Day before major, practice or local match?

[MVS]

The title sorta says it all. If you have a major match on let's say Sunday, would you rather go practice the day before or attend a local match?

[Noah]

The title sorta says it all. If you have a major match on let's say Sunday, would you rather go practice the day before or attend a local match?


I've only ever shot local matches. But I'd love to shoot a match after shooting a match!

[BN]

Is the local match going to be a positive experience? Sometimes local matches are not run well. If the local match isn't going to leave you annoyed, then it's OK to shoot it.

Maybe a leisurely practice session where you can affirm some of your basic skills might be a better use of the time. Do you know what the courses of fire are for the major? Maybe practice some of the unusual things.

I am a believer in having positive thoughts while shooting like Enos teaches.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Practice - what kind? I tend to draw and dry fire the day before. I get more draws, aims and clicks then I would do at a match. Of course, I don't get reps with my match gun. I do some with my SIRT though on the evil doers in the basement. I'd practice - but what do I know?

[MVS]

Practice - what kind? I tend to draw and dry fire the day before. I get more draws, aims and clicks then I would do at a match. Of course, I don't get reps with my match gun. I do some with my SIRT though on the evil doers in the basement. I'd practice - but what do I know?

In the past I have tried to shoot Majors on a Saturday so I haven't had the opportunity to shoot a local the day before. In those cases I practiced the day before and mostly things out of the matchbook that were specific like warm up stage, standards, SHO, WHO, unloaded table starts, etc. That has served fairly well.

This time it is a bit of a different situation as I am coming back from surgery and actually can't even put on a gun belt and holster yet. I likely won't be able to physically shoot a match until the local that happens to be a day before the major.

[BN]

This time it is a bit of a different situation as I am coming back from surgery and actually can't even put on a gun belt and holster yet. I likely won't be able to physically shoot a match until the local that happens to be a day before the major.

In this case, I definitely would not shoot the local. Light dry fire and put on the gun belt to see if there are any spots that will irritate. See if anything needs to be moved or modified. You might wear yourself out shooting the local and not perform well at the major.

The very best match I ever shot was the IDPA Nationals one year. I had had some kind of heart murmurs and thought I might need surgery. I was deciding who to give my slot to. Turns out I had a potassium deficiency and they told me I needed to drink some orange juice every day. Wow, what a relief. I was very relaxed and finished 8th overall.

Just go shoot your major and have a good time. Don't think about your finish or performance. Just enjoy being on the range.

[JCN]

I usually like to rest the day before.

Most of the time I won’t touch a gun.

[GyroF-16]

I’m with JCN.
Rest and mental prep is valuable.
If you want to “warm up”, I’d prefer a practice session where I can practice skills or tasks that I want to work on, or evaluate how to shoot a particular stage that I know is coming the next day.
There’s something to be said for knowing how you’re going to attack a particular stage based on some evidence to back up your gut.

[Artemas2]

Depends on the local(and who is attending) and travel time to the major. I don't ever want to burn myself out before the major match.

I have found the most success is when I tone down my practice the week of the major. Minimal dryfire and body work. My live fire is maybe 20-30 rounds every other day and that is largely marksmanship slow fire on B8s or a head box at distance, just to firm in the fundamentals.

[GJM]

I would spend the day before, at the match, looking at stages.