an important lesson about firearms competition and what to concentrate on.

In preparation for the shoot, I took a week of vacation, so I could hone my transitions, practice my first shot pistol drills, shotgun loading technique etc.

On the first day of the vacation, before I went to the range, my daughter asked me to help her practice her post up moves (basketball). I proceeded to injure myself (second degree calf muscle tear). The doctor told me to rest / ice/ elevate/ pressure bandage for 3-4 weeks.

So I elevated and iced it for 6 days, no practice, no dry-fire no nothing!

I was able to move around a bit (hopping on one leg, or crutches), and decided to go down to the regional since my wife, son and daughter were also shooting and we'd already paid all the entry fees.

We got down there and I decided that if I iced my calf between stages and focused just on where I placed my foot, I could at least shoot (no expectation of doing well), I even joined a posse of average shooters instead of my normal 'fast' posse.

So, I didn't concentrate on the shooting AT ALL. During the walk/limp through, I paid attention to how even/uneven the ground was, which foot to start moving with etc. I barely gave a second thought to the stages/ shooting scenarios.

The main match was 2 days long and I didn't miss a shot and finished 3rd overall out of 400+ shooters (maybe 120 serious shooters and the rest 'women, children and socializers').

I remember knowing where every shot was going as it broke, I had great technique with my transitions and actually shot the shotgun part of one stage while standing on one foot, because my calf was hurting so bad.

If/when I start competing again, I'm going to try to use the memory of that shoot to keep my self talk under control.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone,

AJ

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  • 2 years later...

I have a hard charging personality. I ran stages with gravel flying when I started. I heard people make comments like "that guy will be good when he figures it out". That comment made me feel good, but i didn't win jack squat. Fast forward 4 maybe 5 years later and a buddy of mine told he was talking to a local GM and he said "We better look out, he figured it out. That really made me feel good. The more deliberate I move the better I do. It is still a wierd thing for me to wrap my brain around and I find myself backsliding. I shoot fantastic when I feel (in my head) that I'm the best shooter there. There are a few GM's and one M that i shoot with that get into my head. I screw things up trying to go fast instead of just doing what i can do. Makes me furious. If I shoot in a squad without them, my scores are right with them. When I'm squaded with them I get whipped up on.

Work in progress

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  • 3 weeks later...
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  • 4 years later...

We call it “too much throttle”. 

 

You get a shot of adrenaline and push farther than you can reach. 

It becomes clear when you miss a target and are already sighting on the next when you realize the miss, then have to go back, and spend time transitioning, and just ........ too much throttle. 

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