Penalty free

[benos]

It's best to start from the beginning. (Rob Zombie)

Create a visual plan for everything you'll see during the stage.

Also include how you will feel (e.g., Confidently, calmly, deliberately, doing what needs to be done, as opposed to rushing around as if time is the only thing that matters.) for the entire stage.

Don't overlook anything. Program every detail of everything you'll see and do.

Decide, decisively, that you will stick with your plan.

At the buzzer, as the gun is coming into position, slightly mentally pause and allow your plan to begin.

Your level of success depends on the degree to which you do all that.

It can take many years before you don't have any doubts about what "Create a visual plan for everything you'll see during the stage" means. Stick with it. Every time you make a mistake (a miss, no-shoot, fumbled reload, etc.) recall and compare your visual and mental program to what actually happened. Never stop doing that and you'll never stop improving.

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[EricW]

If you want to shoot clean, you are conversely thinking "I don't want to miss or throw a shot into a no-shoot or hard cover."

Which one is the more positive goal?

Exactly. Trying to succeed at anything by saying "don't do this - don't do that" isn't a recipe for success.

You need to restate this goal in the affirmative.

[Jake Di Vita]

I don't know about you but I can say "I'm going to shoot a clean match" or "I'm not going to shoot any penalties" and get the same results. I'm not sure if my head is built differently than most (yeah yeah I know there are going to be 100 jokes for that one), but saying "don't" in a goal doesn't get me to focus on what I don't want to do, it's merely a way for me to remind myself to focus on the present and on what I'm doing.

It doesn't matter how many things you state in a negative way...If you don't want to hit that no-shoot target, you won't - unless you let yourself get out of the present. The reason those types of "mantras" (for lack of a better term) hold people back is because they are thinking about that shot before and after it happens rather than just being in the moment and letting their vision guide their shooting.

In that same manner of thought, by saying you don't want to do something in a stage it makes you concentrate on it - which is an action from the conscious mind. If you have the fortitude to stay focused in spite of that, nothing you say will ever really have an effect on your shooting. In actuality, saying you don't want to do something in a stage is a great test to see if you will handle pressure effectively. At least it is for me.

Concentration = Conscious

Focus = Sub-Conscious

[EZ Bagger]

I'd agree with that. You can say whatever you want...right up until it really matters.

[markwilliston]

Another awesome thread.

I haven't seen (looked at, thought about) a no shoot in a Long, long, time.

The match points are there. Go and get them.

I haven't shot a clean match yet, usually I get it out of the way early and the rest goes good. But like most of us at whatever level we are at, every stage I am giving it 110% on each and every shot. If I dialed it back to 95%, it would be a lot more likely to happen.

My coach says "You can't possibly shoot fast enough to make up for misses" I have proven that one to myself a couple times so far

[baa]

Being penalty free is the by-product and result of strong focus ..

is it a goal..not sure..

it is a good thing to be..

there is a balance..as it would be an easy goal to set and accomplish..by setting a pace really inside your comfort zone..same thing as saying I want to shoot 100% of all the possible points. set the pace back and this being your main focus you can accomplish this..

but we race in a sport that is balance by speed and power..and speed does and can tip the scale..the faster you push..the more risk you take.

+1

Being penalty free after a match should be the by-product of doing a lot of things right. If you see what you need to see to make every shot, plan and execute well, and most importantly (to me) maintain your mental game, then being penalty free should just happen.

If the sole goal is to be penalty free, I think I personally would end up a lot lower in a match than I would if I just shot my best game and didn't think about penalties at all.

[Hank Ellis]

I agree with the whole gist of this thread. However, depending on the match makeup, your division, and your current skill going for a penalty free match is sometimes not realistic.

For example, your local club tends to close in your face targets that puts a premium on speed. Shooting clean and fast as your skill level will allow is a worthy goal. However, if the ink is still drying on your C card shooting iron sights at a plate rack sliding down a trolly at 25yds, then shooting clean isn't possible. (Personal experience, '05 Area 4) Sometimes you have to take the mikes and move on. Here and there you can game a stage by taking a penalty. Did it by accident a couple matches back and the time saved far outweighed the penalty taken.

My take on a clean match. It's a nice after the match footnote but not a goal in itself. My goal is to call each shot in the A most of the time with a C the rest of the time. If I do that there won't be any penalties anyway. Thinking about shooting a clean match is baggage I don't need to take to the line.

[Steve Moneypenny]

I much prefer the saying Shoot Clean. as it refers to points also. your aim for perfection! and has nothing to do with speed. just points and not screwing up.

[Turbo23]

This past weekend, I shot the first penalty free match (USPSA) that I've shot probably since I started shooting USPSA a couple of years ago.

This really got me thinking.

Does this really matter, and is a penalty free match a worthy goal? I'm not saying I go into any match looking to toss mikes, shoot no shoots and step over fault lines. Not part of the game plan, and never has been. I want to shoot each match, each stage, and each shot as cleanly as I can.

I looked up the top 16 in this year's Limited nats. Not one of those 16 guys shot penalty free. Some of them had more penalties in that match than I've shot in the last 6 months.

Here's my concern. If a penalty free match is a worthy match goal for every match (and yes, I set goals for every match and every stage), then what happens to your conscious and subconscious mind when you toss a mike? Do you throw in the towel because you've just toasted one of your goals for the day?

I say this because when I went into the last stage at Sunday's match, I actually puckered up a little because I knew I had a penalty free match going. Stage 7 (that I designed) was a little one I called Black and White. Each target was either covered with hard cover, or a no shoot so that the only thing left to shoot was the lower A zone. I had a thought running through my mind that I could sure toss my penalty free match to hell in a hurry on this booger! I sucked it up and got my chi going and shot penalty free, but I really don't feel like I attacked that stage, more like I survived it.

So, is a penalty free match a worthy (and achievable) goal or does that slow you down and make you too conservative? Since I just got my M card, I know I'm going to have to start being more aggressive at times and is the occasional mike just the cost of doing business and being an aggressive, attacking shooter?

Just wanted to add that last weekend I shot my first clean match. It resulted in my first match WIN

[Hank Ellis]

Just wanted to add that last weekend I shot my first clean match. It resulted in my first match WIN

Congrats. Cause and effect. Think about it.

[ChrisStock]

I've only done it once, but damn, it sure felt good.

[Johann the Horrible]

Done it once, to prove a point, came stone last. Idea was to start clean and then go faster. Lost the plot and is racing now. Maybe just maybe I will shoot a "Full house" again this Saturday.

[Dave Marques]

I think Hank Ellis had a very practical answer! Every stage/match is different and requires different skills - some you might have, some you might not.

+1 on that!

[benos]

Seeing this thread again... I thought - do everything just right.

Visualize in complete and perfect detail everything you will see and do - every movement, every target you will shoot - until you are certain and doubt-free. Then create favorable conditions for your "movie" to manifest by not trying anything at all.

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[Catfish]

Thanks Brian.

[rkgsmith]

Some years back, maybe 97-98 I shot the 3 Gun Nationals in Vegas. If I remember correctly it was 12 stages. My best stage was 6th, worst was 32nd. I shot open. However I never shot a miss, and only a handful of D's. My overall finish was 7th in open class. Point being was that I had no mistakes. Not just no penalities, but all in all no real brain farts, no screw ups. My goal was to shoot my match. Approach each stage and see the dot on each and every target before I pulled the trigger. In club matches if you want to win you may need to go "balls to the wall" on all stages to win. However in big matches you need to be consistent all the way thru the match. You need not win any stage, however you cannot lose any stage. Todd told me along time ago that if he finished 5th or better on every stage he always won the match.

I'd much rather shoot a big match than a small club match. Keep your head in the game and just try and stay consistent. Sometimes its better to take that extra second for a great shot rather than just tossing rounds down range hoping to connect. I'll let the other guys beat me by a second or two here and there because I know when you run on the edge it's not hard to slip. My goal is to never shoot more than 5% down on a stage, and I'll take the time needed to do just that.

[benos]

That's good advice rkgsmith. Especially for guys that default to always "going for it." For me, it was going for it in the sense of always trying to do everything as ultimately and as efficiently as possible. So I wouldn't take that mental pause that I needed to hit that key target, or get started "behind the gun," etc. So when I learned to just do what it takes - that was a good thing.

be

[Middle Man]

It's a good exercise to read though this thread again. The past few months, I've not worried about not shooting mikes and concentrated more on being able to see what I needed to see, see the sights, and attempt (at some level) to call my shots. The points are adding up even if my overall times are somewhat slower. I am confident that over the longer term, the stage times will improve as I strive to improve on the idea "see what I need to see". Now that I've learned more of the basics (those sub conscious actions), I'm planning on working to improve my stage planning and movement (the conscious actions).

I have noted that the stages with my biggest mental breakdowns are the least consistent, least rewarding stages. Physical breakdowns, like my Superman dive at a recent local match, have less of detrimental effect on my overall performance than say the mental error of running the gun dry on a later stage. The Superman dive (thankfully, without a gun in hand) and recovery cost me less time than running the gun dry in the middle of a target array (started the stage with a partially full magazine, a whopper of a mental error at the start). In hindsight, I should have taken the single miss and reloaded on the way to the next shooting position.

I try to visualize the entire activity of shooting a stage as a balancing act. There are occasions where accepting a mike may be a necessary contingency to balance the whole (within a given skill set). Much like anything else in life, consistency reaps rewards.

edited for grammer...

Edited March 6, 2008 by Middle Man

[Ramas]

Awesome thread.

Anyvay there are POINTS divided from time in our sport! Get points-it is a worthy goal for me.

[shred]

I would have won the Columbus Cup last weekend were I penalty-free at that match. And probably only won two or three of the 15 stages while I was at it.

[ChrisStock]

From my inexperienced shooting mind, a few thoughts:

Isn't our mantra "accuracy first, the speed will come with time"?

How easy it would be to win a stage like on a classifier like "Hoser Heaven" if you just shoot penalty free.... the points will be there for you while others poison themselves by peppering the no-shoots.

shooting penalty free=consistency

consistency=a solid base for improvement

improvement=being the best you can be, given your ability

$.02 from me based on my observations and thoughts to date.