Ohio Match Observations from stage 4

[Steve Anderson]

Since there's a thread going on common mistakes and I'm fresh from RO'ing stage 4 of the Buckeye Bash, I thought I'd expand a little on what I saw:

1. An obsession with time among less accomplished shooters.

It seemed like the better the shooter was, the less he cared about his time.

The less skilled (lower class, though I dislike that connotation) shooters were far more inquisitive about their time. I had one guy ask me for his time before he even finished Unloading and showing.

The better shooters were looking at their hits and were not much surprised by what they saw.

It's almost like they knew what happening while they were shooting... hmmmmmm.

Again, the underclassmen wanted the time first, then went looking for their hits.

So, a lesson emerges: the better shooters dont' worry much about their time and know where their bullets went.

2. An overabundance of jocularity at times

LAMR is showtime...I saw a lot of shooters not get their gameface on.

3. Poor Preparation

This stage was not that tricky, but there were several opportunities to forget targets. I saw very few shooters really memorize the stage. I saw a lot of uncertainty going into positions that seemed to ask, "What am I gonna find in this doorway?"

Please memorize the stage! If you can't visualize it in first person with your eyes closed, YOU ARE NOT READY TO SHOOT.

Ideally, you know the stage so well that shooting it is a formality to get your score. Your brain has already done it.

and my personal favorite:

4. Poor/Negative attitude

"Let's get it over with"

"I hope I don't choke"

"Here goes nothing"

"This is gonna be ugly"

these are actual quotes!!!!!

If you are prepared, if you have memorized the stage, you will shoot at your current ability! There will be no need to fear it.

However, a negative attitude is a great way to shoot poorly!

You get what you think about, not what you want!

That's it for now, I may add some later after some thought...

SA

[Sunuva]

Thanks Steve,

That’s very insightful; it makes me really think about my performance (total performance) on that stage.

-Robert

[SLM]

Great points Steve. As a new shooter I'm trying to concentrate on my shooting more than my time. I'll admit, that can be hard. Everyone knows this is a game of speed but people often forget that you have to get the POINTS also. Like the common saying, "You can't miss fast enough to win". I had a pretty good run on your stage but IIRC, I had a miss on a target right before a planned reload. I think I was too busy thinking about that and forgot to shoot.

I know at one point on some stage the "This is gonna be ugly" at least went through my mind. At LAMR, I took a couple deep breaths before I did anything, cracked a couple knuckles, another deep breath and felt much more relaxed. Said something to myself about relaxing and shooting while I loaded up. I shot whatever stage that was pretty good. I had to put those negative thoughts out. I didn't do that on one stage and plugged the snot out of a couple no shoots because (I think) I still had the "this is gonna be ugly" in my head.... Know what? It was!

How do you go about actually memorizing a stage? I forgot to engage two targets at a local match the day after the "Buckeye Bash". It didn't help I was running late for the match and did my "walk through" taping for previous shooters.

Thanks for the tips!

[SA Friday]

hmmm, I'm very interested to see what the Cof looked like.

[Jake Di Vita]

What Steve said about shooters thoughts before the stage is huge.

You can always tell you shooters who practice and work from the shooters who don't.

The reason is, when shooters haven't practiced, they have a very timid mentality. They talk down about their upcoming performance in EXPECTATION of it. The shooters who have worked, have practiced, and have sacrificed go up to the stage feeling like a lion. It's what I call The Lion Mentality. You've put your time in and earned it and you know it. Now it's time to collect. You aren't scared, you aren't nervous so to speak, but your body has a heightened sense of awareness.

A shooter can never win until he knows he has earned it.

[boz1911]

Had the stage fully memorized and what I thought was a good strategy. The stage was similar to stages here at home and I felt a good/great run was a certainty. Problem was equipment ie: preperation. Using a magazine not proven in competition. So yes, preperation was a serious problem.

Bottom line, learned from that mistake, will NOT happen again.

Certainlly a pleasure meeting you, your book has helped me a great deal. Thanks

[HoMiE]

hmmm, I'm very interested to see what the Cof looked like.

Was this the stage?

Stage 4 OH Sectional Match

PB shooting stage 4

[Micah]

Excellent post Steve! Thank you for your insight

[FranDoc]

Points taken.

First Major match (then in combination with a club match the following day) was a HUGE learning experience. I tried to enter the Sectional match with the Zen 'beginner's' (open) mind. However, wider aperture => shallower depth of focus, OR .... input flow sometimes exceeded available processing capacity (which is still learning to sort out what's important at any specific moment).

I didn't know that the Q&A and brief pep talk in the starting box were part of a weekend-long study.

You WILL see something different next time, count on it. The formerly-pristine copy of your book now has range grit & fingerprints smudged in Slide Glide on it.

Edited September 7, 2007 by FranDoc

[Thomas Moore]

This was my favorite stage, I don't know why.

1 Thomas Moore 4 M Open 148 0 17.93 8.2543 160.0000 100.00%

My points could have been better. I know that I took the first target for granite and it showed with two charlies. With a target that close it should have been two alphas.

[BSeevers]

Seriously Steve What was my time?

[Chris Keen]

Steve you have taught me tons in the visualization dept. I can play back every stage from that match in my mind, and it's been nearly a week. That's because I memorized my plan of attack for each stage. And I can still play it back in my mind just like a movie. I dont remember every no-shoot, (thats because I don't normally look at the no-shoots) but I remember where the difficult shots were, and took them accordingly.

And your comment on Matt Burkett's show a while back about asking the shooter if they are ready, and getting the reply "No, but let's see what happens anyways" has always stuck in my mind too. Negative karma.

I try to walk up to each stage thinking this is not an opportunity to fail .... but an opportunity to shine! ... to PROVE myself .... to demonstrate what I'm capable of doing.

..... I have earned it all!

Edited September 7, 2007 by CHRIS KEEN

[Steve Anderson]

Chris,

I learned about visualization the hard way...by forgetting targets on memeory stages.

Also, me and flex would be driving back from the first of my big matches and he'd talk about stages we JUST shot...

"Yeah, I came through the doorway and took the duck and transitioned to the popper..." and I'd have NO CLUE what he was talking about...I couldn't remember any of them. Now, I can remember stages from nationals two years ago!

Just memorize the stage!!!!

SA

[chuckbradley]

Steve, this was my favorite stage. It was the most fun. Well without really being negative, I mean it was a tough match and really tested your accuracy, it was one of the few, that I would consider FUN stages. Not to say the others werent good tests of skill. I just like a high FUN factor. Your stage still had an A zone only target, a partial no shoot target and 3 plates. It was a good test and really FUN.

You are correct in your assessments. memorization will help you , in fact is required if you are to perform to the top of your ability. I think thats just part of your focus and intensity.

[steel1212]

I remember this stage very well. I put 2 on the last target on the left before moving forward where the stage opened up and didn't like the second shot and stepped back to put another Alpha on it and step on Steve's shoe lol. He quickly apologizes and I think nothing of it and move on. At UASC he ask if I wanted a reshoot before I hear my time and I run the stage through my head and say na I like the points that I shot and your foot just gave me something to push off of

It takes sometime before you can be comfortable with your shots and KNOW where they went. I only had 2 charlies on that stage and the rest where Alphas. My time could have been a little better but I walked away happy with it! I watch the video of it and learned where I needed to be instead of where I was to gain that time. In the end at UASC its done and time for the next stage.

Oh and yes limited shooters need to plan a reload somewhere DON'T forget where and STICK TO THE PLAN!!

Edited September 7, 2007 by steel1212

[SA Friday]

Thanks for adding the stage descripting and vid. It helped me visualize.

I like to go home after a match and replay the stages in my mind. The stages I like, I draw up the stage design on my computer and save it. They come in handy, and it helps me ensure I get a good mental picture of the stage before I shoot it.

[benos]

There's some great observations in your post Steve.

"Let's get it over with"

"I hope I don't choke"

"Here goes nothing"

"This is gonna be ugly"

Those are great! I was joking with a friend this morning as I was reminiscing about the old days when I was training with Doug Koening. One of our favorites we'd say just before shooting a stage was - "I'm gonna pull out all the stops."

I've been thinking about that and laughing all day.

be

[Steve Anderson]

Hey Brian,

Do you know where the phrase "pull out the stops" comes from?

No googling!

SA

[BSeevers]

I do but I play keyboards

[Chris Keen]

Yeah, but you lip synch so it's all the same!

[Sunuva]

Huh, I googled I had to know.

[3 gun]

Stage 4 was odd for me since I work as a ref at a real Laser Tag field. It's not as much fun as this stage or match was this year. I can only guess how many ways SA saw this stage shot. I'm sure as RO he had more than a few WTF moments during the weekend. Lots of ways to see targets on this stage. I think his quotes were all me I find by being just a little light hearted before I step in the box helps keep the blood pressure down. By the time I've loaded and holstered the stage is all that's in my mind. I had a good plan (for me) till a popper wouldn't fall. It didn't fall to the match ammo either so I took the reshoot with a smile. Didn't change a thing in my plan just ran it a bit smoother the second try. As for needing to hear my time, I don't often any more. I can usually tell the RO what it is, if I stayed on plan, to within a second or two. I can even call my match percentage overall to within a point or two. To this point I've been able to shoot a match percentage very close to my CM percentage. I'm sure if I let my practice get out of balance I could raise my CM percent to the point I couldn't equal it in a match. A stage like this is a real test of your skill set and sure to point out any weakness you might need to work on.

[benos]

Hey Brian,

Do you know where the phrase "pull out the stops" comes from?

No googling!

SA

No, so I googled. Didn't have a clue.

be