Self-Defense vs Competition Shooting

[JodyH]

Could you tell us about your "carry rotation" please? [emoji41]

On Instagram days its a AIWB Roland Special, three 33 rounds sticks, two blades, two blow out kits, a back up 19 (other strong hand AIWB) and dual wield ankle carry 26's. The rest of my EDC is on my website in an excel spreadsheet (with links to sponsor web sites). All my pics are watermarked as well.

On non Instagram days its sometimes a Ruger LCP in condition 3 unless I'm in a NPE (Mom's house).

[jetfire]

For me, there's a 5th stage (Renewal) or maybe a arrow pointing back to Initial Spark (learning the basics then becomes re-familiarization). I have a number of hobbies that run through this cycle repeatedly over the years. Probably good as I don't have time, money, or adequate attention to focus on all of them at once when I'm in the initial spark (or rediscovery) phase.

Chris

Honestly, I've had that cycle myself. The hard part for me is that because shooting is a part of my job, the passion for actual excellence waxes and wanes. It's easy for me to show up, outshoot my colleagues and smoke our qualifications without really any kind of training.

Interestingly, the biggest dives in interest for me have been after major accomplishments, like finishing 2nd at Nationals or getting my FAST Coin. I'll hit these major milestones and then look around and wonder "what's next?" That will cause me to hit a bit of a doldrum for a while, until I find something minute to pull me out of it.

[03RN]

Good video

[AKDoug]

Honestly, I've had that cycle myself. The hard part for me is that because shooting is a part of my job, the passion for actual excellence waxes and wanes. It's easy for me to show up, outshoot my colleagues and smoke our qualifications without really any kind of training.

Interestingly, the biggest dives in interest for me have been after major accomplishments, like finishing 2nd at Nationals or getting my FAST Coin. I'll hit these major milestones and then look around and wonder "what's next?" That will cause me to hit a bit of a doldrum for a while, until I find something minute to pull me out of it.

Several sports psychology books address this phenomena. In Lanny Basham's books he talks about what to do after you set a goal and what to do after you meet that goal. Lanny was an Olympic target pistol shooter. He didn't set a goal after winning a gold medal and it nearly cost him his marriage and life due to depression. Luckily for me and thousands of other competitors, he pulled out of that depression and shared his knowledge of preparing to perform at the highest levels. I'm not some sort of Lanny disciple, but he puts out good stuff on the mental side of competing. Probably the best advice I learned from his books was dealing with setting new goals after you obtain the one you set out to do.

[jetfire]

Several sports psychology books address this phenomena. In Lanny Basham's books he talks about what to do after you set a goal and what to do after you meet that goal. Lanny was an Olympic target pistol shooter. He didn't set a goal after winning a gold medal and it nearly cost him his marriage and life due to depression. Luckily for me and thousands of other competitors, he pulled out of that depression and shared his knowledge of preparing to perform at the highest levels. I'm not some sort of Lanny disciple, but he puts out good stuff on the mental side of competing. Probably the best advice I learned from his books was dealing with setting new goals after you obtain the one you set out to do.

Yeah, my solution has been to find another related mountain to climb, or to just give myself an entirely wholeass new mission.

[RevolverRob]

Yeah, my solution has been to find another related mountain to climb, or to just give myself an entirely wholeass new mission.

This is what I do.

I lost all interest in bullseye shooting when I shot a 900-60x. That's it, that was the pinnacle of my ability at the time (perhaps ever). So, I shelved the target gun and later sold it when it got dusty. But then I got into carrying guns and 1911s, etc. These days, I'm sort of bored with most tacticool things and a 1911 or a .38 or whatever works for me in most roles.

So right now I'm trying to decide, should my new challenge by shotgun work, long-range precision rifle work, or a dive into muzzle loading target shooting. For now, I'm holding steady, because whatever happens in the next 6-8 months career wise will influence things. But we'll see.

For all I know, I'll finally let my motorcycle geek out of the bag and put all the guns except for one or two in the safe and call it a day.

[Sal Picante]

This is what I do.

I lost all interest in bullseye shooting when I shot a 900-60x. That's it, that was the pinnacle of my ability at the time (perhaps ever). So, I shelved the target gun and later sold it when it got dusty. But then I got into carrying guns and 1911s, etc. These days, I'm sort of bored with most tacticool things and a 1911 or a .38 or whatever works for me in most roles.

So right now I'm trying to decide, should my new challenge by shotgun work, long-range precision rifle work, or a dive into muzzle loading target shooting. For now, I'm holding steady, because whatever happens in the next 6-8 months career wise will influence things. But we'll see.

For all I know, I'll finally let my motorcycle geek out of the bag and put all the guns except for one or two in the safe and call it a day.

I'll gladly sell you a Ducati and a Track bike...

[RevolverRob]

I'll gladly sell you a Ducati and a Track bike...

You trying to get me divorced?

[Sal Picante]

You trying to get me divorced?

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/ecb3620...0-11b92429026e

(Sorry... Yarn IO clips don't get embedded...)

[BN]

You see it with shooting all the time if you attend matches. You'll certainly have a nucleus of nutjobs who are dedicated enthusiasts and have been shooting and competing for ages, these guys form the backbone of any club. But just as important are the transient shooters: guys who get into it for a while, buy all the gear, get okay, then interest fades. They still have guns and they still like shooting, but they're not at USPSA every weekend anymore and they're not dry firing in their basement 3 nights a week.

I've been shooting in pistol competitions since 1980. I guess I'm one of the nutjobs.

I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of people come and go. Of the folks I started with, there is only a small handful still shooting.

When I get tired of what I'm doing, I switch up guns. Open to Limited to Production to IDPA CDP, to IDPA SSR to SSP and lately I've been shooting long range rimfire.