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Winning- How Important Is It To You?


Flyin40

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j2fast: Great post!!! B)

..."if the desire to win (future tense) results in appropriate preparation for winning (refining technique, goal setting, appropriate practice, etc.) then I honestly believe the desire to win is indespensible."
All my '"wins" (and incremental improvements in same) were the direct result of the content in the above quote and not just idle, egotistical dreaming. Because when I DID happen to indulge in some egotistical dreaming, I figured I'd better dang back it up with solid performance or mass quantitiies of embarrassment would surely ensue. :unsure:
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When I used to auto race, I have a mentor. He did coach/yell at :( me from a rookie diver at the beginning of the season to a seasonal champion by the end of the year.

1st of all, my mentor does not drive as fast as I do. Ever! He is a my mechanical and technical support on the car, but he never go to the track with me. If I trvel north to the track, he will travel south to go fishing and turn off his pager.

One thing that makes him my coach is his winning mind from shootong. When he was young, he used to travel around and shot clays part time in the 80s. He wins enough in one year to pay 25%for his house down payment back in his days.

There're couple points I learned in auto racing. It seems to give me the drive to win.

1) "Money will drive the best of the best to show up in the game. Even $1 on the table the best will show up and go for it. Not prize, not trophy, cash only"

It seems to be true. The series I raced in is the only series among the club that have cash pay out. All the best driver, with more than 15 yrs of racing experience, in the local region just shows up and go for this series. It's one of the highest cash pay-out local series within the decade.

2) "2nd place finished, is the first guy to loose"

I have a camcorder in the race car. I will usually have a video download section with him after the race weekend. Each time I finished in top three, I will got yelled at. Even if I win and lead by miles, he will still picks a section or two of the tape and said "what the ha&k are you thinking? ... ... .... You could have lost the race if that guy was right behind you " He never satisify with my performance. He will yelled till I cry. I was pushed to perform 100% no matter what.

I work countness hours on the race car in his shop that year even the weekends. I have to travel 70 miles per trip between his shop and home everyday. For the rest of the time (during eating, school, part-time... ...), I am thinking/ reading about racing. I have no spare time & money for movie or CD. Every penny goes to my race budget. I have spent almost no time with my girl friend(now my wife) and she have to help me work on the car some of the weekends.

Is winning that important to me? I guess yes. At lease back in the days.

Is that worth it? Definitely! I earn my respect from those top drivers and other series' drivers. From beginning of the season"Who the ha%k is that kid?" to end of the year "Billy the kid"

If I commited to it, I will do whatever it takes to win. I know I could do it because I have done it.

In this sport, I decided to take it as a hobbie. Otherwise my boss would have fired me already!! :)

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My favorite quotes on winning/losing.

# 1 " The will to win compares little with the will to prepare to win"

Everyone wants to win but, few have the drive and the mental focus to do it!!!

# 2 "The only thing worse than losing is quitting"

Use your poor performances as motivation to improve and never, never quit.

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Heck, we could probably talk about this forever.

Ain't that the truth.

A few common thoughts I can remember... I'd rather win than lose. But, I'd much rather shoot to my ability than shoot below it. I felt much more complete if I shot a match to my ability and lost than if I shot a poor match but for whatever reason won anyway.

Before or during a match - I very seldom had any thoughts at all about winning - for me it was all about shooting to my ability in the match. The times I can remember when I made it a priority to beat a specific person in a match - without exception I always shot poorly.

I think the only effective way to successfully motivate yourself with "beating someone," is to use that to motivate you TO SHOOT.

be

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At least I know what I’m doing wrong now. Hell, all I can think about is where I am in the curve before and after a stage.

I guess the only good thing is that I don’t think about it as I’m shooting……or do I.

From now on, I’m going to try to shoot the match to my ability, although I’m not really sure what that is.

How does a person realize their true ability? How do you capture that? What single word describes the act of shooting to your ability?

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I am glad Brian kicked in here. Very timely. I was just out in the gargage...dry-firing (some), smoking a big ol'cigar (some), and reading the last pages of The Inner Game __ _____.

I love it when a plan comes together.

(It is hard to get into the "zone"...when you are conscious about your standings.)

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At least I know what I’m doing wrong now.  Hell, all I can think about is where I am in the curve before and after a stage.

I guess the only good thing is that I don’t think about it as I’m shooting……or do I.

From now on, I’m going to try to shoot the match to my ability, although I’m not really sure what that is.

How does a person realize their true ability?  How do you capture that?  What single word describes the act of shooting to your ability?

Perfect :)

Mistakes are what chap my hide, not getting the sight picture I know I need. Seldom do I ever get more than I need, but the not enough, arrrgggg.

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What single word describes the act of shooting to your ability?

Without mistake is the first thing I thought of. That takes into account that your "ability" may be different in a match than it is in practice. With careful practice and evaluation of practice and match performances, over time, the gap between those two "abilities" will narrow.

Common mistakes:

Firing a poor shot (you're not sure where it landed when you fired it) and not making it up.

Shooting too carefully.

Bumbling a reload because your attention wasn't where it should have been (during the reload).

Causes of mistakes:

Rushing.

Overly concerned with outcome (score).

Rushing.

Trying something.

Rushing.

Lack of proper practice.

Rushing.

Uncertainty about your abilities.

Rushing.

be

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i can relate with brian, i was trying to beat one of the best standard if not the best standard shooter in our country.

I always say this is the time to beat him,etc etc. even in practice he beats me. after this i just said to myself. what the hell ill just have fun.

and after 3 weeks of being beaten, i started beating him :)

now he does not want to teach me anymore,

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Causes of mistakes:

Rushing.

Overly concerned with outcome (score).

Rushing.

Trying something.

Rushing.

Lack of proper practice.

Rushing.

Uncertainty about your abilities.

Rushing.

be

Jeez Brian, you just broke down each stage of my last match! :blink:

".. your "ability" may be different in a match than it is in practice. With careful practice and evaluation of practice and match performances, over time, the gap between those two "abilities" will narrow..."

Got it. Thanks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I also think that our abilities can change for the better or worse.

What is our mindset? Physical well being? Attitude? I personally think attitude is the most influential as "Attitude is Everything." I am sure there are others as well.

My $.02

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I do not want to win anymore, all I want to do is find relaxation and fun in IPSC-shooting, most important thing for me right now after quiting a 4-year membership of a Dutch IPSC-shooting team!

Going back to shooting-basics, not bothered by things as organizing matches, keeping teammates together, solving problems, winning (or trying to win) etc.

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What single word describes the act of shooting to your ability?

Without mistake is the first thing I thought of. That takes into account that your "ability" may be different in a match than it is in practice. With careful practice and evaluation of practice and match performances, over time, the gap between those two "abilities" will narrow.

Common mistakes:

Firing a poor shot (you're not sure where it landed when you fired it) and not making it up.

Shooting too carefully.

Bumbling a reload because your attention wasn't where it should have been (during the reload).

Causes of mistakes:

Rushing.

Overly concerned with outcome (score).

Rushing.

Trying something.

Rushing.

Lack of proper practice.

Rushing.

Uncertainty about your abilities.

Rushing.

be

What causes shooting too carefully? Or, more specifically, any insight as to why I'm able to shoot steel targets far faster and more aggressively than paper? This was really noticeable at the Nats, where I'd accelerate across popper arrays after shooting paper deliberately. I had the ability to come into a port and shoot steel on arrival, almost without effort. Come into a port on paper though, and there's tremendous time wasted on precisely aligning the sights to shoot 2 alpha on close, fairly open or wideopen targets --- we're not talking tiny partials at 25 yards. Enquiring mind would like help exploring.....

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Where are your hits on the steel? Frequently edge hits or always dead center?

Edge hits are rare --- as long as my head's in the right place. With one exception (Stage 18) I had my head pretty well screwed on at the Nats, and I can recall only one popper that needed a second round, the right popper of the two on the left side on Stage 5. I rushed the shot when I picked up the gun, knew it as I transitioned to the other, and swung back to shoot it after knocking the left one down. For that matter, the poppers on 18 were my best shooting on that stage.....

If I can find someone to host 'em, I can put up a couple of clips or ship 'em via e-mail......

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  • 3 weeks later...
Where are your hits on the steel? Frequently edge hits or always dead center?

That question reminded me of the "second benefit of calling." The first is - when you learn to call shots precisely - or "read the gun" - you will move the gun quickly and decisively from target to target. The second benefit to calling, or reading the gun, is that you will begin to shoot each target's maximum scoring area at the earliest opportunity. (As opposed to waiting to see "too much.")

I used the word "gun" instead of "sights" to imply that on some targets, to read the shot, you may only need to see "the gun on the target." But other targets may require you to see a precisely aligned sight picture, stopped on the target.

be

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"Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser."

- Genghis Sean, The Butcher of Marshall

"Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure."

- John Basse, Past President, Texas Jaycees

Don Keough's (CEO Coca-Cola) 11 Rules on 'HOW TO LOSE':

1. Stop taking risks

2. Be content

3. Never deviate from what the founder did

4. Be inflexible

5. Rely totally on research and experts

6. Concentrate on competitors instead of your customers

7. Put yourself - not the customer - first

8. Solve administrative concerns first

9. Let others do your thinking for example, headquarters

10. Rely on T-G-E: 'That's Good Enough' and T-N-M-J: 'That's Not My Job!'

11. Rationalize slow growth

"Knute Rockne wanted nothing but "bad losers." Good losers get into the habit of losing."

- George Allen

"Show me a good and gracious loser, and I'll show you a failure."

- Knute Rockne

"Show me a gracious loser and I'll show you a perennial loser."

- O.J. Simpson

"Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser."

- Arnold "Red" Auergback

"If there's a good loser in boxing, I'd like to fight him every week."

- George Fullmer

"Every time you win, you're reborn; when you lose, you die a little."

- George Allen

"Every time - all the time - I'm a perfectionist. I feel I should never lose."

- Chris Evert

"As long as a person doesn't admit he is defeated, he is not defeated . . . he's just a little behind and isn't through fighting."

- Darrell Royal

"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never . . . In nothing, great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense."

- Winston Churchill, speech to Harrow School, October 29, 1941

the worst loser in history?

"Let me tell you something and don't ever forget it. You play games to win, not lose. And you fight wars to win! That's spelled W-I-N! And every good player in the game and every good commander in a war, and I mean really good player or good commander, every damn one of them has to have some sonofabitch in him. If he doesn't, he isn't a good player or commander. And he will never be a good commander. Polo games and wars aren't won by gentlemen. They're won by men who can be first class sonsofbitches when they have to be. It's as simple as that. No sonofabitch, no commander."

- Gen. Lucian K. Truscott (Four Star General) to his son, quoted in "Patton: A Genius for War"

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