My First Nationals!

[firematt100]

YES YES YES

I'M IN!!!!!!

I am going to the Open Nationals for the first time. I have been reading several topics about the Nationals and I still have tons of questions. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who is going for the first time.

Give us first timers your advice...

Travel

Match prep

Match day

Mistakes not to make

Anything else you can think of that will help

This is so cool and I am very excited. I need your help National Veterans.

Thanks,

Matt

[dirtypool40]

Over prep, give yourself more time to get ready, get to the range, to the airport etc.

Stick to simple plans that take points over speed. If you shoot a clean match, you'll be happy and one of very few who did.

KNOW your plan before LAMR.

Shoot slower than you think you need to.

HYDRATE.

EAT.

SIT DOWN when you can.

Get rest, sleep, don't party all night with new friends.

#1 REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN.

Edited March 14, 2007 by dirtypool40

[38superman]

Nationals is really not that much different than any other major, just bigger and longer.

There are a lot more stages, more rounds, more shooters, bigger squads, and it covers several days.

This makes it harder to stay sharp throughout the match.

Advice:

Do anything you can to stay focused.

For example, leave your cell phone in the car.

When I'm on the range that is my time.

Make sure your gun, ammo and gear is in good order, take spare batteries, etc.

I hate surprises at the chrono so don't let that trip you up.

I go to Nats with my normal loads and a second batch of ammo that's loaded a bit hotter.

Go to the chrono before the match starts, have them check the normal load.

If the normal load makes major, use it.

If not, go to the hotter loads.

There is usually a practice range available.

Make use of it.

Sending some practice rounds down range will warm you up and help get rid of the jitters before you shoot for real.

Other than that, shoot fast, shoot straight and enjoy the moment.

Tls

Edited March 14, 2007 by tlshores

[XRe]

Read Kirsch's "Thinking Practical Shooting" - many many good tidbits in there.

Take any food with you that you may not be able to get locally that you need on the range (for instance, I'll take a stash of Cliff bars with me).

Ship ammo ahead a couple of weeks in advance to make sure it gets there.

Fly in plenty early to recuperate.

Stay in your routine as much as possible.

Adjust your sleep schedule well in advance to make sure you're rested and ready...

[shred]

Follow the HHGTG:

DON'T PANIC

and

Bring a Towel (right, Erik?? )

[BritinUSA]

Stuff you can do before you get there. Check your ammunition, check for high-primers, check for dings on the rim that can cause extraction problems. Drop test your ammo (all of it). This will take no more than a couple of hours. There's nothing worse than the jam from hell at Nationals and 99% of all jams are caused by ammo.

[Jake Di Vita]

The Nationals is the same as any other match you have ever shot. Just longer.

[GeorgeInNePa]

The first thing I do is find out where I can get a really good steak. Good dinners are very important to the Nationals Experience! Steak houses, good Italian restaurants, and a good Mexican stop are very good choices.

After that I look for a good beer store and go check the place out. If the Nationals is at Barry, Il., I probably drove and have good beer with me. But as we all know, you can't drink the same thing day after day, so you need to be able to run with whatever suits the mood. Since this year I'm flying to Tulsa, I'll be searching for good beer.

A highly hopped IPA and a good strong Belgian will get you in the mood to go back to the range the next day. You said Open? That means Missoula, right? Check out Moose Drool Beer.

Edited March 14, 2007 by GeorgeInNePa

[38superman]

"Since this year I'm flying to Tulsa, I'll be searching for good beer."

If you're in Tulsa, don't you have to drink Pabst Blue Ribbon?

I think it may be a state law.

Tls

[GeorgeInNePa]

"Since this year I'm flying to Tulsa, I'll be searching for good beer."

If you're in Tulsa, don't you have to drink Pabst Blue Ribbon?

I think it may be a state law.

Tls

<insert puking smiley here>

[Flexmoney]

Matt,

I think there is a thread or two just like this one every year. So, I guess my advice would be to dig through some of those threads for advice.

As for beer in Tulsa...they got a'plenty. Just follow the leader.

[Micah]

The Nationals is the same as any other match you have ever shot. Just longer.

+1. Don't flip yourself out now, it really is just another match. I'm a big fan of bringing music along (Ipod) to major matches for getting pumped, relaxed, focused or for tuning out the moron that keeps complaining about how much he sucks.

[kimel]

Get there early enough to walk the stages on staff match day if the range will be open. Seeing them on the ground helps calm the jitters.

Remember that the range staff are there to help. If you have a question when you get up to a stage; ask. Nothing will toss your game in the dumper faster than starting a stage wondering about something or another.

The range in Missoula was fabulous when we were there for Area 1 two years ago and the locals are great folks. There are plenty of places to find a good meal and lots of good beer to drink (Moose Drool is good but Big Sky actually does stuff that is better...Moose Drool is just their most popular).

[Zerwas]

I'm hardly a "veteran", but this wll be my 3rd limited nationals this year so,,,, Let me relay to you an experience I had at my FIRST limited nationals...

The very first day, we finish with the shooters meeting and we walk out to the safe areas to strap 'em on. I walk up to the rather small safe area and I see a bunch of guys standing there in a line about 8-9 deep perpendicular to the table. Some guys were a good 12 feet away from the table. I walk up to a vacant spot in the line between a couple of guys and just ask out loud, "can we put the pistol on out here?" I was more than a little paranoid about getting kicked off the range before I fired my first shots.... Anyway, the guy to my left (whom I hadn't looked at yet) said to me, "Aw dont worry about it man, they have camera's in the trees. Just yell out your competitor number and they'll find you." I then look over at the man, and it was Todd Jarrett! I almost died laughing. That was my first meeting of a super shooter. He has a great sense of humor.

Don't get too star struck, as I admittidly did. This was the first time that I had seen all these guys in person that I watched in videos over and over again.

Always remember to slow down your split times and make sure you have good hits. Watch those sites! You may go watch the super squad(s) and feel the need to shoot as fast as they do. Well, DONT do that.

Have a blast at your first nationals. It is really a cool experience. Enjoy the vendors tent!

[LPatterson]

Wear a cap or hat the sun can get brutal or it can keep the snow off your glasses. Oops that was Bend.

[XRe]

One other thing - make sure to thank the ROs for their help when you leave the stage (or at any other time, really). The match wouldn't happen without them. Plus, its good karma... Oh, and cut them some slack, especially towards the end of the match - they've been out there all day every day, dealing with every imaginable type of person, and they're generally a little tired and cranky (understandably so)... If you've got a good joke, or someway to lighten up the mood, they usually appreciate it!!!

[miyamoto]

I have been very competitive in various disciplines for years.

One motto I think was already touched on, but I always find amusing regarding conservation of energy "Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down".

I was competitive at a large match one year, then ate a huge lunch and ate the other half of my lady's lunch....I will never do that again. I was lethargic, had a hard time processing info, large part of my body's blood was busy processing food instead, accrued 20 seconds in dropped shots and penalty's in about five stages.

Do not over-eat.

Got a good tip I feel has helped in the past. Was at a match with Scott Warren and it was the second match I had seen him at. He was doing something that people thought was strange. He eats tuna routinely!

Talked to him about it briefly...the type of fat in tuna aids brain function. I feel better longer at matches, especially out here in the hot AZ. sun. My brain feels less fuzzy I guess I would say.

Like someone else said...Hydrate, but take in the right mix of elements. I got (in an adventure race) Hypo/hypa (can't remember)neutremia and almost died. WATER INTOXIFICATION. Happens to troops in the military routinely before they found out what was happening. Military was big on forced hydration, drinking gobs of water without the proper nutrients added (FOOD, potassium, sodium, blah, blah).

I went into exercise induced hypothermia and my core temp dropped to dangerous levels.

Be wary of that. Higher brain function will taper off long before that happens and it will be harder to notice it happening let alone perform.

Have fun, eat tuna and good luck,

Will

[HI5-O]

Good tips by all.

Bring extra $$$ as you will end up finding something you can't do without. For me, I ordered a new open gun at the 2006 nats

Just relax, have fun. Try to tape and set steel as often as you can, this helps me view the stage from a different angle and helps with forming my shooting strategy.

Barry

[kimel]

It also helps make stages run MUCH faster. High up on the list of pet peeves of match staff is having to roust out the squad to set steel and patch targets.

[Thomas Moore]

ditto on what HI5-0 says.

bring lots of money, the vendors tent is like a crack house.

[Steve Moneypenny]

As for beer in Tulsa...they got a'plenty. Just follow the leader.

Who is playing leader this year? hehe. make a right at the dead rat! wonder if it will still be there...... we made sure it was there nightly last year

[ricedw]

I've been lurking for a while and have gotten many tips from you guys.

I feel it is my duty to finally offer a tip.......

You guys realize that the beer in Oklahoma is 3.2, don't you?

[Steve Moneypenny]

umm isn't guiness stout.. guiness stout.. about anywhere... we aren't talking gas station beer anyway.

[cautery]

I've been lurking for a while and have gotten many tips from you guys.

I feel it is my duty to finally offer a tip.......

You guys realize that the beer in Oklahoma is 3.2, don't you?

As I remember it, 3.2 beer is in the stores, but you can get 6.0 beer in liquor stores.... Don't know about the hotel and clubs... I don't drink a lot of beer anymore.

[mike cyrwus]

Bars serve both, all domestics like Bud and miller are 3.2. Imports and microbrews are usually 6.0.

All gas station beers are 3.2.