[alca]

I would like to know why in practice i'm able to shoot like a grandmaster and when it's the competition i drop of about 20 points......
Pressure? How to increase my score?
When the match begin, i'm calm (so, i think i am...) .
Maybe somebody could help me, thank

[Deer Hunter]

Breathing exercises really help me. Deep calming breaths before I hear the buzzer go off.

[Eric F]

well just me but the 3 matches I shot the best with out a doubt
1 ipsc- night before I met a friend also shooting in the match well unintended trip to the bar drinking until 2am got up at 7am drove 2 hours shot the best ever with out hours of planned dry fire practice
2. idpa met same friend again same thing drinking in excess next morning he took 1st I took second.......maybe there is something to this
3. 3 gun match went by my self set up shop in the hotel had all my tacticool gear laid out ready to go, well I met a nice person had a nice dinner and yeah you guessed it a bunch of drinks, said blah to the tactical gear and just shot with a sling and my regular belt holster mags in my pockets.......yup you guessed it again finished in the top 10 out of 60. Must be something to it.........oh I was 22-25 for all of this I could never do that again now.

[Sam1911]

To an extent, this will always be the case. Nobody shoots as well in competition as they do in practice. Part of that is just nerves, part is having an audience, part of it is that you're stepping up to a new stage that you haven't seen before rather than a practice drill that you've run many times.

The biggest thing you can do is keep competing. The more experience you get listening for that buzzer, in front of an unfamiliar SO, on an unfamiliar range, looking at a brand new course of fire, and with eight or ten pairs of strange eyes boring into your back -- the less of a mind-boink it will be. Train yourself to look forward to that environment and you'll perform better in it.

The other thing I can think of is to make the most of the "safe areas" provided. Ditch your ammo back at the car or wherever and go do 50 draw-and-dryfire drills while you're waiting for the range briefing. Get your hands programmed for getting the proper grip, your eyes tuned in to that front sight (in the current lighting conditions), your draw-stroke streamlined and smooth -- one last time, with your gear and clothes set up as they will be in competition. In other words, get in your groove for the day, right before "GO" time. Doing so might make your first couple of stages run smoother, with fewer dropped points.

Just a couple of thoughts...

-Sam

[RobMoore]

I'm not sure what style of competition you're in, but I know when I'm at a match, especially a big one, the best thing to do is NOT think about winning, or what I need to do to win a stage, match, beat some predetermined goal, beat a specific person, ect ect ect.

The ONLY thing to think about is the points. Shoot accurately, and everything else will fall into place from practice. If I try to shoot fast, I will, but at the cost of accuracy. If I try to shoot accurately, I will shoot to my potential speed, but not past it. My potential speed was determined by my practice, which is the place to improve your speed, not at a match. Good practice yields efficiency, which is where good speed comes from. Bad speed comes from pushing for it.

[alca]

Thank you very much for your good councils, I really appreciate. When one wants to become grandmaster each point counts, thank you once again.
Ok when you're shooting a specific target like 18 rounds in 90 seconds, 6 rounds kneeling, 6 rounds left hand barricade and 6 rounds right hand barricade. When the buzzer ring, what are you thinking while your shooting? In your head,you know than the time goes, but during the course, what do you saying to yourself? (Self talking). I asking these question because i know, between a distinguish master and a grandmaster the main thing is MENTAL....
Thank again.

[RobMoore]

Pick up a book called "With Winning in Mind" by Lanny Bassham.

Written by a Gold Medalist shooter. Its ALL about the mental game.

[eerw]

shoot without expectation, shoot without doubt.

definitely read With a Winning Mind, Brian Enos's book Practical SHooting, Beyond Fundamentals.

[CatsEye]

One thing I have learned while competitive shooting is that when you want to do well the "clock" in your head runs faster than the one in the SOs hand. Many times I have thought "wow that guy shot fast" then after my round, which seemed much slower, found out we had about the same time. For me, shooting smooth with the goal of 0 down is the key. My competitive nature keeps the speed up. As far as my "self talking", front sight, front sight, front sight.

[Gary G23]

"The biggest thing you can do is keep competing."

correct answer

[RobMoore]

+1 CatsEye. I'm still amazed at how long 4 seconds actually is when I'm shooting a course, especially classifiers in USPSA. I ULSC thinking I've just done a 5-6 second string, and it ends up being 3.5

[sargenv]

When I shoot any match, I just try to get as many alpha's as possible in the shortest amount of time. When I push too much, I tend to drop shots and get sloppy. Being consistent is usually better than being fast since being fast can make it so you are actually slower in the overall time due to having to make up shots. If you take just enough time to execute your shots and go nearly one for one, you will do better than hurrying your shots and having to take extra shots to make up for a less than perfect miss or near miss. With experience, speed will come. When you practice, try to go about 110%, in competitions, I try to go at about 90% and just try for all accurate hits.

[ADKWOODSMAN]

Having competed many years and also run many types of shoots I can say one thing. Relax--enjoy and the scores will climb.

Follow through on your shots is important.

Also shoot against yourself.

When I shot in squads or relays with better shooters, I shot better!!!

[Eric F]

On a serious note, I try to hang in teams/squads of folks that shoot just slightly better than me. This way I feel challenged to a point where I can speed up with out significant loss of accuracey. For example, I shot one time when a top profesional shooter shot every stage just before me, Now I can never move at his speed, but I can pull a trigger just as fast. The diffrence he was making hits I was not. Its hard to slow down to your practical pace when the guy in front of you is very fast. My point is take your time speed will come with accuracy

[chbrow10]

I shoot USPSA, so here’s my perspective:

Before the buzzer goes off: relaxed, breathing slowly, eyes on the A zone of the first target, waiting for the buzzer.

During the stage: “The most important shot is the one you are shooting right now” While I am shooting, I’m going for A zones, every time, and having “visual patience” while the sights are aligning.

My stage plan is memorized and ingrained, so I never have to think about what I am supposed to do next, (shoot this target next, reload, run over here. Etc.), all I have to actively think about is “finding the target, aligning the sights on the target, and holding the sights there until the shot breaks”. The rest happens in the background.

Words in quotes are from Brian Enos’s book, “Beyond Fundamentals”

[jmorris]

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I would like to know why in practice i'm able to shoot like a grandmaster and when it's the competition i drop of about 20 points......
Pressure? How to increase my score?
When the match begin, i'm calm (so, i think i am...) .
Maybe somebody could help me, thank

1st Find a designated driver. 2nd get hammered the night before but don’t stay up too late. Come hammer down in the morning you will be shooting “in the subconscious”.