Performance journal for a Danish Gunslinger

[GunslingerDK]

I'm starting this journal as a means to keep track of my improvements as an IPSC shooter. I've been shooting since 2009 (2009 - 2012 Limited, 2012- Production), and have come a long way these past 4 years. I really want to improve my game and have the talent to do so, but have become my own worst enemy lately.

2013 has been a very good year for me. I won my first 2 PM's, finished as the 2nd best Danish shooter at the EHC and have won a lot of local matches. But since I started winning, things started to go wrong. I think I just want it too bad. The funny thing is, that when I go abroad and shoot Level III matches I do quite well, but at the local level II's I often crash. I also often win, but rarely shoot up to my level and therefore not satisfactory, I'm shooting too far from my real potential. I have come to the conclusion that the expectations of other people as well as my own is a big part of my problem. I finished 2nd at this year's Nationals, 2% after the guy who has held the title for the past 7 years. We shot 4 matches together this year, and the one match he beat me was the nationals - the one I wanted to win the most.

We shot the regional championship today. Again, I "expected" to win, or at least knew I was capable of winning, and other people expected me to win. Maaaan I blasted through the 2 first stages as if I had totally forgotten how to operate a firearm. Spent 6 shots on 3 full-size poppers at 10 yards, missed a small popper and got a miss on a full-size target at 5 yards doooh! 2nd stage a miss on a full-size target at 3 yards and just poor hits on paper and misses on steel throughout the match. Finished 4th at 88% of a guy I usually beat. Needless to say, I'm bummed. I was way too jacked, could literally hear every heartbeat resonning in my ears, I couldn't keep my hands still and had problems settling my sights. by the third stage I had burned off most of my adrenalin and it started getting better.... but not good enough. I believe my subconscious wanted to win, and I lots focus of the task at hand = to shoot!

Another thing that bothers me at the local Level II's is the insufficient number of RO's, usually only 2 for a 7-8 man squad, of which I am always one. This means I have poor time to do a proper walk though, I have no time for visualization and never even get time to reload my mags before it's my turn to shoot or run the timer again. This irritates me, and makes me angry and I loose focus because of it.

Me shooting 30.000-40.000 rounds a year seems like a huge waste of time and money when I can't even pull my act together and win a local Level II match. My level of shooting far surpasses my mental game. I really have to shift my focus towards being more calm and gathered and believing in myself. I have to accept that the mental (and boring) aspect of the game is where my time is best spent and where I can gain the most.

I think you can sum it up by saying I'm a good shooter but a bad performer!

What I need to work on:

1. Stop WANTING to win and simply start focusing more on execution.

2. Stop being annoyed by things like too few ROs on my squad and people not patching (LIKE I TELL THEM TO)!

3. Learn to ignore other peoples' expectations of me.

4. Set specific goals for the local Level II matches as a means to distract my conscious mind and redirect it away from wanting to win. (Thanks for this one, perfect girl friend.)

5. After each stage write down what went good/bad and why. (Thanks for this one, perfect girl friend.)

6. Start seeing local Level II matches for what they are, practice for the 5-7 international Level IIIs I shoot each year.

7. implement Lany Bassham's mental management program.

As I'm writing this I'm actually glad that my mental melt down happened. I'm now on a path of turning a bad day into something positive. I probably wouldn't have if i hadn't started this range journal. I hope this will make me a better shooter....

Every time we screw up and shoot what we feel is a bad match, we should try to take something home that we did do well. I did have one stage win today. Of course it was the last stage of the day, when nothing was at stake:

Thanks for listening.

Edited October 27, 2013 by GunslingerDK

[Chris iliff]

Welcome!! I hope you know that you will get advice posting here. So,......with that said..........

you simply have no mental game. The ups and downs of your performances point to this almost exclusively. I would suggest Lanny Bassham's "With Winning in Mind". Also Saul Kirsch's book on mental management. Frankly I'd get Lanny's first and then Saul's.

Good luck, check my range report out, "Fourtrax's Range Report". Write anything there you want. It's all good brother!!!

Take care.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Chris iliff

[Sleepswithdogs]

Welcome! First thing it seems to me, is you need to get rid of those running shoes and get a good pair of sandals! (Sorry, just kidding some folks around here. )

Of course, being a good athlete is just a small part of success, as you have noted. The major part is in the mental game. Seems to me your on your way by recognize the problem and setting out to change things.

You might get some mileage out of Jack Canfield's "The Success Principles." It's not a shooting book per-say, but it is and excellent book about achieving success and that is what we all strive for is it not?

Best to'ya, and looking forward to hearing how you're doing,

Tar

Edited October 27, 2013 by Sleepswithdogs

[GunslingerDK]

Welcome!! I hope you know that you will get advice posting here. So,......with that said..........

you simply have no mental game. The ups and downs of your performances point to this almost exclusively. I would suggest Lanny Bassham's "With Winning in Mind". Also Saul Kirsch's book on mental management. Frankly I'd get Lanny's first and then Saul's.

Good luck, check my range report out, "Fourtrax's Range Report". Write anything there you want. It's all good brother!!!

Take care.

You certainly aren't sugar coating it .... but you are right on the money. I have no mental game. I used to be "okay" in that department... but that was before I had actually won anything.

I bought and read Lanny's book a year ago. Back then I was too busy with practicing the actual shooting that I never took the time to implement his mental program. I remember having difficulty turning it from theory into practice. Better work on it this winter and see if I can't implement it, thanks.....

[GunslingerDK]

Yesterday we had the local Level 2 match. Due to my mental breakdown the last time, I had decided that this time I would take a different approach. I wanted to go through the match without any mistakes, and without starting out in hyper speed which is usually one of the mistakes I make. I had decided to focus one grip and my front sight as a means to distract my conscious mind from the end result.

I finished 2nd, at 98%. I won 5 out of 8 stages but what bumped me down to 2nd place, was a mike/no-shoot at 20 yards on the first stage. I must have been pushing it a tad too much because I did not call it as a low shot. I also managed to eject a magazine from the gun, after a loaded start with an empty chamber. I really don't know why that happened because it never happens in training no matter how hard I'm pushing it or beating the gun, that cost me about 2 seconds on that stage. The other stages went well, good hits and decent times.

I guy was injured doing the building of the stages and had to go to the ER, so we were only 5 on the squad. I told myself, f*** it, I don't want to hustle and bitch about having to RO the others. When I was up I took my time to do another walk-through.... I'm the RO, what are they going to do? Tell me I can't ?

[GunslingerDK]

It's been a while since I posted. Been busy with exams and projects, and work. I finished that a few weeks ago. I found the problem with my gun which was related to the mag catch. Fixed it and now have a gun that doesn't eject mags when it's not supposed to. since christmas I have been dry firing A LOT. Usually an hour a day, sometimes more. Have been working a lot with mag changes which have been kind of a weak spot for me. The mag changes have improved a great deal. I used to always f*** up 3/10 mag changes, usually with the mag hanging up in the magwell. That has almost gone away now, the mag changes are much more consistent and somewhat faster than they use to be. I have found out it helps me to slow down a bit just before the mag enters the mag well, instead of slamming it from the pouch into the gun with the same speed. It "feels" a little slower but according to the timer it is not. I have been using Ben's dryfire program which I like very much. Unfortunately I'm somewhat constricted due to the shape of my living room, and am unable to do mag changes running due to the wooden floor. I also use some of my own drills which is usually drawing while moving to the side, shooting targets of varying sizes to simulate distance, taking a few steps to the side while reloading and then shooting the targets again. My grip has become better and more consistent and can now do a 0.90 first shot to a 7 yard target. I was unable to do this a month ago. I doubt it will result in a sub 1sec draw in livefire but shaving off a few tenths is a good start.

After a month of dryfire I'm eager to go to the range and the if it has made an actual difference. But winter has come, it is freezing outside. Wind chill factor around 10 degrees fahrenheit... too cold to get any decent work done, at least for me anyways. I have developed/stolen a series a drills to measure my improvement e.g. Bill Drill at 7, 12 and 25 yards, El Prez, Blake Drill and some of my own stuff. The idea is to shoot these drills every other month and monitor my progress. Can't wait to get started. Next week the weather will improve so I can clock my first scores....