lenard Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 Your 1st stage on a big match ended in disaster ( jam, or misses ). Now what? What do you guys do and think about? How do you get back on the game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 I take the approach that each stage is it's own match. Say you 8 stages, you are actually shooting 8 mini matches. Do the best you can, at that moment, for each mini match. Then let the computer add up the scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 You screwed up, now don't compound the problem by trying to make up for it by shooting faster and going 150%. Shoot your game plan and forget about it. Chances are in a big match most guys will tank one stage. If you let it haunt you the rest of the match you might as well pack up and go home. The goal for big matches is to be consistent. ( just not consistently bad). Too many guys have a bad stage and they are done for the rest of the day. It happened move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38supPat Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 Ditto...been wanting to say that for awhile,,,lol Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Bone Posted June 20, 2001 Share Posted June 20, 2001 I'd focus more on the positive side. I've already messed up and the chances of winning this stage is nill. So what? Don't accept any additional pressure. Now it's time to simply go out and enjoy the remaining stages. Truth of the matter is.. at a big match you don't have to blaze every stage. You just have to shoot consistently "good" within your classification. Notice I said "good".... not necessarily "outstanding". Many times I've placed very respectable finishes and I never shot an "outstanding" stage, but I was always in the top percentages of my class. We can always expect the upper "M" and "GM" shooters to eat our lunch. But as for the rest of us. It's usually the individual who takes themself out of the running. Don't allow that to happen, don't allow the additional pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted June 20, 2001 Share Posted June 20, 2001 "When a runner is running as fast as he can, he shouldn't think he should be running faster." Bruce Lee Or, when you shoot, just shoot. You shouldn't feel any different if you are shooting "fast" or shooting "slow." Don't check your mind, don't judge or compare - just shoot! be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedaddy Posted June 20, 2001 Share Posted June 20, 2001 Lenard, See if this thought process can help. It almost always works for me. When we compete, we come together for a common purpose. We enjoy each others company. We further the shooting sports and personal firearms ownership. It's about freedom. Competitive shooting is one of the most honorable things we can do. 1) Don't be in a hurry to blaze through a stage. Think about the great deal of time and effort the host club went to, to set it up. 2) Make note of cool details, don't be distracted by them, but appreciate them! And remember to tell your hosts that you do. 3) Try to honor each target with a good performance. If you slight a target, it may not honor you with good points. 4) Strive for a good performance not a fast one. Fast may happen, but you shouldn't realize it. (You drove five hours to get here, do you really want it to be over?) 5) If you can, be truly thankful to be here today. When I think in this way, I get my mind "right". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenard Posted June 20, 2001 Author Share Posted June 20, 2001 Thanks guys. Sometimes match pressure gets to me on the first few stages. If I dont mess up , then its smooth sailing till the end. But if I do mess up, its pretty hard to get my mind back on track. I guess its all about mental toughness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detlef Posted June 21, 2001 Share Posted June 21, 2001 A bit of encouragement: I have consistently experienced shooting my best stages of a big match right *after* a disaster stage. Seems to sort of *wake me up and show me the light*. Of course, I'd prefer to be awake and seeing *already*.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcount Posted June 21, 2001 Share Posted June 21, 2001 Lenard, I have looked at this thread a number of times debating whether or not I should reply, given that I am not an expert in this field. But finally decided, what the hell, free advice is worth what you pay for it and anyone who reads it is free to disregard it, if they wish. I have done some reading about sports psychology and know there are a number of books and other resources out there that may have information you would find helpful. I can't give you book titles as all that I have read were borrowed and long since returned. But if you do a web search on "Sports Psychology" and look for "Mind Tools" you will find a fairly descent report with some good information on goal setting & motivation, dealing with stress, etc. Then, if you find it interesting, you can go to your library and see what they have available. But maybe you need to look no farther than Brian's "Beyond Fundamentals" to answer your specific question. There is a section in it on Present Tense Shooting. If you don't have the book, what this talks about is giving your full attention to what is happening, what is most important to you, from moment to moment. Some people refer to this as "being in the moment". What it means is if you are devoting 100% of your attention to the next stage, the next target, the next shot there won't be any room in your consciousness for thoughts about the "disaster stage" you shot a few minutes ago. No room for doubt or worry or self-criticism, all your attention would be taken by what is most important - that which is happening NOW. Everything else, past or future, is only a distraction. As I said, you probably need look no farther than Brian's book. But if you do start looking into the psychology side of it, have fun!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Kline Posted August 23, 2001 Share Posted August 23, 2001 Lenard, You just have to let the bad first stage go and not ruin the rest. After the match is over, I go back over my time and points and refigure what my hit factorwould have been if I hadn't blown it and then see where I would have finished. This at least lets me know what I am capable of and how I should have done. This makes me feel better. Kevin/IPSC Supercop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 Lenard, See if this thought process can help. It almost always works for me. When we compete, we come together for a common purpose. We enjoy each others company. We further the shooting sports and personal firearms ownership. It's about freedom. Competitive shooting is one of the most honorable things we can do. 1) Don't be in a hurry to blaze through a stage. Think about the great deal of time and effort the host club went to, to set it up. 2) Make note of cool details, don't be distracted by them, but appreciate them! And remember to tell your hosts that you do. 3) Try to honor each target with a good performance. If you slight a target, it may not honor you with good points. 4) Strive for a good performance not a fast one. Fast may happen, but you shouldn't realize it. (You drove five hours to get here, do you really want it to be over?) 5) If you can, be truly thankful to be here today. When I think in this way, I get my mind "right". I was looking at old posts when I saw this. It is so good I'm going to print up a few coppies post 1 on my wall and use the rest as book markers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 If you are aware of how fast or slow you are shooting - you are paying attention to the wrong thing(s). The goal is to eventually lose all sense of self while you are shooting. If you look hard enough at one thing (front sight) or series of things (target, sight, target, sight, ect.) - eventually you (the sense of self) will "disappear" in the looking. For me it is the final reward. And of course any sense of trying to do anything only increases the sense of self. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Griffin Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Something that seems to help me is to consider that everyone has one bad stage at a match, so in no way does it knock you out of the running. I just tell myself that I'm glad it's over now, and try to learn any lessons the stage presented. (the lesson is usually: See the sights, dummy.) H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 You can come back, I have had several bad starts with jams / mags falling out. The only thing that could be called a "Disaster" is if you injured your self or did something unsafe. Other than that - mess-ups, breakdowns, Are an important part of the sport and match. Each stage is -just that- one stage think of this as an identical problem = 'What if the first stage was the best you ever shot"? what if you shot so well that you set the high hit factor? What if the Ro says WOW! no one shot that fast and had so many As? Or Wow ! No one in you class has shot even near that good! Congratulations - Your in fire I think that is harder to overcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 If you are aware of how fast or slow you are shooting - you are paying attention to the wrong thing(s). The goal is to eventually lose all sense of self while you are shooting. If you look hard enough at one thing (front sight) or series of things (target, sight, target, sight, ect.) - eventually you (the sense of self) will "disappear" in the looking. For me it is the final reward.And of course any sense of trying to do anything only increases the sense of self. be I've spent paragraphs and multiple posts...just trying to say the same thing that Brain manages with a few short word. (the idea of which I learned from him in the first place) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonub Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 heres what lance armstrong did after a crash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27SFeKk2LpY&NR=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 If you are aware of how fast or slow you are shooting - you are paying attention to the wrong thing(s). The goal is to eventually lose all sense of self while you are shooting. If you look hard enough at one thing (front sight) or series of things (target, sight, target, sight, ect.) - eventually you (the sense of self) will "disappear" in the looking. For me it is the final reward.And of course any sense of trying to do anything only increases the sense of self. be I get there some times usually near the end of the match. Funny though when I lose my self in my shooting it's usually after a realy bad stage. heres what lance armstrong did after a crashhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27SFeKk2LpY&NR=1 Point taken. Thank you. Lance sure does makes it look easy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Ellis Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 You may want to take a look at what happened to me a while back at this thread. Besides USPSA I putz around with trap shooting. Just the other day during a round I missed three of the first five. Not acceptable even by my standards. And typically when I tank a round early it just goes from bad to worse from there on. At the next station I paused, looked at the shell, looked at the trap house. "One shell, one bird. That's all that matters right now." Smoked it. Did it again. And again. Finished the round with 22 due to the 3 mikes at station 1. The next round was a 23 tying my personal best. One shell, one bird. One bullet, one target. That's all that matters right now. What has happened doesn't matter. It is done. It cannot be changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Thanks Hank. I'm going to try and refocus hmmmm focus my mind on my shooting only at the next steel match this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Anderson Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 In addition to the above excellent advice, I'll add this: Don't talk about it. Talk about the weather or the next stage... SA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 In addition to the above excellent advice, I'll add this:Don't talk about it. Talk about the weather or the next stage... SA Thank you Steve. By the way when do you think this rain will end It's making my shoes quite soggy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.E. Kelley Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Our own Matt Burkett's advice to me and on DVD is there is only ONE first stage per season. As he looks at it (as I do now) the year is one monster match and EVERYONE is going to have troubles on a stage or ten. Another point he makes is most of us, are rooting for the rest of us, to shoot well. We all like to see great runs on stages. Enjoy yourself and have fun. I don't know if we can effectively fool ourselves into letting go of poor stage performances but you CAN reason with yourself that over a years monster match you will have a few as will EVERYONE else. This places a less than stellar performance in proper context. A useful mind management technique. Those who remain on the porch risk little. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Thank you Steve. By the way when do you think this rain will end It's making my shoes quite soggy? Maaaan...I love shooting in the rain and with soggy shoes. I wish all the matches were like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 Thank you Steve. By the way when do you think this rain will end It's making my shoes quite soggy? Maaaan...I love shooting in the rain and with soggy shoes. I wish all the matches were like that. You should come out and shoot in Washington. You'll get all the rain you could want. Might even ad a swimming stage just for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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