a matt Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 I know I can call shots down to about a .28 split, as long as its not over 3 in a row, I can call shots, I can let my sub con do it's thing no trouble. But why am I chickening out at majors? Club level I can let go and it's way cool. Any thoughts because I have tanked my last 3 majors. The 4 majors before seemed to go well, but I know I was not fully letting go at those matches too. Any thoughts? Thanks gang! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoyGlock Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 By not trying to be better than me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a matt Posted October 14, 2013 Author Share Posted October 14, 2013 Hell, that's the easy part. Lol the hard part is trusting you can do what you know you can, after the beep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Gaines Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 I know I can call shots down to about a .28 split, as long as its not over 3 in a row, I can call shots, I can let my sub con do it's thing no trouble. But why am I chickening out at majors? Club level I can let go and it's way cool. Any thoughts because I have tanked my last 3 majors. The 4 majors before seemed to go well, but I know I was not fully letting go at those matches too. Any thoughts? Thanks gang! how did you tank? missing shots, losing targets.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoyGlock Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 (edited) By not trying to be better than me Hell, that's the easy part. Lol the hard part is trusting you can do what you know you can, after the beep. True. You got me thinking. It took me lots and lots of trashed matches before I succumbed to this. There never was a match, majors and all, that I dont have a miss or penalty. No matter what I did I always end up w/ 2-3 misses/penalties. Then in my exhasperation/frustration I promised myself to do everything necessary to shoot the match at hand w/o any miss/penalty. I carefullt watched the sights in all my shots then BOOM! got it! My first top 10 finish in a level 3 match! In post match, I still remember, I exclaimed to myself, IS THIS HOW SIMPLE THIS IS? I could never believe it. It was so simple and easy that lots of matches later, it started to get boring. Not saying Im good. Im far from being M or GM. But I shot better than my expectations when I stopped struggling to shoot better than I really am. eta: I mean top 15. I checked my records Edited October 14, 2013 by BoyGlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a matt Posted October 14, 2013 Author Share Posted October 14, 2013 Very nice, thanks for your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a matt Posted October 14, 2013 Author Share Posted October 14, 2013 (edited) I know I can call shots down to about a .28 split, as long as its not over 3 in a row, I can call shots, I can let my sub con do it's thing no trouble. But why am I chickening out at majors? Club level I can let go and it's way cool. Any thoughts because I have tanked my last 3 majors. The 4 majors before seemed to go well, but I know I was not fully letting go at those matches too. Any thoughts? Thanks gang!how did you tank? missing shots, losing targets.... I know I can call shots down to about a .28 split, as long as its not over 3 in a row, I can call shots, I can let my sub con do it's thing no trouble. But why am I chickening out at majors? Club level I can let go and it's way cool. Any thoughts because I have tanked my last 3 majors. The 4 majors before seemed to go well, but I know I was not fully letting go at those matches too. Any thoughts? Thanks gang!how did you tank? missing shots, losing targets....Straight up nerves. I need to find a way to relax, from the first stage on. I mean nerves like shakes. I might be quick to jump, but if it ain't right work on till it it. Edited October 14, 2013 by a matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 When I shot at the only Nationals I've attended, a Master level shooter was DQ'd from my squad - that shook me up so much that I slowed down (if that's possible for a B shooter) so I didn't fly to LV to be DQ'd the first day. Took me a day or two before I started shooting as quickly as I usually do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a matt Posted October 14, 2013 Author Share Posted October 14, 2013 Yea, that would slack me up too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Gaines Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 I remember my first major(many years ago) I was a pile of nerves like you were the night before the match. I couldn't go to sleep. So what I did, what helped me was instead of being in bed thinking about the nerves trying to sleep. I got up and dryfired until I got exhausted, and went to bed and slept like a baby. Maybe try to redirect that energy into something positive, constructive in your favor. we fear the unknown, so try to know as much as you can. go to the match a day in advance and look at all the stages. Know how you are going to shoot them, take notes and when you go to the hotel, visualize yourself shooting the stages over and over in your mind and visualize success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Why are you treating a "Major" match any differenetly than a "Club" match? That is the first thing you need to figure out. How or why would any one match, or stage for that matter, be any more or less important than another? To get past this road block you need to first start treating every stage and match the same. Its not a big or small match, its just a match. Its not a hard or easy stage, its just a stage. If you treat each stage like its a one stage "Match", or if you threat a whole year worth of stages as a "Match", then it really changes your outlook on the big picture. Artifical mental roadblocks are just that, artifical. Stop worrying about what is out of your control. Start focusing on what you do have conrtrol of, which is really limited to the current task at hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 I remember my first major (many years ago) I was a pile of nerves the night before the match. I couldn't go to sleep. I NEVER got to sleep that night. Up ALL night (I wasn't bright enough to do something productive like dry firing:() Thought it would impair my performance, but it didn't (I don't think, anyway). Shot as poorly as usual, but no poorer (if that's a word). Guess the nerves that kept me up all night got me thru an exhausting next day of shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a matt Posted October 14, 2013 Author Share Posted October 14, 2013 (edited) Why are you treating a "Major" match any differenetly than a "Club" match? That is the first thing you need to figure out. How or why would any one match, or stage for that matter, be any more or less important than another? To get past this road block you need to first start treating every stage and match the same. Its not a big or small match, its just a match. Its not a hard or easy stage, its just a stage. If you treat each stage like its a one stage "Match", or if you threat a whole year worth of stages as a "Match", then it really changes your outlook on the big picture. Artifical mental roadblocks are just that, artifical. Stop worrying about what is out of your control. Start focusing on what you do have conrtrol of, which is really limited to the current task at hand. That's what I need to do. Thanks for the mich needed direction. That truly is an eye opener. I like the each stage is a one stage match concept & focus on what I can control, not what I can't control. Good stuff.I saw you shoot in Fl early this year, maybe the Florida Open. I was going to say hi, but you were on deck or shooting. I Enjoyed watching some of your runs. You did well. Thanks again. Edited October 14, 2013 by a matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuildSF4 Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Why are you treating a "Major" match any differenetly than a "Club" match? That is the first thing you need to figure out. How or why would any one match, or stage for that matter, be any more or less important than another? To get past this road block you need to first start treating every stage and match the same. Its not a big or small match, its just a match. Its not a hard or easy stage, its just a stage. If you treat each stage like its a one stage "Match", or if you threat a whole year worth of stages as a "Match", then it really changes your outlook on the big picture. Artifical mental roadblocks are just that, artifical. Stop worrying about what is out of your control. Start focusing on what you do have conrtrol of, which is really limited to the current task at hand. I like this and can use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No.343 Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 Why are you treating a "Major" match any differenetly than a "Club" match? That is the first thing you need to figure out. How or why would any one match, or stage for that matter, be any more or less important than another? To get past this road block you need to first start treating every stage and match the same. Its not a big or small match, its just a match. Its not a hard or easy stage, its just a stage. If you treat each stage like its a one stage "Match", or if you threat a whole year worth of stages as a "Match", then it really changes your outlook on the big picture. Artifical mental roadblocks are just that, artifical. Stop worrying about what is out of your control. Start focusing on what you do have conrtrol of, which is really limited to the current task at hand. Back when I dabbled in bullseye shooting we use to say that it was a one shot match. We said that to try to only concern ourselves with the shot we were about to fire. Not the previous one, or the one after. Thanks for reminding me. I was starting to forget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 I know you've studied and used Seeklander's training methods ... Go back and review his mental management section. He talks about exactly what Cha-lee told you, there are no hard matches and easy matches or hard stages and easy stages. Just treat them all the same and just focus on shooting well, you need to let go of the 'I really care how well I do at this' syndrome. Unfortunately the better you get the more you tend to care about doing well .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 I'm a new-ish shooter, just made B, so take my advice for what it's worth. After a summer of steady improvement (following a ben stoeger class) I tried to go fast at a match in early september (cuz i thought i could), and it was a disaster. 2 days earlier I shot an el pres is 7 seconds and change with 58 pts (cold, first run of the day, not bad for a c-shooter). Coincendentally, el prez was the first stage of this match and i managed 2 mikes!! I had a couple other train-wrecks that day too. So I chose that week to re-read brian's practical shooting book, and it really jumped out at me stop 'trying to go fast', and just look at the sights, and pull the trigger when I can. My next 2 matches (sectional and nationals) were my best performances ever, and I really broke through to another level. By discarding the thought of 'trying to go fast', and doing everything the way I know I can, the pressure vanished. It's not the first time I've learned that lesson, and probably won't be the last. The time for me to push my speed and test what works is in practice. A few mikes in practice are fine. I can run a drill at varying intensity levels, and varying degrees of sight picture/focus, and learn what is sufficient for that sort of shot. Then in matches, just shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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