90% of the game is half mental

[jetfire]

I had possibly the worst brain fart in a match that I've ever had. On a USPSA match today, I managed to accrue 9 procedurals on one stage because I wasn't completely in the shooting box. My foot hit the outside of the box and my brain said "foot on wood start shooting".

Those 9 procedurals cost me a match I would have won, otherwise. Which leads me to the point - visualization. That was the only stage I didn't "shoot" in my head before I did it; and as such I made a royal mess. C'est la vie.

So let's talk about brain farts and how to avoid them! I am a big believer in "seeing" the whole stage in my head before I shoot it. When I do that, I shoot well. When I don't, well...

[DonovanM]

Have you read Brian Enos' book?

[Beamish]

I don't know if Caleb has read Enos but I am sure he has heard a few Yogi-isms in his time. :cool:

[Slavex]

Visualization and positive thinking are the final steps for being a champion shooter. I've had a number of crash and burns because I didn't take the time to "see" the stage. The best one was back when I first started to be able to see a stage in my head. I'd walked the stage, looked at everything, came up with a plan and was ready to go. Just as I stepped into the box to start I noticed a target I'd somehow completely missed. It didn't fit into my plan at all and instead of just tossing the plan out the window, I tried to hold onto it, then over thought it, and still never even engaged the bloody target. I would have had a better score if I'd just stuck with the plan and purposely missed the target instead of what I ended up with. It would have been a crap score with the miss and penalties, but it would have been better than standing around trying to make something work, that couldn't.
Big lesson learned, make sure you actually know how many targets you're supposed to shoot at (should have learned that at my first match), and make sure you visualize them all.

[DonovanM]

Visualization and positive thinking are the final steps for being a champion shooter. I've had a number of crash and burns because I didn't take the time to "see" the stage. The best one was back when I first started to be able to see a stage in my head. I'd walked the stage, looked at everything, came up with a plan and was ready to go. Just as I stepped into the box to start I noticed a target I'd somehow completely missed. It didn't fit into my plan at all and instead of just tossing the plan out the window, I tried to hold onto it, then over thought it, and still never even engaged the bloody target. I would have had a better score if I'd just stuck with the plan and purposely missed the target instead of what I ended up with. It would have been a crap score with the miss and penalties, but it would have been better than standing around trying to make something work, that couldn't.
Big lesson learned, make sure you actually know how many targets you're supposed to shoot at (should have learned that at my first match), and make sure you visualize them all.

It seems like we're talking about two different things here. Firstly, I believe the first thing that one should do when checking out a new stage is find all of the targets.

Next, for me, conscious thought ("positive thinking") is a trap and is something to be - for lack of a better word - avoided in all areas of life, the least of which being competitive shooting. Read Brian's book. "The zone" is something that arises when all thought or caring on the matter has ceased.

[jetfire]

I have read Brian's book, and on top of that I've also read The Book of Five Rings; they share a common theme in that the actual battle (or stage) is not the time to be thinking about your actions.

That's how "stage visualization" works, because it's done before you shoot. When I walk through the stage in my head, I see all the targets, all the shots, all the reloads, all the movement. Then when I go and shoot the stage, I'm not worried about what I'm going to do, I'm just shooting the stage and observing my performance and what's going on around me. When I don't properly visualize a stage, I end up making mistakes because I start thinking about what I need to do next.

Also, here's the match video from the entire match. The stage where I miss the foot fault is Stage 6:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrJZBaZPr4c

[DonovanM]

You were running a wheelgun?! Oh god, there's your problem! :D

(Bruce Gray says I'm one of those guys who thinks real women are only found in strip clubs for not respecting the wheelgun :p)

Anyway, I'm sure you'll be practicing box entries and exits now. You've uncovered one of your weaknesses and it's time to work on it. That's what becoming a champion shooter takes, finding all of your weaknesses and improving them as much as possible, while also working on your strengths.

IMO, you should also try to streamline your platforms and only work on one at a time... I can't help but think shooting a different gun every week is causing some hesitation somewhere.

[jetfire]

I do agree that I need to streamline, but at the same time I'm committed to shooting certain matches with certain guns; in that USPSA match I'm running my ICORE rig. I'm committed to shooting the ICORE Nats in June, so I use USPSA matches to practice with that rig.

Usually I'll be shooting CDP and SSP in IDPA and Single Stack in USPSA, but I'm waiting on Washington's ridiculous 5 day waiting period before I can pick up the Sigs I'll be shooting all year. So I figured "I'll run the ICORE rig".