Ambition And Impatience Are A Bad Mix

[38superman]

This is kind of long but there's a lesson learned here so bear with me.

After shooting L10 all of last year, I made the decision to jump back into Limited this year and set a goal of getting my A card.

My Limited classification stood at about 62% and it was time to go to work on it.

I know there is more to advancement than shooting a few good classifers.

Overall match performance has to come along for the ride.

My strategy was to shoot as many classifiers as possible and try to push that percentage up over 70.

Then I would let the season unfold and hope to be in a position to push over the top by the end of the year.

Then it happened.

I shot a couple of really good classifers (one was 79.9) and presto, 62% turned into 66% almost overnight.

I started thinking this was going to be easy.

A few more like that and I got it just where I want it.

Just when I started to get a little cocky, a special classifer came up at a local club and I figured this is it.

If I go down there and blaze through them as fast as I can go, I may crash and burn on a few, but out of 6 classifers I'm bound to have one or two really good ones.

As you might imagine it didn't quite turn out that way.

I took my hero or zero approach to the match and recorded some times that would make a Master class shooter proud.

Unfortunately, I couldn't do it without pullling at least one penalty on every stage.

In the end it was just a waste of time and ammo.

The lesson learned?

Simple.

Play your game.

Run your drills.

Focus on fundamentals.

Nothing comes easy, only time and hard work will yield results.

Get greedy and try to play at a level beyond your skills and it just isn't pretty.

I knew that, ....... I just forgot for a moment.

Tls

[Bill Nesbitt]

Nice post.

Raise your hand if you've "been there, done that".

As Bill raises his hand.

[Singlestack]

<

<

Has hand up.

[flyingchange]

I did this just yesterday. Not fun!

[CCL]

Amen.....both hands up!

[Catfish]

yo!

[1911onr]

Busted!

Just tried this at a special classifier shooting production. Nailed one, above average on another and average on the two remaining stages. My overall match placement was about the same as if I shot accurately. The procedure works to up your classification, but I'm just fooling myself that I'm really getting better.

Edited January 29, 2007 by 1911onr

[hopalong]

Tony,

NOT wasted time, ammo, and money. This is a good learning oportunity, one that many of us have had already( raising hand too ). You did exactly what you planned on doing..........Blasting through the stages at HI SPEED........Right????? aw, come on...admit it. I have in the past.......and most likely will again as I love to use special classifiers for that elusive 100% (NOT recomended but just one of my things).

And, Yes it is so easy to get a couple of good classifiers and then get a little overconfident on the next few, just to get run over by that train wreck called "Humble Pie"........YES I have too, and I'll be willing to bet a good Steak that I am not the Lone Ranger in this catagory too.

Something most of us have to experience to understand, some are lucky and either see it happen to someone else, or have it explained to them by some one that learned it by the school of hard knocks (star pupil in that school)

Hopalong