Caffeine: Yay or Nay?

[TheOneTrueAndre]

I grew up shooting traditional smallbore Bullseye and air rifle comps, and I remember my coach being like "No caffeine, it makes you jittery and that's bad mmmmmkay"

 

So I didn't.

 

20 years later, I'm shooting Steel Challenge which is a whoooole diff animal. Usually I've been pounding a red bull or something at 6am on the drive to the match, but have been having massive anxiety lately. I've stopped all caffeine for the past few weeks and have been wrecking my PBs with Ms and As.

 

But the fastest guy I know, a PCC shooter than gets mad if his string is over 2s, is ALWAYS pounding Monsters. Idk how he does it.

[schmidtg]

Caffeine sensitivity varies between individuals and depends on tolerance and one's genetics.

 

I get jitters at acute dosages of 200mg and up, and the source of the caffeine seems to matter.  100mg of coffee or tea gives me a nice boost of alertness without jitters but energy drinks cause hand tremors and negatively affect my tension and trigger control.

 

I've settled on bringing green tea to matches and generally don't touch coffee or energy drinks on match day.

[RoundEye]

Your cafine intake should be the same on match day as any other day when you feel normal.  Even the slightest variation from your normal routine may cause inconsistent results.  Too much caffeine or too little could have a similar effect.

Edited June 25 by RoundEye

[Haywizzle]

3 hours ago, RoundEye said:

Your canine intake should be the same on match day as any other day when you feel normal.  Even the slightest variation from your normal routine may cause inconsistent results.  Too much caffeine or too little could have a similar effect.

I tend to agree. I don't drink coffee, even when pulling all nighters. I always found it easy to stay up, but very difficult to wake up on match day with short rest under 5 hours.

 

I made the mistake once of having a few energy drinks on the way to a match on short sleep and it gave me the jitters than hurt my performance. Haven't had once in 6+ years now.

[Prange]

8 hours ago, RoundEye said:

Your canine intake should be the same on match day as any other day when you feel normal.  Even the slightest variation from your normal routine may cause inconsistent results.  Too much caffeine or too little could have a similar effect.

 

Agreed. Never change anything just before a Match. Except for your underwear.

[Styro]

NO caffiene! NO weed! I'm getting sick of smelling weed on ppl at shooting matches!

 

 

 

[MikeyScuba]

We take a 2 espresso shot latte to a match and we share it over a few hours.  I also take 2 grams of theanine before the match.  Which is calming and works well as I can go rabid squirrel mode very quickly.  Espresso is much lower vs drip coffee in caffeine.

 

matcha green tea has both caffeine and theanine but I like my Coffee.

[Prange]

On 6/24/2024 at 11:06 PM, RoundEye said:

Your cafine intake should be the same on match day as any other day when you feel normal.  Even the slightest variation from your normal routine may cause inconsistent results.  Too much caffeine or too little could have a similar effect.

Agreed. Never change anything on Match Day. Well, maybe your underwear.  

[JoeMKY]

Yeah each person handles caffeine differently. I can drink coffee all day up until a hour before bed and still fall asleep.  My wife will end up stay up half the night if she drinks coffee 4 hours before bed.

 

[JonasAberg]

As already pointed out, it's all about your normal routine.

If you don't normally drink any type of caffeine, it's probably not a good idea to start on match day. It's not a good idea to quit either, as that will most likely impact your mood and affect your score.

Whatever it is you normally do - do that.

[StefVanHauwe]

This is a good video on the topic

 

 

[Yeti]

Agreed on the same ol' same old.  Do what you do on every other day. 

If you drink coffee...drink coffee.  If you don't, then don't.