How do you avoid burnout?

[amish_rabbi]

If I'm burnt out from training I grab an over under shotgun and go destroy clays.

I shoot no sports with a shotgun where I compete, so if that is all I bring to the range I don't have any drills to shoot, I dont need to get better at it, nothing to do but make clays into small pieces. It's worlds away from action pistol shooting so it really refreshes me.

[ToddKS]

I used to shoot Sporting Clays competitively. My burnout on that activity was related to the financial strain that the activity required to pursue it at the level I was at. I was a AA shooter when I stopped shooting. I was shooting about 20K shells a year. Shot was $12 a bag, gas was $1 a gallon, and range fees were very reasonable. I also only had 1 child. Shot goes to $40 a bag, gas to $3 per gallon, range fees go up 30% or more (because target prices increase) and a second child arrives and I discovered that I could no longer afford to participate at the level I had previously. Without the funds to practice as I had before, my performance dropped off. This lead to a frustration that I could not cure. I knew what I needed to do but simply could not afford to do so. Rather than continue to be frustrated I chose to stop competing as returning to the practice needed was simply not possible. It was the right choice for me. I still enjoy the occasional round of skeet with my father but I have not shot sporting clays in many years. The cost per target is simply more than I want to spend.

When I decided recently to start shooting Steel Challenge competitions with my pistol I had a very frank conversation with myself (not in the Fight Club, voices in my head sort of way). I do not have a limitless ammo budget. I also have constraints on my time due to work and family. My wife works second shift so I come home from work Mon-Fri and do the Mr. Mom thing. All of my days are 14 hours long. This means that most of my practice is going to be dry fire in the dark of night and I have to accept that as a limitation.

I do not have budget for new guns. I am going to shoot what I have. This means for the foreseeable future I will be shooting production or single stack. No open or limited gun for me.

I have been able to budget certain accessories and still have a couple on the list.

The point of all this is that if your expectations are in excess of your means (both financial and time constraints) then you are setting yourself up for frustration and burn out. If you are going to get "serious", you need to realistically define what that is within your given constraints. For me "serious" meant committing to dry fire practice several nights a week and tracking my performance in an attempt to get more gooder. If "Free Ammo for Old Guys" were to sponsor me I might change my goals a little but for now, this is what I can do.

I am not saying don't dream, just be realistic when you do. Identify constraints. Set goals that are reasonable within those constraints and above all else, have fun. If this activity becomes less than enjoyable for some reason I will stop doing it. I am at a place in my life where my hobbies need to entertain me or I am going to find something else to do with my time.

Edited September 14, 2014 by ToddKS

[Steve Anderson]

That's a classic example of level of participation. If we don't recognize the limitations of our resources, a lofty goal can cause major frustration.

Bottom line is, you can't give what you don't have.

I used to think it was a cop out, but it's simply the truth.

[Lee B]

As Bruce said, enjoy the process. I had started to take a short break (normally 4-6 weeks) that essentially ended up me quitting the sport for six months and I realized that I wasn't having fun anymore. It was a PITA every time I picked up the gun to try to practice.

Find whatever fun you can find in the process of training ... in my case, it is currently logging dry fire and live fire in a performance journal per Lanny Basham. Yes, writing a journal about my sessions make my practice fun and keeps me interested in my shooting; which should help me avoid burnout.

Read that section in With Winning in Mind and pay close attention to the part where this is not a diary where you write about crap that happens. The idea of the performance journal is to document things you did well (to preserve the self-image) and to find answers to a problem that might be occurring; in a positive way.

e.g.: Find a way to get even faster at entries. Solution: Dry fire "hard entries" from Ben's Skills and Drills book.

[Nimitz]

I have trained with Mr Anderson and I can assure you he knows what he is talking about ... If you don't establish realistic goals based on your true desires and resources you are just setting yourself up for major disappointment.

Mike Seeklander once told me that most shooters never make it to A class not becuase they can't but becuase try get frustrated and quit. Most of that fustration stems from unrealistic goals ...

[jroback]

I'm going to say what others have in a different way, based on the ideas of Flow (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi). I read this book many years ago, and recently saw it cited in one of Ben's books so I think there is definitely relevance to the shooting sports. For example, say that you can pretty routinely perform a 3.5 second Bill drill. What you may be feeling is either boredom because you're taking on shooting challenges that are below your skill level; e.g., you're practicing 4 second Bill drills. For most people, this is probably unlikely. More likely, you're going into practice with the idea that you can reduce that to a 2.0 second Bill drill today, or this week, or this month. In this case, you're getting frustrated because your immediate goals are too far beyond your current skills. To stay in the flow channel, and avoid either boredom or frustration, you want goals that are currently just out of reach but readily achievable with significant effort. Think reaching for an object on a shelf when you're flat-footed and you can't quite get it. But, if you get up on your tip toes and stretch you can.

Edited September 15, 2014 by jroback

[mike cyrwus]

or, you can stop putting demands on yourself, and do what you want, when you want, shooting/practicing/training wise, for no other reason, than because you want.

I think shooting burnout is when we force ourselves to go practice, or shoot a match, because we SHOULD, rather than Because we want.

Sure, keep your long term goals intact, written on a piece of paper on the wall next to your computer or gym locker, but keep the short term goals writtern down in your head, and modify them on the fly. Make sure they're aligned with your most basic and most effective positive feedback weapon; you, having fun, wanting to do something you are doing..

[MarkCO]

+1, well said Mike!

[SD1]

buying a new pistol keeps my interest level high and keeps me interested.

the wife does not agree though.

[g17drumr]

I usually just only practice or shoot when i feel like it... i dont force myself to do it cause then its not a fun hobby its a job. i skipped a match latch weekend to do something else instead. not the end of the world and im looking forward to this weekends match that much more

[negative]

When I start to feel burned out I take a break. I do things like pull out the bolt rifles and spend a day shooting off a bench. Or take the magnum wheelguns out and make some noise.

Having other hobbies helps. Photography and biking seem to work well for me.

[Nimitz]

Burnout is a result of frustration that is created when you don't meet whatever expectations you've placed on yourself. The first, and arguably most important thing to do is to define realistic goals for yourself. If you don't you can expect burnout to rear its ugly head at some point ...

If you are currently a C class shooter who has made a goal of winning the Production Nationals next year but becuase of your current life situtation you can only train one day a week and shoot 3,000 rds/year you can expect a vist from Mr Burnout at some point ...

Edited November 6, 2014 by Nimitz

[motosapiens]

Burnout is a result of frustration that is created when you don't meet whatever expectations you've placed on yourself. The first, and arguably most important thing to do is to define realistic goals for yourself. If you don't you can expect burnout to rear its ugly head at some point ...

I agree that is one of the key causes. Another one is just not improving. If you keep seeing progress, it tends to keep your interest and motivation up.

It's not something I worry about. When I don't feel like doing something, I just don't do it. And since I tend to focus mainly on just improvement, rather than 'finishing xth place at nationals', I stay motivated. Even if I have a poor match, there is almost always something I did really well, and for sure there are things that I know to work on that will yield improvement right away.

[Steve Moneypenny]

the better you get the harder it is to improve. I worked a lot of matches, did a ton of travel, and really did burn myself out before... don't take things to serious, and know when to step back a little is how I am hoping to keep it from happening again. took way too much time off the last time. .. (like 5 years) I"m too old to do that crap again!

[Vlad]

There is a rather dumb movie named "Faster", and when we are introduced to one of the characters he is going through a series of very complex yoga moves while looking at pictures of his past and his progress that brought him where he is. Then he wakes up his girlfriend and tells her "I'm done with yoga, I've beat it".

To me that is sorta like what the OP has set himself up to do by setting the goal of "making GM", because if you don't burn out on the way there, you will probably do so afterwards from the letdown after a success (and yes again Lanny Bassham wrote about that as well).

Personally, I like to set generic goals like "I want to be a better shooter" and then keep track of them with smaller skill relevant increments, such as "I want to always shoot better then my buddy XYX" and when I reach that goal I move it to "I want to shoot better then my better shooter buddy ZYX" or maybe set it to I want to shoot in the top 10% at next years BlahBoom match. IF the intermediate goals are kept reasonable then when you reach them not only do you have a sense of accomplishment, but the next goal is easy enough to pick, all the whole working on the big goal, being a better shooter.

Maybe one of those steps is getting a GM card, but to my mind that is one of the small goals, not the big one.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Vlad

[Piney]

Ive notited when I get tired of shooting * yes.. I did actually say that* my concentration suffers. I get lazy-- kinda of half hearted with my accuracy. I also notice that I fall into bad habits-- poor grip, trigger etc. When I can really tell is when my "gaming" suffers.

Several have mentioned a frustration level increasing. Folks express their frustration with not scoring better, not shooting better than so and so, etc. To me, if I notice a constant level of that, it means its become work and not a fun sport. That's not often. I keep the frustration level pretty low. Some frusrtration is good-- keeps one on their toes. One has to decide when that crosses their own line.

I've found that for me its time to simply take a break. Others mention the similar- take a break for a bit and come back refreshed. Fiddle with somthing else for a while. I still see my shooting buddies and will stop by a match-- but not shoot. After a few weeks or so, time to go shoot at a match will become available and I'll start up again.

[co-exprs]

I was duck hunting and bored cuz there were no ducks. Shot this vid about balance and burn out.

[Luv2rideWV]

Some things can make the sport less fun: Family and work are the two big things that eat up a lot of time and wear you out. At this time, I'm the President of our local gun club - that takes a little time. I and a few others also host our clubs USPSA matches - that can be a lot of work and time. While I've never gotten tired of shooting, I've gotten burned out in general and have felt this way for a while. I think I'm burned out but not necessarily from shooting. The shooting is usually the one bright spot in the month.

To combat these feeling, I back off of something; take a break; or switch things up. At yesterday's match, I shot my S&W 686 with a 2 1/2" barrel from a Blade Tech IWB holster and used my Comp II speedloaders. I got jokes from my buddies about shrinking my gun in the dryer but had a ball shooting one of my carry guns that seldom gets shot; it also started some good conversations with other revolver guys. Sometimes I break out the 1911 for a change because it seldom gets shot either. Plinking is also a good thing to do every once in a while - no structure - just goof off and have fun.

[MarkCO]

I'd like to add to my answer...STOP reading the rules forum and focus on shooting a better score, not arguing a better score.

[g mac]

Maybe take a break, until you get the urge to shoot again. Sometimes I dont' want to shoot, cause I'm lazy to drive, tired, etc. I'd take a break, maybe reload or work on my guns (fix, clean, maintenance), then in a while I get the urge to shoot again to try my reload, or my newly "tuned" or 'worked-on" gun. Good luck!

[BillR1]

I always change divisions when I get bored... something to mix it up... I am normally an open shooter but I just spent 6 months shooting single stack. Find something to keep it fresh.

This! I shot revolver this entire year and took a break from the auto. I had a great time and it kept things fresh and interesting. Now I'm shooting autos again with some new trigger skills and renewed interest.

[Corey]

Lots of good advice here. You have to make it fun. If you don't enjoy it, what's the point? Get a range buddy to work drills with and make small bets (who buys a beer at dinner). Lighten up on yourself. I don't know what level shooter you are, but becoming a GM is very lofty goal. Reachable, of course, but lofty. I used to want to make Master. I tried really hard for a little while and made A. Then I kinda quit "trying". I practiced a little more but dry-fired way less. I didn't run the same drill over and over. I just shot matches and tried to enjoy it. Made Master last year.

As for the "burnout", I've had it happen. I was MD'ing for a couple years and was very caught up in trying to make everyone happy that I wasn't happy with it. I've since convinced a buddy to take to the "official" duties while I help with stage setup and RO'ing day of. My stress level is down and I know I had way more fun this past year. Connection to me making Master? Maybe?

Our season end mid October and from then until about now, I don't touch my competition guns(I've shot a couple things at an indoor range that's just starting matches this year). I spend some time hunting and letting myself refresh. By about Feb, I'm usually itching to get back to the range

Mix it up. Have fun. Don't forget about you.