Head not in the game

[AverageJoeShooting]

I was supposed to shoot a match today.  I woke up, my stomach hurt, it was dark and rainy, hadnt had as much time as I wanted to dryfire in the previous week. Decided my head wasnt in the game so Im not going.  I shoot between 4 and 10 matches a month so its not huge deal for me to skip one.  With that being said, i just wanted to know what everyone does to "keep their head in the game".  I mean do you have hobbies outside of shooting, are there traditions or rituals you do that keep you focused?  do you take normal breaks from shooting to focus on other activities? What keep you coming back to matches especially after years and years of shooting?  What keeps you focused?

 

 

[Rnlinebacker]

I was supposed to shoot a match today.  I woke up, my stomach hurt, it was dark and rainy, hadnt had as much time as I wanted to dryfire in the previous week. Decided my head wasnt in the game so Im not going.  I shoot between 4 and 10 matches a month so its not huge deal for me to skip one.  With that being said, i just wanted to know what everyone does to "keep their head in the game".  I mean do you have hobbies outside of shooting, are there traditions or rituals you do that keep you focused?  do you take normal breaks from shooting to focus on other activities? What keep you coming back to matches especially after years and years of shooting?  What keeps you focused?
 
 

Played college and semi pro football for 17 years combined. Still lift and run the same way. I've incorporated my dry fire into my lifts during the lockdowns. I just lift at home now because I can get to things done. You should try it. I'm a 5am type on lift days

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[AverageJoeShooting]

48 minutes ago, Rnlinebacker said:

Played college and semi pro football for 17 years combined. Still lift and run the same way. I've incorporated my dry fire into my lifts during the lockdowns. I just lift at home now because I can get to things done. You should try it. I'm a 5am type on lift days

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i wake up at 5 am every day to do dryfire, breakfast and a small workout.  probably nothing close to crushing weights like an athlete like yourself would, but just small things to try and stay in shape better.  Im curious what movement drills do you do during dryfire?  How do you work on your footwork and speed?

[SGT_Schultz]

I don't have too many interests outside of shooting, but my shooting is not exclusively USPSA.

 

Long before I started competing with handguns I competed in various rifle disciplines mostly NRA Highpower Rifle, Mid Range Prone, and Long Range Prone (with a sling, not F class).  I don't have time for that any more but I still maintain rifle skills with precision scoped rifles and manage to shoot a match every now and then.  It's a completely different mindset and skill set which clears the brain.

 

When I go to a USPSA match I avoid thinking too much about it and getting worked up.  A GM friend remarked "you're trying too hard" when I asked him what could I have done better after a screwed up stage.  To to me sounded like "focus on the process and not the results".

[Rnlinebacker]

i wake up at 5 am every day to do dryfire, breakfast and a small workout.  probably nothing close to crushing weights like an athlete like yourself would, but just small things to try and stay in shape better.  Im curious what movement drills do you do during dryfire?  How do you work on your footwork and speed?

I have an agility ladder that I'll utilize but mostly I'm working on position entry and exits with a 5-6 yard run in between. That accomplishes cardio for the session too and isn't as mundane as a treadmill

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[WFargo]

sjeesh... 4 to 10 matches a month....

Here in the Netherlands we have 10 to 14 IPSC-matches a YEAR!....

jealous......

Then again.... if I would shoot 4 to 10 matches a month plus training, I would have to find a different job to pay for it....

[AverageJoeShooting]

49 minutes ago, WFargo said:

sjeesh... 4 to 10 matches a month....

Here in the Netherlands we have 10 to 14 IPSC-matches a YEAR!....

jealous......

Then again.... if I would shoot 4 to 10 matches a month plus training, I would have to find a different job to pay for it....

Im in the hotbed of shooting activity for several states, we have several GM level pro shooters that operate their own ranges and run matches in addition to the regular matches all the ranges run.  Usually fri, sat, sun of each week in a month you can find a match within an hours drive.  I reload my own ammo, and it doesnt even really cut down on cost, but i do buy around 15k of each component and lots of powder and usually load a whole bunch at once so i only really need to load once every few months

[rowdyb]

On 9/12/2020 at 6:16 AM, AverageJoeShooting said:

do you have hobbies outside of shooting, are there traditions or rituals you do that keep you focused?  do you take normal breaks from shooting to focus on other activities? What keep you coming back to matches especially after years and years of shooting?  What keeps you focused?

Answering all of your questions in order

• Yes, I have hobbies and interests outside of competitive shooting. Shooting takes up the most time, money and emotional investment. Usually.
• I stay focused by having goals and directed training. I stay focused because I have things I measure. While it sounds odd, I don't do this for "fun". While it may be fun that isn't why I do it. If all I needed was to hit a mental of physical fun button, I'd choose other things. I like competitive shooting primarily because they keep score and it is challenging. If I was just shooting because I liked being there on a Saturday morning and hanging out, I would quit in 2 weeks.
• For me, after Production nationals I take a break. So usually from November through January things shooting related take a major back seat to just family, holidays, projects around the house, fitness and so on. I unfollow shooting stuff on social media, go to the range less, dry fire less and just kind of unplug.
• What keeps me coming back year after year? I haven't accomplished my goals. Also I haven't found a hobby yet to replace competitive shooting that interests me because if I did, it would. Finally there is a bit of inertia, just coming back because I'm in the habit of doing it. I also shoot at 3 to 4 different clubs, travel to major matches so I don't get in a rut of shooting the same match with the same people over and over and over. Yuck.
• What keeps me focused? The measurables. I can go back to my book and see what my draws, reloads, bill drills and so on were all the back to 2014. I can go on practiscore and look at my percentage of A's, how I finished at larger matches. What is my classification in different divisions. All the different things to quantify a skills progression. Intrinsic things keep me focused. That way weather, who is at the match, what the stages or like or any other thing not under my control doesn't matter.

 

Now I have definitely had my low moments so these are my personal things but I'll share them to see if they help you out.

• Accepting my friends, family, wife, sponsors or whoever doesn't really care where I finish in the match. They will still love me and think the same of me regardless of how well I shoot a match. OR how poorly. Once I realized no one else had expectations or judgements about me based off of match stuff then only what I thought mattered. And that took a lot of just general pressure off of me. It was easier to like it when I started caring less about it.
• Do not make a comparison cost analysis. One year I flew to 12 different major matches. I decided to add up all my shooting costs for that year and it came to over 20 thousand dollars. I was depressed as I could of had a new motorcycle instead. Or saved/invested it. Anything else hahahaha. But once I did a budget, knew how much I would spend on what and really took it to heart that I wasn't hurting myself or my family economically by spending hundreds of dollars a month on shooting I had one less thing to add mental stress.
• You're not in a concentration camp. No one is forcing you to shoot matches. When I have woken up and been tired, felt sick to my stomach, sore, headache and then forced myself to shoot a local because I felt I had to I've always regretted it. Rather I "force" myself to practice during the week as that has more long term value than shooting a match. Never miss practice but it is ok to miss locals. Only once have I forced my way through a physical issue (I was discharged from the ER at 3am the morning of the match for gastrointestinal bleeding. That I knew I had, didn't tell my wife and drove the 7 hours to a match before disclosing what was going on and ending up in the ER.) and I forced myself to shoot the match and did well. But on the regular, day in and day out, I don't care if I miss a local.
• Switching guns or divisions never helped me like the sport more or perform better. I may be the rare case here. I've tried it probably 4 times and it never yielded what I thought it would. Usually a net loss of money and time is what happened. I may have learned much about a new gun type or cartridge, but I never made a significant betterment in my skill by bouncing around between guns and divisions.
• I stopped being "so into it". Unfollowed tons of people who only posted shooting stuff. Took apps off my phone. Stopped listening to podcasts and going to forums as much. Basically reduced most of what I call subjective stuff. Everything that was just feeling or opinion based. When I made it less social, less ego, less talking about stuff, less content oriented I enjoyed it more. I like objective stuff. Match video, match results and timer data. So I guess you could say what about the whole wide world of competitive shooting you can access away from the range. Find the right balance for you, long term.
• Confidence is the sum of your mental and physical preparation. The more confident I have felt in my ability the less I "needed" to shoot no matter what, month after month and year after year. That confidence comes from what you do away from the match. Doing more homework and less tests made me feel more confident. And that just made me feel better in general. Less worry, so a better experience. Emotions are only good if they help.

[AverageJoeShooting]

On 9/16/2020 at 8:26 AM, rowdyb said:

Answering all of your questions in order

• Yes, I have hobbies and interests outside of competitive shooting. Shooting takes up the most time, money and emotional investment. Usually.
• I stay focused by having goals and directed training. I stay focused because I have things I measure. While it sounds odd, I don't do this for "fun". While it may be fun that isn't why I do it. If all I needed was to hit a mental of physical fun button, I'd choose other things. I like competitive shooting primarily because they keep score and it is challenging. If I was just shooting because I liked being there on a Saturday morning and hanging out, I would quit in 2 weeks.
• For me, after Production nationals I take a break. So usually from November through January things shooting related take a major back seat to just family, holidays, projects around the house, fitness and so on. I unfollow shooting stuff on social media, go to the range less, dry fire less and just kind of unplug.
• What keeps me coming back year after year? I haven't accomplished my goals. Also I haven't found a hobby yet to replace competitive shooting that interests me because if I did, it would. Finally there is a bit of inertia, just coming back because I'm in the habit of doing it. I also shoot at 3 to 4 different clubs, travel to major matches so I don't get in a rut of shooting the same match with the same people over and over and over. Yuck.
• What keeps me focused? The measurables. I can go back to my book and see what my draws, reloads, bill drills and so on were all the back to 2014. I can go on practiscore and look at my percentage of A's, how I finished at larger matches. What is my classification in different divisions. All the different things to quantify a skills progression. Intrinsic things keep me focused. That way weather, who is at the match, what the stages or like or any other thing not under my control doesn't matter.

 

Now I have definitely had my low moments so these are my personal things but I'll share them to see if they help you out.

• Accepting my friends, family, wife, sponsors or whoever doesn't really care where I finish in the match. They will still love me and think the same of me regardless of how well I shoot a match. OR how poorly. Once I realized no one else had expectations or judgements about me based off of match stuff then only what I thought mattered. And that took a lot of just general pressure off of me. It was easier to like it when I started caring less about it.
• Do not make a comparison cost analysis. One year I flew to 12 different major matches. I decided to add up all my shooting costs for that year and it came to over 20 thousand dollars. I was depressed as I could of had a new motorcycle instead. Or saved/invested it. Anything else hahahaha. But once I did a budget, knew how much I would spend on what and really took it to heart that I wasn't hurting myself or my family economically by spending hundreds of dollars a month on shooting I had one less thing to add mental stress.
• You're not in a concentration camp. No one is forcing you to shoot matches. When I have woken up and been tired, felt sick to my stomach, sore, headache and then forced myself to shoot a local because I felt I had to I've always regretted it. Rather I "force" myself to practice during the week as that has more long term value than shooting a match. Never miss practice but it is ok to miss locals. Only once have I forced my way through a physical issue (I was discharged from the ER at 3am the morning of the match for gastrointestinal bleeding. That I knew I had, didn't tell my wife and drove the 7 hours to a match before disclosing what was going on and ending up in the ER.) and I forced myself to shoot the match and did well. But on the regular, day in and day out, I don't care if I miss a local.
• Switching guns or divisions never helped me like the sport more or perform better. I may be the rare case here. I've tried it probably 4 times and it never yielded what I thought it would. Usually a net loss of money and time is what happened. I may have learned much about a new gun type or cartridge, but I never made a significant betterment in my skill by bouncing around between guns and divisions.
• I stopped being "so into it". Unfollowed tons of people who only posted shooting stuff. Took apps off my phone. Stopped listening to podcasts and going to forums as much. Basically reduced most of what I call subjective stuff. Everything that was just feeling or opinion based. When I made it less social, less ego, less talking about stuff, less content oriented I enjoyed it more. I like objective stuff. Match video, match results and timer data. So I guess you could say what about the whole wide world of competitive shooting you can access away from the range. Find the right balance for you, long term.
• Confidence is the sum of your mental and physical preparation. The more confident I have felt in my ability the less I "needed" to shoot no matter what, month after month and year after year. That confidence comes from what you do away from the match. Doing more homework and less tests made me feel more confident. And that just made me feel better in general. Less worry, so a better experience. Emotions are only good if they help.

Thank you for some very solid advice!!