What if there are no transitions?

[lugnut]

I agree with everyone that you can only shoot as fast as you can see... but I will say this. On your last shot before a transition immediately move your eyes to the next target and get the muzzle on target ASAP- let the recoil help get you there. I see a lot of shooters say on their 2nd shot on a target let the gun come down on the same target and THEN transition (I do it to when I'm not in full "focus). I think I posted something like this a week or so ago- I believe in the BE book he has a picture where his eyes have already acquired the next steel target before the last bullet even hit the first piece of steel. It's about seeing what you need and then moving to the next shot ASAP- transition or otherwise- same thing.

[Sam]

Not caring may be the single greatest benefit I've discovered to my shooting.

WOW!

[Gallow]

So how do you guys gauge a stage? I look over a stage and predetermine on how long I should take to shoot this or that stage.

I never thought or cared about how long it would take me, or how long I should take, to shoot a stage.

Instead I would visualize just what I needed to see to shoot every target in the stage. However long it took me to do what I'd visualized - I'd learn that when I finished the stage.

be

Isn't it a little more complicated than that? The whole techniqe of figuring stage factors involves estimating the time it will take you to shoot the stage. Then you can figure what the points are worth to you. This in turn allows you to decide what you need to see. Sure, you should never shoot faster than you can see, but what do you need to see? I don't think you can ignore that issue. You'd shoot Rapid fire Olimpic differently than IPSC, since you've got to hit as close to dead center as you can, rather than just a A zone.

Granted, once you start shooting a stage, you must see whatever you've decided you need to see, however long it takes.

[Duane Thomas]

Duane, thanks for that post man!

Yer welcome. Sam, coming from you, that means a lot.

[Phil Dunlop]

"Not caring may be the single greatest benefit I've discovered to my shooting."

I so understand that, I've turned up at nationals, relatively unprepared, and relying on performing fundamentals flawlessly, and won, and I've set goals, practiced furiously and been hamstrung by desire,( or should I say its side effects.)

How do you reconcile the quoted idea with goal setting, I see them as contradictary.

P.D.

[Silver_Surfer]

"Not caring may be the single greatest benefit I've discovered to my shooting."

P.D.

Some of us gotta practice and care.

[Flexmoney]

"Not caring may be the single greatest benefit I've discovered to my shooting."

I so understand that, I've turned up at nationals, relatively unprepared, and relying on performing fundamentals flawlessly, and won, and I've set goals, practiced furiously and been hamstrung by desire,( or should I say its side effects.)

How do you reconcile the quoted idea with goal setting, I see them as contradictory.

P.D.

Phil,

I often like to think of goal setting as direction.

From that, I'll reverse engineer it. Take the goal, then start asking what it takes to get there. What has to be done. Then, what has to happen to support the things that need to be done. Keep drilling it down to the very fundamentals.

Mentally, I will view all that "stuff that needs done" as a pyramid. I will put all the fundamental things on the base layer of the pyramid...making for a solid foundation.

If an aspect of my performance is lacking at some point in the foundation layers..that is what I will focus my energies on. I'll want to improve whatever is most fundamental.

That can help with not attaching emotion to the overall goal. Putting the capstone on my pyramid doesn't monopolize my mental capacity. I've replaced that attachment with a focus on execution of fundamentals.

I don't have room in my brain for the attachement...worry...pride..etc (negatives). Because my brain is busy with the fundamentals (positives).

Also, this focus on fundamentals...it leads to trust. (I'd better stop there for now.)

[rvb]

Also, this focus on fundamentals...it leads to trust. (I'd better stop there for now.)

Flex,

Your exact train of thought is where I found myself in the last year. That "trust" led to major strides in my shooting. I no longer worried about speed at all. I "trusted" it to be there if I performed all of those fundamentals at my ability (calling the shot, snapping the eyes, looking the mag in, etc etc etc). The perception while shooting the stage is that it takes so LONG to do all those tasks and keep the focus through the whole stage, but the timer showed the exact opposite; after experiencing this several times I learned to "trust" the timer would treat me well. But it could only treat me well as a reward for doing MY part.

I'm SO glad BE posted what he did about letting the time be what it is... I felt I was the only one who went into a stage w/o a "planned" result on the timer.

Thanks!

-rvb