[280PLUS]

got any good tricks you use to calm yourself down during a match?

first match of the new season and i'm calm cool and collected, then, round about my 3rd shot of slow fire i'm starting to feel the adrenaline kicking in and i spent the rest of slow fire and 1/2 of timed fire pulling myself back together

i managed to squeak 9 -10's and an 8 outta rapid though :D

so 90 + 95 + 98 = 282 but i know i lost a few points because of these above mentioned jitters :uhoh: :cuss: :fire: :barf: :rolleyes:

:D

[Correia]

I don't know what to tell you, because I wish that I could do it every time myself.

One thing to try that kind of works for me. During the match, try not to think about shooting. Just shoot. You already know how to do it, thinking about it just complicates things. I try to clear my mind before I shoot, then at the buzzer I just go. Sometimes this works. :)

The best stages I have ever shot have come at times when my mind just let my eyes and body do what they were supposed to do with out interfering. I swear that I'm are about 20-30% faster if my brain isn't complicating matters.

[Steve Smith]

Just shoot a crap-load of matches. It goes away. Eventually, you feel like you're at home when you show up. Larry, you oughtta be past it (your scores say you are).

[280PLUS]

thats just what i was thinking, craploads of matches,

my mind was definitely working against me in the first round of timed fire, it took me at least 2 seconds after the buzzer before i pulled my first shot, major chicken finger, just major... :eek:

i really surprised myself by not putting a couple out in the white on that one,,,

ah well, first match of the new season...as long as it doesnt get worse it'll be ok...

there is that yoga inhale through your nose exhale through your mouth relaxation thing, forgot to try it, i was just standing there taking deep breaths trying to will my heart to stop beating so fast...

your right corriea, it does come and go, sometimes last year i'd be solid as a rock and then others i'd be shaking like a leaf halfway through a timed sequence. and you never quite know when it will strike...

:D

[Navy joe]

Visualize. While you're taking those deep breathes picture yourself doing whatever you need to do next, getting a perfectly aligned sight picture at the trigger break or whatever. I like a good cup of coffee while I'm not shooting, but I suppose that's good for action pistol guys, not so good for highpower guys.

[280PLUS]

coffee will take a few points away from me, i skip it (best i can) on match days

but i can see where action shooting and coffee might go pretty well together...

seeing hows you brought it up...

what guns should i bring to my first action / silhoutte shoot?

i got a bhp, bushy carbine, 870, and the scoped ruger i shoot bullseye with...

bring em all?

:D

[Steve Smith]

280Plus, my advice is if you usually have coffee, have the same amount on match day. If you drink coffee you are an addict, and you must feed it. I have one solitary cup every morning. I make sure to have that same cup on match days.

[280PLUS]

"HI 280!!"

:D

thats interesting, i'm actually hooked on the dunkin donuts ice coffee at about 2 in the afternoon,

i figured the least i could do is skip it on match day

i thought it would help,

i gotta get that monkey off my back anyhow,,,i drift in and out of my addiction,,,i'm not nearly as big a fan of hot coffee in the winter as i am cold coffee in the summer

m

[Fed168]

Go off somewhere by yourself and prepare your equipment, and then double check it. When everything is correct, just kinda sit there and relax. When it is your turn up, go up and set your target, no rush. At the line, a nice deep breath and a stretch should calm you down some. No need to recheck the equipment, just relax until you shoot.

I've shot competition for several years and still get the occasional shakes. A good run before the shoot and a chicken biscuit usually does the trick to get my mind right- you may have a routine before the match that works for you.

[Jon Coppenbarger]

coffee, soda's, red bull or what ever can effect you but I think it more depends on the shooter and how his body reacts or how he himself reacts to a stress level.

now myself stress before or during a match comes in a different way for me.
I'am totally relaxed almost all the time almost to a point of just going threw the motions and this is what gets me into trouble.

because of that sometimes I get caught up in the moment and just go threw the motions of shooting and when I do that is when I get myself into a bad shot or string of shots.
like standing slow fire if my mind is not on what I'am doing and its wondering around I start to forget the basics and then it becomes just a pull the trigger and get as close as you can.
or in the rapids I will shot fast and take quicker shots than I need to and even if the scores are at a master level that is not enough to even get close to winning.

I will put it this way if I have my mind right there is nothing better for me and more relaxing for me than looking down the sights and seeing a great hold on the target in off hand as it feels like every shot is going to be perfect from then on.

just relax as every match is just practice for the next match.

[Correia]

Steve, those scores I post are from when I am relaxed. You don't think I would post all the bad ones do you?! :D :D

As for the coffee/soda thing, I would say just do what you normally do. I don't really drink much of anything caffeinated, so that isn't a big deal for me. But make sure you eat a good breakfast! I'm dead serious. Shooting on an empty stomach sucks, you get shaky, you get cranky, and shooting isn't as fun.

And that is another thing. Make sure you are having fun. If you are so tense that it is no longer fun, then you won't do nearly as good. Be focused, but make sure you are having a good time. Shooting is supposed to fun, not work. :)

[Steve Smith]

No, of course I don't post the bad ones! ;)

Shooting Highpower is work, but it is fun too if you are kicking some butt.

[Sunray]

All you need do is remember you shoot because it's fun. Your next meal does not depend on the results of a match. Forget about placing, how well you're doing, what the other shooters might say(they won't), nada. Think only about the shot you're making right now. Concentrate on the front sight and making that shot the best one you can. Relax. It's just a match.

[Jon Coppenbarger]

have fun as I get to know and hang out with alot of the guys the last year it has been a real enjoyment and I look foward to going as often as I can.

we encourage the new shooters and the one's that are really trying to get up to the upper classes and offer and help them when ever they ask.

now with the guys I hang out with including steve you have to learn not to believe the first thing out of their mouths and nothing relaxes me more than a good laugh. we all have made those misses, cross fired on another target or do some dumb things and will do them all again many times over if you do it enough.
we even have nick names for alot of us and it is usually as a result of something we do wrong and is not ment to put down the shooter but to encourage them and it does help remind me what I need to fix.
mine was given to me after I left camp perry and I waited untill just before we fired the slow prone 600 at a leg match last month to bring it up to my fellow shooters and they all had a good laugh at me and I believe it helped relax them.

now during alot of matches its fun to see how your friends ar doing but during a leg match it really a not brought up thing to ask how they are doing as there is a belief that if you watch your scores it will play on your mind in a important match.

but for myself its not easy after shooting so many matches to not know your score after every stage.