Hmmmm ... Red Cent, I read the posts and my approach is a little different.
Especially living in California, I consider the simple fact of just being able to stand in that start box with a legal firearm (even with 10 round magazines) in my hand brings a sense of appreciation for the freedom I have that many others do not have in other countries.
Many people shoot matches to "compete" with other shooters. They often compare what others are doing and try to match load/components/hardware and try to gain advantage or equal the playing field. Some will even become obsessed with simply climbing the ladder.
For me, first and foremost, shooting is my hobby and passion. I approach shooting to enjoy and have fun, PERIOD. Nothing else matters - not other shooters, not stage setups, not the course of fire, not the choice/selection of bullet launcher, NOTHING. When I stand at the start box, the entire world disappears and my immediate environment becomes silent. I stand there alone with the targets. The only thing that matters is that "I showed up" for LIFE instead of rotting on the couch watching TV. And when I say "I showed up", I mean I chose to LIVE life.
Each time I shoot, I "compete" only with myself and the last/best score I shot. I understand and recognize that life is not perfect and that I WILL make mistakes. When things go wrong, I treat it as a learning experience and shift my focus to my last mistake and "compete" to see how much faster I can recover/correct to get back on my stride.
I also enjoy reloading, but I started reloading so I can feed my shooting habit.
I don't do load development to meet the power factor, I do load development to identify the MOST ACCURATE LOAD within the load data range. I hone my reloading skills/techniques to produce the most accurate load regardless of the power factor, although my loads easily outpace the power factor (I competed with Glock 22 and soon M&P45).
I can't speak for others as to why they chose a particular load for their match load. I was taught to reload by a seasoned Bullseye shooter. He said I need to develop the load that I shot accurate first from various bullets, powders and charges. THEN I work on shooting fast.
Did I mention have a BLAST?
BTW, I have gotten the best accuracy from 200 gr SWC at 1.260"-1.270" OAL but the 200 gr RNFP shoots very comparable in accuracy when loaded to 1.195" OAL with 5.0 gr of W231/HP38 for me in my M&P45.