The Leap of Faith, and focusing on "speed or points"

[Kool Aid]

My best performances always come when I make the leap and just let things happen. Shooting for points is never fun or satisfying, and I leave the match feeling like I left a lot on the table.

[MarkCO]

I ran a match Saturday that took a little more focus on stage plan than normal...we had 5 stages, with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 scored rounds per target. Had to think about counting shots instead of the normal 2 per. I don't recall "aiming" nor trying to go fast, and the hit factors were really high, so it was kind of a speed match. Since I was spending some mental credit on counting, I let go of even considering speed or points, just don't get penalties or waste shots. Yes, an artificial way to "let the shooting happen" by thinking about something else, but it did prove out.

I ended up with about 97% of points shot...I think my highest ever % of points.

[benos]

Nice work Mark. It's interesting, how, when we encounter a stage that's radically different from what we normally shoot, it takes us so far from our "normal" game plan that we often shoot to our maximum capacity.

[BillR1]

This sub-conscience shooting finally happened to me! We had a stage this past Saturday. It was not a long stage; 10 targets and 3 shooting positions with about 8 yards between shooting spots, with a barricade, some no-shoots, and a shooting box thrown in. I was one of the last shooters, so I had a chance to rehearse a lot. After the buzzer went off, it was almost like I was watching myself shoot the stage. After USC, the guy timing me had this shocked look on his face and said "Your time was exactly HALF of mine!" Out of 20 rounds, I had only one C and that was just barely out.

It was amazing...how do I repeat it when I want to?

[jimbullet]

Im not sure what its called but must be somewhat a zen state. I had experienced shooting an el presidente and all I had focused on was making the proper turn, draw and seeing the sights each timeI squeezed the trigger. Made the reload and shooting the targets once more.

For some reason at the time I was shooting, it felt like all was somewhat slow motion, i.e. seeing sights and lifting off, coming back down etc.

Although I wore earplugs, which typically still gave me a modest gun fire sound, in this instance I could barely hear anything right after the buzzer until it was time to show clear.

I thought at that moment that I must have been very slow but only to find out in the end that I had the fastest el prez among 20 shooters in our club that day.

I had since tried to analyse what has happened and have been trying to replicate that conditions.

Sometime I succeed, some not.

[benos]

For whatever reason, you put an end to all forms of trying (which are the result of doubt), and allowed "your self" to be totally absorbed in the moment.

Hence the best run of the day, with no apparent effort on your part. (That's the good part.)

The "bad" part, however, is that when functioning in that state, since you had resolved all forums of doubt and trying before you shot - there is nothing for you to remember (as to how you got in that state).

The way I've talked about your eperience in the past - you have to create the "conditions favorable" for the zone state to occur.

be

[benos]

Try a forum-wide search for (in quotes) "conditions favorable"

[jcarpenter82]

I believe i experienced this zen recently. It was a local match that i didnt believe i was even going to make due to working overtime.

Last stage of the match called for shooting different arrays at different distances through ports.

Buzzer goes off and all i remember from the stage is the RO asking if i am done to show clear.

I tried to remember everything but all i remember is running to the next port. The only evidence of that stage i remember is walking with the RO when he scored it and my time. I ended up winning that stage overall and the first thing i thought of was the "zen" everyone on here talks about.

I want more of it! The moment i stopped worrying about grip, trigger, sight picture, recoil management, transitions etc etc i was finally able to display what my training (as limited as it is sadly to admit) allowed me to do.

I have to trust my training and i know this, it was just an amazing feeling to let go of the limitations ive conjured up.

[ktm300]

The more I train, the simpler it is to trust my shooting. The more I trust my shooting the simpler it is to not do any overrides (shoot for points, go fast, go slow etc) and just let go and shoot. The more comfortable I am with my stage plan the simpler it is for me to just let go and shoot. When I just let go and shoot it is worth all the work and the aggravation from when I don't just let go and shoot.

Twice in the last couple of years I have been in the middle of a stage and it's like I am watching it happen and all the mechanical stuff is just going on with no input from me. One of those times I remember thinking wow those plates are a long way off and at the same time watching the gun go off and the plates falling. I would like to find a few more of those moments.

[benos]

I believe i experienced this zen recently. It was a local match that i didnt believe i was even going to make due to working overtime.

Last stage of the match called for shooting different arrays at different distances through ports.

Buzzer goes off and all i remember from the stage is the RO asking if i am done to show clear.

I tried to remember everything but all i remember is running to the next port. The only evidence of that stage i remember is walking with the RO when he scored it and my time. I ended up winning that stage overall and the first thing i thought of was the "zen" everyone on here talks about.

I want more of it! The moment i stopped worrying about grip, trigger, sight picture, recoil management, transitions etc etc i was finally able to display what my training (as limited as it is sadly to admit) allowed me to do.

I have to trust my training and i know this, it was just an amazing feeling to let go of the limitations ive conjured up.

INDEED!

My feeling is that a deeply unconscious level, the possibility of each of us experiencing the zone or zen experience is what drew us into the sport initially. The first time it happened to me, it changed the course of my life. First my shooting life, then eventually my entire life.

be

[mike g35]

Great post!!! I'm in the same boat as you. I can get great hits, but....(see OP's post)

I'm planning to try a little something different tomorrow. I'm gonna burn my way through anything 10 yards or less, focus on footwork, reloads, etc., and try to slow down on all the long stuff. I seem to always go one way or they other. Finding the comfortable medium is TOUGH!!!

Yeah it is, but finding the happy medium is practical shooting, in my mind. It's the soul of the game, and what makes it so great.

All of that sounds awesome, but don't give up easy points. I am going into my next match with a similar mindset.

What I found when attempting this was "burning through" the easy stuff was a huge mistake. It actually seems to me now that making fast alphas on the easy stuff and burning past the more challenging shots (basically just shooting center mass) is a little better. Most stages have more easy points than tough ones. Better to score those easy targets well and just try for speedy shots on the rest. Of course, if my long range accuracy didn't need so much work, I'd not have to worry about any if this. So now that is what I'm focusing my practices on.