Regaining Composure

[AZonePrecision]

New to USPSA, less than a year. I was shooting on the third day of the Area1 Championships. Had learned a ton the previous two days and was implementing as much as I could into stage approach, routine, movement, etc.

The second stage of the day I was watching a fellow squadmate when I heard my first "STOP!!!" by an RO. He had flipped the gun to load and turned to head to his shooting position breaking the 180. It definitely got my attention! It was unfortunate but we moved on.

The next stage I was really looking forward to, had a fully realized plan that was a culmination of everything I had learned. Buzzer goes off, I slip into my run, put together a good start, halfway through I hear "STOP!!!" I am pointing down range, in mid string, and keeping the gun pointing down range turn my head to see WTF... Heart rate skyrockets through the roof. I dont want to be DQ'd in my first major!!! No idea whats wrong. One of the RO's says "your glasses are no longer covering your eyes". They had bounced up as I moved into another shooting position somehow. I unload, show clear, and they say I get a reshoot. I go to get ready, am almost ready when we decide to let another shooter go first. Afterwards I step back in on my turn, and still am not settled from the aforementioned "STOP!"... And bomb my run...

Looking back, I was definitely a little shook up, I did not go through what I've established as my routine, and I let myself get rushed trying to get back out to shoot so we could all move on to the next stage.

I've played lots of sports, reactionary as well as premeditated, and know of the importance of getting yourself back into it. What tips/ tactics/ methods do you guys use to get your head back in the game when something goes awry? Bad stage, similar incident, etc. USPSA is a game, and so it's the same, but different... Thanks in advance.

[StraightUp_OG]

Never let yourself rush this is your time to perform.

Maintain your pre shot routine. Much like golf, the pros have a pre shot routine and when distracted before a shot they start the routine again.

I have a well established PSR. Once in the box my routine has started and stops when the buzzer sounds. I grab the gun the same way, LMR the same way, run through the same pre shot thoughts and focus on my breathing. It calms my mind and prepares me for the buzzer, hopefully putting me into the zone. This way any distraction is negated by routine. The only advice would be to let the thoughts, that are of a negative bent, be acknowledged and instantly dismissed. Then back to breathing.

Edited May 26, 2013 by StraightUp_OG

[snlit3]

That's really tough, more experience would help here. What else can you do besides your best to calm your nerves.

[old506]

This has happened to me too. Experience does help.

I kind of think of my mind as an old slide projector, I get to choose which slide I want to put in the projector and have it throw up an image on the wall of what I want to "focus" on or what I want to do, or, I let the subconscious pick a slide for me and sometimes you get what you get.

With experience, you get a ton of slides to choose from, you want your sub-conscious mind to "pull" the right one, for the right moment. Sometimes you pull the "panic" slide and that is what you get, panic or something else that is undesirable.

So what you want is a "go-to" slide that you can consciously pull at a moment's notice that "slows" you down or is calming or kind of re-sets everything. There are two kind of slides that I like to have handy and pull up. The first is an affirmation that I work hard at this, I put the time in and I am good at it. The second is an experience of me doing well, having a good run, winning a stage and burning it down and most importantly, how that made me feel.

The "panic" slide may still try to creep in front of the line but for the most part it has been replaced and it allows me to do my thing.

[AZonePrecision]

First off thanks for the replies. I am familiar with what you all are saying; I was pretty decent at golf and had my routine. I have my "positive" memories I can draw on in, and negative ones that I try to push out of my mind. Like shooting free throws in basketball. Not having the library of those memories for this sport yet, I was surprised at how difficult it was to handle that situation.

A number of things happened during the match that I had no idea could happen. I knew to expect the unexpected, but that still doesn't prepare you for how to handle it. And as you have all stated, no substitute for experience.

Most of all, I should have realized from an incident on the previous stage, my fellow shooters fully understand what is going on, and I should not feel obligated to hurry up. And ultimately I think if I would have slowed down, my mind would've been clearer to better processes.

In the long run, it wasn't about winning, or anything like that. My goal was to learn and do my best at every moment, facet and aspect of the stages. That's why this bothered me; I didn't accomplish that in this instance. Ultimately the experience will be more valuable than if I had handled it correctly because now I can always remind myself, "Remember that time you didn't slow down?! SLOW DOWN!!!" So I am taking that with me.

I believe that the mindset of finding the positives in every incident is putting me on the right track to improvement.

[shtr3]

Very useful information here

[benos]

A couple things...

If you have to reshoot, due to whatever reason - shoot the stage "again" like you've never shot it before.

To keep your composure while shooting a stage... program a big breath in, and a conscious, calming, exhalation, at keep points throughout the stage.

be

[baron6]

I have a well established PSR. Once in the box my routine has started and stops when the buzzer sounds. I grab the gun the same way, LMR the same way, run through the same pre shot thoughts and focus on my breathing. It calms my mind and prepares me for the buzzer, hopefully putting me into the zone. This way any distraction is negated by routine.

This is key. I need to better establish this routine, but it's like any sport where you control the timing (hitting in baseball comes to mind) and you can set yourself up.

Repeatability is so key, being able to reset into the same old ritual is huge.

[AZonePrecision]

Thank you again for the replies...

I believe that when you are saying shoot the stage like I've never shot it is implying going through EVERYTHING again, not just the time from the beep to last shot... I do a complete mental walk through, eyes closed, outside the shooting area moments before my turn, usually as they are wrapping up taping, scoring etc. for the shooter before me. this is part of "shooting the stage." I do the tactical breathing, something I've learned through other endeavors. Stepping into the shooting area, and timed to the cadence of the "shooter are you ready?" "Stand by" etc.. I breath purposely... That's all part of "shooting the stage"... For me I've realized that its not the seconds I'm in the arena, it's everything before it too... And afterwards, my reaction to my performance matters.

That's where I fell apart. Reacted, and focused on what happened rather than starting over. I was in unfamiliar rhythms cause I missed that whole routine part of "shooting the stage"...

One question though; you mention "conscious breaths" during the stage... I'm assuming you are referring to WHILE you are on the timer... I try to "slip into" the stage, not think much at all, and let movement and reaction take over... When I have a "conscious" thought during a stage, things tend to go south for a moment (or longer)... I guess anything is possible, but can I incorporate specific breathing moments into a stage consciously as "waypoints" the same as a reload or target?

Or is just the conscious thought of breathing enough to maybe occupy my conscious mind to something non detrimental to my shooting and my subconscious will remain occupied reacting to the task at hand? Trying to wrap my head around this...

I dig this forum!

Thank you everyone for all the tidbits so far...

[Ultimo-Hombre]

One question though; you mention "conscious breaths" during the stage... I'm assuming you are referring to WHILE you are on the timer... I try to "slip into" the stage, not think much at all, and let movement and reaction take over... When I have a "conscious" thought during a stage, things tend to go south for a moment (or longer)... I guess anything is possible, but can I incorporate specific breathing moments into a stage consciously as "waypoints" the same as a reload or target?

Thank you everyone for all the tidbits so far...

This is a good question. Would love to see BE expand on this!

[benos]

On stages with movement, I had good luck with programming a conscious exhale - timed with entering a shooting position and as the gun was coming up on the first target.

be