Match meltdown

[Cowtown44]

I've been shooting pistols for about a year now. Lately, I'm been spending more quality time at the range (I think) working on "the fundamentals" and also a fire bit of time at home working on reloads, wall drills, case on front sight drills, using the shot timer to acclimate and using the SIRT. I've was pretty happy with my progress until............I competed in yesterday's USPSA match, my second match.

Things came completely unstuck. I was a walking example of everything that one can do wrong with a pistol... flinch/anticipation, trigger jerk, poor front sight focus, death grip with strong hand, etc.

Do you guys have any suggestions for a USPSA beginner for bringing my acceptable range skills to the competition box?

[JV_]

Was it a case of the shot timer jitter ... making you lose 20 IQ points?

Do you calm yourself down before signalling that you're ready?

[jetfire]

Do you guys have any suggestions for a USPSA beginner for bringing my acceptable range skills to the competition box?

The best thing you can do is leave your expectations of performance in the car. You may be good shooting from a static position in a range, but USPSA is (obviously) a different animal. If you can successfully go to any club level match with the attitude "I'm going to shoot to the best of my ability and not worry about anything else" then you'll be in good shape.

[JHC]

In my limited experience - perhaps 30-40 competitions total spanning many years with lengthy gaps without matches - competing more often was the best antidote to the match jitters leading to complete pooped the bed stages. Any other training with an audience prepared to critique and or show you up may have a similiar effect of getting acclimated to delivering on demand.

[Cowtown44]

JV, I do try to calm myself down prior to my turn. I don't do taping/brassing starting when I'm in the deep hole, try to visualize what I'm going to do (ideally), breathe deeply, etc. I think it's the surge of epinephrine when the buzzer goes off that throws me off. I try to think of it as a start button instead of a timer.

Caleb, good advice. Now, I just need to bring to life.

Also, I think I'm going to throw in some running into my range practice to get my heart and respiratory rates up while I'm trying to perform.

[jetfire]

I used to get hella bad jitters before it'd be my turn to shoot during club matches. The best cure I found as mentioned above was to shoot as many matches as possible. Then I started shooting bigger matches, state and national championships. After a while, there's not as much adrenaline during "make ready" as their once was.

[SecondsCount]

One thing that helps me is that I put the idea of competition out of my head and concentrate on having a good time. Shooting is fun after all. :cool:

[JodyH]

JV, I do try to calm myself down prior to my turn. I don't do taping/brassing starting when I'm in the deep hole, try to visualize what I'm going to do (ideally), breathe deeply,
Stop thinking about it so much. All your preparations are just getting you more and more jacked up for the buzzer.
For your second match you should spend more time socializing, taping, resetting targets and less time on stage planning and visualization.
Have more fun and fewer thoughts about competing and you'll shoot better.

[JHC]

Another thing which is sort of a cop out for "competition" is I generally don't really walk the course to try and figure out how to game it just right. Now that is really important for really good match performance but since my interests are martial, I generally try to leave my mind uncluttered about where in a stage I'll reload etc and just "fight" the stage as it presents itself. I just have a sense that removing that planning out of the equation also settled some nerves. YMMV.

[NGCSUGrad09]

Slow yourself down. Time pressure is self induced.

[Slavex]

visualization, if you can't see in your head before you shoot, what you should be doing during a COF, you won't be able to do it once the timer goes beep. Any stage I've shot poorly on is one that I either didn't take seriously enough to bother "seeing it" or didn't have the time to get it into my head. This also helps huge with stage jitters or timer rush.

[JeffJ]

slow down, way down - try to shoot each stage zero down, forget about the timer and make good hits, you might be pleasantly surprised. As you shoot more matches you'll get faster but most people (myself included) try to go too fast too soon, I shoot with a guy who is blazing fast but has been putting so much emphasis on speed that his accuracy has really suffered and is now having to try and revamp his shooting style. Adding speed to already established accuracy seems like the right way to go.

The other thing to keep in mind is that shooting matches are like golf, nobody is paying attention to what you are doing unless you do something especially stupid. Believe me, nobody back there is talking about how it took you 28.4 and Jimmy shot it in 16.3. Which is a long way of saying, relax and shoot your own match, be safe, make good hits and your times will take care of themselves.

[KeeFus]

Slow yourself down. Time pressure is self induced.

This. My entire 2010 season, which consisted of 3 sanctioned IDPA matches, was shot to hell because of this. I continued to shoot more local matches and finally figured out I was pushing myself too hard to finish. Took it down half a notch this year and won ESP/Expert @ the NC State Match.

I only hope I can do the same this week @ the Carolina Cup. I know a few of the big name guys (Caleb, Vickers, Hackathorn, Warren, Vogel, etc.) will be there and I am now in their class so Im a bit amped up to say the least...couldnt get to sleep last night til after 11 thinking about the match.

I will do some dry fire tonight then I will lay the pistol down til Thursday (my match day)...and they're calling for rain!

[jlw]

I am convinced that buzzers on shot timers are tuned to a frequency that causes an immediate loss of 20 IQ points.

[fuse]

I am convinced that buzzers on shot timers are tuned to a frequency that causes an immediate loss of 20 IQ points.

Smartest thing I've read all month.

[Simon]

I haven't shot in matches in a very long time. I shot PPC and got to about the 95% level, In other words I could beat 95% of the shooters, but couldn't get any higher. Accuracy was not the problem, in low level matches I could do very well. My problem was mental, I put to much pressure on my self and could not relax and shoot my best. Very few people can handle the mental pressure without some help.

If you are serious and want to do your very best get with a sports psychologist and work on your mental game. Almost all of the best athletes work with someone. Try to get someone that your personality meshes with. When you can get your head around the mental game you will see much improvement. The problem is it cost a lot of money, how ever if you can not afford a sports psychologist there are some good book on the subject.

If I had been smart enough to work on the mental game I might have gotten to the top.

[jetfire]

I know a few of the big name guys (Caleb, Vickers, Hackathorn, Warren, Vogel, etc.)

I want to take a screenshot of being mentioned in the same breath as those guys and blow it up and frame it on my wall. That made my day!

[JHC]

I want to take a screenshot of being mentioned in the same breath as those guys and blow it up and frame it on my wall. That made my day!

I noticed that big time too and said "DAYIM!"

[ford.304]

Just do it more, and don't think about it so much. Pick *one thing* to focus on, and do that right. Sight alignment, your reloads, whatever. Bad performance is caused by your "active" part of your brain trying to control things that the muscle memory side of your brain needs to be doing. You get nervous and start performing everything like you're just learning it.

If it helps you to calm down, calm down. If it helps you to psych yourself up, do that. But the important thing is to stop thinking about so many things, including the timer. Just pick one thing and focus to preoccupy yourself and let all of your practice and training come out. If it helps to hum a little tune in your head, too that, but the important thing is to not think, just perform.

Any individual sport like this is *hugely* mental, which means that 90% of the work is getting your brain to actually shut up and let you play the sport.

I'm a not big IDPA shooter (been to one match, want to do more), but this improved my tennis and racing games 100x over :)

[JHC]

[QUOTE=ford.304;18594]If it helps you to calm down, calm down. If it helps you to psych yourself up, do that.

Any individual sport like this is *hugely* mental, which means that 90% of the work is getting your brain to actually shut up and let you play the sport.

QUOTE]

Last year I observed a phenom that I've been wondering how to "can" for matches. Being an affable sort, I'm generally in a great mood and especially when I'm on the range. But I've had a couple occassions of being at the range in a full on cold malevolent rage - pure fury hate and on the drills I burned it down. Been meaning to try and experiment with calling that up.

[Lon]

This week I'm running the pistol and rifle events for the Ohio Police and Fire Games and I've seen quite a few meltdowns.

I think the only way to get past it is to expose yourself to that stress as often as possible. The biggest stressor i saw over the last couple days was in the man on man steel shoot off. Good shooters tanked under the pressure.

Go shoot matches. Be safe. Have fun. Go slow at first. You will get better.

[Laughingdog]

The shot timer isn't the only factor that causes a loss of IQ points. There's also the fact that you suddenly have an audience. If you do something stupid in practice, no one knows but you. You do it at a match and you feel like EVERYONE sees it.

The "don't look stupid in front of everyone" factor can be a big one. That's taking a lot longer for me to move past than the shot timer anxiety.

[jetfire]

Speaking of match meltdowns, I can honestly say that I'm glad that I didn't have a video camera filming me today, because my performance was probably one of the worst I've ever put together. My first "big" match since making 5-gun master, and I need a lot of work before the IDPA World Shoot.

[joshs]

Shoot your own match, the only person you should be competing against is yourself. I started having meltdowns much less frequently when I stopped caring how other people shot and developed the visual patience to see what I need to see on every target. Remember, shooting is 99% mental, and the rest is in your head.

[KeeFus]

Nice to meet you yesterday Caleb. You weren't the only one with the 'match meltdown'. After the HNT I had on stage 2 (the runner) I found myself trying to speed up to make up for the 5 points...big mistake because I began eating points.

Being a 5-gun Master (one of only 13 in IDPA) puts you in the class with those I mentioned above.

[jetfire]

Keith, it was good to meet you in person as well! I did actually have fun shooting the match yesterday; the Carolina Cup really is the best example of how an IDPA match should be run in the country.

It's also important to remember that even when your match doesn't go well, there is always something to learn from it.

For example, the Carolina Cup this year was exactly what I needed. I'm shooting the IDPA World Championship this year in September, which gives me about 3 months to prepare for the match. The Cup really showed me some of the big weak spots that I need to address before the World Championship, one of the big one being my footwork. On one of the very few stages with any sort of realistic cover, I spent too much time getting in and out of positions and not getting on target quick enough. In fact, I'd say that's the biggest problem I had throughout the match was that my footwork cost me precious seconds across the board. I shoot like a 5-gun master, but I don't move like a 5-gun master. And at the level of matches like Carolina Cup, moving quickly is just as important as good shooting.

I did also drop a few too many -3 targets as well. The other valuable takeaway I had from this match was that if I'm having trouble getting my head in the game (which I did all day yesterday) the best thing I can do isn't try and slam the throttle against the wall and hope for the best, but rather take a bit off and focus on getting good hits.

I'll actually have two posts up next week on Gun Nuts about the match - one on the match in general and another on shooting through bad focus.

[jlw]

Being a 5-gun Master (one of only 13 in IDPA) puts you in the class with those I mentioned above.


Are you basing this number on the list on the IDPA web page? My understanding is that those lists are the names of the people who have filled out the forms and sent a check to IDPA and that the lists don't show the names of all IDPA shooters that qualify.

I'm not disparaging any of the 13 on the list at all as if I qualified I would send in the appropriate stuff.

[KeeFus]

Are you basing this number on the list on the IDPA web page? My understanding is that those lists are the names of the people who have filled out the forms and sent a check to IDPA and that the lists don't show the names of all IDPA shooters that qualify.

I'm not disparaging any of the 13 on the list at all as if I qualified I would send in the appropriate stuff.

Yes, the ones listed on their page. If I am ever so skilled to get that designation my account will be less $50.00.

[jetfire]

Keith, just saw the match results. Looks like you edged me by a couple of seconds, congratulations on some great shooting! Even though you were shooting an Enhanced Gamer Pistol and I was shooting a manly .45 ACP. ;-)

In all seriousness though, you should try for the 5 Gun Master thing. I think it's a shame that there are plenty of talented shooters out there that haven't given it a go even though it's actually easy*.

*Assuming you have the time and money to set up and practice the classifier regularly.

[KeeFus]

Yea, I have my own division now...EGP! LOL!!! 5-gun will happen eventually for me...maybe I can win the lottery and it'll happen faster but since I work for the gov'mint I will take one at a time.

I went back on Sunday for the Panteao Productions clinic...mainly just to meet Vogel and hear some wisdom. I can not believe how fast he is. He beat his closest competition by over 30 points...total score 165.95...only went 13 down for the entire match (16 stages for those of you that weren't there). Watching him shoot stage 10 (picnic table) again at the clinic he did an 8.74...clean! I don't think he has "match meltdown" the same way I did. He melted each stage with speed & accuracy...I got my rear-end handed to me...especially on the runner & boat stage.

I stand by my prediction that if Vogel ever shoots F.A.S.T. he will be faster than Dave.

[Johnkard]

I reduced most of my competition difficulty down to a single point of focus before each stage. I noticed after my first match, that I had no memory of my draw or grip. I could remember images of my front sight and the targets, but I had no conception of how I was holding my gun. I was told by my fellow competitors that I was leaning back horribly, and that my grip was nothing like the thumbs forward position I'd practiced so hard up till then. The only thing I was focusing on was the front sight, which made me accurate, but horribly slow without any other finesse to back it up.

Since then, I ALWAYS take time after I make ready in the box to lift and set my sig down into the holster. I index it and put my entire being into making a smooth draw into a good thumbs forward grip. I focus on my grip through the entire stage. Every time I miss, make a mistake, or pause, I relax and return myself to just the grip. It's my foundation. (It goes without saying that I'm always focusing on my front sight, It is just so ingrained in me that I don't have to spend much mental energy to maintain it during a match)

My training thus has been geared to program everything other than my grip into muscle memory (mostly stance, draw, and trigger pull).

You don't have to choose the grip, but if you have ONE part of your body to focus on through your entire match, even if everything else goes to hell and your mind goes blank you'll still have something to fall back on.

[mingaa]

One thing that helps me is that I put the idea of competition out of my head and concentrate on having a good time. Shooting is fun after all. :cool:
Great point - I'm at the event for two reasons—martial improvement and the pleasure and enjoyment of competition. When I hear that I'm on deck I don't get nerves I'm pleased that in a minute I'll get to take my crack at the challenge. I generally have a plan of how I will approach the course but have learned not to let a moment of under-performance (mistake?) rattle me—it's one small moment in a much bigger picture.

[Wendell]

Do you guys have any suggestions for a USPSA beginner for bringing my acceptable range skills to the competition box?

Read this book.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31ohfC1CFbL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click-small,TopRight,12,-30_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg
Practical Shooting : Beyond Fundamentals by Brian Enos (http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Shooting-Fundamentals-Brian-Enos/dp/0962692506)

[Chris Rhines]

Experience absolutely helps. The more matches that you shoot, the less jittery you'll be at the buzzer.
A solid mental game plan is absolutely critical. Spend as much time visualizing your stage run as you can possibly get away with, in as much detail as you can. Anyone who has competed in any sport at a high level can testify to the importance of a gameplan.
During the 'make ready' period, have a procedure and don't deviate from it. My 'make ready' procedure is:
- Draw to first shot (when legal) at 3/4-speed.
- Insert magazine (assuming a loaded start) from front pocket, run the slide.
- Remove magazine and check round count, reseat magazine, brass check
- Holster, or whatever, pistol.
- Hands at workspace position, take two deep belly breaths.
- Hands and feet to start position.
I do this the same way, every time. It's a way of using my body to tell my brain, "Okay, time to start shooting."
Try to get plenty of sleep the night before a match. Also, easing up on the caffeine in the morning is probably a good idea (says the guy just now finishing off a pot of French Roast...)

-C